I've been a fan of Japanese popular music for 40 years, and have managed to collect a lot of material during that time. So I decided I wanted to talk about Showa Era music with like-minded fans. My particular era is the 70s and 80s (thus the "kayo kyoku"). The plus part includes a number of songs and artists from the last 30 years and also the early kayo. So, let's talk about New Music, aidoru, City Pop and enka.
Credits
I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.
Ahh...yes, it was another long weekend for Japan since Monday was Adulthood Day (Seijin-no-Hi), although I'm not sure whether the holiday's ceremonies now include people turning 18 or whether they're sticking with the former age of becoming an adult which has been 20.
I usually provide special Reminiscings of Youth articles for national holidays here in Canada and not for Japan. However, Adulthood Day had me remembering an old 1980s song by the Canadian alternative rock band The Pursuit of Happiness, so I'm making an exception here.
The Pursuit of Happiness with leader and vocalist Moe Berg started up in 1985 and then the following year, they came out with their breakthrough single "I'm An Adult Now". The music video got plenty of airplay on Canada's own version of MTV, MuchMusic, and other channels and so it's been a fun and nostalgic experience seeing the Toronto of the 1980s including Queen West and City Hall. That video was made on a shoestring budget and looks it, but it also looks attractively grotty and perfect for a rock band in Toronto. And the ironic thing, it got majorly praised (the song helped, too) to the point that it was even nominated for Best Music Video of the Year at the Juno Awards (Canada's equivalent of the Grammys).
Also, I remember enjoying the catchy melody by Berg, especially the main chorus featuring the title as he has a rather tongue-in-cheek take on what it's like to be an adult doing adult things. Let's imagine all of us old fogeys getting together and discussing "I'm An Adult Now".
Only the year was mentioned when it came to the release date of "I'm An Adult Now", so why don't we go with what was up in the Top 10 of Oricon on January 13th 1986? I have Nos. 1, 3 and 5.
I think the last time I actually had a day off from writing on the blog was during my trip to Japan in 2017. But after nearly five years, that's what happened to me yesterday so I am grateful to my fellow co-administrators Larry and Noelle for putting in their articles of choice and passion on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" on the 13th. And of course, Happy Birthday Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）!
Now the reason that I was a non-blogger yesterday was that I got together with an old friend of mine for the first time in nine months to have lunch and a movie. And as you can see from the thumbnail and that familiar smile above, it was "Top Gun: Maverick". To be honest, I never expected to catch this one since I'd never seen the original 1986 movie "Top Gun". It really wasn't my cup of ocha, so to speak. But over the years, I've managed to catch all of the main scenes through various sources including Pete "Maverick" Mitchell buzzing the control tower, Goose getting his name cooked, Maverick and Iceman digging into each other, and of course, the dogfights. Oh, yes...there was some romance in there, too.
Watching the sequel yesterday, I had a good time especially with those amazing scenes on the jets and all of the dogfighting there. Basically, the two hours were very much a coda to Maverick's career in the navy. I just had to keep track of all of the pilot nicknames (Bob was easy, though).
Of course, the "Top Gun" soundtrack probably made oodles of money, and though as I said, I didn't catch the original movie, some of the individual tracks from the album became huge hits on their own. There was Kenny Loggins'"Danger Zone", Berlin's"Take My Breath Away", and of course, the "Top Gun Anthem" by Harold Faltermeyer with Steve Stevens (from Billy Idol's band) on the guitar. I remember hearing the rock ballad back in the 1980s all the time alongside those two other hits, and I have to admit that hearing the reprise of it on the trailers for "Maverick" and in the movie itself did activate my goose pimples. It also raised enough interest at the Grammies and as such, the anthem won an award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance in 1987.
Seeing that the soundtrack was released in May 1986, how were the Japanese singles doing that month? Well, here are Nos. 4 and 6.
A bit of an odd one to start off today's articles of "Kayo Kyoku Plus", but on hearing about the passing of former President, CEO and Chairman of SONY, Nobuyuki Idei（出井伸之）, at the age of 84 (his death was the top news story on NHK today) a few days ago, I began thinking of all of those contraptions that me and my family have had contact with over the decades such as the Walkman, Discman, Playstation 1 and all of those audio tapes. And crazily enough, I've also mentioned our old family pink SONY radio from the 1970s from time to time in various articles. Well, I finally found a photo of it but since this is a Pinterest shot on someone else's account, to keep things copacetic, I will instead provide the link to it right here.
It did get me to thinking, though. I remember that a number of musical artists have been featured on the commercials for all of those SONY products in the past. At first, I thought about focusing on one song but then I opted to make this an Author's Pick based on Media, and see if I could dig up some of those commercials with songs that have already made their way onto our blog. To be honest, it was a tad more difficult than I'd assumed, but I did find five.
