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.
You're getting the 2-for-1 deal today with singer-songwriter Senri Oe（大江千里）. Yup, two songs in one article...neither of which I have heard from him before.
First off, I was curious about how Oe when he was a pop star in the 1980s got his start since I've known him from the latter half of that decade and I've known him for his distinctive upbeat sound. Well, he made his debut in May 1983 with the single "Wallabee Nugi Sutete"(Kick Off Those Wallabees).
From Amazon
I think right from the start Oe has had that happy "Aw, gosh!" pop/rock style with "Wallabee Nugi Sutete" which struck me as being quite fast, and then I discovered that it's barely over three minutes. Couldn't ask for a poppier song. Masaaki Omura（大村雅朗）arranged everything by the way.
Personally, I've never worn a pair of Wallabees before but they certainly look comfortable. However, Oe's encouraging the guys to take them off, ostensibly to have that beachside barefoot walk with the girls they like. "Wallabee Nugi Sutete" didn't seem to make it onto the Oricon charts but for those Oe fans, this should be part of their collection. The song was also included on the singer's debut album which came out the same month as the single "WAKU WAKU" and according to the J-Wiki article, "Wallabee" had some big guns in the recording studio such as bassist-songwriter Tsugutoshi Goto（後藤次利）and drummer Jun Aoyama（青山純）.
Seeing the music video for the song, I'm convinced that I had seen it before decades ago when the Canadian music show "The New Music" did a special on the music of Japan. They showed a part of this video, specifically the part where Oe was walking on the audiotape in the middle of it.
I'd already had Oe's debut single in the backlog for a few weeks when I discovered that one of his later singles has become part of the "Ganbare! Nakamura-kun!!"（ガンバレ! 中村くん!!）ending theme family. His 14th single"Glory Days" gloriously finished off a nerve-racking Episode 10 of ever-tense Nakamura-kun waiting to get an autograph from his favourite manga author.
Oh, isn't that an adorable pair look for Nakamura and Hirose! Anyways, "Glory Days" was released in August 1988 and once again, Omura was there to arrange Oe's words and music. It was also a part of his 10th album "1234" which not only hit No. 6 on Oricon but was voted Best Album of the Year at the 3rd Annual Japan Gold Disk Awards.
Much as singer-songwriter and actor Gen Hoshino（星野源）has been doing for the past several years, a few decades ago, Senri Oe（大江千里）was the guy making merry with the hook-laden Japanese pop songs. One can almost taste the Oe style in his songs whether they be for some other artist such as Misato Watanabe（渡辺美里）or for himself. The songs are so upbeat in an 80s West Coast AOR sort of way.
Case in point: the track "Dear" on his 9th album"Apollo" from September 1990 (well, the song was also his 20th single which had come out a few months earlier). It had been a long time since I listened to an Oe tune but listening to this one had me snapping my fingers and going "Yep...it's an Oe!".
I can just see him standing at the piano while pounding those keys as I listen to "Dear". He may be hitting the black-and-whites very cheerfully but the melody is just like me after a satisfying trip to the buffet table: smooth and content and happy. Helping out Oe on words and music was Nobuyuki Shimizu（清水信之）who arranged everything. By the way, "Apollo" hit No. 1 on Oricon.
Young Mr. Oe was quite the popular guy in commercials, I see. Wasn't aware of that. In the above video, his "Dear" was used to sell the Suzuki Cultus at 2:41.
I gather that the powers-that-be or even the singer herself came to the conclusion that she and alcoholic beverages make a standout pair, and I don't mean that in a bad way at all.
With me being a casual jazz fan, Sayuri Ishikawa（石川さゆり）, who is usually an enka singer, stood out for her torch song "Whiskey ga O-Suki deshou?" (ウィスキーが、お好きでしょ）. I don't touch the stuff myself but even on ordering a Bailey's Irish Cream, I would probably end up having the song get into my head.
That particular single of Ishikawa was released back in 1990 and variations of it have made it onto Suntory Whiskey commercials since then. Not sure if the wine industry has been given the Ishikawa touch, but in June 2017, the veteran singer came out with her 115th single, "Shunkashuutou"（春夏秋冬...The Four Seasons） whose coupling song was "Wine wo Erande"(You Choose the Wine). This time, Ishikawa is going for not only a different alcoholic libation but a slight shift in genres: bossa jazz, always welcome music in my books.
