Mikako Hashimoto -- Aoi Tokimeki（蒼いときめき）

 

The file for aidoru Mikako Hashimoto（橋本美加子）is still a small one but I remember when Marcos V. launched it back in 2018 with her Eurobeat "Touch My Heart" from 1987. A few more songs were added including "Mellow Season"（メロウ・シーズン）which was her debut single from March 1985. 

A new addition is here in the form of Hashimoto's 2nd single "Aoi Tokimeki" (A Blue Thrill) which was released in June 1985, and like "Mellow Season", it follows the conventional 1980s aidoru line. Written by SHOW and composed by Seishiro Kusunose（楠瀬誠志郎）, I'm still a sucker for those twinkling synths and the smooth strings. "Aoi Tokimeki" did rather modestly by scoring a No. 47 ranking at its peak and it was used for a Ban antiperspirant commercial.

Yutaka Kimura Speaks ~ Japanese City Pop Masterpieces 100: Seishiro Kusunose -- Boukensha-tachi（冒険者たち）

 

Number: 074

Lyricist: Shigeru Okawa

Composer: Seishiro Kusunose

Arranger: Akira Inoue

From Kusunose's 1987 album: "Boukensha-tachi"

"Boukensha-tachi" (The Adventurers) is one song that splendidly inherits the resplendence of the Niagara sound. It goes without saying that Akira Inoue's（井上鑑）arrangement greatly contributed to the end result, but Seishiro Kusunose's（楠瀬誠志郎）clarity and satisfying high-toned vocals along with the distance between city dwellers and the resorts that is masterfully expressed within the lyrics among other factors show off a unique hue that is reminiscent of the child-like nature of Happy End.

The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).

Makiko Imai -- Koi no Harmony（恋のハーモニー）

 

Yup, there's nothing like watching a compilation of adorable scenes from anime to realize how important a pancreas is. 

I also get the same shimmering feeling when I listen to this song by Makiko Imai（今井麻起子）. Titled "Koi no Harmony" (The Harmony of Love), this is a sweet pop duet (almost on Xmas levels) between the tarento/singer and Seishiro Kusunose（楠瀬誠志郎）. Shun Taguchi（田口俊）provided the lyrics of falling in love while Juicy Fruits' guitarist Toshihiko Shibaya（柴矢矢俊彦）came up with the basic melody arranged by Masataka Matsutoya（松任谷正隆）. Yuming's（ユーミン） husband once said that he was on a synthesizer kick at that time, which would explain a lot of her music in the late 80s going into the 90s, and he has since said that he has some regrets about that. Well, "Koi no Harmony" does have plenty of synthesizers in there but it still has that wonderfully nostalgic buzz due to that.

"Koi no Harmony" was a track on Imai's debut album "Ciao!" from February 1988, and the other two songs by her that have been put up onto KKP, "Belly Roll ~ Kaze no Josoji"（ベリー・ロール -風の助走路-）and "Koi wa Poker Face"（恋はポーカーフェイス）are from that same album. Methinks that I should look farther afield when it comes to her discography, but Imai only had one more album "Candy a Go Go!!" in 1989 before she called it a day for her singing career. Still, it's worth a look-see.

Seishiro Kusunose -- Elevator Town

 

Not to say that singer-songwriter Seishiro Kusunose's（楠瀬誠志郎）"Elevator Town" sounds anything like Go West's "Call Me" but they do have that smash-and-grab drumming in common, and I'm a big fan of "Call Me", and so I'm also a fan of "Elevator Town".

"Elevator Town" is a track on Kusunose's 2nd album "Boukensha-tachi"（冒険者たち...The Adventurers） from April 1987 and it starts with that drumming before some synthesizer jazz rhythms and some real brass come ramming down the headphones with the energy of Duke Ellington's band. I don't really have any idea what Ryo Koizumi's（小泉亮）lyrics are on about, but Kusunose's melody and Akira Inoue's（井上鑑） arrangement bring back some of those Zoot Suit days and nights into contemporary West Shinjuku. 

Hiroko Sohma -- Watashi wo Tsukamaete（私をつかまえて）

 

As much as there are probably dozens of 70s and 80s aidoru that I have had no idea about so far, I'm thinking that the same is most likely true for 90s pop singers. Case in point is one Hiroko Sohma（相馬裕子）, a singer-songwriter from Nagoya who was releasing singles within that decade but has been putting out albums up to 2009.

