The Works of Fumiko Okada（岡田富美子）

 

I never expected to see her name up on television but recently I saw that veteran lyricist Fumiko Okada had received some sort of award for her decades of work via an NHK report. From that, I thought that it would be time to post a Creator article regarding her.

But first a bit of background from her J-Wiki file, Okada hails from Hiroshima Prefecture. When she gradated from university, her parents pressed her to get a job at television broadcaster TBS working as a timekeeper for music programs. However, knowing herself as someone who never really enjoyed the rigors of an average job or career, she was pretty miserable. Also, she developed insomnia but one night, she gained the urge to write poetry and found out that the words flowed out of her surprisingly easily. Then one day, after amassing her poems into a collection and having some faint interest in becoming a songwriter, she was noticed by the manager of a famous arranger at work. Noting how unenthused young Okada looked, he asked her what she really wanted to do for which she replied "I want to become a lyricist". A mere few days later, that manager suggested Okada to a record company as a rookie lyricist. At least, one song with her lyrics got into a music festival and that apparently was all she needed to write...literally. She started getting requests for her words, something that has been continuing for her for close to 55 years.

(1972) Young 101 -- Kaiju no Ballad（怪獣のバラード）

In a desert where the blood-red sun set

A great big monster lived there in peace

One morning when he woke up, he heard a bell from a caravan off in the distance

He suddenly screamed out

I wanna see the ocean! I wanna love people! Monsters have hearts, too, you know!

Let's leave the desert behind and head to where love and the ocean reside

Although I didn't note this in the original KKP article for "Kaiju no Ballad", this was apparently Okada's first work as a professional lyricist. 

(1981) Ruiko Kurahashi -- Glass no Yesterday （ガラスのYesterday)

Yesterday

I danced all night with you

Yesterday, although we can never meet again

We said "See you later" and parted

You're the one who embraced me while saying

I can't love you on mere kindness

Whenever Okada's name is mentioned, I will always first remember Fashion Music specialist Ruiko Kurahashi's（倉橋ルイ子）songs since the lyricist provided a number of her works to her. 

(1986) Shibugakitai -- Sushi Kui ne! （スシ食いねェ！）

This is the No. 1 sushi restaurant in Japan

Gotta eat sushi! Gotta eat sushi! Gotta eat sushi!

Green tea! Green tea! Green tea! Pickled ginger! Picked ginger! Pickled ginger!

In contrast with the elegance of Kurahashi's signature song, the raucous "Sushi kui ne!" comes under the catchphrase of "Okada wrote this one?!". She must love her sushi.

(1987) Kiyomi Suzuki with Rats & Star -- Lonely Chaplin (ロンリー・チャプリン）

Lonely Chaplin

Time passes...and even if you fade away

I will always wait for you

Smile like the little boy you are

You want to come home

Into my arms, don't you?

As long as your dreams are unfulfilled

Oh, do what you wanna do again

Oh, do what you wanna do again

Man, didn't know that Chaplin was that lucky a guy!

(1979) Asami Kado -- Fascination (ファッシネイション）

I love you. Stop it because you make me feel so helpless

Stop it if you're only going to kiss me once

I love you. I got myself all psyched up

I hate you stalling for time

Nothing like pouty coquettishness to spice up a relationship!

The Top Batters for the 1981 (32nd), 1982 (33rd) and 1983 (34th) Editions of the Kohaku Utagassen

 

With the 76th edition of the Kohaku Utagassen on NHK less than 24 hours away as I type this, it appears that unless there is a mind-blowing sudden addition or deletion from the list, the participant list is all set and ready to go. I may just be crazy enough to wake up early and crank up the computer to watch the live version on Jme (although Jme will be broadcasting the special a few times for the next few days).

Anyways, in commemoration of the occasion and just to get those nostalgia juices flowing once more (since this is the blog for that sort of thing), I've decided to show the Top Batters for the first three editions I ever saw which are 1981, 1982 and 1983. For those who are new to the network's annual New Year's Eve event, the top batters are the first singers/bands representing the Red and White teams to perform. They set the tone for the gala atmosphere and back then, they were usually the youngest folks since it used to be the case that the aidoru and pop singers got their chances in the first half of the program before the moodier and more traditional stuff came in the second half of the show.

Let's enjoy the show and at least one of us will be posting an article on how we thought of this edition's Kohaku.

