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.
Ahh...yes, it was another long weekend for Japan since Monday was Adulthood Day (Seijin-no-Hi), although I'm not sure whether the holiday's ceremonies now include people turning 18 or whether they're sticking with the former age of becoming an adult which has been 20.
I usually provide special Reminiscings of Youth articles for national holidays here in Canada and not for Japan. However, Adulthood Day had me remembering an old 1980s song by the Canadian alternative rock band The Pursuit of Happiness, so I'm making an exception here.
The Pursuit of Happiness with leader and vocalist Moe Berg started up in 1985 and then the following year, they came out with their breakthrough single "I'm An Adult Now". The music video got plenty of airplay on Canada's own version of MTV, MuchMusic, and other channels and so it's been a fun and nostalgic experience seeing the Toronto of the 1980s including Queen West and City Hall. That video was made on a shoestring budget and looks it, but it also looks attractively grotty and perfect for a rock band in Toronto. And the ironic thing, it got majorly praised (the song helped, too) to the point that it was even nominated for Best Music Video of the Year at the Juno Awards (Canada's equivalent of the Grammys).
Also, I remember enjoying the catchy melody by Berg, especially the main chorus featuring the title as he has a rather tongue-in-cheek take on what it's like to be an adult doing adult things. Let's imagine all of us old fogeys getting together and discussing "I'm An Adult Now".
Only the year was mentioned when it came to the release date of "I'm An Adult Now", so why don't we go with what was up in the Top 10 of Oricon on January 13th 1986? I have Nos. 1, 3 and 5.
For the record, I'm probably one of the very few North Americans who never bothered to see "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure". The idea of two righteous dudes flying through time and space didn't particularly appeal to me at the time, although I've seen a lot of Keanu Reaves' subsequent movies such as "Speed", the "Matrix" series and "John Wick". At this point, it's amazing to realize that one of Hollywood's most famous Torontonians got his big break in a comedy, but then again, a lot of folks had started paying attention to Tom Cruise when he was playing an in-over-his-head teen in the comedy "Risky Business" some years earlier.
Still having not seen the picture, I was also surprised by the opening credits of "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure". For a movie about a couple of high-flying teens, the credits were pretty abstract in image, to say the least. And the opening song was also a surprise since though I had already known about it for a few years, I'd had no idea that it was used here.
I'm talking about Australian band Big Pig's"Breakaway" from November 1987. This is the only song that I know by them, and that's because the song and the video were quite striking. In fact, I had been searching for any sign of "Breakaway" on YouTube for years until I finally found it (it didn't help that I couldn't quite remember the band's name at the time).
"Breakaway" showed up on Canada's MuchMusic channel and I only saw it once or twice but it left quite an impression with tightly coiled spring vocalist Sherine Abeyratne and the rest of her crew dressed up in factory aprons lying on top of clear floors with water sloshing all over. Then, there was the image of what seemed like dozens of percussionists going crazy on the instruments (the wonder of mirrors, folks!)...I would later read that the founder of Big Pig had been inspired by Japanese taiko drummers👍 and that guitars of no sort were used. I read that the song's crash-and-bang sound was quite the hit in the dance clubs and along with the band members in those aprons, I gather that "Breakaway" could be a tongue-in-cheek example of industrial pop. The song peaked at No. 10 in Canada while in the United States, it ranked in at a more modest No. 60. Meanwhile, it hit No. 8 in Australia and even No. 1 in New Zealand.
So, what other singles were being released in Japan in November 1987?
It is (or was in Japan) July 7th 2025 which means another day to celebrate Tanabata, commemorating the star-crossed lovers Orihime and Hikoboshi. This year, though, is particularly auspicious because July 7th is falling in the 7th year of Reiwa (another way of saying 2025 in Japan) and so people noticing that it is the 7th day of the 7th month in the 7th year, much hay has been made out of it. For example, couples have been flooding their local city halls to register their marriages today and in a lot of supermarkets, some products have been priced at 777 yen.
Now, I've done my commemorating of the holiday sometimes on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" for specific songs in the past, but this time, I've decided to become a little more ambitious by applying a few gimmicks to this Author's Pick.
First off, let's provide three songs that have something to do with the number 7.
(1967) The Echoes and The Misuzu Children's Choral Group -- Theme from Ultra Seven （ウルトラセブンの歌）
Going into the last few days of 2023, we are indeed going to be talking about the "last" of a number of things here, including the final Reminiscings of Youth article for this year.