The interesting observation here is that "Wine wo Erande" was written, composed and arranged by none other than Senri Oe（大江千里）, who began his career in the 1980s as the cutest boy wonder pop singer-songwriter but has since gone full bore into jazz. And with "Wine wo Erande", he has concocted quite the glass of velvety Brazilian with some robust class, hints of whirlwind romance and a soupcon of tease. On that note, I will end my sommelier analogy.
I was going to end it right there but then by happenstance, I came across this English-language interview with Oe about going from pop to jazz.
Happy Monday! Hopefully, I can indeed provide some of that good cheer for you with this particular song by singer-songwriter Senri Oe（大江千里）. Rocket Brown of Come Along Radio and I had a nice little chat for an hour on Saturday, and compared our lockdown situations in California and Ontario respectively, before talking about our mutual favoured genre of City Pop.
He introduced me to this one track from Oe's 6th album "OLYMPIC" from March 1987 called "Stella's Cough". This is an interesting title for one fun upbeat song. The horns (synth and real) and bouncing bass are in there to provide some goodly dollops of funk, but I'm not quite sure yet whether I would qualify "Stella's Cough" as a City Pop tune. What it is, though, is a catchy R&B/pop creation that I am not surprised that Oe would concoct. The lyrics talk about some tempest-in-a-teacup relationship with the titular Stella, a relationship that has even gotten the neighbours riled up. I could easily imagine Oe starring in his own comedy based on the song as he deals with his own Stella.
Though Oe has been a jazz musician for the past several years, when he enjoyed his pop star status in the late 1980s, I remember him as someone who could weave very happy listenable songs as if he were one of those old-timey composers in New York City bouncing off all sorts of riffs on the piano as he and associates desperately came up with the latest hit commercial jingle. In my article on the song that I first knew him for as a singer, "Kakko Warui Furarekata"（格好悪いふられ方）, I compared him to his contemporaries Kan and Noriyuki Makihara（槇原敬之）. Well, I can see the current young and comely songwriting popster Gen Hoshino（星野源）as being the second coming of Oe in terms of his output and personality to a certain extent.
As for "OLYMPIC", it peaked at No. 3 on the Oricon album charts. I was curious about who was backing him up on chorus in "Stella's Cough" but I couldn't find out, although it's been stated in the J-Wikiarticle for the album that just-as-supremely cheerful Misato Watanabe（渡辺美里）was backing him up on a couple of other tracks on "OLYMPIC".
Well, it's been quite a day. Roger Federer wins yet another Wimbledon crown, it's National Ice Cream Day (we've got some of the stuff in the freezer for after dinner), the annual Honda Indy in Toronto will be under way in less than 15 minutes, and for the first time in the program's history, a female actress has been selected as the new Doctor Who. As for that last one, I did show my geekiness yet again by waiting patiently for the BBC announcement since the British network had promised the identity of the 13th Doctor immediately after the conclusion of the Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship. I don't think I have ever refreshed my Twitter feed that often in my life. Mind you, it was very amusing seeing all those Whovians on the SNS slowly going crazy while the BBC did its trolling best to extend tennis coverage.
To compound my geekiness, a few years ago, I had the temerity to inquire to the Japanese fan base for "Doctor Who" about which Japanese actor would have made a fine version of the most famous Time Lord of all. Looking at the above thumbnail for the video, I would have pointed out singer-songwriter Senri Oe（大江千里）. I mean, just look at him (sorry that video has been taken down)...David Tennant was probably still in diapers at the time that photo was taken, but Oe looked like he was practically begging to be Tennant's Doctor right down to the puffy hair.
I'm not sure but perhaps the late 80s going into the 90s may have sprouted a tiny trend in having geeky and adorkable male pop singers in Japan. There was Oe and I do remember KAN. Perhaps there were a few others who didn't quite make the cut in terms of Oricon success. Anyways, I have here his 12th single from May 1987, "YOU" which has all the hallmarks of an Oe single from the 80s: his high-pitched voice, the super-poppy beat and that frenetic piano. The song was written and composed by the singer and dealt with a fellow's undying love for that special someone.
I couldn't find out how "YOU" did on the Oricon singles chart but it was placed on his 6th album from June 1987, "OLYMPIC", and that did quite well by peaking at No. 3. The concept for that release was "Cheerfully, Strongly and Imaginatively", and I think "YOU" fulfilled the conditions quite well.
