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.
Showing posts with label Seiichiro Kuribayashi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Seiichiro Kuribayashi. Show all posts
Some of you may remember that Author's Picks article I did on some of those Camellia Diamonds commercial songs including Kahoru Kohiruimaki（小比類巻かほる）and Masayuki Suzuki（鈴木雅之）. They were some of the classier stuff that I've covered.
Well, I recently discovered that there was another song that deserved to be on the Camellia Diamonds list, and that was Tomoko Aran's（亜蘭知子）"Everything". A track on the singer-songwriter's 9th studio album"Sunny Side Memories" from April 1990, it was written by her and composed by Seiichiro Kuribayashi（栗林誠一郎）as this fairly dramatic number with a soupcon of Latin. Admittedly, it kinda hovers over the City Pop/pop borderline but I couldn't help but get some of those metropolitan music vibes from this one., and to be honest, I think "Everything" could have even become an ending theme for some romantic drama or cop show. But hey, diamonds are good, too!
Yesterday, I was speaking with KKP friend, JTM, and I noticed that there was a very Mariya Takeuchi-esque（竹内まりや）poster hanging on his wall. My curiosity piqued, I asked him what it was all about and he told me that he found it at this site called Displate which specializes in metal posters, and apparently there is a City Pop section so for all of you fans out there, you can check it out.
Summer officially arrived here in Toronto at 5:14am this morning and although it was still pretty fresh this morning, the season really roared in from the afternoon, so the temperatures were up to 28 degrees Celsius with a Humidex close to 40 degrees. I was out with a few friends for lunch today and I did my fair share of walking so I'm aching all over as I type this. I could really use that Peach Banana smoothie that you see above.
Well, since it is the first day of summer and therefore the longest day of the year, let's have something seasonally apt. Last year, I wrote about Shogo Hamada's（浜田省吾）old group from the 1970s,Aido（愛奴）, and their "Natsu no Futari"（夏の二人）. Strangely enough, though, that 1976 song was created by band guitarist Tohru Aoyama（青山徹）following Hamada's departure from Aido.
Today, though, I have Aido's debut single"Futari no Natsu"(Two of Us in Summer) ...yeah, just flip a couple of words around. Released in May 1975, unlike the later mellower and perhaps closer to AOR "Natsu no Futari", "Futari no Natsu" has more of that gentle 1950s Richie-and-Mary Beth romantic melodiousness, thanks to Hamada who wrote and composed it. Indeed, it's all about a couple in love just lying on the beach at night and enjoying the moment. I can hear a lot of Beach Boys and "Theme from A Summer Place".
Hamada would cover his creation as his June 1987 21st single, getting up to No. 25. It was also included in his 2nd mini-album from the same month "CLUB SURFBOUND" that hit No. 1. The above imaginative video has that very song as part of a video collection that Hamada provided titled "SHOGO HAMADA Visual Collection "FLASH&SHADOW"" from August 2005. Man, it's so "American Graffiti"!
Actually, I decided to kill two birds with one stone with ZARD's own "Futari no Natsu", but the only similarity is the title. Otherwise, it's a wholly different animal created by lyricist Izumi Sakai（坂井泉水）and composer Seiichiro Kuribayashi（栗林誠一郎）, and it didn't even come out as a single but as the final track on the singer's July 1993 4th original album"Yureru Omoi"（揺れる想い...Shifting Feelings）.
The lyrical content also differs from Aido's "Futari no Natsu" in that ZARD's"Futari no Natsu" is a wistful re-encounter between two former lovers at a bus stop one hot day, with all of the feelings remaining in the lady's side. "Yureru Omoi" hit No. 1 on the Oricon weeklies and became the No. 1 album for the entire year, and it still hung around to become the No. 54 album for 1994.
I guess I can say that there for several years in the 90s and 00s, there was that golden age of ZARD. Time wouldn't pass too long during that time before there was another announcement of a single by the late Izumi Sakai（坂井泉水）, aka ZARD, being released. Plus, there was that distinct sound she brought with her music via the guitars, the keyboards and her voice. It was always a sign of summer, in a way. And perhaps she could have been a female equivalent of TUBE.
One of the songs that got a lot of attention back then was "Don't you see!". This was her 19th single released in January 1997 (interesting release date, but it's still a summer song to me), and thanks to that title, it was an easy thing for the song to burrow itself into my memories. Written by Sakai and composed by musician-singer Seiichiro Kuribayashi（栗林誠一郎）, it's an impassioned plea for love to someone who may be exhibiting some relationship reluctance or the fellow may be completely clueless about love.
I remember during those days when ZARD seemed to be as camera-shy as Greta Garbo in her later years. There would be some jokes about rare ZARD sightings on TV. And yet, I think she was probably plenty accessible at her concerts.