I managed to this one track from Sohma's 3rd album "Eien wo Sagashi ni"（永遠を探しに...In Search of Eternity） which was released in March 1993. "Watashi wo Tsukamaete" (Catch Me) is a solid pop song that actually wasn't created by her. Instead, it was Miyako Yoshimura（吉村みやこ）and Seishiro Kusunose（楠瀬誠志郎）behind words and music respectively. With Sohma's clear vocals, the strings, the twangy guitar, the whimsical trumpet and the overall upbeat arrangement, "Watashi wo Tsukamaete" feels like a hybrid of a late era Beatles song and early era Chika Ueda（上田知華）when she was with performing with Karyobin. Perhaps it can be said to be a 1990s version of that Fashion Music by Ueda, Ruiko Kurahashi（倉橋ルイ子）and Asami Kado（門あさ美）.

Sohma got her start in music in 1984 by becoming a vocalist in a band in junior high school. Half a decade later following her graduation from senior high, she began singing in live houses before releasing her debut album, "Wind Songs", in 1991. At the same time, she also acted as an on-air assistant for KBS Kyoto's radio program "Hyper Night"（はいぱぁナイト）. She ended up releasing 5 singles up to 1997 and then a total of 12 albums (including 2 BEST releases). In October 2017, Sohma apparently became the president of a chain of dining establishments that her partner had set up, according to her J-Wiki article.

Pops All Stars -- Holiday Company

 

The impression that I have about singer-songwriter Masamichi Sugi（杉真理）is that he's probably one of those folks who really enjoys setting up parties of all sorts ranging from the Xmas ones to the traditional year-enders in Japan, and I think that affinity probably transferred over to musical collaborations looking at his J-Wiki file. Seven years ago, nikala wrote about one such get-together featuring him and his fellow Sony stars including Yoshitaka Minami（南佳孝）and Kaoru Sudo（須藤薫）under the umbrella name of Pops All Stars to do a Xmas thing called "Yellow Christmas" via the "Winter Lounge" album from November 1986. I was reminded of the song recently from talks with Rocket Brown of "Come Along Radio" and Scott of his own J-Xmas podcast.

Well, just by luck last night, my YouTube browsings took me to the video for another Pops All Stars session called "Holiday Company", this time taking place several months later through "Summer Lounge" which was released in June 1987. With a slightly different and more expanded lineup consisting of the aforementioned Sugi, Minami and Sudo, along with vocal group Hi-Fi Set（ハイ・ファイ・セット）, rock band Princess Princess（プリンセスプリンセス）, singer-songwriter Tomoko Tane（種ともこ）, violinist Toshihiro Nakanishi（中西俊博）and singer-songwriter Seishiro Kusunose（楠瀬誠志郎）, this "Avengers" band of pop singers takes on Sugi's arrangement of hints of Steely Dan here and crashing synths there and even some doo-wop for some desire of fun-in-the-sun vacationing.

The video for "Holiday Company" also has the crew hamming it up as the most congenial corporate section getting ready for that annual company trip (with all of the typical cornball entertainment activities) on a yakata bune cruising down what I think is the Sumida River in Tokyo. I'm just trying to imagine Hi-Fi Set and Princess Princess boogying down in the same video while Minami is about as relaxed as I've ever seen him.

It also appears that Sugi kept the good times going for some years with a number of multi-singer projects going into the late 1990s. Once COVID is finally over, I can imagine that a lot of corporate sections will be more than happy to get into the party mood.

Seishiro Kusunose -- Boukensha-tachi（冒険者たち）

I think that this is more on the AOR or Resort Pop side of things (by way of Hakone or Shonan) than straight City Pop, but I refuse to split hairs here. Seishiro Kusunose's（楠瀬誠志郎）"Boukensha-tachi" (The Adventurers) is definitely one song to chase the blues away while bombing down the highway.

His 3rd single and also the title track from his 2nd album both released on the same day in April 1987, "Boukensha-tachi" begins gloriously with that guitar and no one should be blamed if they think that Kusunose was channeling some of that inner Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）through the song. In fact, according to his J-Wiki file, the singer-songwriter focused on those wonderful harmonies of Tats for a lot of his early songs, and he had even worked as part of the background chorus for the City Pop legend himself.