Almost 30 years later, the aidoru group Idolrenaissance（アイドルネッサンス）did their own cover of "YOU" as their 3rd single in March 2015. Never heard of this group but it's currently an octet of girls in their mid-to-late teens from all over Japan. I also like their version especially with the harmonies involved. Their "YOU" got as high as No. 41 on Oricon.
Well, here I was thinking that I may have exhausted the Hiromi Go（郷ひろみ）file after so many years but I'm starting to realize that the dandy man had a good dalliance with City Pop and the more urban contemporary style of music during the 1980s. Yup, I remember nikala's 2015 article on "Irie Nite"（入江にて）which had the Go man singing the urban genre as early as 1979, but I've always seen the lad as the regular face on Japanese TV, including his long stay on the Kohaku Utagassen, while singing those Oricon-friendly dynamic teen aidoru hits back in the 1970s and those man-about-town favourites in the early 1980s.
My memories of the Kohaku Utagassen go pretty hazy beyond 1983. I guess those three years of 1981, 1982 and 1983 will be the only golden ones for me so it was with some surprise on finding out that Go had sung the cool "COOL" on the 1985 Kohaku. I think I barely remember this one and I rather felt like giving myself a slap on the back of my head a la the Gibbs Smack from "NCIS" since on hearing the original recorded version here, I wanted to exhort "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?!"
This was Go's 56th single from October 1985 and apparently it didn't quite chart too highly or at least J-Wiki didn't want to bother posting the results this time. However, it still registers with me as a fairly slick City Pop production (J-Wiki still has the song categorized as an aidoru tune!), and the YouTube commenters seem to be comparing it favourably to Vaporwave. I think there's even a bit of technopop in there although it wasn't enough for me to categorize it thusly. But no doubts...I think it is cool.
Maybe it was just that it seemed rather out of character for Go when I originally saw his performance on the 1985 Kohaku that the memories of it didn't really stay on in my head. Considering how soon to the New Year's Eve show its release was, I was surprised that he did get onto the show for this particular song, but then I read on the J-Wiki article that Go had announced his departure from entertainment activities from 1986 for a while (I believe he wanted to head to New York for several months) so his 13 straight Kohaku appearances would be coming to an end on December 31 1985. I gather that NHK was feeling rather sentimental so the network let him on for one final go (no pun intended). However, he would return to the Shibuya stage for the 1990 show.
The one other surprise was that singer-songwriter Senri Oe（大江千里）was the man behind the words and music to "COOL"! He always struck me as the one to create those happy-go-lucky pop tunes for singers such as Misato Watanabe（渡辺美里）at the time and for himself so I didn't realize that he was able to create something as funky and downtown as this one. I'm not sure whether "COOL" ever got onto an original album although it may be on one of his BEST compilations. This would be another one that I would like to track down someday.
As a P.S., the single has the Japanese version as the B-side. The A-side has the English version of the song with Linda Hennrick providing the lyrics. Would be interesting to hear that version.
Lovely day out there. A nice happy Easter to you, especially to all you government types who unlike a lot of other people have another day off today. No worries...I won't be giving out sensitive information to those who resent.
I just came across this one today and found it lovely and perfectly reflective of the sunny weather and warmer temperatures out there in the GTA. "Watashi no Koi to Tokyo" (My Love and Tokyo) is by the lovely Asako Toki（土岐麻子）from her 2013 album"Heartbreakin'".
Composer Senri Oe（大江千里）, who's been more of a jazz musician in recent years, and lyricist Toki created this seeming combination of slow 60s swing and bossa nova about a couple of folks who aren't sure when to broach the topic of taking their relationship to the next level. It almost sounds like a breezy Hollywood romance from that particular decade with Audrey, Rock or Doris. And as someone pointed out at YouTube, it's a great song to read by...or blog by.
Hope all of you folks are enjoying a happy Father's Day whether you are receiving or giving the accolades today. Took my parents out for Sunday breakfast at a local branch of The Sunset Grill and I'll be grilling up steaks later tonight. In the meantime, I have time to devote to our beloved blog.
A few days ago, I discovered this sweet adorable song by singer-songwriter Senri Oe（大江千里）on YouTube. Actually, the video was of Oe and Mari Iijima（飯島真理）doing a joint performance of the song on a TV program back in the early 80s with Nobuyuki Shimizu's（清水信之）soulful electric guitar helping out. But the above video is for the original recorded song, "Girlfriend", which came out as Oe's 2nd single in August 1983. Written and composed by the singer, EPO is helping out in the refrain as Oe sings about that high school girl he craves. Hearing how the song goes, I could imagine high school student Oe staring and daydreaming about his object of affection surrounded in sparkles and fluffy clouds...before the teacher comes by and whacks him with the ruler. It's a pie-in-the-sky melody that would fit a fine sunny Sunday which it is today...nice way to start the summer.
