J-Canuck's Selection of Bossa Nova/Samba-Influenced Kayo

A few days ago, I hinted at providing such a list when I wrote about Lisa Ono's（小野リサ）cover of "One-Note Samba". With the passing of bossa nova legend João Gilberto along with the influence that the genre has had on kayo over many years, I've decided to join my fellow collaborators Marcos and Joana, who have given their own Author's Pick lists in the last few days, and give my own list about some of those Japanese songs with the kiss of Brazilian music.

1. Ryoko Moriyama -- Ame Agari no Samba (雨上がりのサンバ）

My awareness of bossa nova has been in existence since I was literally a baby since I do remember hearing the classic "Girl From Ipanema" by Antonio Jobim. However, Ryoko Moriyama's（森山良子）"Ame Agari no Samba" is probably the first time I've heard the bossa nova treatment being given to a kayo kyoku, and that was through the radio program "Sounds of Japan" back in the early 1980s.

2. Gontiti -- Natsu no Riyuu（夏の理由）

Along with songs like the above "Ame Agari no Samba" which have their own articles here on the blog, I'm also inserting some new discoveries such as this one by the acoustic guitar duo Gontiti（ゴンチチ）. I was going to include their "Honto no Uso"（本当の嘘）which is their splendid collaboration with PSY-S, but I knew that Gonzalez and Titi had plenty of more fine bossa/samba in their vast discography, so looking around a bit, I was able to find this pretty lively affair called "Natsu no Riyuu" (Summer Reason) from their 2007 BEST album "gontiti Super Best 2001-2006"（gontitiスーパーベスト2001-2006）from 2007. I just didn't want to put up only the languid songs, and "Natsu no Riyuu" has more of a happy skip down the beach rather than just the gentle swaying of a hammock. Strangely enough, "Natsu no Riyuu" reminds me somewhat of some of the soundtrack from the anime "Amanchu!"（あまんちゅ！）which Gontiti produced.

3. Anzen Chitai -- Tsuki ni Nureta Futari （月に濡れたふたり）

Couldn't have asked for a better band and better vocalist to really tap into the romantic side of the genre than Anzen Chitai（安全地帯）and Koji Tamaki（玉置浩二）. This was the title track from their 1988 "Anzen Chitai VI" album, and listening to it after so long, some of those nostalgic vibes of being driven home in my friend's car after another long Friday night extending into Saturday morning returned. Perhaps for other folks, the images might include that trip on the dance floor after a few cocktails.

4. Mondo Grosso featuring Bird -- LIFE

The above is the long-form version of "LIFE" (2000) and it would be one of the only inspirations that I would have for actually getting up and participating in a samba. However, I do have compassion for sighted people, so I will refrain if asked. All joking aside, "LIFE" through the magnificent tandem of Mondo Grosso and Bird is one fun song, and I can only wish that my life could be as wonderful and happy as the song is expressing.

5. Keiko Maruyama -- Douzo Kono Mama (どうぞこのまま）

A touch of Henry Mancini class with this 1976 bossa kayo, "Douzo Kono Mama", that is the most famous song by singer-songwriter Keiko Maruyama（丸山圭子）. This was another discovery from "Sounds of Japan" all those years ago, and whenever I hear it, I think of a very ritzy but sedate bar serving martinis as their best cocktails. Young Sean Connery, Peter Sellers, and Audrey Hepburn are more than welcome here.

6. Taeko Ohnuki -- Voce é Bossanova

This is another new entry here and it's a really nice bossa nova number by singer-songwriter Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）. Ohnuki has created and recorded Latin-influenced songs in the past but I recently found "Voce é Bossanova" from her 1988 album "PURISSIMA" and felt that I needed to put it here. I find that her vocals became a little more whispery and more halting from around the mid-1980s, and as such, they became more fitting for the genre.

7. Shoko Aida -- Mezamemashou（目覚めましょう）

My final entry for the article is yet another song that hasn't seen the light of KKP before but it comes from my lone Shoko Aida（相田翔子）album "luz" from 1997. "Mezamemashou" (Let's Open Our Eyes) was well-titled since it was an eye-opening revelation for me as someone who was in Japan when Aida and Sachiko Suzuki（鈴木早智子）had their heyday as the successful aidoru duo Wink. I and probably most of Japan had no idea that Aida was a huge bossa nova fan, but she created most of the tracks on "luz" including "Mezamemashou" with Hiroyo Watanabe（渡邉浩世）helping out in the composition. The singer has that pleasant lightness in her voice perfect for bossa nova ballads.