Indeed, Kusunose was behind the music with Akira Inoue（井上鑑）handling the arrangement. The lyrics were by Shigeru Okawa（大川茂）, one-third of the vocal group Hi-Fi Set（ハイ・ファイ・セット）.

Seishiro Kusunose -- Sugar Stick ~ She Got Married

Won't be having one of the above for a little while since this is the Strawberry Pancake at Fuwa Fuwa. I mean, Fuwa Fuwa does deliver and provides takeout during this global pandemic, but I think it's a little too extravagant to call in for anything this sweet and drippy right now, especially in my neck of the woods. However, if any of you in Toronto are game, you can check out their website.

I came up with that little sweet-toothed preamble so that I can introduce another Seishiro Kusunose（楠瀬誠志郎）song, "Sugar Stick ~ She Got Married" from his 2nd album "Boukensha-tachi"（冒険者たち...The Adventurers）, released in April 1987. Listening to this a few times, I think this is generally a smooth pop song but I also gradually came to feel that the underlying rhythms brought things just over the line into City Pop territory. It really is a cool nighttime mid-tempo tune with some good emotion in Kusunose's vocals although they don't get anguished. This was composed by the singer and written by Ryo or Akira Koizumi（小泉亮）; couldn't get a confirmation on the proper way to pronounce his name.

Back in my Japan days, I used to remember getting those sugar sticks whenever I ordered a cup of coffee or tea. I think I relied on those things a little too much.

Seishiro Kusunose -- Hottokenai yo（ほっとけないよ）

I hear this song and it seems like a realization of joy such as when someone finds out that he/she has just won a major lottery or that parenthood is on the way or even when love has taken full flight for the first time.

Seishiro Kusunose's（楠瀬誠志郎）10th single, "Hottokenai yo" (Can't Leave You Alone) was released in November 1991 but his melody sounds like happy pop straight from the mid to late 1980s. Shota Namikawa（並河祥太）was responsible for the lyrics of discovering that one has fallen head-over-heels and is more than willing to move Heaven and Earth to make his/her confession to the love interest. If it sounds like that it would make for a nice story, it was actually the theme song for a TBS drama "A.D. Boogie"（ADブギ）centering around the lives of three assistant directors.

"Hottokenai yo" peaked at No. 6 on Oricon. Considering the time of year that I'm writing about this, the song can also be a tonic against the winter blues.

Seishiro Kusunose -- Suteki na Hajimari（素敵なはじまり）

My feeling is that singer-songwriter Seishiro Kusunose（楠瀬誠志郎）is another one of those underrated talents that may not have gained superstardom but has had stories to tell and has done well telling them.

Contributor nikala was the first one to introduce Kusunose and I later wrote one about him through his song "Miss You" from 1986 which was very reminiscent of AOR/City Pop of the time. Now, I've found this tune by him from 1997 called "Suteki na Hajimari" (A Wonderful Beginning).

From his 10th album "Holiday", this happy-go-lucky number was written by Yuuho Iwasato（岩里祐穂）and composed by Kusunose and Yuji Toriyama（鳥山雄司）with arrangement by the latter as well. It does sound quite like 90s Japanese middle-of-the-road pop and I could imagine the band Sing Like Talking tackling "Suteki na Hajimari", too. Nice sax solo going with that bright and jangly melody with Kusunose's high-toned vocals steadily flying above it all.

Seishiro Kusunose -- Miss You

nikala wrote about singer-songwriter Seishiro Kusunose（楠瀬誠志郎）a few years ago for his 1990 song "Eien no Yakusoku"（永遠の約束...Eternal Promises）. Unfortunately, the video with the original song has been taken down (although I've put up a cover version). To be honest, I forgot how the fellow sounded after listening to the video but my impression is that he has come up with some solid polished pop.

https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E5%AE%9D%E5%B3%B6%E2%80%90TREASURE-ISL-%E6%A5%A0%E7%80%AC%E8%AA%A0%E5%BF%97%E9%83%8E/dp/B000064QN7

(excerpt only)

Earlier today, I found this compilation of City Pop songs that have been appearing like squirrels in my neighbourhood on YouTube over the past several months. And when I checked out the first song, it turned out to be a Kusunose track from his first album "Takarajima"（宝島...Treasure Island）from April 1986. Now, the uploader for the compilation tagged the song as "Shizuka na Gogo" (also on the same album) but listening to a cover version of that song elsewhere on YouTube, I realized that there was a mixup of sorts judging by the lyrics. So, the song is actually "Miss You". (Unfortunately, the video got taken down almost as quickly as it was put up but I was able to replace it at least with a 30-second excerpt.)