Different images spring to mind when envisioning the 80’s, but one of them includes college youth with their modestly styled black hair, thick eyebrows and oversized sweaters strolling through the campus. I may as well include old TV static in my mental image. It’s just one of those fashions I witnessed through doramas and CMs from the time. I found out about Senri Oe (大江千里) while browsing Japanese blogs for names of some singer-songwriters from the decade, and the moment I saw that picture of his face half-tucked into the sweater, I immediately linked him to those earlier recollections. And his music from those days pretty much solidified my impression of him as an adorkable everyman. J-Canuck nailed it on the head in his profile of Oe’s early 90’s hit “Kakko Warui Furarekata”, noting that he'd make for a good buddy of the star heartthrob in a dorama but who himself probably wouldn't be the popular type.
My area of interest in regards to Oe’s music is his collaborative period with the arrangerNobuyuki Shimizu (清水信之) in 1985. It was around that time that general public first took notice of him through the catchy “Juunin Toiro”, making him acquire a moderate following of supporters that helped place his albums into spots within the Top 10 for weekly Oricon sales for a good while until 1996. “Miseinen” (未成年…Underage), his third studio album from March 1985, was the first of those. According to J-Wiki, it peaked at No.5 on Oricon weeklies, though I have no idea how much it sold in total. YMO family member Kenji Omura (大村憲司) used to arrange his songs up to that point, which included some of that old techno. However, Shimizu was the first to compliment his voice and style of music to make it sound the way it was intended to: youthful, crisp, and with plenty of hooks.
“Real” opens the album on a serious note with its pounding rhythm and synth effects that resemble a fast hand clap. I didn’t originally perceive it as a technopop piece, but listening carefully to the multilayered synths that Shimizu created convinced me otherwise. It was quite a revelation to me when I first heard it because I had an impression of Oe as a singer of cheerfully upbeat songs or your typical sad romance ballads, so this was different. He displays sensitive maturity through his lyrics about the unsteady emotions that come with early adulthood and the struggle of blending into society. At least that’s what I got out of them. I found this post by a Japanese blogger comparing the lyrics on “Miseinen” to Haruki Murakami’s first novel “Hear the Wind Sing” (風の歌を聴け) which shares some themes with “Real” about Japanese youth. This suggestion makes me wonder if the singer-songwriter read the novel during his college days.
Oh man, the combination of the song title with that video of Oe getting down to the rhythm in his parachute pants makes me chuckle silly. I guess that’s where those Rick Astley comparisons came from. Cheesiness aside, the song itself is infectiously funky. I’m terrible at dancing and even Oe has a better sense of rhythm than I do, but it sure makes me tap my fingers enthusiastically on the table. The whole thing reminds me of EPO, another lively singer with fun music, who actually happens to be a backup singer for “Sexuality”. But the song is definitely Oe’s in terms of personality: an unfashionable fellow trying to impress the ladies, but the best thing he can bring are the unintentional laughs. Or maybe he wasn't serious here. Who knows.
(cover version)
Another singer that I mentioned Oe being compared to by his listeners is Yumi Matsutoya. Well, according to that blog entry I mentioned earlier, it was Kenji Omura who nicknamed Oe the “Male Yuming”, a title that left the bespectacled singer-songwriter a tad confused. The reason for this comparison comes from the lyrics because both artists tend to write about everyday experiences of ordinary people, and in “Mafuyu no Randolie” (真冬のランドリエ) I can hear Oe also channeling Yuming’s music and even vocal delivery a little bit. The comfortable melody with laidback synths and strings make me think of her work from that time period. The morning lake scenery in the video above is very fitting. The song is appropriate for those autumn and winter mornings when you'd walk through the hazy streets as they wake up while nursing a warm cup of coffee in your hands.
By the way, the romaji above has been lifted from album’s booklet, but my intuition tells me that ランドリエ is just an uncommon way of katakanizing “laundry”, in which case the title translates to “Mid-winter Laundry”.