I've opted for the sophisticated pop of Swingout Sister once more. Earlier this year, I tackled the band's "Twilight World" which went for a more mysterious 60s spy movie feel, but this time around, I'm returning to sunnier climes where they're concerned via their June 1987 single"Fooled by a Smile". Back to that vibe of breezy 60s romantic comedy, "Fooled by a Smile" is another one of my favourites by Corinne Drewery, Andy Connell and Martin Jackson. As I've frequently said, I'm always going to be a sucker for a battery of jazzy horns and Drewery's splendid vocals.
"Fooled by a Smile" only scored on the UK Singles chart at No. 43 and as I recall, I didn't hear much from Swingout Sister after "Twilight World" when I was still at university...which is a pity. I'm hoping that folks afterwards have been able to discover some of the wonders from their later singles and albums.
For this final ROY of 2023, what was also coming out in Japan as singles in June 1987?
In retrospect, I believe that going into the late 1980s, I was really getting into the classier aspects of popular music through genres such as sophisticated pop and Quiet Storm through folks like Swingout Sister and Anita Baker. Singer-songwriter Sade had already gained fame globally a few years earlier with hits including "Smooth Operator" that I've already put in as a ROY article. But then in January 1986, Sade released a single that became another heavy-rotation song on radio and had me always going up and down the dial to hear the extended version.
So for today's ROY, I have selected "Is It a Crime?". A torch song involving two former lovers reminiscing over old times which had devolved into something horrid, those first notes by the sax player grabbed my ears and never quite let go. It was like listening to an entire film noir from the 1940s although I can also hear the contemporariness in the arrangement at that time as well. The song created by Sade, Andrew Hale and Stuart Matthewman (who was that sax player) has been classified as smooth jazz but I think that feeling of old-style jazz nightclub further elevates "Is It a Crime?". I guess in a way, the song helped pave the way for me to finally watch some of those film noir flicks such as "The Maltese Falcon" years later.
So, what was hitting the top tiers of Oricon in January 1986? I have Nos. 1, 3 and 4 today.
It's ironic...years before I started up the ROY series here on KKP, I still had been able to squeeze in great 80s collective Art of Noise into the blog with their "Legs" because the song had been used as the theme for veteran magician Mr. Marikku（Mr.マリック）and his "hand power". I even used the above thumbnail although I didn't even refer to "Dragnet" even though I gave some of their other hits a shoutout. But today, I finally give the band's second go at an iconic American crime show theme its just dues. However, I need to go through quite a bit of background.
Dum...de...DUM...DUM!
Yup, that musical cue isn't only one of the most famous musical cues in pop culture history, it's probably one of the first cues that I had ever heard and remembered as a toddler. Now, it wouldn't be for some years that I realized that the US police procedural program "Dragnet" had started as a radio program in 1949 before it became a long-running television show in the 1950s, both starring Jack Webb as the unflappable and intrepid Sergeant Joe Friday and a lot of others as his partners over the decades.
The whole franchise was famous for a number of tropes: the quick even-toned patter of Friday and his partner, Friday's narration of the progress of the case that episode, the description of Los Angeles, and the fact that the guys seemed to circulate like air through all of the police station's various departments. But my first exposure as a little boy to "Dragnet" was in its final years in the late 1960s when the older and portlier Friday was partnered with Officer Bill Gannon, played by veteran actor Harry Morgan.
Of course, there was that opening blast of ominous horns which launched the "Dragnet"song, one of the more recognizable themes in all of television. Officially titled "Danger Ahead" and composed by Walter Schumann, it not only struck me as foretelling of danger ahead but it also meant "Uh oh...police in back!". I've heard my old buddies in school intone it to signal big trouble...usually of a parental nature.
"Dragnet" the original series finished its run very early in the 1970s and since then, cop shows evolved to show a more fallible side to their characters and even what they were up to outside of work hours. So it was with some surprise when I was already in university that a new movie version of "Dragnet" was hitting the big screen in 1987. I just saw the promotional picture of Dan Aykroyd as Joe Friday and Tom Hanks as new partner Pep Streebek, and thought "OMG! Are these guys actually going to do a serious movie?!". Aykroyd was the comedian from "Saturday Night Live" and "Ghostbusters", and Hanks at that time was also a comedic actor.
As it turned out, "Dragnet" in 1987 was a homage and a parody to the original Webb classic and the trailer above made that clear. Webb's Friday would never have reacted in the way that Aykroyd's Friday did when the car ran over his foot.
