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.
Today is a rather drab and dreary November day which is often par for the course here as the season starts changing. Quite appropriate for Hump Day, I imagine.
Let's go with something a bit off the beaten path, especially for singer Rie Nakahara（中原理恵）. When the name is mentioned, I usually get thoughts of City Pop by songs such as "Disco Lady"(ディスコ・レディー) back in 1978.
However, her final original album to date was "Un Art de Vivre" from September 1985 and judging from that title and this particular track from it, perhaps she was trying for something quite different. "Kon'ya Escape"(Escape Tonight) is a bit more avant-pop and New Wave. Written by Kenzo Saeki（佐伯健三） and composed by Saeki Suzuki（鈴木さえ子）, it almost sounds like a slower take on Little Eva's "The Loco-Motion" with some synths and weird horns that might have popped out of a David Bowie production. The desired effect has definitely been reached, though; this is no City Pop song. It's something that could have popped from the country that came up with the words "Un Art de Vivre".
I kinda figured that singer-songwriter Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）would delve into the sub-genre of Fashion Music, admittedly a name that I kinda ran with after seeing one newspaper or magazine introduce it years ago to describe the Japanese version of Baroque pop. The late Chika Ueda（上田知華）with her group Karyobin was the poster child, but with my image of Ohnuki from the late 80s onwards being that of a chanteuse of all things whimsical pop, she could easily have a piano and strings backing her up in the recording studio or music hall.
Well, no strings attached here but there is still something old-world-ish and whimsical in her November 1986 single"Hitorigurashi no Yousei-tachi" (Fairies Living Alone). This time around, Ohnuki provided just the lyrics while Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）and Saeko Suzuki（鈴木さえ子）worked on melody and arrangement. It's a hypnotically relaxing song with the undulating rhythm and then the bluesy sax later on. But of course, Ohnuki's light and clear vocals make all the difference.
"Hitorigurashi no Yousei-tachi" was used in a Family Mart convenience store commercial as well as for an NTV interview special. As the title might imply, there is something quite fantastical about the song although I'm not quite sure about the significance of fairies living alone. Mind you, if those fairies are indeed living alone, they may need to rely on the konbini more than usual.
When I first saw the title for this song "Jouki no Tatsu Machi"(Steamy Town), my memories brought up the city of Beppu in Oita Prefecture on the southern island of Kyushu. Back in the summer of 1991 when I was taking a tour of the area just before heading back to Toronto, I did go through Beppu but didn't really see the steam; I take it the rising white columns are more of a winter phenomenon. Unfortunately, I didn't get to partake in the onsen there, something that is nationally famous about the city.
As for "Jouki no Tatsu Machi", this was a track on singer-songwriter Saeko Suzuki's（鈴木さえ子）1983 debut album, "I wish it could be Christmas everyday", and I've already spoken about the synthpop title track. In comparison, though, "Jouki no Tatsu Machi" may have those synthesizers in play but I think it's overall more of a quirky mix of French pop and New Wave. In fact, I'd say that it is something rather reminiscent of Miharu Koshi（コシミハル）at around the same time when that singer was moving into that avant-garde New Wave field herself.
While Suzuki took care of the melody, Hirobumi Suzuki（鈴木博文）provided the lyrics. Suzuki is one of the more common names in Japan so it's probably no surprise that there is no familial relationship between Saeko and Hirobumi, but the latter is the brother of Moonriders' leader, Keiichi Suzuki（鈴木慶一）, who has had a long friendship with the singer.
Saeko Suzuki（鈴木さえ子）is listed in J-Wiki as a musician and composer proficient on percussion and keyboards. And what I hadn't known until earlier this morning is that she was also the person who came up with one of the most famous commercial jingles on Japanese TV. That would be "Sugu Oishii, Sugoku Oishii"（すぐおいしい、すごくおいしい...Soon Tasty, Really Tasty）for Nisshin's Chicken Ramen that I used to hear over and over again in various ways over the years. In fact, as a ramen fan (instant and restaurant-made), I'm developing a Pavlovian reaction as I hear the jingle right now. 😋
(from 2:58)
Hailing from Tokyo, Suzuki started at a young age on classical piano but was also influenced by her elder sister onto rock music, and then heading into high school, she got into drumming. From 1976 via Aoyama Gakuin University, she got into a number of bands and from 1980, she made her major debut and became a known musician in the New Wave/pop genres. In addition, that's when she started making her mark as a studio musician and a producer of commercial jingles.
1979 was the year that she got to know Keiichi Suzuki（鈴木慶一）of The Moonriders while she was in the band Cinema as the drummer. And several years later in July 1983, the two of them would work together to record and release an album called "I wish it could be Christmas everyday" under the duo name of Psycho Perches, but due to red tape involving the contract, it was put on sale as Saeko's solo debut album.
The title track would also come out as a single in November of that same year. "Mainichi Christmas dattara", written, composed and performed by Saeko, makes an impression as this quirky and bouncy synthpopXmas tune that could go well with an adventure in some department store's Toyland. In terms of the arrangement, I think "Mainichi Christmas dattara" tends toward the sound of bands such as PSY-S and even the very early Pizzicato Five rather than that of Yellow Magic Orchestra.
Some years later, Suzuki would cover the song again as a track on her 4th album"Studio Romanticist"（スタジオ・ロマンチスト ...STUDIO ROMANTIC）which was released in June 1987. The title would be extended a bit though into "I wish it could be Christmas everyday in the U.K.". As for the album itself, it peaked at No. 66.