1981

Red: Naoko Kawai -- Smile for Me（スマイル・フォー・ミー）

White: Masahiko Kondo -- Gingiragin ni Sarigenaku （ギンギラギンにさりげなく）

1982

Red: Junko Mihara -- Honki de Love Me Good （ホンキでLove Me Good)

White: Shibugakitai -- 100%...So Kamo ne!（100%…SOかもね!）

1983

Red: Hiromi Iwasaki -- Ieji (家路）

White: Hideki Saijo -- Gyarandu （ギャランドゥ）

Shibugakitai -- 100%...So Kamo ne!（100%…SOかもね!）

 

This entry will probably go down as representing a song that slipped through the fingers of my mind (as bizarre as that might be to envision, so please don't). After all, this was my introduction to the Johnny's aidoru group Shibugakitai（シブがき隊）.

Yup, I first saw Masahiro Motoki（本木雅弘）, Toshikazu Fukawa (布川敏和）and Hirohide Yakumaru (薬丸裕英）on the 1982 edition of NHK's Kohaku Utagassen doing this very number, "100%...So Kamo ne!" (100%...Maybe So!). Shibugakitai's second single from July 1982, it's quite the super-caffeinated tune about a teenage guy whose hormones have been unleashed due to the possibility of first love. At the time, when I saw them perform on that New Year's Eve special and didn't really listen to the lyrics, it was like listening to three times the Matchy or Toshi-chan who I heard the previous year. All that prancing about and singing at full volume would have had the boys desperately reaching for their Max Coffee.

Written by Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）and composed/arranged by Daisuke Inoue（井上大輔）, "100%...So Kamo ne!" won Best New Artist honours for Shibugakitai at the Japan Record Awards, and also that invitation to the Kohaku. It peaked at No. 6 on Oricon and ended up as the 43rd-ranked single for 1982. Just glad that it's finally up here after over thirteen years of this blog.

Shibugakitai -- Koibito-tachi no Blvd.（恋人達のBlvd.）

 

Toronto has a main road alongside Lake Ontario called Lake Shore Boulevard. Even before I learned how to spell well, I knew the word "boulevard" by its abbreviation "Blvd". When we were kids in the family car, we sometimes drove on either Lakeshore or the overhead Gardiner Expressway, and at the time, the smell from the sugar mills and the dying fish in the lake was very...distinctive. In the last thirty years or so, things have been considerably cleaned up so that the area has had this cachet of being a neighbourhood of tourist-friendly establishments and condo towers

However, it's become painfully evident that Lake Shore Boulevard has now become one of the largest parking lots in the nation due to increasing traffic and ongoing long-term construction. At this point, I sure wouldn't get anywhere near the area which is congested with metal, exhaust and steamed and frustrated drivers.

I gather that the boulevard mentioned in "Koibito-tachi no Blvd." (Lovers' Boulevard) is a whole lot more spacious and happier. Perhaps it may be the Champs-Elysees in Paris. In any case, this is Shibugakitai's（シブがき隊）22nd single from November 1986. According to the J-Wiki article regarding the song, this was the boys' 6th single from that year alone, so they were really busy.

Written and composed by Yuuji Ozeki（尾関裕司）and with Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）helping out with the lyrics, Toshikazu Fukawa（布川敏和）, Masahiro Motoki（本木雅弘）and Hirohide Yakumaru（薬丸裕英）are tripping the light fantastic on the titular avenue which is supposed to be the place to go for all of the lovers out there. Interestingly enough, the techno-jazzy song was used as a commercial jingle for SMBC Nikko Securities; mind you, being in the Bubble Era at the time, I guess that even securities officials felt like dancing all over the place while spending their millions at golf clubs and English classes. In any case, "Koibito-tachi no Blvd." broke into the Top 10 at No. 9 and was included in Shibutgakitai's 10th studio album from December 1986, "Horoscope".

The Works of Tsugutoshi Goto, Part 2（後藤次利）

 

Took a little break to refresh myself after tackling Part 1 of Tsugutoshi Goto's Creator article, and now I'll go for Part 2.

With all of Goto's bass work and provision of cool tunes for folks like Shinji Harada（原田真二）and Kenji Sawada（沢田研二）, the musician and songwriter has also given lots of music to various aidoru over the decades and that includes the first mighty aidoru supergroup, Onyanko Club（おニャン子クラブ）, and its individual members. For example, one such song was "O-saki ni Shitsurei"（お先に失礼...Sorry In Advance）, which was composed by Goto alongside Yasushi Akimoto's（秋元康）lyrics. At one point, the two of them were known as a golden combination for songwriting, and "O-saki ni Shitsurei" was the Club's July 1986 5th single and a No. 1 hit for the group, thanks to the cute lead vocals by Harumi Tomikawa（富川春美）, Yukiko Iwai（岩井由紀子）, Tomoko Fukawa（布川智子）and Marina Watanabe（渡辺満里奈）, and that rockabilly arrangement by Goto. It ended up as the 69th-ranked single of the year.