Then I found out through one of the music video shows that Art of Noise was tackling the iconic theme song for the movie. They did a great job with another legendary theme, "Peter Gunn", the previous year so I had great expectations. Well, to my initial disappointment, I wasn't all that impressed with the original version of AON's "Dragnet" theme. I mean, it was nice seeing the kid and her three buddies from the band's "Close to the Edit" don their California togs and have fun with scenes from the upcoming movie but in retrospect, this version seemed like a beta test take.
That didn't dissuade me from catching the movie though since I was interested in seeing how everyone involved, including Aykroyd and Hanks, would treat "Dragnet". As it turned out, the movie was OK but not great. I thought that Aykroyd gave an impressive and endearing Joe Friday impression, but like a number of comedies centering around successful characters from "Saturday Night Live" (with the exception of "Wayne's World" and the first "Blues Brothers"), "Dragnet" wasn't quite able to stretch out the story adequately beyond some of the funny gags.
But the intro was spectacular with it opening like a classic "Dragnet" TV episode under the narration of good ol' Joe and then the epic "Danger Ahead" horns and march. It was funny and awesome seeing Friday walk over to the station before the new version of the Art of Noise theme exploded on the screen. And this time, AON hit it out of the park with this dance remix version incorporating all of the jittery vocal excerpts. Before the advent of YouTube, I'd been searching for this take of the theme for years and years and so I was extremely happy for my ears to get reacquainted with it again.
I also have to say that the final scene of the movie was incredible and hilarious, too.
The following year, Art of Noise released a number of remixes. I ended up getting one of my own.
"Dragnet" the movie was released in June 1987 so what were three of the singles that got released at the same time? Two of them were actually the debut singles for these singers.
"Venus" might be the calling card for Bananarama, that dance-pop trio from the 1980s, but for me, my favourite song by Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey and Keren Woodward has been "I Heard A Rumour" released on June 29, 1987.
Created by Bananarama and the Eurobeat machine of Stock, Aitken and Waterman (which always sounded like some legal firm), it got plenty of airplay on radio, music video shows and dance floors. In fact, I remember when "I Heard A Rumour" blasted on the speakers in a university facility that the Japanese-Canadian Students' Association rented for one of their dance parties. Not surprisingly, everyone flooded the floor. The music was all sparkly, classy and so wonderfully 80s synthy.
The music video for "I Heard A Rumour" was plenty fun to watch too, as the ladies decided to play dress-up. It just added to the enjoyment for all of the young dancers in the clubs. And it was catchy enough that I ended up buying the remix LP...that is hiding somewhere around here. In any case, the song hit No. 2 on the RPM Singles chart in Canada and No. 4 on the US Billboard Top 100.
So what Oricon hits were at No. 1, No. 5 and No. 7 for July 1987?
The following isn't a City Pop song by any means, but it sure does give that feeling of those champagne-and-caviar times of the Bubble Era.
Must give a caveat here before I go any further since the uploader piu mosso has slapped on an age-restricted label onto the video for some reason (no need to worry now since that video has been taken down), so most likely you may have to head to YouTube itself to view this. And that would be a pity since "Maittane Kon'ya" (Tonight's Tough, Ain't It?) is quite the stylish jazz piece for the Johnny's aidoru group Shonentai（少年隊）. Released as their 14th single in June 1989, it's got quite the "Guys n' Dolls" thing going for it as the protagonist of the piece, an urban and urbane swinger, may have met his match in a woman who leaves him internally gasping for air (externally, he's gotta maintain that urbanity).
It's not everyday that I hear some good ol' swing as applied to an aidoru group so "Maittane Kon'ya" is nice to hear, so I have to offer my compliments to lyricist/composer Tomo Miyashita（宮下智）. I've also noticed that there's a bit of "Mack the Knife" in the song, too. It hit No. 1 on Oricon (their 11th No. 1) and managed to become the 42nd-ranked single of 1989. Not only that, but Shonentai was able to appear on that year's Kohaku Utagassen to perform the song, their 4th of 8 straight appearances on the NHK New Year's Eve special. "Maittane Kon'ya" first appeared on an album via "Shonentai 35th Anniversary BEST" released in December 2020 which got as high as No. 4 on the Oricon weeklies.
For the Shonentai（少年隊）file on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I believe I have covered all of the songs that I knew about from their discography, so the following is rather new to me.
I have to admit that their 3rd single"Diamond Eyes" from July 1986 has got a pretty catchy melody by bassist/composer Hiro Nagasawa（長沢ヒロ）with lyrics from Tamaki Kawada（川田多摩喜）and Emi Kanda（神田エミ）snappily delivered by Nikki, Kacchan and Higashi. Kanda, incidentally, is just an alias for the late lyricist Tsuzuru Nakasato（中里綴）.