This week on Reminiscings of Youth, I once again reveal another song that I hadn't been able to identify for literally decades, but finally could discover what it was just within the last few years. It was certainly the case with Higurashi's（日暮し）"Aki no Tobira"（秋の扉）, but unlike that one, this tune is neither Japanese nor breezy New Music.
However, like "Aki no Tobira", the tune stayed with me all those years into the 21st century. Back in my university days ending by the end of the 1980s, I enjoyed taping excerpts from radio and one of those examples was the Saturday-night radio shows that featured dance remixes. We had two stations in Toronto that provided us homebound introverts with our own dance parties, CKFM and CFNY. I often switched between the two stations between 9 and whenever past the midnight hour to hear all that vinyl scratching and stuttering.
One Saturday night, I came across this really catchy techno tune with all of the beats and eerie synthesizers that you could throw a DJ at, with this boomer of a voice yelling out (and probably needing massive amounts of honey and lemon afterwards):
NEW YORK! NEW YORK!NEW YORK!
CITY OF ENCHANTMENT! CITY OF EXCITEMENT!
BE A PART OF IT! FEEL THE HEART OF IT!
The host of the radio show never said who it was by nor what the title was; or maybe I wasn't listening at the time. All I knew was that this techno band really wanted us to visit The Big Apple and hit a dance club or two. Ironically, I never heard this in a dance club like our local Copa or Sparkles...maybe because it was just a little too industrial techno. It was just the excerpt that I got from the radio and that was it during the prehistoric age before the Internet and YouTube.
So, two stints in Japan plus most of the last decade later, hearing that song on the audio tape when I wanted to feel nostalgic, I did punch in those above lyrics along with the words "dance remix" into the now-existent YouTube and other search engines, and what do you know? My mystery was solved.
This is "New York, New York" from 1987 by the German techno outfit Microchip League or MCL, and nope, it doesn't really have anything to do with the Frank Sinatra trademark tune aside from a cute little toodle of that melody at the very end of the cool and ominous melodic odyssey. I always thought that "New York, New York" could have made for a great theme march for Rick Deckard if he had been magically transported back in time to the 1980s to track down some errant time-traveling replicants. Of course, there would have been a scene where he and the androids had to run through a Manhattan disco where Harrison Ford would have been just as awkward with his moves as Baron Zemo in "Falcon and the Winter Soldier".
I couldn't find out much about MCL itself aside from the fact that the members had been a part of another electronic dance band called Moskwa TV. Supposedly MCL itself had a brief time of it...just between 1986 and 1990.
Unfortunately, I couldn't track down in which month of that year "New York, New York" was released so I'll just be whimsical and decide to show what was at No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 on Oricon in the month of May.
Yup, once again it is Groundhog Day today. February 2nd is the day that we find out whether we get an early spring or 6 more weeks of winter, and this Groundhog Day has a bit more meaning since during these pandemic days, we're all wondering whether we can have some more normalcy with restaurants and stores opening up in tandem with the warmer weather. As it turns out, our Canadian representatives, Wiarton Willie (above) and Shubenacadie Sam did NOT see their shadow today so the green season is coming sooner than usual (fingers crossed) while Punxsutawney Phil down in Pennsylvania did see his shadow so perhaps another month and a half of the cold season down Stateside. I'm more than happy to back up our national rodents.💚
I thought that the above would be the ideal time and place to put up pop/rock band Rebecca's（レベッカ）"Nervous but Glamorous" to reflect the rather bemused attitude that a famed groundhog might have about being raised several centimetres above the ground when it would prefer enjoying rest in its burrow. Anyhow, this was Rebecca's 8th single from November 1987, and it's got a nice brio-filled strut to it. To be honest, it doesn't really hit me as a rock song per se...it's more of a sultry and funky pop tune, maybe even a City Pop one.
Vocalist NOKKO and Rebecca keyboardist Akio Dobashi（土橋安騎夫）created the song and it seems that NOKKO's lyrics describe the story of the day after some intense romancing, if you know what I mean, but you can take a look at one translation at J Pop Asia. There was some nice sax there, too....yes, that wasn't a typo, I meant "saxophone". An English-language version was done for the band's 2nd remix album"OLIVE" released in August 1988. Peggy Stanziale provided the lyrics there.
Nope, no groundhogs in this ad, but "Nervous but Glamorous" was used for a Sony commercial. It looks like Rebecca was performing on an Escher-designed group of brownstones.
"Nervous but Glamorous" peaked at No. 7 on Oricon and was originally on their 6th album"Poison" which came out at the same time as the single. This hit No. 1 on the charts and ended up as the 7th-ranked album for 1988."Poison" was also given a Japan Gold Disc Award for Best Album of the Year in the same year in the rock genre. As for "OLIVE", that also hit the top of the charts and became the 21st-ranked album for 1988.