Cue ahead twenty years and that golden combination was still working for another aidoru supergroup, AKB48. According to J-Wiki, there was a set list for Team A's 2nd Stage performance "Aitakatta"（会いたかった...Wanted to See You） in 2006 with one of the songs being "Rio no Kakumei"（リオの革命...Rio's Revolution）, a catchy dance-club type of tune. 

As I mentioned above, Goto also provided songs for the individual members of Onyanko Club including Sonoko Kawai（河合その子）. In fact, a number of her tunes were composed by Goto and some of them are represented on this blog along with her "Jessy no Higeki"（ジェシーの悲劇）. Over here, we have her second single "Ochiba no Crescendo"（落葉のクレッシェンド...Fallen Leaves Crescendo） released in November 1985. Once again, the golden combination of Akimoto and Goto were at work to provide Kawai with a surprisingly summery-sounding tune despite the title's hint of autumn. The song peaked at No. 2 and became the 54th-ranked single of 1985.

One interesting point that I discovered about Goto on his J-Wiki profile was that he had been known as The Aidoru Killer. The reason for such a fearful nickname was that he had "dared" to break the cardinal rule and actually have romantic relationships with the female teenyboppers. In fact, he first married Tae Tamai（玉井タエ）of the folk duo Simons (シモンズ). Then later on, he was wed to 70s aidoru Midori Kinouchi（木之内みどり）for a while before finally getting married in 1994 to the aforementioned Kawai.

But it wasn't just only the female aidoru for whom Goto created songs. He also composed and arranged for the male aidoru including popular 80s Johnny's group Shibugakitai（シブがき隊）. For them, he came up with "Sushi Kui ne!"（スシ食いねェ！）and over here, we have his "Samurai Nippon"（サムライ・ニッポン）, another rousing rockabilly-like number for the boys. Masao Urino（売野雅勇）came up with the lyrics for this hit which got as high as No. 3.

Goto delved a bit into enka as well here and there. He composed and arranged "Natsu Koi Bayashi"（夏恋囃子...Summer Love Band） for Sayuri Ishikawa（石川さゆり）with bit of extra guitar-led brio in 1998. The song was used for a Kincho mosquito coil commercial which does fit since those spiral insect repellants are as much a sign of summer as any local festival. Masao Urino（売野雅勇）came up with the lyrics.

My final song for the works of Tsugutoshi Goto, although it's obvious that I've only scratched the surface of his creations, is Mariko Takahashi's（高橋真梨子）"Apple City"（アップルシティ）. This was a track on Takahashi's 2nd album "Sunny Afternoon", and it was composed/arranged by the bassist alongside the singer's own lyrics. So, along with his ability with the enka idiom, Goto was also able to come up with some of that exotic kayo flavour for the late 1970s going into the new decade. I never got the impression that this was another tribute to New York City, especially with what sounds like a bouzouki in the arrangement. As such, I thought that this was a vacation through Greece.

To get a better idea of the breadth and depth of Goto's works, you can browse through the Tsugutoshi Goto file here or go through the deeper list for his songs on J-Wiki. I'm just going to go take a catnap before dinner.

ABC -- The Look of Love

 

After our foray back into the 1970s for the last few Reminiscings of Youth articles especially to celebrate "September", on this last day of September 2020, I want to take things from the post-disco of Earth Wind & Fire circa 1978 to early 1980s New Wave.

Now, should that be New Wave or New Romantic? I always had a bit of a problem distinguishing the two since apparently Duran Duran went from New Romantic to New Wave but on the other hand, Visage was totally New Romantic while Talking Heads was totally New Wave...I think. My initial impression had been that New Wave was about the music while New Romanticism covered the entire spiel: fashion, makeup (lots of it), style and music.

But according to this 2015 answer from Adrienne Dancer, the owner of Los Angeles-based store Beat Bop Boom, New Wave and New Romantic had their own separate styles of music (the link "answer" will take you directly to Quora but I'll also provide it here as well; also take a look at music historian Joshua A. Pfeiffer's reply):

As someone who is a fan of both (and sells related memorabilia and merchandise)...I would consider a band like Flock of Seagulls or Duran Duran to be New Wave...

But a band like Visage or Japan I consider more New Romantic.