Not to say that current Johnny's groups such as SMAP and Arashi（嵐）have been slumming on their dancing, but man, that Shonentai was really kicking things up into high gear as far as their choreography went. Anyways, "Diamond Eyes" has got that breathless beat accompanied with some tight horns as the boys sing about trying as hard as they can to get the attention of a certain hard-to-get lady with a pair of really flinty eyes. Perhaps I'm thinking of a Clintonia Eastwood. However, I think the girls in the audience were all armed with more puppy-dog eyes.
"Diamond Eyes" was their 2nd No. 1 after their hit debut of"Kamen Butokai"（仮面舞踏会）in the previous year, and it ended up as the 79th-ranked single for 1986.
Y'know...I've heard the title "stripe blue" being bandied about whenever the 80saidoru unit Shonentai（少年隊）was mentioned anywhere. However, aside from a faint memory of Higashi, Kacchan and Nikki singing out the title, I couldn't remember anything about the song although I probably did see the Johnny's group perform it on shows such as "The Best 10".
Still, listening to the entirety of "stripe blue", Shonentai's 5th single from March 1987, it's a pretty kakkoii aidoru tune that approaches a City Pop style. And I gotta say that even if the lads were merely lip-synching the song on stage, their dynamic choreography was quite something to behold. I'd say that SMAP and Arashi（嵐）ought to be on their knees bowing deeply to Higashi and the crew.
The wonder duo of Kyohei Tsutsumi and Takashi Matsumoto（筒美京平・松本隆）was responsible for "stripe blue" which hit No. 1for the fourth straight time for Shonentai. It ended up becoming the 16th-ranked single for 1987 and was even used as the theme song for a fashion facility known as the Harajuku Aidoru Wonderland.
Man, we've just reached 4 years since "Kayo Kyoku Plus" had its first article published. My intent was never to write about every single song that has ever been written in the history of kayo kyoku and J-Pop but every time I reach an anniversary, I'm still surprised at the songs that are still out there.
So why not commemorate this article (No. 2934) by basing it on an old 80s tune since this was the decade for my awakening to the wacky and wonderful world of music? I'm going with "Kimi Dake ni" (Only For You) by the aidoru trio Shonentai（少年隊）since this was a song that I saw performed numerous times on the various video tapes of "The Best 10" back when we were all enjoying our VHS on VCR.
Released in June 1987, this was Noriyuki Higashiyama（東山紀之）and Co.'s 6th single and their first bona fide love ballad as a single. Yep, as I usually remembered the group just bopping all over the place with their high-energy material, to see these guys moving in relatively slower motion while channeling the music of crooners was a bit of a revelation. Supposedly the finger-snapping at the beginning of the performance became one of the symbols of the ballad. I'm sure a lot of junior high school girls were getting all googly and gushy at the guys.
Also, the intro to Kyohei Tsutsumi's（筒美京平）melody just reminded me of an old soul song from the 1970's (I think it could have been "Reunited") before it returned to the usual aidoru ballad. Chinfa Kan（康珍化）who wrote the lyrics to a number of Omega Tribeand Anri（杏里）songs was also responsible for the words for "Kimi Dake ni". The ballad turned out to become Shonentai's 2nd-most successful single after their debut, "Kamen Butokai"（仮面舞踏会）from 1985 as it hit No. 1 and became the 10th-ranked song for 1987. It also earned the group a Gold Prize and a Best Artist Prize at the Japan Record Awards that year as well as an invitation to the Kohaku Utagassen.
And for the folks at home, here is the link to my very first article on KKP. Just heard it again last week on the latest episode of "Kayo Concert".
It's been a couple of years since I first wrote about the 80s aidoru trio, Shonentai（少年隊）, and I have yet to put down anything about their most successful hit...which happened to be their debut single, "Kamen Butokai" (Masquerade Ball), written by Tetsuya Chiaki（ちあき哲也）and composed by Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）. And yet, the beginning of the song was instantly recognizable to me as soon as I heard it...those chaotic first few seconds of music before Nishikori, Higashiyama and Uekusa go into their dynamic song-and-dance...something kinda "West Side Story".