For a good long while now, something's been niggling me in my mind and that something was that I hadn't put up a REBECCA（レベッカ）article for several months. Well, allow me to rectify that.
"Raspberry Dream" is one of REBECCA's classics. Coming in as the band's 2nd-most successful hit after "Friends" in 1985, their 5th single was released back in May 1986. Written by vocalist NOKKO and composed by keyboardist Akio Dobashi（土橋安騎夫）, "Raspberry Dream" is a rock/pop tune that, in my mind at least, has some vestiges of the New Wave sound although I think by the mid-1980s, that phase in music had already passed into history.
If I'm not mistaken about NOKKO's lyrics, I think that they give an account of a young girl just starting her hearty partying career in the more entertaining parts of town. The town could be anywhere in Japan, but my mind keeps getting drawn over to Roppongiin the 1980s for some reason.
The music video for "Raspberry Dream" was filmed at the Nakatajima Sand Dunes in the city of Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture...quite the geographical revelation considering that my image of the prefecture has included lots and lots of lush green tea fields. The J-Wiki article for the song also remarks that NOKKO shows off some of her ballet moves from her elementary school days, although I couldn't also help feeling that the entire choreography reminded me of Jennifer Beals in "Flashdance". Oh, what a feeling indeed! Speaking of 80s pop cultural references, the video and the intro to "Raspberry Dream" were also somewhat reminiscent of David Bowie's"Ashes to Ashes".
The song peaked at No. 4 on Oricon and became the 40th-ranked single for 1986. "Raspberry Dream" didn't get onto REBECCA's 5th album"TIME" which came out later in October, but first made its album appearance on "REMIX REBECCA", an album that was released in May 1987. That album hit No. 1 on the charts and later ended up as the 11th-ranked album of the year.
All the way back in December 2012, I was writing the article for "Friends"（フレンズ）, arguably the most famous hit for the 80s rock bandREBECCA（レベッカ）, and I made the remark that I wasn't particularly impressed by my first view of them performing the song "MONOTONE BOY" when they appeared on one of the music shows. Perhaps it was "The Best 10" or "The Top 10", I'm not sure.
Well, I finally decided to give "MONOTONE BOY" another go after many years. Incidentally, this was REBECCA's 7th single from April 1987 with music by band keyboardist Akio Dobashi（土橋安騎夫）and words by Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）.
I can say that the wonderful filters of time and nostalgia have helped. Although I cannot say that I have found a love for "MONOTONE BOY", it's no longer the grating first impression I got from NOKKO and company. Furthermore, I think part of my initial dislike for the song was due to the fact that I hadn't quite meshed Japanese pop music with rock music since at the time it was all about the aidoru and the enka. So I think the whole REBECCA thing had caught me off-guard
Therefore pseudo-feud ended. And it was obvious that I had been very much in the minority since it went all the way up to No. 3 on Oricon and ended up as the 50th-ranked single for 1987. The song was also the theme for the 1987 coming-of-age flick "Binetsu Shonen"（微熱少年...Feverish Boys）based on the novel written by lyricist Matsumoto himself. He even directed the movie! The movie's cast also had its supporting characters played by some famous musicians such as Ryoko Moriyama（森山良子）, Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）and Takuro Yoshida（吉田拓郎）. "MONOTONE BOY" ended up on the official soundtrack.
As a little bonus, you can see a bunch of ads featuring REBECCA.
Back in the day, I wasn't too big a fan of 80s band Rebecca since I was more into the aidoru and pure pop than pop/rock but I have mellowed over the years, and actually speaking, Rebecca wasn't really all that heavy into the rock in the first place.
Case in point, "Lonely Butterfly", Rebecca's 6th single from October 1986. Listening to it once again after so long, I've come to realize that it is more pop than it is rock. Probably at the time, I just assumed that any song that had a loud set of drums and more than one electric guitar was a bit too rich for my blood. Rookie mistake. Written by vocalist NOKKO and keyboardist Akio Dobashi（土橋安騎夫）, the nostalgia angle has also played a role since I don't hear anything like Rebecca's sound anymore in J-Pop, especially that synth.
"Lonely Butterfly" managed to get as high as No. 6. Watching the official music video, I appreciated NOKKO's wear of Tom Cruise's outfit from "Top Gun".
I
was never a REBECCA (レベッカ) fan, and, like many others, the one hit I know and like
from them is “Friends” (フレンズ), which I first heard while watching Fuji TV's “Nazotoki wa Dinner
no Ato de” (謎解きはディナーのあとで), a drama featuring Arashi’s (嵐) lovely Sho Sakurai (櫻井翔) as the super smart
butler and the very attractive Keiko Kitagawa (北川景子) as a socialite/rookie police
officer.
Besides
“Friends”, I tried other songs from the band watching a video compilation of
their early hits, but no other song caught my attention for real. They were ok,
typical New Wave songs from the 80s, and nothing more than that.