(Duran Duran I would say started off New Romantic and transitioned into New Wave.)

Both styles of bands in the 80s would have band members--mostly males--who would wear blousey shirts and make up and would have a heavy synthesizer focus, but I think that the main differences are about the themes of the songs and the sounds of the songs, as well.

I consider New Wave bands' songs more party-danceable. New Romantic bands almost more suited for Goth clubs and for listening in your bedroom kind of music--or the kind of songs you would put on a cassette mix tape for someone that you have a crush on. :)

New Romantic bands song subjects also might focus more on exotic foreign locations, deeper emotions... whereas New Wave songs would be more about having fun or immediate emotions.

Regardless, it was an interesting time to get into music for a callow youth like me with the songs and videos coming at me from both sides of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans at warp speed. Anyways, feel free to make your comments.

Anyways, before we all end up getting into a seminar about this, let us get straight into this week's ROY article with ABC's "The Look of Love".

I actually saw the video on one of the music video shows...or the last half of it...first before I heard "The Look of Love" on radio, and of course, not being particularly observant, I didn't bother seeing the name of the band or the title of the song. And yet, I was automatically attracted to it. Luckily, it was well on its way to becoming a big hit for ABC so it didn't take too much time to track down the particulars.

Now, looking back at "The Look of Love" on Wikipedia, I saw the genres being listed as synthpop and sophisti-pop, and I kinda did a double take on that first genre. But then, when I saw the video again, I kinda went "Oh, yeah...I can hear the synths and the syn-drums here". It was just that the arrangement was so classy and retro, and I later realized that I always had an interest in the old-style standards. So you had this stylishly retro-New Wave (and yep, I think ABC is New Wave) number with a video of the band and a cast of "thousands" hamming it up on a set that looked like it was supposed to be on some sort of variety show from the 1950s or 1960s, and yep, it grabbed me like the aroma of tenderloin steak on the grill.

"The Look of Love" certainly grabbed my fellow Canadians, too, as it hit No. 1 on the RPM Singles Chart, did pretty well in America by peaking at No. 18 on Billboard's Hot 100, and very well on the UK's OCC Singles Chart by placing in at No. 4.

Well, "The Look of Love" was released on May 7th 1982 in the UK. So, let us go with what was debuting around that time in Japan.

1. May 1st: Akina Nakamori -- Slow Motion (スローモーション）

2. May 1st: Chiemi Manabe -- Nerawareta Shoujo（ねれわれた少女）

3. May 5th: Shibugakitai -- NAI NAI 16

Shibugakitai -- Enka nante Utaenai（演歌なんて歌えない）

Let's try to imagine a Johnny's Entertainment aidoru group nearing the end of its natural life as a unit and then their manager approaches them nervously. The manager then proposes an idea: "Have you lads ever thought about becoming enka singers?"

😱😨😬

Yeah, I thought as much.

That imagined reaction became a song written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and composed by Kimio Mizutani（水谷公生）titled "Enka nante Utaenai" (How the Hell Can We Sing Enka?), the 25th of the 28 singles that 80s aidoru trio Shibugakitai（シブがき隊）released in November 1987. I'm sure that much hilarity came out during the production of this one. After all, it's hard for me to imagine Fukkun, Mokkun and Yakkun donning suits and warbling into the mikes while cherry blossom petals fall delicately around them (although they do look good in their tuxes in the photo at the top).

"Enka nante Utaenai" isn't a parody of an enka tune at all, and I'd say that there really isn't any enka in there. It merely throws in that old Mood Kayo trope of "wa-wa-wa" background chorus and what sounds like a single pluck of a koto while the rest of the song contains a pretty frenzied pop/rock melody reflecting the guys' panic attack. Meanwhile, Akimoto's lyrics show them pitching a fit about being forced to croon about anything wabi-sabi. It's rock or nothing.

I actually have the song on an old compilation LP that I bought at Wah Yueh in Chinatown and was surprised that I had yet to cover it. "Enka nante Utaenai" peaked at No. 18 on Oricon. Perhaps it was fortunate that they weren't invited to the 1987 Kohaku Utagassen (their last appearance to date is 1986); could have been very awkward.😉

It's a bit ironic though that Akimoto contributed to this particular single for Shibugakitai since from his work with the female aidoru groups Onyanko Club（おニャン子クラブ）and AKB48, there have been at least a couple of graduates who've gone into the enka genre.

Akasaka Sushi

Sunday November 5th. The day was another one of meeting friends, eating stuff and walking around. First thing was to meet up with a student and his wife in the tony district of Akasaka for lunch at a popular place called Sushi no Midori.

