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.
This is the eighth article for singer-songwriter Shoko Sawada（沢田聖子）on KKP, and when it comes to her music, my memories always drift to the first song I ever heard from her, the warm and folksy "Ochiba no Heya"（落葉の部屋）from 1981, thanks to that listening on "Sounds of Japan" many moons ago.
On the other hand, Sawada's 11th single from April 1984, "Tokaijin"(Woman of the City) is quite different. For one thing, she had nothing to do with its creation; instead, it was written by veteran lyricist Masao Urino（売野雅勇）and composed by Eiji Nishiki（西木栄二）. For another, it's a rumbling pop/rock song about a young lady who gets seduced by the night life of a metropolis despite her friend's increasingly angry and desperate warnings. Although I think Sawada handled the song ably enough, I couldn't help but feel that "Tokaijin" was perhaps not the most perfect fit for her and maybe the powers-that-be above her had wanted to put a bit more boost in her variety of music. Mind you, it's all speculation from me but I also thought that this was something that an aidoru like Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）would have tackled with more energy. The song was also placed as a track on the singer's 6th album"Kaze no Yokan"（風の予感...Presage of the Wind） which was released a month after the single.
At first, when I came across this song by Shoko Sawada（沢田聖子）, "Baku no Yume" (Baku's Dream), I had initially thought that this was about some dreams by a fellow named Buck, which was far-fetched, to say the least. Plus, I gotta say considering the really bouncy nature of the song, I was going to suggest to Buck to lay off the Red Bull...it was giving him more than wings.
However, I gradually came to realize that the baku（獏）here is referring to a supernatural being in Japanese mythology which just happens to devour dreams and nightmares. So I can only wonder about the possible implications on whether a dream-devourer actually dreams itself. Discuss.
Anyways, there is nothing of the sort implying any sort of horror in Sawada's creation. As I said, it's as giddily cheerful with that hint of West Coast as any aidoru tune that I've heard from this time period, and "Baku no Yume" was a track on her second album, "Seishun no Hikari to Kage"（青春の光と影...Light and Shadow of Youth）released in April 1981. In fact, I'd say that there are elements of the music which remind me of Seiko Matsuda's（松田聖子）"Nagisa no Balcony"（渚のバルコニー）. Usually when I think of a Sawada song, it's in the form of a mellow and wistful ballad, so "Baku no Yume" is a nice change of pace.
A mere few days ago, I wrote about another similarly-titled tune called "White Xmas" by seiyuu Yui Horie（堀江由衣）under her guise as Miss Monochrome for this year's crop of Yuletide-based Japanese pop tunes.
Well, I can guarantee you here...this "White Christmas" by singer-songwriter Shoko Sawada（沢田聖子）not only has nothing to do with Der Bingle but it's far from a happy-go-lucky number dedicated to December 25th. It's pretty much along the lines of one Japanese trope of the adopted holiday that says that people can be absolutely miserable in romance.
A track on Sawada's 17th album from June 1990, "White Christmas" deals with a couple at home whose love is practically on fumes only as the woman in the relationship tries to get any sort of spark going in their once-happy time together while the guy pretends to be a zombie. It may be a white Christmas but it's nowhere near a merry one. I mean, it sounds very pretty and holy with some pleasant harmonies but this is surely not a Xmas tune for the happy couples. It seems more for the disgruntled single person sucking up Cup O' Noodles on the 25th.
Good heavens! How natsukashii...the old ABAB (pronounced a-bu-a-bu) department store in Ueno. When I was working my first 6 months at NOVA, I was stationed at one of the main schools in the area, so I used to pass by the store all the time. If I'm not mistaken, there was also a crepe shop at the storefront. As far as I know, ABAB is still there.
Well, let's go for a bit of Friday natsukashii here, too. I've found this song by underrated singer Shoko Sawada（沢田聖子）called "Kon'ya no Kutsu wa Fumihazushite" (Take Your Shoes Off For Tonight) which was a track on her 9th album "Ingenue" from July 1984.