So,
last night, after writing an article about one of my all-time favourite aidoru
group, Melody, I spent some time watching one of the shows they were always
performing at, called “Idol on Stage” (アイドルオンステージ). Thing is, I ended up coming
across a very young and aidoru-ish Ayumi Hamasaki (浜崎あゆみ) performing a song called
“MOON”, and, as she hardly had any interesting song around 1995 (this was
before her true debut as a J-Pop singer), I guessed it wasn’t a song from her,
but one from another artist. Then, after reading that the songwriter was
someone called NOKKO, I quickly discovered it was a song released as a single
by REBECCA in February 1988.
“MOON”
is the best I heard from REBECCA until now. For me, it’s even better than
“Friends”, and that’s probably because of NOKKO’s mixture of vulnerable and
strong vocals through the song. The gloomy arrangement is also quite nice with
its restrained guitars followed by cold synths in the background. In my
opinion, a true 80s must.
Finally,
here’s the aforementioned video of Ayumi Hamasaki singing “MOON” at “Idol on
Stage” (that video has unfortunately been taken down but here's another one). I must say that, although not a Hamasaki fan, I liked her vocals a lot
(they weren’t flawless, but that’s a positive thing in my world), and would
love to hear an studio version of it. Unfortunately, it’ll not happen.
"MOON" reached #20 on the Oricon charts. Lyrics were written by NOKKO, while music was composed by Akio Dobashi (土橋安騎夫). As for the arrangement, REBECCA was the responsible.
Although Seiko Matsuda （松田聖子）has been in show business for about 35 years, my biggest interest in her was in the 1980s. And I split that decade into her early pre-(first) marriage period and then her return to work after getting hitched to actor Masaki Kanda and giving birth to her daughter Sayaka. The first single in that latter part of the 80s was "Strawberry Time".
"Strawberry Time" was a popular song for one certain member of the group which headed to karaoke bar Kuri during our university years. She was a huge Seiko-chan fan but it seemed as if when Matsuda came up with this comeback single in April 1987, she found her trademark tune. I had thought that when Matsuda went off the stage for a little while, she was starting to veer away from the pure aidoru stuff to a more mainstream pop sound from listening to some of her pre-marriage singles, and indeed she did go into that direction when she came back. However, this particular single brought back the good ol' days, so to speak.
Still, "Strawberry Time" has quite a bit of oomph in it when compared to her earlier Karuho Kureta-penned songs. That is probably due to the fact that the music was provided by Akio Dobashi（土橋安騎夫）, member of rock band Rebecca. The lyrics were by prolific Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）. There is that heroic rock beat about being welcomed to Seiko-chan's happy place....one wonders if an 80s anime producer would have been tempted to have created a show around the song. In any case, the single reached No. 1 on the Oricon weeklies and eventually became the 5th-ranked song for 1987. The Queen Aidoru of the 80s was back.
The single was also part of her 14th album of the same name which came out in May 1987. "Strawberry Time" the album hit No. 1 on the charts as well.
Happy New Year, everyone! After JTM's, Marcos', and J-Canuck's
great entries on what they consider the best of the best in 80's Japanese
music, it's time for me to offer my take. To be honest, I've never
earnestly thought about such a list before because I liked talking about songs I enjoy on their own without isolating others. But given the occasion and everyone's enthusiasm for this project, I gave it a go. Picking out only 10 songs
from the hundreds and thousands that go through my ears on a regular
basis wasn't an easy task for sure, so I reflected on what obstacles
I used to face with making rankings and decided that my Top 10 list
would focus on songs that remained fresh and memorable to me even
after multiple listens and those that basically influenced my taste
in old Japanese music as I grew up with it from a preteen into an adult.
This ended up sounding similar to J-Canuck's criteria, but at the end
of the day, music is personal and so are rankings.
Moreover and to spare further
headaches, I decided to avoid ranking these from least to most
favorite. So the order in which I listed these songs doesn't matter,
since they're all equally special to me for their own unique reasons.
1. Off Course -- Kotoba ni Dekinai [オフコース -- 言葉にできない] (1982)
There isn't a single ballad out there
that makes a bigger emotional impact on me than this one. With its
resonant melody and Kazumasa Oda's heartfelt vocals, it's one of the
most genuine love songs dealing with heartbreak. Some emotions don't
require words, just like the “la la la”s that ring throughout the
refrain. I first heard Oda's remake in a 2006 film “Tegami”, and
from then on I sought other songs by the singer and the early 80's
pop scene that the song belonged to. I was never a fan of ballads up
to that point, yet “Kotoba ni Dekinai” alone changed that
mindset. That's why it's so important to me.