What I hadn't known before deciding to do the article was that "Don't you see!" was the 2nd ending theme for the anime "Dragonball GT"（ドラゴンボールGT）which had its run between February 1996 and November 1997. I noticed that the intro to the anime version was a lot more rousing. Of all of the theme songs for the "Dragonball" franchise, this was the only one to hit No. 1 on the Oricon weeklies and in its first week, to boot.
It ended up selling more than 600,000 copies and eventually became the 46th-ranked single of the year. Its first appearance on an album was "ZARD BLEND 〜SUN&STONE〜" from April 1997 which also hit No. 1 and became the 5th-ranked album of the year, breaking the 2 million barrier. Hard to believe that it's been over a decade since the passing of Sakai.
I found the English version of "Don't you see!" although I couldn't find out who the singer was.
As I've mentioned in past articles, there was that period between 1991 and 1994 when I was back here in Toronto to go back to school. I joined up with my old university club at U of T but despite that and all those connections to Japanese pop music through my fellow club mates and the magazine "Eye-Ai" (through money order), I felt that I had lost that strong link with access to J-Pop. Part of it was because I was so ravenous about my CD purchases during my 1989-1991 stay in Gunma.
So in a way, I kinda missed out on who was hot in the Japanese music industry during those early 1990s. When I left Japan in July 1991, acts like Wink, Kazumasa Oda（小田和正）and Princess Princess were some of the big guns. When I arrived back there in late 1994, it was TRF, Namie Amuro（安室奈美恵）and Mr. Children. Going over the history of those middle years, I realized that I was missing out on folks such as Dreams Come True (although they continued to put out mega-hits until late into the 1990s), ZARD and some of those other guitar bands such as WANDS and ZYYG. I'm still rather exploring that so-called lost age.
Of course, ZARD aka Izumi Sakai（坂井泉水）still continued to put out hits even after I started my second stint in Japan but I felt that she really came into her own during that patch between 1991 and 1994. And to be honest, I hadn't felt all that much of a fan of hers since I kinda thought that a lot of her output sounded all the same. Even now, I'm not sure about collecting a compilation of her hits.
Still, I've been coming across a few of her songs on YouTube in small doses, and I've enjoyed this one titled "Kimi ga Inai" (You Are Not Here) which was written by her and composed by ZYYG member Seiichiro Kuribayashi（栗林誠一郎）. This was her 7th single from April 1993.
The thing I like about "Kimi ga Inai" is that loopy guitar rhythm which rolls in right from the start. There is almost something Beatles about it and then there is Sakai providing some nice harmony. It's a pretty jaunty song about a young lady remembering a former relationship and perhaps still showing some regret about the breakup although one of the lines states that the guy lied to her. However, that upbeat melody hints that she's not particularly dwelling on the situation full-time. There are many other fish in the sea.
"Kimi ga Inai" was another success for ZARD. It hit No. 2 on Oricon and sold over 800,000 copies, becoming the 30th-ranked single of the year. The song was also placed on her 4th original album"Yureru Omoi"（揺れる想い...Shifting Memories） from July 1993 which not only struck No. 1 on the weekly charts but ended up as the No. 1 album of the year, selling 2 million copies.
Composer Kuribayashi covered his own creation about a decade later in his album of covers "complete of Seiichiro Kuribayashi & Barbier at the BEING studio" in 2003. It is a bit more rumbly although I think that same synthesizer is in there.
I was having a talk with commenter Yuie-chan some days ago on an article for 80s band THE GOOD-BYE about a musician that she had known about named Seiichiro Kuribayashi（栗林誠一郎）. Talented on a number of instruments as a composer, she informed me that she just loved his vocals and gave me a couple of recommendations. I liked both songs but it's the second one that has me writing about him for the first time.
However, the strange thing is that it isn't actually the first time that I've mentioned him on the blog, though. Kuribayashi debuted back in 1987 by providing the summer band TUBE with some of their songs. Plus, I've mentioned him as being a member of the Nagisa no All-Stars（渚のオールスターズ）, the supergroup of sorts which included the aforementioned TUBE, and singer-songwriters Tomoko Aran（亜蘭知子）and Tetsuro Oda（織田哲郎）. In the 1990s, he was also part of the rock band ZYYG for about a year.
The second recommendation that Yuie-chan made was "Donna ni Tsuyoku Daite mo" (No Matter How Hard You Hold Me), a track on Kuribayashi's 7th solo album from November 1995, "Rest of My Life". It's a sad but beautiful and contemplative ballad about how people change and love doesn't necessarily last forever. The musician was responsible for the great music with Kanako Oda（小田佳奈子）writing the lyrics. I guess it might be because of the material but there is a sunset feeling with "Donna ni Tsuyoku Daite mo" and the bluesy guitar solos reflect the setting sun and the 90s for that matter very well.