My fellow collaborator and administrator, Marcos V., placed his own Aida bossa tune, "Jóia" from her previous solo album of the same title. In fact, the article was his first as a contributor on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" all the way back in early 2013.

Of course, there are many more bossa/samba-influenced kayo that I've covered in other articles, so this is just a sampling.

The Works of Koji Makaino （馬飼野康二）

Time for another attempt at a retrospective for a veteran songmaker, and the subject this time is Koji Makaino. For some reason, when I see or hear the name, I always think of one of his later compositions, "A-RA-SHI", the debut single for the current top band on the Johnny's Entertainment hill, Arashi（嵐）. But obviously he's been plying his trade from far back. The other thing that I've been struck with is his name itself which sounds pretty rare to me (according to one website dealing with Japanese names, it ranks in the 17,000s for the top 50,000 names). And when I did a bit of checking, I found out that "Makaino" may have originated in Shizuoka Prefecture, the land of green tea. However, songwriter Makaino was born and raised in neighbouring Aichi Prefecture which is the land of some of the more intriguing examples of Japanese comfort food such as miso katsu and ten-musu.

Koji Makaino was born in 1952 into a family associated with music. His father, Noboru Makaino（馬飼野昇）, was a composer of go-tochi songs (ご当地ソング...songs about specific cities and towns), and his older brother, Shunichi（馬飼野俊一）, also became a composer and arranger. The brothers' interest in music started from an early age as the family got involved in a tango band and also in the backup band for singer Yoshiko Ohtsu（大津美子）.

Makaino got his formal education in music at the Shobi College of Music in Tokyo although he dropped out to join a Group Sounds band, Blue Sharm（ブルー・シャルム）, in 1967. However, the band only lasted until 1970 and produced only 4 singles. A couple of years later, he started cutting his teeth on arrangement when he helped out on Hideki Saijo's（西城秀樹）3rd single, "Chance wa Ichido"（チャンスは一度...Just One Chance）, a short-but-sweet song that sounded like something from the go-go-boot friendly age of the 1960s. It managed to peak at No. 20 and from that point forwards, Makaino focused his talents on composition and arrangement.

From what I've gleaned from his long list of creations on his J-Wiki file, Makaino has done a lot of work for aidoru representing the last few decades of the 20th century and into the 21st. Another dynamic example of his aidoru work was "Yuki no Naka no Futari"（雪の中の二人...Couple in the Snow）for Megumi Asaoka（麻丘めぐみ）as her 10th single from December 1974 for which he was listed as composer. That song reached as high as No. 16 on Oricon.

However, Makaino didn't just keep himself on retainer for merely the teenyboppers. He has also created works in the Mood Kayo and straight pop genres with examples like Shigeru Matsuzaki's（松崎しげる）heart-on-a-sleeve ballad "Ai no Memory"（愛のメモリー）from 1977 and the cutesy kayo "Otoko to Onna no Love Game"（男と女のラブ・ゲーム）from 1987.

One other example of his non-aidoru compositions that I just found was the surprising union of 70s folk singer Akira Inaba（因幡晃）and late 80s/early 90s former aidoru Shoko Aida（相田翔子）of Wink fame to perform "Kureta no Shiroi Suna"（クレタの白い砂...The White Sands of Crete）as Inaba's 34th single from April 2004 although it is also a track on Aida's 3rd solo album "This Is My Love" which was released much later in September 2013. Listening to this glossy ballad, I realized that Makaino has had quite the romanticist inside of him since "Ai no Memory".

Moving on...or back...to the 1980s, Makaino kept busy with the aidoru of a different breed then. He composed "100% Danjo Kousai"（100%男女交際...100% Boy-Girl Dating）for saucy Kyoko Koizumi（小泉今日子）in April 1986 as her 18th single. It's as perky as a Kyon-Kyon tune goes but it has some nice backing by the orchestra. As for the title, it had originally been "Akarui Danjo Kousai"（明るい男女交際...Cheerful Boy-Girl Dating） but was changed into "100%" during a delay in the release. According to the article for the song, Koizumi was far from pleased with the name change saying it was the worst on a radio program. Still the song hit No. 2 on the charts and was the 86th-ranked single for the year.