Listening to it a couple of times now, I got that feeling of an Eikichi Ohtaki（大瀧詠一）tune thanks to that gently lilting 50s/60s arrangement, but actually it was composed by Eiji Nishiki（西木栄ニ）and written by Junko Sato（佐藤純子）. Having known about Sawada ever since my "Sounds of Japan" days, I think she has that wonderful crystal voice and so it's been too bad that she didn't seem to get more of a profile boost than she did. As I mentioned in my very first article on her, there were comparisons between Sawada and superstar aidoru Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）because of age and the same kanji in their first name despite the different pronunciations, and to be honest, considering Ohtaki's work with Seiko-chan in the past, listening to "Kon'ya no Kutsu wa Fumihazushite", there is something quite Seiko-ish about the song as well.
It's a bit ironic, isn't it? Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, there was a section of kayo kyoku that was in love with the pop stylings of the 1950s and 1960s, and here I am listening to these very songs because of their nostalgically pleasing effect.
As I mentioned in the first article that I wrote up for singer Shoko Sawada（沢田聖子）, she's someone that I discovered through an episode of the radio program "Sounds of Japan" on CHIN-FM all those years ago, and is a chanteuse that I never got to see or hear in all those years in Japan. Basically, I've seen Sawada as one of those unsung singers who could have occupied that personally made-up genre called Fashion Music with her brand of mellowness.
Case in point: her song "Asphalt no Ue no Suna" (The Sand on Top of the Asphalt) from her 1984 8th album"Kaze no Yokan"（風の予感...Premonition of the Wind）. Now, from the title, one could be forgiven if the assumption that this was some sort of summery rock n' roll song by TUBE or Southern All Stars. But it's actually a tune that rather falls under this Fashion Music banner.
Written by Masao Urino（売野雅勇）and composed by Mieko Nishijima（西島三重子）, "Asphalt no Ue no Suna" is a fairly skippy song with some dramatic strings hinting in my imagination a train ride through Europe. But according to Urino's lyrics, it's about a woman revisiting a beach that she had once walked upon with her now former beau, and the visit hasn't exactly come off as being too happy. Seeing Nishijima's name connected with "Asphalt no Ue no Suna", I kinda figured that the song would sound pretty exotically classy since I've associated her with Fashion Music as well. By the same token, I would have also assumed that the song was created by Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）.
For some strange reason, though, I think Sawada isn't exactly perfect in her delivery of the song. At some points, it sounds as if she were breathlessly rushing through "Asphalt", kinda crunching certain syllables. Perhaps that may have been the point, but it still sounds a bit strange to me. However, I don't have complaint about the melody since I do like my Fashion Music.
It looks like the power of Halloween is even more potent than the depression of Blue Monday. This morning, NHK's nightly news broadcast had live footage of Shibuya once again completely engulfed by the costumed and non-costumed along with a healthy police presence. Mind you, looking at the live cameras in the area, it seems as if it's just the huge intersection in front of JR Shibuya Station and one particular side street that are packed. The main artery of Inokashira Avenue heading up to Tower Records looks normal.
This time, on the main camera, I got to see some more furries, a couple of walking wooden blocks collide into each other, and a Superman. I guess he might be trying to lay low after "Batman v. Superman".
Considering the massive amount of humanity tonight, odds are that there may even an Akazukin Chacha or two. traipsing about. Perhaps the older anime fans may remember the manga-turned-anime "Akazukin Chacha"（赤ずきんチャチャ...Red Riding Hood Chacha） which starred a cute little student in a red riding hood who tried to make magic with some hilarious results.
Yesterday was another round at my anime buddy's house. During the usual anison hour, he played the opening theme from "Akazukin Chacha" which surprised me since it was a SMAP single, "Kimi Iro Omoi". I'm not sure about the translation but perhaps You Have Colourful Memories or You Give Me Colourful Memories may suffice. In any case, I was surprised since I remembered the song as a SMAP hit but didn't know about its status as an anison.
This was the band's 11th single from New Year's Day 1994 and it has that rumbly dance beat. Apparently leader Nakai-kun had the solo singing duties here...and people didn't start bleeding from the ears. There are such things as miracles after all. Still the song is catchy and happy.
Written and composed by Kenji Hayashida（林田健司）, "Kimi Iro Omoi" peaked at No. 5 on Oricon and was included on SMAP's "SMAP 005" from February of that year.