“Akacha-Iro no Preppie” (赤茶色のプレッピー…A Preppie in Reddish Brown) is the whimsically bouncy tune with an old-fashioned pop vibe that fits the singer to a T. I think the theme here is “students in love”. The music sure trickles with that clumsy joy that people may experience at that age, complete with celebratory trumpets. The sparkly guitar and synths remind me of EPO in some ways, minus the City Pop elements. And hey, that’s her again on the backup vocals. It looks like Shimizu was also arranging songs for EPO at the time, so he invited her to sing a bit with Oe for some fun.
“Poolside” (プールサイド) is a lovely nostalgic ballad featuring the singer’s favorite instrument, the piano. The music and his delivery have that nervous uncertainty that the main subject feels while revisiting the special location and ponders on his sad and happy memories. I really like how Shimizu arranged the piano to sound like water ripples and then heightened the effect with the synths. My favorite bit is the loungy solo halfway through. Oe may not be a sophisticated-looking fella, but he has had an affinity for jazz for a long while and in the recent years he fully embraced the genre.
The song to close the album is “Natural” (ナチュラル), which I see as the introspective relative of “Real”. It starts with a somber melody with a metronome ticking in the background and then builds up towards the dramatic refrains. The lyrics concern finding one’s true self from the past after years of living in an illusion. Could be the midlife crisis. I like Senri in boppy mode, but it’s these pieces where he dissects emotions beyond love through music and words that appeal to me the most for some reason.
“Miseinen” also includes the happy-go-lucky “Juunin Toiro” (十人十色), which was one of the two singles from the album along with “Real”. I profiled that one a while back here.
Every singer has an album or two that may be called their definitive work. Well, “Miseinen” is that kind of album for Oe. Mind you, it’s all easily digestible pop music, but the appealing melodies, the variety of moods, and some clever details in the arrangements have made the songs memorable to me. I found myself listening to it quite a bit during my first few months in Japan as I was going through rapid cycles of excitement, confusion, awkwardness, loneliness and peace, so I guess I sort of identified with the music here. It's the kind of album that may click with people on a personal level, hence all the "That's my youth!" remarks that I encountered on the web while reading others' opinions about the songs. That's nostalgia for ya.
Yup, that question above exactly. I'm not sure if this had been some sort of trend at the end of the 80s going into the 90s but there seemed to have been some popping up of singers/songwriters who I probably would have pegged as being adorkable. These were the type of guys who wouldn't star as the main heartthrob in a trendy drama but would be the 2nd or 3rd-stringer good buddy of the main heartthrob. They were the decent Richie Cunningham guys of the show.
But we are talking about musicians, aren't we? Well, around that time, there were folks like the slim bowtie-sporting Kan and the lovable lug Noriyuki Makihara（槇原敬之）who were hitting the charts. And there was also bespectacled Senri Oe（大江千里）. He looked like the sort of guy who would get chosen last in a pick-up basketball game or would win the school chess championship 5 years in a row. Oe may not win too much in the romance department but he'd be the best buddy for any girl or guy.
So I guess it was a bit of kismet working overtime here that his most successful hit was "Kakko Warui Furarekata"(Lame Dump) from July 1991, his 23rd single since his debut in 1983. Oe wrote and composed this nimble song about getting dumped by the girl and then going through some major trauma about it. I think the other thing that connects Oe with his contemporaries Kan and Mackey is that all three like to bang out a good piano melody, but the guy with the glasses is the one who composed the song in the way that the poor dumped schlep was probably feeling after the horrible deed was done: breathless and jittery.
The first time I heard of "Kakko Warui Furarekata" was when I caught a bit of the TBS drama, "Kekkon Shitai Otoko Tachi"（結婚したい男たち...Guys Who Wanna Get Married）and saw the opening credits. The story was pretty much what the title said but of course, there was also the moral debate about what was more important: getting to the altar as expeditiously as possible or taking the time to find that true love for both the male and female characters. The one scene I remember from the show is where actress Tomoko Yamaguchi's（山口智子）character of Shinobu sat in seiza style too long and ended up stumbling around like some drunken sailor since her legs had fallen asleep. Yup, I know that feeling all too well. I read that even Oe had a small role in the show as the brother of one of the characters.
As I said, this was Oe's biggest hit. It managed to peak at No. 2, selling 500,000 copies. Hearing the song again, I'm not sure but perhaps that could've been Misato Watanabe（渡辺美里）on the backup vocals. In the same year, Oe composed her "Natsu ga Kita"（夏が来た）, and I've always thought that the two had a similar musical sense.