There were tons of candidates for my top technopop song, but Yano's quirky and sweet “Hitotsudake”
just had to be the one. That melody cannot be mistaken for any other,
and the technopoppy synths that build up in the bridge and drive it
towards the chorus give this happy-go-lucky song a nice edge. I can't help but smile whenever I listen to it. It reminds me of my best friendships and long-lasting bonds. While it was
not the first time YMO contributed to Yano's solo material, I think
“Hitotsudake” and the whole “Gohan ga Dekita yo” album was when the quality of their work was at its height. It was also the first technopop song I liked before warming up to YMO's individual sound.
3. Minako Yoshida -- Town [吉田美奈子 -- TOWN] (1982)
Whenever I think of City Pop, this song
always pops up in my head. Right from that multilayered urban sound
containing some of the most thrilling bass, drumming and horns I've
ever heard, it proudly declares “This is a big city!”. Yoshida may
not be someone who sells many records, but she definitely has a lot
of talent and has proven to be one of Japan's greatest R&B and funk artists. It's interesting to note that only about half of
the song features her singing, while the rest goes into an epic
instrumental rampage that brings to mind a sleepless city. And I never want it to end.
For pop-rock I've decided to nominate
Sano's bluesy ballad “Heartbeat”. The live arrangement featured
above is the one that particularly strikes me. Must be the tingly
synths right before the chorus. Love everything about this song: the introspective melody, emotional saxophone, Sano's
tough yet vulnerable delivery, and the harmonica that closes the
piece with a melancholic mood. Sano has intrigued the listeners
with his talent and versatility over the years, and this song was one
of the earliest examples of that. I always have to stop what I'm
doing and focus whenever this comes on my mp3 player, and this has already happened many times.
I've been a fan of Japanese New Wave
for nearly 10 years now, always thinking back to Moonriders and how
they furthered my interest in Japanese music as a creative force of
its own. This song just works as it crosses many genre boundaries
like folk, pop and doo-wop while remaining perfectly structured and
melodic at the same time. That's basically my formula for a great
song: adventurous but easy to follow. Moonriders were one of the
first artists to show me that (before I came across New Music and City Pop). This is one of those songs that you
can come back to again and again and still pick out interesting
details. And there's that eccentric wonder to the melody that I've
found inspirational for some reason.
Somewhat related to Eiichi Ohtaki's
sudden passing last month, Moonriders' drummerTetsuro Kashibuchi (かしぶち哲郎) lost battle to esophageal cancer on December 17th. What a way to end the year.
6. Tomoko Tane -- Katakoi Doumei [種ともこ -- 片恋同盟] (1986)
“Katakoi Doumei” may not have been
a single, but it was surely the most impressive highlight in Tane's
second album “Minna Ai no Sei ne.” and my personal favorite from
her catalogue. It's both dynamic and ethereal at the same time, kind of
like an action-packed children's story book. The way Tane switches between
the titular and secondary lyrics in the chorus as the background rhythm beats
like a clock is just wonderful, and there's a beautiful twist to
the melody in the center of the song. Whoever came up with that synth
arrangement was clever in making an ordinary tune into something
more.
7. Rebecca -- One More Kiss (1988)
I was never a big fan of Rebecca minus some songs, but this one is simply delightful. It's hard for
me to find words to describe how beautiful it
is. And even with the
nostalgic sound, it remains timeless at the same time. Growing
up in the 90's, I first only enjoyed 80's music for its novelty factor, but hearing songs like sparked my interest even further. Then I realized they don't really make music like this anymore. I particularly enjoyed the slight reggae touch to the
arrangement in the verses and instrumental bits. Also,
Nokko's vocals in the song strike a nice balance between sweet and sensual, something that appeals to me.
Hats off to the video director for providing all the gorgeous visuals and
making the song even more special.
Shortie but a goodie. There have been a
mini-trend in the 80's of reviving the sounds of the 50's and 60's
thanks to acts such as The Checkers and Ohtaki. Not to take anything
from them, but I have to say that Matsuo's debut single “Itoshi no
Rosie” will always be my favorite when it comes to these retro throwbacks. Matsuo originally started off as a member of a British-style pop/techno group Cinema in 1981 before he went solo and polished
the old style even further. His debut single is full of charming
instrumentation especially the drum beat and percussions which I've gotten quite
addicted to. And even though the lyrics are kinda cheesy, I think the eclectic
arrangement makes up for it. The song just “sparkles”, for the
lack of a better word.
9. Mari Iijima -- Ai Oboetemasuka [飯島真理 -- 愛・おぼえていますか] (1984)
I apologize for a slight overlap with
JTM's list, but as far as 80's idol pop goes, Iijima's
signature song will always be the most memorable for me and not
because of its connection with “Macross”, which I never watched.
For me, Iijima has always stood out from the crowd thanks to her unique high vocals and in this one she sounds more beautiful then ever. And let's not forget Kazuhiko Kato's chill-inducing melody. This is basically my go-to track for reminiscing the good old days.