Geez, where have you been all of my life? I never heard of this Hikaru Genji（光GENJI）song until a few days ago, but man, I really like "Waratte yo"（笑ってよ...C'mon, Smile）. Makaino composed and arranged the band's final No. 1 hit which was released in November 1990 as its 11th single. It's got a lot of oomph with a spritz of Latin and a percussion that will hammer your ears into submission above a certain sound level. It became the 82nd-ranked single of the year.

Still a lot to explore about Makaino but in consideration of the limits of the number of categories I can place in the Labels section, I will have to stop it here with Yasuko Naito's（内藤やす子）"Omoide Boroboro"（想い出ぼろぼろ...Tattered Memories）. This was arranged by Makaino as Naito's 3rd single from September 1976 and it's also a fine discovery by me. I love the combination of the rock guitar with those soaring and shimmering strings. I've got an impression that Makaino liked to put in a nice layer of lushness into his arrangements, no matter what the genre was or who the singer was.

In fact, I like this last song so much, I will give it its own individual entry entry as soon as I can. There's a bit more I can add in my comments here in the body and also in the Labels.

Wink -- Fuyu no Photograph （冬のフォトグラフ）

Well, the pleasant surprises that I find out about from Japanese pop music. I was just traipsing through the City Pop section of YouTube last night when I came across this video by Wink of all acts. Wink? City Pop? Never would have imagined the connection.

And listening to "Fuyu no Photograph" (Winter Photograph), there wasn't anything there that would have it definitely fit into that particular genre, but it is quite Xmas-y. The song was the only original tune in Wink's December 1988 mini-album "At Heel Diamonds" between their 1st and 2nd album; the rest of the tracks are covers of Western songs including their big hit "Ai ga Tomaranai"　（愛が止まらない）.

What is surprising for me when it comes to "Fuyu no Photograph" is just how so smooth Shoko Aida (相田翔子...who is doing a solo here) sounds with Yukinojo Mori's（森雪之丞）lyrics and how adult contemporary Yasuhiro Kido's（木戸やすひろ）melody is considering that my impression of Wink during this early part in their career was always about the Eurobeat. The ballad is something that Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）would have included in her Christmas repertoire at around the same time.

Wink -- Celebration

Vanessa Williams...it took me a number of minutes to even recall the name. I initially plugged in Deniece Williams into the search engines, only to find out that she was the singer who had that hit, "Let's Hear It For The Boy" in the original version of "Footloose" back in the mid-80s. The target of my search though did, as I recall, appear on the American remake of "Ugly Betty" and a couple of episodes of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine". And of course, there was all of that early kerfuffle about her having to resign as Miss America after a scandal arose.

However, all I really had to do was plug in "Save The Best For Last" (January 1992) into YouTube, and out popped her name. I got to see that Xmas video of hers and then the most famous scene of her singing to the camera in black-&-white. And of course, there was the smooth chart-topping radio-friendly ballad which became a theme song for Williams.

I've bought my fair share of Wink albums during the early 90s, and "Nocturne" was my final purchase of the ladies. It came out in November 1992, and a couple of singles were on it: "Real Yume no Joken"（リアル夢の条件...Conditions of a Real Dream）and their cover of the kayo classic "Furimukanaide"（ふりむかないで）by The Peanuts.

However, I was rather surprised to hear a familiar tune done in Japanese on the album. It came under the title "Celebration", but it was no doubt "Save The Best For Last" as done by Shoko Aida（相田翔子）. Rui Serizawa（芹沢類）came up with the Japanese lyrics, and the arranger was Satoshi Kadokura（門倉聡）, but frankly, I couldn't really tell the difference between his music and the arrangement for the Williams original. I would have said that it was basically Aida doing karaoke...except that Aida's version was beyond-karaoke good! Although it was a pretty straight-on interpretation of "Save The Best For Last", I have to say that it was one of the better covers of an English-language song by a Japanese singer. In fact, it was the one song I remember from "Nocturne". For about three minutes, I rather forgot that she was one-half of a Eurobeat-driven aidoru duo that took the late 80s by storm. Good on her!

Wink -- Baby Me

When I started listening to aidoru duo Wink, “Baby Me”, which is actually a Shoko Aida (相田翔子) solo, was one of the first songs that caught my attention. It was a slicky and straightforward eurobeat/pop number that stood out in the “Especially For You ~Yasashisa ni Tsutsumarete~” (優しさにつつまれて) album.