Well, I was going to keep it to two articles of my own today but then I saw this video, and I simply had to get this one in. This is one of those rare gems that might come across my vision once in a blue moon and there is no sign of a blue moon tonight.
What I am talking about is this music video for "Haru Shite, Koi Shite, Mitsumete, Kiss Shite" (Make It Spring, Fall In Love, Look For It, Kiss Me) by this New Wave band called Portable Rock (ポータブル・ロック) which had its heyday between 1983 and 1986. And what is notable about it is who was fronting the band as its vocalist. It was none other than the lady who would half a decade later become the Divine Ms. M of Pizzicato Five, Maki Nomiya（野宮真貴）. I actually and somewhat offhandedly threw out the trivia that Nomiya had been part of this group in one of the first P5 articles I wrote, "Baby Portable Rock" back in early 2013, never knowing that I would ever witness an actual video from Portable Rock itself.
When Nomiya started her solo career in 1981, her backing musicians at her debut concert happened to be Nobuo Nakahara (中原信雄...bass) and Tomofumi Suzuki (鈴木智文...guitar). The following year, they decided to make it a permanent professional relationship by creating Portable Rock. However during their 3 years of existence, they never really hit it big although "Haru Shite Koi Shite, Mitsumete, Kiss Shite" was a tie-up song for the spring campaign for Kose Cosmetics in 1986. The song was written by Saeko Suzuki（鈴木さえ子）and composed by Keiichi Suzuki（鈴木慶一）of the Moonriders.
Still, it is interesting to see Nomiya in her mid-20s prancing about like a proto-version of her Shibuya-kei self singing a cute technopop commercial jingle. Now, I just gotta track down some of her solo stuff even before Portable Rock!
Ah, yes....the hire tonkatsu course at Hirata Bokujo. I had that at the Ginza branch of the tonkatsu franchise on the very last day of its operation before closing on a cool Saturday night in October during my trip back to Tokyo. Tender....really tender...pork wrapped in a crispy panko coating dipped into a zesty sauce and eaten with mouthfuls of hot rice and shredded cabbage. One of my wonderful culinary experiences in the country that I used to live in. But it wasn't just Hirata Bokujo alone. Basically, I never had a bad tonkatsu whether it was my neighbourhood eatery, Tonki, underneath the subway station or the fairly upscale place in Takashimaya Times Square across from Shinjuku Station.
Yes, waxing over a slab of tenderloin. Sorry...just can't help my foodie self here since I've been enjoying the Shaft-produced anime from the past winter season, "Koufuku Graffiti"（幸腹グラフィティ）with all of its graphically-depicted enjoyment of the fine dishes in Japan. I've already profiled the opening and ending themes from the show, but I think it is this particular song, a mere excerpt of which was used in the background while the characters of Ryo and Kirin talked about the next episode and did their little jig, that has captivated the fans and YouTube viewers. It's been called the "Taberu" song, a worthy earworm, and with the picture of a dish in the background, a powerful catalyst to grab something to nosh on. It is the tune that has launched a thousand stomachs.
The official title is "Shiawase Graffiti". I could translate it as "Happy Graffiti", but considering the languid melody and the lyrics, perhaps describing it as "Contented Graffiti" may be a better option. In any case, voice actors Rina Sato & Asuka Ohgame（佐藤利奈・大亀あすか）sing the whole song as if it were a kayo kyoku from the past. Listening to it the first several times, I was trying to grab the specific genre for it: enka? folk? There was certainly a sepia-toned similarity to it...kinda like the ol' tamagokake gohan that we used to have when we were very little. And in fact, if the producers had decided on making an official music video for "Shiawase Graffiti" and they had asked me for advice, I would have had Ryo and Kirin perform it a la "Enka no Hanamichi"（演歌の花道）style....the girls standing on some gloriously rendered set of a traditional restaurant as they sing wistfully to the heavens.
But strangely enough, I hit upon the idea. Perhaps the song by Akina Shinkoda（新小田明奈）and Ran Kumagaya（熊谷蘭）was a tribute to that 80s singing duo, Aming（あみん）, especially when it came to their biggest hit, "Matsu wa"（待つわ）. There's certainly a resemblance when it comes to the slow lilt of the melody and the vocal harmonies....although there wasn't that bit of doo-wop that's in "Shiawase Graffiti".
As for Shinkoda's lyrics, "Shiawase Graffiti" doesn't really center on the food so much as it does on the story of Ryo and Kirin's friendship through the food. It's basically the overarching theme for each episode as the girls worry how the other is doing and how warm they feel in each other's company. The food and the friendship provide the warm and fuzzies here. There was one line which was pretty telling from the pilot episode in which they realized that food tastes better when it's shared. Although I'll still enjoy that hamburger or roast chicken sandwich if I'm by myself, I can understand the truth behind having a well-cooked meal with family and friends.
"Gohan no Renshu"(Meal Practice) is a cutesy tune that was used as the background song when the sponsors were announced. It's as light and fluffy as cotton candy as Sato and Ohgame sing about not sweating the particulars of cooking technique and just believing that the meal will come out all right, especially if cooking for loved ones. Listen if you can pick out the various dishes and cuisine-related onomatopoeia that pop up in the lyrics. I also have to admire the musicians' use of kitchen utensils here as well. The song was written by Yosuke Kakegawa（掛川陽介）and composed by drummer Saeko Suzuki（鈴木さえ子）.
Well, "Koufuku Graffiti" finished its run last month and I'm kinda hoping that the somewhat open-ended finale may mean a second season (the manga is apparently still continuing). Perhaps Ryo and Kirin may focus on non-Japanese fare such as doner kebab or spaghetti bolognese.