My coda for this article is that in 2008, after heading over to the United States, Oe got married to that special someone.
The years...they sure go by fast. I went out for dinner with some old friends the other night, including my anime buddy who I've known for over quarter of a century. Most of the others I've known for just a little over a couple of decades.
I first heard Misato Watanabe's（渡辺美里）"10 Years" on her 10th anniversary BEST album, "She Loves You" from July1995. For some years, I'd thought the song was one especially made for that anniversary but have since discovered that it actually was the B-side to her 12th single, "Kimi no Yowasa"（君の弱さ....Your Weakness） from October 1988. "10 Years" was written by Watanabe and composed by singer-songwriter Senri Oe（大江千里） as a young adult's story about how far he/she has come in the past decade since high school vis-à-vis an old flame, and what could be in the offing over the next ten years.
Despite the title and my description, though, the song isn't a sepia-toned nostalgic tune but an upbeat hopeful one which fits my image of the singer and her collaborator Oe. The remarkable thing about the melody is that it seems to have that feeling of time passing by, especially in the instrumental bridge. I could just see years suddenly flashing by on the screen when that bridge comes in. If there were ever a musical based on Misato's life, "10 Years" would be the perfect coda.
"10 Years" was never placed onto an original album but as mentioned appears on "She Loves You" and also the next few BEST albums, including "Sweet 15th Diamond" which came out in July 2000.
I gotta admit, I have a soft spot for the whimsical and fun-loving kinds of Japanese singer-songwriters like Senri Oe (大江千里), KAN, and Noriyuki Makihara (槇原敬之). Combine catchy singable melodies with quirky personality and you got yourself a recipe for good mood. Of the above-mentioned artists, Senri was the one who debuted first and the one I got to know more recently. One time I just stumbled across some of his album covers on a music blog and became curious about what this geeky-looking singer sounded like. Appropriately enough, J-Wiki provides a chronological history of the types of glasses he wore through the years. Yep. But anyways, Senri probably received more profit writing songs for Misato Watanabe, Hikaru Genji, and Hiroko Yakushimaru, among others, but he did have a handful of his own hits in the 80's and early 90's, including "Juunin Toiro" (十人十色....Different strokes for different folks) profiled here.
Born and raised in Osaka, Senri wanted to become a singer ever since being introduced to Gilbert O'Sullivan in grade four. After entering a number of musical competitions including Yamaha Popular Song Contest, he was eventually scouted by CBS Sony in the early 80's and released his first single Wallaby Megisutete in 1983. In those days, his casual looks and musical attitude earned him the nickname "Male Yuming". I've also heard people refer to him as the Japanese Rick Astley. Probably not the most honorable comparison, but hey, I don't always take my music seriously. At least that's whom Senri resembled until the late-90's, when he decided to shed his former goofy image and become a serious jazz musician.
"Juunin Toiro" was released in November 1984 and became his breakthrough hit, peaking at No.5 on Oricon charts . It was later included on his third studio album Miseinen (未成年). It's a simple yet memorable tune that I'd take with me on a walk in the sunshine. I'd even skip along to it if I weren't so self-conscious about doing silly things in public. It also comes with a fun and silly PV. Whoever directed this certainly was inspired by old detective shows and then sprinkled it with some vanilla icing and cheesy dancing.
And here's the song in the CM for Mikakutou's "Date Kiss" candy product featuring Senri himself. You'll notice that the arrangement here sounds different from the single version. Apparently Tetsuya Komuro (小室哲哉), who was then just starting out with TM Network, was originally assigned to arrange the song, and that's the version featured in the CM. While the recording was still in progress, he was replaced by Nobuyuki Shimizu (清水信之), who re-arranged the song into its definitive version. No hard feelings for Komuro, though, since he and Senri eventually became buddies.
For an old J-Pop fan like me, it wouldn't be Xmas without putting this into the ol' Discman (yes, I am an analog digital type of guy) at this time. I first heard of this album by Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子） when someone kindly loaned a cassette tape with all of the songs in my U of T days.... later on, in Japan, I would finally get the CD itself. "Snow Garden" is actually Seiko-chan's 2nd half-Xmas/half-Best album released in November 1987; her first one, "Kin Iro no Ribbon"（金色のリボン...Golden Ribbon) had been released in 1982.