I was going to write about the first recommendation but since it is also a song that the late ZARD had taken care of, I will see about tackling that one together.
Gotta admit that the title is cute and clever. Well, summer is indeed here and it has become a "Kayo Kyoku Plus" tradition to bring in a TUBE song to herald the hot season. I had actually thought about writing about one of their many singles when I figured that it has been a while since I brought in a BEST article so here is "TUBEst". Released in December 1989 (I guess the boys are not lacking in irony with that release date), it was the band's very first BEST compilation.
As for the asterisked entries finishing up the album, they are actually the products of the Nagisa no All Stars（渚のオールスターズ）, an informal summery supergroup consisting of TUBE, two of their songwriting contributors Tetsuro Oda and Tomoko Aran（織田哲郎・亜蘭知子）, and a whole bunch of other musicians. I will take care of those songs in another article but "Be My Venus" has already been covered.
"Sentimental ni Kubittake" (Sentimentally Head Over Heels) was the band's 2nd single from October 1985 when they were still known as The Tube. As with their debut entry, "Best Seller Summer", the song had more of a 1950s rock-boppy beat along the lines of early 1980s acts such as The Chanels or The Checkers, although lead vocal Nobuteru Maeda's（前田亘輝）delivery was already in there. It was created by the same duo behind "Best Seller Summer", Kisaburo Suzuki and Yoshiko Miura（鈴木キサブロー・三浦徳子）. It peaked at No. 64 on Oricon and is also a track on The Tube's 2nd album, "Offshore Dreamin'" which got as high as No. 62 on the LP charts.
As for the lyrics....just like a lot of TUBE songs, they all have to do with frolicking on the beach!
"Because I Love You" was TUBE's 4th single from September 1986 and their first ballad out as a single. It makes for a nice sunset song for the young lovers just walking on the beach. Written by Tomoko Aran and composed by Daiko Nagato and Masatoshi Nishimura（長戸大幸・西村麻聡）, it peaked at No. 13 and was the 78th-ranked single of the year. It is also available on TUBE's 4th original album, "Boys on the Beach".
Then there is the even better ballad "Remember Me" although it's much more bittersweet since it deals with reminiscing over a past romance. TUBE's 8th single from December 1988, that piano intro reminded me of an old Boz Scaggs tune. This was Maeda's first foray into writing lyrics for an official TUBE single while Seiichiro Kuribayashi（栗林誠一郎）took care of the music. "Remember Me" jumped up to No. 12, and I think as long as the young lovers don't listen to the lyrics too hard, it should also still make for good strolling-along-the-beach-at-dusk music. It belonged to TUBE's 8th original album as the title track.
Back to some fun in the sun with "Summer City", the song that triggered me to write about TUBE today. I was surprised to realize that I had yet to write about this one into the blog considering that I enjoyed the song after it came out in June 1989, about a couple of months before my arrival in Japan for the JET Programme. That intro which was the musical equivalent of a bunch of delirious surfer dudes racing to be the first one into the ocean before Maeda yells out "SUMMER CITY!" could be the clarion call for all to hit the beaches. Maeda took care of both words and music with this single which peaked at No. 11 and ended up as the 87th-ranked single of the year. It was also the title track for TUBE's 9th album which came out just a few weeks after the release of the single. The album itself topped out at No. 6 and was the 59th-ranked album of the year.
"TUBEst" itself peaked at No. 5 and became the 75th-ranked album for 1990, going Double Platinum and selling over 600,000 copies. And the good times would still keep going for TUBE with 5 more BEST albums into the 21st century.
Gotta have another TUBE song in there before the summer goes out. "Dance With You" was the band's 6th single, released in August 1987. I hadn't heard this one in years, and I guess it's one of those cases where absence makes the heart grow fonder since my body suddenly became flush with endorphins and my mind flooded with all those engrams of years ago.
Although the lyrics were by frequent collaborator, singer-songwriter Tomoko Aran（亜蘭知子）, the melody was by musician Seiichiro Kuribayashi（栗林誠一郎）. When TUBE bassist Hideyuki Kakuno（角野秀行） had to recuperate from a traffic accident, Kuribayashi stepped in as the replacement bassist during the band's live tours. He was even the bassist participating in the recording of B.B. Queens' megahit, "Odoru Ponpokorin"（おどるポンポコリン）.
Kuribayashi definitely got the TUBE vibe down pat when he came up with the song. I couldn't notice any difference between his composition and any of the songs by regular TUBE composer, Tetsuro Oda（織田哲郎）. The dynamic summery style is still happily imbued into "Dance With You" as well. It peaked at No. 3 on Oricon and it was also a track on the band's 6th original album,"Twilight Swim".