I've often associated Akasaka with the night scene and Mood Kayo but the daytime is quite nice, too.

Sadly, one of the more distinctive architectural structures of the neighbourhood, the Akasaka Prince Hotel, was taken down...floor by floor, apparently, in 2013.

Anyways, I met up with the Sadakas at the Biz Building to partake in this really nice luncheon.

I did not regret it one bit.

And it wasn't too difficult to track a sushi-themed song, either.

Shibugakitai -- Sushi Kui ne! （スシ食いねェ！）

I used to hear a clip of the horns from Shibugakitai's （シブがき隊）"Sushi Kui ne!" on at least one variety show revolving around food (which could mean that the holders of the song's copyrights are some of the richest folks in Japan), but I hadn't heard the song in decades. So, it was a bit of a reunion to hear this one after so long.

"Sushi Kui ne!" (Oh, Sushi!) was the Johnny's Entertainment aidoru group's 17th single released in February 1986. I first heard this on the 1985 Kohaku Utagassen....yep, you read that right. The single got the biggest advance campaign that it could get by becoming the very first song to be performed on the NHK special before its official release about a month later. I'd gotten accustomed to seeing shrill and bouncy boy groups on that show and episodes of "The Top 10", but it was the first time I'd ever seen a group performing a song purely on one of my favourite dishes from the land of my heritage....sushi.

The lyrics by Fumiko Okada （岡田冨美子）throw in tons of sushi restaurant terms (including "agari"...the jargon for "green tea") which the Shibugakitai boys deliver and toss around with the relish of a sushi master on multiple cups of cappuccino. I was pretty surprised who had provided the words considering some years earlier she provided lyrics for the relaxing ballads of Ruiko Kurahashi （倉橋ルイ子）including "Glass no Yesterday". Meanwhile, Tsugutsohi Goto（後藤次利）made the dynamic music with the feeling of the climax of a summer festival and befitting the crazy choreography of a Johnny's group.

"Sushi Kui ne!" peaked at No. 10 on Oricon, and a couple of months later, the English-language version of the song, titled "Oh, Sushi!", came out. It managed to get as high as No. 17. Neither song was a megahit for Shibugakitai but perhaps a lot of establishments in Tsukiji were grateful for a long while.

Shibugakitai

Shibugakitai -- NAI NAI 16

In 1962, a Japanese-American by the name of Johnny Hiromu Kitagawa started up a talent agency for boy bands and individual male singers called Johnny & Associates, although in Japan, it's far better known as Johnny's Jimusho（ジャニーズ事務所）. Anyone who has lived in Japan for any length of time will eventually have heard of this agency via its clients such as SMAP whose members are well represented on TV and movies. Right now, the Johnny's group on top of the mountain is Arashi（嵐）, a group of five very amiable fellows who sing, dance, act and emcee.

But the current crop of Johnny's groups such as SMAP, Arashi, TOKIO, V6, etc. have some pretty big senpai. In 1981, three teenage actors by the name of Masahiro Motoki（本木雅弘）, Toshikazu Fukawa(布川敏和）and Hirohide Yakumaru (薬丸裕英） appeared on a high school drama called "2-Nen B-Gumi Senpachi Sensei"(２年B組仙八先生--Mr. Senpachi of Class 2B). From this show, the boy band Shibugakitai （シブがき隊）was born.　The name can have a double meaning: either "Sullen Brats" or "Bitter Persimmons".

And this was their first single released on May 5th 1982...the date is significant, as it was once known as Boys' Day during the Golden Week holidays (now known as Children's Day).　It got as high as No. 3 on weekly Oricon and became the 49th  song of the year in 1982. " NAI NAI 16" has got that 50s rock sound that was popular with a lot of the pop tunes during the early 80s, and the lyrics portray the hero as this hard-as-nails young tough who'll scoff at any interested girls...at least initially. The title words of "nai, nai" are suffixes that refer to the negative...my Japanese grammar point of the day.

Of course, as with a lot of the Johnny's aidoru before and after, the three lads got their nicknames. Masahiro 'Mokkun' Motoki had his own solo career before becoming more successful as an actor; he was the lead in "Departures" (おくりびと）, the movie which won the Best Foreign Movie Oscar a few years ago (his English wasn't too bad at the podium...yep, I level checked him). Hirohide 'Yakkun' Yakumaru is now known for appearances in commercials and TV variety shows, and Toshikazu 'Fukkun' Fukawa pops up here and there, now and then on TV and in musicals.