Released in April 1989, “Especially For you ~Yasashisa ni Tsutsumarete~” was the duo’s second full lenght album (I’m not counting the “At Heel Diamonds” mini-album here), but the first one to be released after the success of singles like “Ai ga Tomaranai ~Turn It Into Love~” (愛が止まらない) and “Namida wo Misenaide ~Boys Don’t Cry~” (涙をみせないで). In typical Wink’s style, the album was mainly a collection of Western pop hits turned into Japanese synthpop/eurobeat songs. Based on that, “Baby Me” wasn’t an exception. In fact, it was a cover of Chaka Khan’s R&B/funk song that was released one year before, in 1988, as part of her seventh studio album, “CK”.

If you ask me which version I like better, I will answer you that I love both of them. Although we’re essentially talking about the same song, they are absurdly different. While Chaka’s original recording offers a raw/strong bass line and a mid-tempo swing that seduces the listener, Wink’s eurobeat approach was more urgent and close to the Stock Aitken Waterman’s brand of manufactured electronic pop music that was turning UK criticts crazy (in a negative way) and making huge waves of success in the Japanese market.

The “Especially For You ~Yasashisa ni Tsutsumarete~” reached #1 on the Oricon charts, selling 501,520 copies. It also reached #19 on the yearly Oricon chart. As for “Baby Me”, Japanese lyrics were written by Neko Oikawa (及川眠子), while music was composed by Holly Knight and Billy Steinberg. Finally, the eurobeat arrangement was done by Takao Sugiyama (杉山卓夫).

To finish, here’s my “Especially For You ~Yasashi ni Tsutsumarete~” album. I bought this very well conserved copy of it a couple of months ago on eBay.

Shoko Aida -- Jóia

In my first entry for Kayo Kyoku Plus, I decided to talk about “Jóia”, the second single from Shoko Aida’s (相田翔子) post-Wink career, released in April 1996. “Jóia” is a typical “bossa nova” styled song, and although I’m Brazilian, I don’t quite listen to “bossa nova” or “samba”. “Jóia”, in the other hand, is a song that I enjoy a lot, so let’s check out the reasons.

First of all, some translation notes. If the reader is curious, “Jóia”, in Portuguese, means jewel. And the phrase “de noite eu espero por você”, repeated by the backing vocalists in the last minute of the song, means “I wait for you at night”.

So, talking about the song itself, I can tell that Shoko’s vocals were very beautiful, and if the reader is a Wink fan, you can agree with me how much her voice had matured if compared with Wink’s first smash hit, “Ai ga Tomaranai ~Turn It Into Love~” (愛が止まらない), released in 1988. It’s important to notice, of course, that in “Ai ga Tomaranai ~Turn It Into Love~”, Shoko’s vocals were young and innocent, something very welcomed and necessary in aidoru singers.

Even though Shoko’s vocals are, for sure, one of the charming points of “Jóia”, the soft melody contributes a lot to the whole atmosphere.

I firstly came across this song when I discovered Wink some two years ago (not a long time). After becoming a big fan of the duo, I started checking both girls solo efforts. I remember listening to this song a lot while traveling. Don’t know why, but it’s a good travel song. Maybe the beautiful melody combined with Shoko’s voice was something pleasant to hear while relaxing in a traveling bus.

The PV is simple, but the song doesn’t ask for anything really elaborated. Shoko’s beauty is enough for me in the video.

The single failed to chart on the Oricon (source: generasia) and we can surely understand why. Besides being a beautiful “bossa nova” styled song, “Jóia” doesn’t quite match the requisites of a J-pop hit song of the year 1996. We can’t tell, but Shoko was probably aware that it was not going to climb high on the charts. But she surely wanted to try out this type of sound, as an entire “bossa nova” album, called “Jóia” (same name of the track, I know), was released one month after the single. And maybe I’m more worried about the Oricon charts than Shoko herself was at the time. Who knows? Even Wink’s last singles were poorly received on the Oricon charts, but that’s something we can discuss better in other article.

“Jóia” was written by Shoko Aida and Rui Serizawa (芹沢類). The music was composed by Shoko herself and the arrangement was put together by Robbie Buchanan (source: generasia).

To end this post, I decided to share one of my favorites renditions of "Ai ga Tomaranai ~Turn It Into Love~" in which Shoko Aida sings it live without her Wink partner, Sachiko Suzuki. This footage is from 1997, one year after Wink's official disbandment.