(15:25)
10. Yoshitaka Minami -- Jules et Jim /
Totsuzen, Honoo no Gotoku [南佳孝 -- 突然炎のごとく] (1986)
Last but not least, Minami's mysterious
jazzy number from his excellent album “Last Picture Show”
provides a perfect soundtrack for those late-night walks to my
apartment I have to take on a regular basis. I particular enjoy the surreal foggy ambience created by the fusion between the haunting synths and
strings in the foreground and the muted trumpet in the background.
Minami's relaxed yet sharp vocals glide with the music seamlessly. Not surprisingly, the title and the music were based on
Francois Truffaut's New Wave classic “Jules et Jim”, and there's
certainly a sense of the film's elegant setting guiding the melody. It's a masterfully crafted track, in my opinion.
So that's it. There were many strong candidates that
had to be pushed aside, so I hope to give them their own recognition in more genre-specific rankings which I plan to do later. It sure does feel strange to narrow down
a decade-worth of good music to a tiny list like this, but it was an educational experience nonetheless. Most of these may not have been successful on Oricon and
some weren't even singles, but they're still great tracks in my book.
I tried to make this list as diverse as possible, but I must say that
I only take punk and avant-garde in small doses and still have a long way to go with rock in general, so I stuck with poppier material which I'm more comfortable writing about. Perhaps we'll get a new contributor in the future who is an expert on those?
There's almost something religiously inspirational about Rebecca's"Maybe Tomorrow", the final titular track from the band's 4th studio album, released in November 1985. Lead vocal NOKKO seems to tiredly but resolutely sing out her words of pressing forward no matter how hard since "maybe tomorrow" the goal will be attained; the climax is that sustained final word. And keyboardist Akio Dobashi's（土橋安騎夫） music reminds me of church music in a way, right down to the synth's final two notes thrumming "Amen". Overall, there is a bit of a "Bridge Over Troubled Water" feel to it.
"Maybe Tomorrow" was used as a song for a coming-of-age NTV drama, "Half-Potato na Ore Tachi"（ハーフポテトな俺たち....Us Half-Potatoes） which involved the turbulent lives of some high school sophomores via part-time work at a hamburger shop. One of the cast members happened to be a young Miki Imai（今井美樹） just before her singing debut. The drama also profiled a couple of other Rebecca songs as its opening and ending themes, including their big hit,"Friends".
As for the album, "REBECCA IV -- Maybe Tomorrow", it hit the No. 1 spot twice in November right after its release and even enjoyed an extended stay at the top spot for most of February 1986. Despite the late release date, the album managed to be ranked No. 45 on the 1985 yearly chart and went all the way up to No. 3 for the annual Oricon album chart the following year. Pretty darn inspirational there, too. And I think that final track should be used as a rallying cry for any high school sports team.
Image courtesy of GirlsChannel - http://girlschannel.net/topics/2207/
While not as heart-wrenching and dark as "Seija No Koushin"/ 『聖者の行進』 and "Kono Yo No Hate"/『この世の果て』, 野島伸司/Nojima Shinji’s 1999 Fuji TV drama series "Lipstick"/『リップスティック』 is certainly a stark and sobering melodrama to be sure. Nojima’s unconventional romance drama revolves around the troubled love affair between a young juvenile delinquent Hayakawa Ai/早川藍 (portrayed by the always wonderful 広末涼子/Hirosue Ryoko) and the much older Corrections Officer Ariake Yu/有明悠 (三上博史/Mikami Hiroshi) who is assigned to oversee her stay at a low-level security Juvenile Detention Facility until she can have her criminal case reviewed in Japanese Family Court. Ai, the daughter of a rich businessman, had been betrayed by a supposed friend who cheated her out of a large sum of money. In retaliation Ai assaults and seriously injures the girl and her boyfriend at a Tower Records store in Tokyo. While Ai is combative and uncooperative towards everyone else, she strangely opens up to the kindly and supportive Yu and they develop a close almost teacher/student relationship. Yu (who is a brilliant and talented painter by training) has his own set of issues as he is in love with his late brother's wife Kuwada Chihiro/麻生祐未 (麻生祐未/Aso Yumi), a classically trained flutist. Yet she can't return the sentiment as she is still recovering from the loss of her husband and has become withdrawn and reclusive.