If memory serves me correctly, "Eien no Yakusoku" from 1990 was pretty City Pop in its original form. Well, "Miss You" from four years earlier also definitely has that vibe but with a bit of something extra...something dreamier. Yep, Kusunose wrote and composed the song about getting in that car alone and driving on the highway while thinking about a loved one....perhaps permanently or temporarily parted.

Kusunose has got quite the voice and he certainly can weave quite an arrangement. That particular synthesizer and the backing vocals stand out. In fact, that first yell of what sounded like "HARD TIME" in the song knocked my neck back when I heard it for the first time.

The singer is still active today and he released his latest album, "Let's Sweet Groove",  in the last few months although it hasn't been mentioned in his J-Wiki entry but his new website has got it. As well, nikala has already written a bit of his bio in her article.

Pops All Stars -- Yellow Christmas

As we get into the Christmas season here with all the bright displays in shops, fried chicken advertisements and Christmas cake sales (I still don't get what's the big deal; strawberry shortcake is available all year long), I thought I'd also contribute with a few seasonal favorites of mine. The one that came to my mind first is "Yellow Christmas", a collaborative effort from 1986 between various City Pop singers, including Masamichi Sugi (杉真理), Hi-Fi Set (ハイ・ファイ・セット), Yoshitaka Minami (南佳孝), Seishiro Kusunose (楠瀬誠志郎), and Kaoru Sudo (須藤薫). PSY-S and then-recently debuted Pizzicato V also join the fun. Thanks to the playful mood and the cheeky video, this is as Japanese as a Japanese Christmas song gets. The title itself is a tongue-in-cheek racial jab on the term "White Christmas". Sugi is the one who wrote and composed this song and takes the lead vocal duties, with the other artists playing along. That video never fails to make me smile, especially his and Masaya Matsuura's antics. There's even a parody of Kohaku Utagassen at the very end.

"Yellow Christmas" was released as a single in November 1986 and included on a special compilation album "Winter Lounge". The other tracks are solos by all the singers. About half a year later, Pops All Stars returned to celebrate the hot season with "Summer Lounge", though with a different lineup.

Source: moonlight-oyazi.at.webry.info

Seishiro Kusunose -- Eien no Yakusoku (永遠の約束)

Link here.   (excerpt only)

  Those horns! This song never fails to reawaken my love for summer, despite the hellish heat of it here in Gifu City, Japan. It's just so bright and optimistic with some action-packed arrangement. And then there's Seishiro Kusunose's (楠瀬誠志郎) crystal-clear vocals that just seamlessly glide and soar above the song. Today, I finally had a chance to access the digital versions of the CDs I left back home in Toronto via cloud storage and immediately leaped to Kusunose's 1990 album "Itsumo Aeru Wake janai kara" (いつも逢えるわけじゃないから), since it was one of my jams from Canada summer 2012. "Eien no Yakusoku" (永遠の約束) is the opening track from that album. I still associate it with those speedy drives through Gardiner Expressway while CN Tower and Lake Ontario come into view and hot wind blows through the car windows, though now I may want to give it a spin while approaching the sea on a train or a highway bus. Either way, my brain gets filled with bright shades of blue and green whenever I listen to this, as evident in the Youtuber's choice of photos in the video above.

As for Kusunose, he started off as an apprentice for Shuichi "Ponta" Murakami during his student years and later became a singer for Masamichi Sugi's backing chorus group The Dreamers. He released his first solo album as a singer-songwriter, "Takarajima" (宝島), in 1986. I don't have the Japanese City Pop book with me at the moment, but I distinctly remember the review for "Takarajima" describing him as having pop sensibility that matches that of Happy End and Tatsuro Yamashita. Though in my opinion he may not have the overall genius of those two acts, he has produced some mighty enjoyable tunes. I believe his most well-known hit is "Hottokenai yo" from 1991. After his first two albums he moved away from straight City Pop towards the airy version of it, but the roots still remained there as you can hear in "Eien no Yakusoku". He hasn't recorded anything since 2001 and instead decided to focus on his vocal training studio Breavo-para. I did, however, watch a recent video of him performing "Hottokenai yo" in a concert and was amazed at how well he preserved that voice of his over the years despite aging quite a bit on the outside.