I would place the first song as one of those J-Pop tributes to a Norman Rockwell Christmas, kinda like Mariya Takeuchi's（竹内まりや） musical approach to the Yuletide. The first track on "Today's Avenue Side"（i.e. the Xmas side) is "Please Don't Go" which starts with an epic 3-minute intro that sounds like an audio story in itself of presumably Seiko trying to run and catch that train to New England (maybe the same one that took Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen to Vermont in "White Christmas"). Just before Seiko finally enters, there is a brief sophisticated jazz riff and then she starts into her song which sounds a lot like the stuff that would get sung on those ol' Bob Hope or Andy Williams' Xmas specials. Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆） wrote the lyrics, but the surprising composer is Yoshitaka Minami（南佳孝） (his songs are profiled), who's more known as a singer of either very manly or City Poppy tunes. "Please Don't Go" is about as Americana sentimental as Seiko has ever gotten.
Track 3 is "Pearl-White Eve" which was released as a single at the same time as the album. Unlike "Please Don't Go", this song is more along the typical lines of a Japanese Xmas tune. Once again, Matsumoto takes care of the lyrics, but the composer here is singer-songwriter Senri Oe（大江千里）. My old university mate, who was also the huge Checkers fan that I've mentioned when I've profiled the band, was just as big a Seiko fan. In fact, she used to get teased a lot for being a little too much like her idol (something that she only half-denied). Every time she played this song, she always had to gigglingly mention the supposed raciness of the lyrics because near the end of the song, Seiko would sing those lyrics about inviting the young man to untie the ribbon on her and open her up like a present. I would usually retort good-naturedly, "Just like life, eh?"
Ahem....anyways, "Pearl-White Eve" did reach the top spot on the Oricon weeklies and despite the late release would still become the 48th-ranked song for 1987. Her 24th single was her straight 22nd No. 1.
The B-Side was "Yesterday's Street Side", basically showing some of her past hits such as "Hitomi wa Diamond"（瞳はダイヤモンド）. However, the very last track was another Xmas tune titled "Yuki no Fantasy"（雪のファンタジー.... Snow Fantasy), a tenderhearted ballad which brings to mind standing in a quiet snowfield at night while the winds blow wisps of flakes (personally, sitting in an armchair with my mug of cocoa in front of a toasty warm flat screen TV would be more my thing). There's even a shoutout to "Silent Night" and a little English message from Seiko-chan, although I don't think that's what got her the guest gig on "Bones". In any case, this song was actually a re-lyricized and re-arranged version of the original from that first semi-Xmas album in 1982. Again, Matsumoto was behind the lyrics while Masaaki Omura (大村雅朗）took care of the music.
Although I'm not sure how the overall album did in the yearly rankings, "Snow Garden" did hit the No. 1 spot.
This cute little ditty, "Christmas, Christmas", by Yamadakatsutenai Wink （やまだかつてないウィンク）is the final track on the album, "Yamadakatsutenai CD" (やまだかつてないCD) released in March 1991, although it was released the year before as a single. It got its fair share of airplay on Kuniko Yamada's（山田邦子） comedy-variety show, "Yamadakatsutenai Terebi". Unfortunately, there are only a few YouTube videos of the actual show and none of them have the Xmas episodes (August 2020:Merry Xmas! Look below). Yamada certainly liked to celebrate the holiday on her show with the cast all dressed up in Santa Red and White, and musical guests singing their seasonal tunes, including this one. Not sure if the real duo, Wink, ever covered it.
The song was written and composed by Senri Oe. It goes down like a mug of hot chocolate with a candy cane in it (well, not quite that diabetic).
Here is another singer who usually brings on those summer feelings because of her bright happy delivery and her summer concerts at Seibu Stadium in Saitama Prefecture. "Natsu ga Kita"(Summer Has Come) was her 20th single, released a little over a year after her other hit summer tune, "Summertime Blues". Not quite as massive a hit, it's still a pleasantly summery tune as Misato Watanabe（渡辺美里） takes a bicycle ride in the country.
It went as high as No. 8 on the Oricon weeklies after its June release and became the 82nd-ranked single of the year. It also appeared on her 7th album, "Lucky", released in July 1991 which did peak at No. 1 on the weeklies and was the 9th-ranked album of the year. (Information provided by www.musictvprogram.com).
Written by Watanabe and composed by singer Senri Oe（大江千里）, there is an interesting note about the song on J-Wiki, in which apparently it was inspired by a Bon Jovi concert! I guess I'll have to listen to it a bit more carefully.
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