I was also looking for the opening credits of the show with the SMAP theme but I couldn't find it anywhere although "Akazukin Chacha" is well represented on YouTube. For those opening credits, I heard this bright and twinkly theme song which I soon realized was indeed "Kimi Iro Omoi" although arranged in a much less dance-y manner but no less cheerfully and sung by a woman.
It turned out that due to the usual wrangles in terms of copyright stuff among all parties involved including Johnny's Entertainment, the SMAP version couldn't be used on the LD/DVD releases of the anime so singer-songwriter Shoko Sawada（沢田聖子）, who had sung at least a couple of other songs for the show, was asked to sing her version of "Kimi Iro Omoi".
Hayashida even did a grand self-cover of his creation on his 1997 album "Toyo Ichi"（東洋一...Far East Champion）. Cha-cha anyone?
Of course, September means that the universities are back in business. So, the fresh-faced frosh are getting that exciting first taste of campus life and adulthood. That was the same case with me back in 1984 and thinking about those early days at the U of T, I was thinking about finding a kayo kyoku that might hint at those salad days of higher learning (and playing).
That's when I remembered singer-songwriter Shoko Sawada（沢田聖子）. I'd written about her lovely introspective "Ochiba no Heya"（落葉の部屋）that I'd heard on one of my old "Sounds of Japan" tapes and in researching about her, I found out that her debut was "Campus Sketch". Listening to her debut from May 1979, this was Shoko as perhaps a more naive and happy-go-lucky freshman (mind you, she was just 17 when she recorded this). And indeed her catchphrase surrounding the launch of "Campus Sketch" was "Midori no kaze ni notte sawayaka debyu"（緑の風にのってさわやかデビュー...A fresh debut on the green wind）, no doubt trying to capture that freshness of starting that new phase of life.
Although Sawada is known as a songwriter, her debut was actually taken care by the late lyricist Tsuzuru Nakasato（中里綴）with folk singer Iruka（イルカ）providing the cheerful melody. In fact, Sawada's career as a singer got that boost at her audition when she caught the eye and ear of Kazuo Kanbe（神部和夫）, Iruka's husband and president of Iruka Office. Apparently, she would've been happy enough to have gotten an autograph from Iruka herself but the results were far more beneficial. And she was also touted as "Iruka's kid sister" in the PR....imagine the pressure there. However, Sawada has been very grateful as she stated "If I hadn't met Kazuo Kanbe, I wouldn't be here now."
"Campus Sketch", as I said, is this melodically cheerful slice of college life distinguished by the addition of a jaunty horn (perhaps signifying the institution of higher learning?) as Sawada sings about having that tennis game with a potential love interest, pre-kokuhaku. It's all cute nostalgic innocence....think about an anime about a girl beginning her first days on campus as she juggles her much heavier texts and runs around looking for the various lecture halls. Hearing some of that skippy folk beat brought back some of my own memories walking around the St. George Campus before heading over to First Year Japanese.
Another treasure dug up from the tapes of "Sounds of Japan",Shoko Sawada's（沢田聖子）"Ochiba no Heya" (Room of Fallen Leaves) fits the season although the leaves are pretty much down and decomposing into the ground now in Toronto. Written and composed by Sawada as the B-side to her March 1981 5th single, "Haru"（春...Spring）, the then-19-year-old sings "Ochiba no Heya" just as if she were indeed that college student walking along that path in Musashino, Tokyo through the rustling autumn leaves, thinking of meeting that special someone. I can say that it's one of the prettiest songs I have ever heard, and can imagine Sawada in her room overlooking the forest and doing "He loves me, he loves me not" with the petals of a flower.
The Tokyo native debuted as a singer in May 1979 with"Campus Sketch", although her life in entertainment had started over a decade previously when she started as a child actor. She even filmed a TV ad in 1968 for a pharmaceutical company alongside Kiyoshi Atsumi（渥美清）, otherwise known as the famed character of Tora-san.
According to both J-Wiki and Wikipedia, perhaps because of her aidoru good looks and the same kanji (albeit with different pronunciation) in her first name, Sawada had been compared to Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子） despite the facts that the latter singer's name was a stage name and that Sawada, who had debuted the year before Seiko-chan, belonged to a different genre altogether.