Ai and Yu - L-R - Yu (Mikami Hiroshi) & Ai (Hirosue Ryoko)
Ai befriends a number of girls at the facility including the soft-spoken honors student Ikawa Mashiro/井川真白(scene-stealing 池脇千鶴/Ikewaki Chizuru), who was arrested for deliberately injuring her abusive step-father; the emotionally scarred Junior High School student Suzuoka Kobato/鈴岡小鳩, affectionately nicknamed 「ぽっぽ」(cute 真柄佳奈子/Magara Kanako) who is accused of assaulting another student at her school and who suffers from extreme OCD and ADD behavior; the "Yankee" tough girl 松田理恵子/Matsuda Eriko (singer/actress 伊藤歩/Itou Ayumi) who committed robbery as part of a gang of girls but who decided to take the full responsibility for the crime (she later implicated her accomplices so that she can get a lighter sentence so that she can reunite with her “freeter” boyfriend); and the troubled Miike Anna/三池安奈 (Nakamura Aiimi/中村愛美), a beautiful high school student who was brainwashed by her boyfriend, the charismatic and emotionally manipulative Makimura Hiroki/牧村紘毅 (窪塚洋/Kobuzuka Yosuke) into taking drugs and prostituting herself to Makimura's associates and who also suffers from suicidal tendencies. While Anna is still under Makimura’s enthrall even in prison, she struggles to free herself from his influence with the help of kindly former juvenile delinquent turned Correction Officer, Kasai Takao (いしだ壱成/Ishida Issei).
On The Run - Ai and her fellow student detainees - L-R - Anna (Nakamura Aiimi), Eriko (Itou Ayumi), Ai (Hirosue Ryoko), Ikawa Mashiro (Ikewaki Chizuru) and PoPo (Magara Kanako)
Along the way Ai and her fellow detained peers share many experiences and face a number or trials and tribulations while trying to adjust to life at the Juvenile Facility. Ai in particular struggles with her growing romantic feelings for Yu. She plays psychological and emotional games with Yu in the hopes of trying to win his affections and to break through the various emotional barriers that he has put up since the death of his brother. When Yu and Chihiro's relationship begins to become more romantic, Ai withdraws and becomes more hostile and unruly. In one of many unsettling dramatic moments, the romantic rivalry between Ai and Chihiro comes to a head when Chihiro in a desperate move to win Yu's affections, blinds herself by toppling a standing TV set (which shatters glass debris into to her eyes) right in front of a horrified Ai. One can't say that Nojima is one for subtlety.
Blinded by Love - Chihiro (Aso Yumi) literally blinds herself for Yu.
レベッカ/REBECCA's signature 1985 single 「Friends」 was used as the theme song for the series. Even though the song had already been used previously as the theme song for Nihon TV's 1985 drama series 『ハーフポテトな俺たち』/"Half Potato No Oretachi", the remixed version of the song was selected for this series and it is indeed a fitting theme song for this series. J-Canuck has already posted an entry for "Friends" previously, so I would like to instead highlight another REBECCA song that was featured prominently in the series. 「Virginity」plays during one of the most emotionally tragic and heart-wrentching sequences in the series - during the death of popular charcter Mashiro.
For those who have not watched the series, you may want to skip this part of the post as there are major *Spoilers* and plot details that will be discussed. During the course of the drama, the audience learns more about the tragic homelife of Mashiro (who was so named as her kindly biological father loved the smell and feel of freshly washed white sheets) and how she had come to be held at the facility. We learn that Mashiro's weak willed mother had been abandoned by Mahiro's biological father and that she had eventually fallen in love again with a low-life scumbag 小泉章吾/Koizumi Shogou (chillingly played by veteran character actor 夏八木勲/Natsuyagi Isao) who not only physcially abused Mashiro but had also sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions. Mashiro had hidden the fact from her mother and was now pregnant with Koizumi's child. While Mashiro had initially wanted to keep the baby, she eventually relents to pressure from everyone and undergoes an abortion at the facility. While Mashiro had made a promise to her mother that she would protect and take care of her after she is released (Mashiro's mother was also victimized and abused by Koizumi), Mashiro's mother learns of Mashiro's aborted pregnancy and becomes insanely jealousand goes as far as to blame Mashiro for seducing her lover. Mashiro is eventually released back to the custody of her vendictive mother (whom she grudgingly goes back to live with having no where else to go). On the first day of her return back, she is again savagely beaten by Koizumi and raped again as her mother seemingly ignores her pleas for help. Betrayed by her mother and seeing no happy future left, Mashiro goes to the abondoned buidling that she, Ai and the rest of the group had once fled to (after briefly escaping the facility earlier in the series) and jumps from the building in a symbolic attempt to "fly into the sun" (like the myth of Icarus) and obtain her happiness. This has to be one of the saddest and most emotionally haunting sequences I've ever seen in Japanese Drama and was made all the more tearful by young actress Ikewaki Chizuru memorable and poignant performance as well as REBECCA's stirring song "Virginity" which played in the background.
Of course in typical melodramatic J-Dorama fashion, Hirosue's character Ai gets to revenge Mashiro when she sacrifices her own chance at freedom (she was to be released from the facility due to good behavior) to maim Koizumi by impaling his leg with the point of an umbrella (after he had make a snide and condescending remark about Mashiro finally being in heaven) as a devasted Yu looks on knowing that Ai will be surely be sentanced to a lengthy prison term for this action.
