Pal/Ichiro Araki -- Yoake My Way（夜明けのマイウェイ）

 

Although I got into Japanese variety shows and all of those music ranking programs from the 1970s, the typical drama was something that I never really got into. However, the above show "Chotto My Way"（ちょっとマイウェイ...My Little Own Way） which was broadcast as a comedy-drama based on life in a Tokyo restaurant on NTV between October 1979 and March 1980 on Saturday nights caught my eye because of the cast consisting of people who are now considered to be veteran thespians and/or legends such as Naoko Ken（研ナオコ）and Kaori Momoi（桃井かおり）.

What caught my ear as well was the theme song by the vocal group Pal（パル）. The last time I posted about this band which lasted between 1977 and 1982 was back in December 2023, and they have been notable in their presence on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" for the fact that each of their songs here have been given different genres, so they were certainly variable in the type of music they sang.

In any case, the theme song for "Chotto My Way" was "Yoake My Way" (Daybreak My Way) which has a half-grand/half-disco opening and ending on the same level as a theme tune for an American prime-time drama in the 1970s. In between though, the song (and words) by Ichiro Araki（荒木一郎）sticks to a jaunty pop arrangement that fits the typical sitcom style in Japan, and as I hinted above, it's the first time that I've used the pop label to describe a Pal song. And this time, it's obvious that the main vocalist is Kayo Watanabe（渡辺香世）. 

The J-Wiki article on Pal is a relatively short one but it does have a section on "Yoake My Way" itself since it did get its own single release in October 1979 and became a hit for the band. It scored a No. 18 ranking on Oricon (ending up as the No. 80 single of the year), selling 400,000 records.

There were a few other artists who covered "Yoake My Way" including the original songwriter Araki himself. His version showed up on his April 1981 album "Concertrick" and it's a more laidback and groovier take.

Pal -- Satin Doll Night

 

So far, I've been able to provide a couple of songs by the band Pal which had their run in the late 1970s going into the early 1980s. The first one that I posted was "Please Catch Me", the opening track from their 1980 album "Catch Me", and then there was "Sayonara Gakusei Jidai"（さようなら学生時代）, their debut single from 1978.

And I've got a third song now by Pal. Of course, just with the three songs I can't really give a comprehensive picture of the type of music they were playing but it's intriguing to note that for each song's series of Labels that always shows up at the bottom of the article, there have been different genres involved. Once more from the album "Catch Me", I give you the second track "Satin Doll Night".

Written and composed by Pal pals Takaki Funabashi（船橋孝樹）and Masahito Arai（新井正人）respectively, compared to the breezy West Coast AOR feeling of the first track "Please Catch Me", "Satin Doll Night" has got a pretty good tempo but it seems more introspective and European as if it were heading into Taeko Ohnuki's（大貫妙子）new field of play at around the same time. It's also a co-vocal effort with female vocalist Kayo Watanabe（渡辺香世）and I'm assuming Arai behind the mike. There's also folk and rock elements mixing about in "Satin Doll Night", so I gather that the New Music label can fit, too.

Pal -- Sayonara Gakusei Jidai（さようなら学生時代）

 

This is just my thing but whenever I see or hear the word "pal", my memories automatically bring up Casper the Friendly Ghost. Why? Because there is the usual scene near an episode when one of his newfound friends is in some trouble and good ol' Casper rushes in and angrily admonishes the instigator by saying "Hey! You leave him alone! He's my PAL!". Of course, despite Casper looking as intimidating as a baby rabbit, the instigator takes one look at him and flees in abject terror.

So, for the fans of the Japanese band Pal, my apologies if I start thinking that Casper the Friendly Ghost seems like a mascot for them. Anyways, I guess since posting my first article on one of their songs "Please Catch Me" all the way back in 2019, folks at J-Wiki have put up a proper entry for the band since when I wrote the article, it was obvious that I couldn't find much information on them. That has now been rectified to a certain extent apparently since I now realize that Pal had their run between 1977 and 1982. They also consisted initially of three members: leader Hiroki Harada（原田博喜）, lead vocalist Yuji Ozeki（尾関裕司）and the late Takaki Funabashi（船橋孝樹）until Masahito Arai（新井正人）came in to take over as the second vocalist in 1979 followed by Kayo Watanabe（渡辺香世）.

I can assume that it was Harada, Ozeki and Funabashi then behind their October 1978 single "Sayonara Gakusei Jidai" (Goodbye, My School Days). Written by Funabashi and composed by Harada and Ozeki, there is that wistful and folksy vibe to the song (aside from that City Pop sax near the end) that probably had fans and other listeners getting all sepia-toned over their old school days. In fact, there's a lot of "Sayonara Gakusei Jidai" that reminded me of Garo's（ガロ）"Gakusei Gai no Kissaten" (学生街の喫茶店）from 1972.

Pal -- Please Catch Me

I've been enjoying a number of the videos from the YouTube channel, Kimi no Station: The Home of City Pop over the past several months, and I found this interesting album by a vocal group called Pal. I don't know long the band had been around but at least it's been before 1978 since the original vocalist Yuji Ozeki（尾関裕司）left Pal then with singer-songwriter Masahito Arai（新井正人）taking over, according to the description on Kimi no Station's video.

In 1980, Pal released the album "Catch Me" and the first track is "Please Catch Me" (I guess they were being very Canadian). According to the JASRAC database, it was written and composed by Takaki Funabashi（船橋孝樹）; I've never heard of this person before so perhaps he may have been part of the band. In any case, from just this song, I get the impression that the sound of the band is a mix between Off Course and The Doobie Brothers. It's summery AOR with a hint of folk and as refreshing as a mint julep.

According to the same source, Pal finally broke up in 1982 with Arai pursuing a solo career. Now as I listen to the second track, "Satin Doll Night", I'm considering whether I can track this gem of an album down.