The kanji certainly wasn't too familiar with me at the time. I had no idea how it read or what it meant, but I could have figured it out from the choreography above as the ladies came out in their gowns and masks. Pretty darn spiffy for an aidoru single. And pretty darn successful for a debut single by the boys. Within a couple of weeks of its release in early December 1985, it hit No. 1 and about a year later, it would become the 3rd-ranked single of 1986 behind No. 1"CHA-CHA-CHA" by Akemi Ishii（石井明美）and No. 2 Akina Nakamori's（中森明菜）"Desire". It also earned a Japan Record Award in the category of Best Newcomer along with a couple of other prizes.
Quite the sweet start for Shonentai. And to top it all off, the unit was invited onto the 1986 Kohaku Utagassen. However, there was a bit of humble pie when, according to the J-Wiki article on the song, kayo legend Yuzo Kayama（加山雄三）mistakenly introduced the song by saying "Their first time on the Kohaku Utagassen, Shonentai with....KAMEN RIDER!" Nope, I don't think "Kamen Butokai" was ever the theme song for the tokusatsu insectoid superhero, and I only hope that the boys were disciplined enough not to giggle through their performance. Mind you, with all of the bouncing about on the stage, I guess some comparisons could be made with the usual action on the "Kamen Rider" franchise.
I am becoming further convinced that prolific composer Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）is capable of weaving up any song in any genre. You can take a look at the man's range via the Creator article I wrote up about him some time ago, but with this song, Shonentai's（少年隊）7th single, "ABC", he took on rapid-fire Eurobeat.
Tsutsumi was once again paired up with lyricist Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）to create "ABC", which was released back in November 1987. This was the same songwriting duo that took care of Hiromi Ohta's（太田裕美）classic kayo "Momen no Handkerchief"（木綿のハンカチーフ）back in 1975, but a dozen years later, Tsutsumi and Matsumoto went for some more high energy.
Among the various VHS tapes of the ranking shows that my family rented from Nippon Video back in the day, Shonentai's (which has been translated in Wikipedia as "Regiment of Boys"...OK, I can take that, although perhaps "Boys' Squad" might be a bit better) "ABC" was one of the heavy rotation appearances. So, on shows like "The Best 10", I got to see Higashiyama and the other two boys kick it up a notch fairly regularly to a beat that at the time sounded rather Latin (I had no idea about what Eurobeat was all about at the time) to me. It was definitely one of the catchier melodies that I've remembered throughout the years.
"ABC'...which stood for "Angel, Baby, Cupid" according to the lyrics...hit No. 1 on Oricon, and finished 1987 at the 81st position; not too bad considering the late release. But then it reached higher by the end of the next year when it finished at No. 67. For Shonentai, it was their 6th No. 1 hit of the 7 singles that had been released thus far.
I also came upon a remix version of "ABC" via Yasuharu Konishi's（小西康陽）remix album for 1996-2010.
Great song....too bad about the title. Not sure where Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎） came up with "Funky Flushin'", but I just keep getting images of one notorious scene from "Trainspotting" with Ewen McGregor.
In any case, I'm happy to say that the song doesn't get anywhere near the scatological. Instead, it's a party tune that came out as the B-side to Yamashita's 5th single,"Eien no Full Moon"（永遠のFULL MOON...Eternal Full Moon) which came out in October 1979. With words by Minako Yoshida（吉田美奈子） and music by Yamashita himself, the two of them were fully in thrall to their R&B disco gods as they exhorted listeners to get down and get out to places like Roppongi or Akasaka....and considering that Japan was getting into the good times, I'm sure everyone did. As usual, Yamashita was more than happy to bring out the horns and bass. The only thing I regret about "Funky Flushin'"(aside from the title) is that Yoshida wasn't more involved with the vocals. I would've loved to have heard her getting more into the back and forth with her songwriting partner.
The song was also a track on his 5th album, "Moonglow" which also came out on the same day as that single. It managed to peak at No. 20 on Oricon. As for me, I have the song on "Greatest Hits of Tatsuro Yamashita".
I used to see the Johnny's aidoru group, Shonentai（少年隊）, a fair bit on videos of the ranking shows like "The Best 10". The trio of boys started out in December 1985 and had hits like "Stripe Blue" and "ABC". The members were Kazukiyo Nishikiori（錦織一清）, Noriyuki Higashiyama（東山紀之）and Katsuhide Uekusa（植草克秀）. Of the three, I've only seen the tall and cool Higashiyama succeed beyond the group well into this year. I actually saw him appear on one of the shows that current Johnny's heartthrobs, Arashi（嵐）, hosts, and they were very respectful to their grand senpai.
I hadn't been aware that they actually did a cover of Yamashita's song, but it did come out as their 16th single in July 1990, and they were even able to get onto that year's Kohaku Utagassen with it.