Nojima Shinji's dramas typically
don't end on a happy note and "Lipstick" is no exception. While not as
depressing as "Kokou Kyoshi"/『高校教師』 or "Kono Yo No Tate"/ 『 この世の果て』,
"Lipstick" ends rather ambiguously.
"Revenge" - Ai (Hirosue Ryoko) maims scumbag Koizumi (Natsuyagi Isao) with an umbrella.
REBECCA's song 「 ヴァージニティー 」 was the 1st track to their 2nd mini album release 『Nothing To Lose』(1984). Written by songwriter 宮原芽映/Miyahara Mebae and composed by REBECCA leader 土橋安騎夫/Dobashi Akio, it was infact one of the first songs Dobashi's composed for the group (he would later collaborate with lead singer NOKKO to write the vast majority of their hits including their two biggest hits 「フレンズ」 and 「RASPBERRY DREAM」. Having a more somber and gritty rock sound, "Virginity" definitely sounds like a precursor to "Friends". While released as a single is didn't really make much of an impression on the Oricon charts (it wouldn't be until their next single 「 ラブ イズ Cash 」(1985) until they would make the first of many placements on the Oricon charts). Despite this, "Viriginity" is still one of my favorite REBECCA songs (owing to the "Lipstick" drama) and has become a bit more appreciated after-the-fact by fans. The PV for the song is also pretty nice with NOKKO sporting more of a cool rocker look as opposed to her typical "Madonna" inspired pop attire.
Image courtesy of http://www.ds-sounds.jp/cart/detail.php?n=22694&sc=&sw=&so=&p=442
Image courtesy of http://dakafal.wordpress.com/2007/09/22/albums-rebecca-rebecca-4-maybe-tomorrow-poison-time-voice-print-and-blond-saurus/
While "Lipstick" was released to VHS in the past, it is surprisingly not available on DVD format or Blu-Ray which is a shame. "Lipstick" is perhaps one of the best Japanese dramas of the 90s and was one of Hirosue's more memorable roles.
The radiant and always charming Hirosue Ryoko - Image courtesy of Goo.ne.jp
Hirosue is one of my favorite actresses and has had a successful career both on TV and in movies appearing in such dramas like 『Summer Snow』 (2000), 『Slow Dance』 (2005) and films like "Bubble Fiction"/『バブルへGO!!～タイムマシンはドラム式～』 (2007) and "Okuribito AKA Departures"/ 『おくりびと』 (2008). Hirosue can currently be seen in the Fuji TV drama series "Starman"/『スターマン ・ この星の恋』 (2013).
I'd always wondered where the band got its name. The first leader of the band, guitarist Takehiko Kogure（小暮武彦）, revealed that "Rebecca" came from Kate Douglas Wiggin's"Rebecca of Sunnybook Farm"(according to J-Wiki)....not sure if he had been a fan of hers. Another interesting piece of trivia I got was that he and lead vocalist NOKKO had actually gone to America before the band got started in 1984 to try their luck there, but didn't quite succeed so they returned.
My first sighting of the band was on one of the music ranking shows, and they did a live remote appearance of one of their hits, "Monotone Boy"(so probably around 1987). I'll be honest with you...NOKKO's vocals were off, and the song was meant to be fairly screamed out, so I wasn't too impressed. I just thought "NEXT!"
Then, I came across one of their earlier singles, and thought it a lot more appealing. "Friends" was Rebecca's 4th single, released in October 1985, and whenever I hear it now, it just takes me back to those days when there were bands and singers which were going a different way from the aidoru and enka routes. NOKKO just reminded me of a softer and perhaps shorter version of Pat Benatar, and this single sounded, in a glancing way, of Benatar's big hit, "Love is a Battlefield". The sound also made me think of some of the pop/rock that had been going on in the early 80s back in the US; stuff by Quarterflash, for instance.
Written by NOKKO and composed by Rebecca keyboardist Akio Dobashi（土橋安騎夫）, "Friends" also happened to be the theme songs for two different TV dramas, "Half-Potato na Oretachi"（ハーフポテトな俺たち....Us Half-Potatoes) in 1985 and "Lipstick" in 1999, both programs about growing up as teens. I saw a few episodes of the latter show, and the reappearance of the Rebecca classic got people remembering and probably singing it in the karaoke boxes. In its original release, the song got as high as No. 3. It was also a track on Rebecca's 4th album, "REBECCA IV -- Maybe Tomorrow"(November 1985) which hit the top spot on Oricon and became the 3rd-ranking album for 1986.
Still not sure about "Monotone Boy", but "Friends"...and "Lonely Butterfly" are some of my late 80s touchstones.
