Charan-Po-Rantan -- Showa Hyaku Nen（唱和百年）

 

This isn't true with everybody but sometimes I associated certain bands and singers with famous areas. Southern All Stars（サザン・オール・スターズ）will always be connected to seaside Chigasaki because they are from that area, so that is easy. However on the other hand, I've felt that the late kayo chanteuse Keiko Fuji（藤圭子）and Shinjuku made a good pairing (although she's originally from Hokkaido) not only because she sang "Shinjuku no Onna"（新宿の女）but she just fit that urban angst in the back streets of that Tokyo neighbourhood.

This is straight from their website.
Please don't kill me, Momo and Koharu.

Well, as for the eclectic accordion-driven sibling duo Charan-Po-Rantan（チャラン・ポ・ランタン）, I picture them setting up shop in the shitamachi districts of Tokyo such as Ueno or Kanda. They actually do hail from the nation's capital (though the sisters Momo and Koharu were born in Chiba) but I don't know exactly where they were raised. Now as to why I think they feel just at home in the traditional quarter of town, and this is even before they released their album of kayo covers "Showa Hyaku Nen" (The 100th Year of the Showa Era) on Christmas Eve last year, their music always hit me as being something just as comfy, old-fashioned and woodsy as the architecture of the Taisho and early Showa eras. I'm not sure whether 2025 or 2026 would be considered Showa 100 according to the Japanese reign year system if Emperor Showa had survived up to now but let's give the sisters the benefit of a doubt.

So, let's take a look at three of the tracks from "Showa Hyaku Nen". One is a cover of Takao Hirata & Sellsters'（平田隆夫とセルスターズ）"Hachi no Musashi wa Shinda no sa"（ハチのムサシは死んだのさ）, the novelty pop hit from 1972. Some great sisterly harmonizing here with the song taking on an arrangement that seems to be part ska and part old-fashioned street band chindon'ya style. And it comes with a music video that's swift and reminiscent of the old anime style from that decade. I'm especially happy that Charan-Po-Rantan picked this one since I don't think "Hachi no Musashi wa Shinda no sa" usually gets selected in any kayo kyoku retrospective either on TV or compilation album.

Hey, and we all get a lovely video of vocalist Momo not only singing but showing off a bit of summery 80s aidoru cheesecake in the music video for the duo's rendition of Meiko Nakahara's（中原めいこ）1984 hit "Kimi Tachi Kiwi Papaya Mango da ne" （君たちキウイ・パパヤ・マンゴだね。）The Charan-Po-Rantan style is fully in play here as well.

Finally, here is the Hibari Misora（美空ひばり）classic "Makkana Taiyo"（真赤な太陽）from 1967. There's perhaps even more of a funky element in this cover and Momo adds some Ringo Shiina（椎名林檎）growl and Ego-Wrappin' attitude into her delivery. That chindon'ya saxophone really chews into the arrangement like me on a tenderloin steak. Frankly, "Makkana Taiyo" is a song that just begs to be covered in any kayo cover album because the singers can really have at it.

Feel free to take a look at the rest of the tracklist via the link to the album above and there are some more of the songs up on YouTube.

J-Canuck's Five Favourite Misato Watanabe Tunes（渡辺美里）

 

Once again, we have come to Hump Day and at least here in Toronto, it certainly feels and looks like a Hump Day meteorologically speaking. It's all gray, dreary and drizzly out there. So, let's try for something or someone very up with people and happiness. And I was thinking about Misato Watanabe. I hadn't written about her in quite a while and I realized while going through her KKP file, I had yet to provide my own favourite tunes by her.

(1986) My Revolution

Of course, I'm going to start with his one since this is the first song by her that I came to know her by. I think it's also safe to say that "My Revolution" is one of the pop songs of the 1980s in Japan. I will always remember the original music video where she showed herself basically as a human anime figure with that huge hair and just-as-huge eyes.

(1988) 10 Years

As I mentioned in the actual article for the song, I misunderstood the meaning of the song...initially assuming that this was some commemorative tune in Misato's career. It was really just about the protagonist's look back on her own decade as a working woman. Still, I'm sure that the singer herself has used the song for her own anniversaries. I don't know of too many tunes that are both elegiac and celebratory.

(1990) Summertime Blues

I think next to "My Revolution", "Summetime Blues" is the Misato tune that I'll always remember her for. It sounds both old-fashioned and contemporary at the same time, and obviously, it has her up-with-people pizzazz. And indeed, it was used as the campaign song for what is now the Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company...gotta keep the insured healthy and happy through the gift of music.

(1990) Koi Suru Punks（恋するパンクス）

As much as my favourites are along the pop vein, I know that Misato has had the vocals and movement style of a happy and hard rocker. "Koi Suru Punks" (Punks in Love) is one reflection of that from her 1990 "Tokyo" album. Nope, it was never put out as a single but I'm sticking with this one because it is so much fun to hear with ska and rock thrown into the cosmic blender like so much kale for a smoothie.

(1991) Christmas Made Matenai （クリスマスまで待てない）

This is another non-single track...this time for the 1991 album "Lucky", and it's a perennial favourite to be played when the Holidays approach. It may be a domestic creation with Misato herself behind the lyrics, but whenever I listen to it, I just get those Phil Spector Wall of Sound thoughts from the 1960s.  Merry Christmas, indeed.🎄

Any particular Misato favourites from your end? Let us know. Ah, one PS...she'll be celebrating her 60th birthday later in July.

Bing Crosby/akiko & The Ska Flames -- Winter Wonderland

Man, I hope the Xmas revelers are enjoying really hot cocoa and nothing radioactive above. But it is indeed the season.

Of course, one of the great Christmas musical chestnuts out there is "Winter Wonderland" which was first recorded in 1934 by Felix Bernard and lyricist Richard Bernhard Smith, according to Wikipedia. Since then, the song has been covered by so many artists everywhere, and of course, that includes Bing Crosby. It wouldn't be a KKP Christmas without Der Bingle. And so, he came up with his version in 1962. The snazzy one with the cool video above may be the 1962 version or any subsequent version by him but let's just go with that year, shall we? His baritone will always be welcome in my ears at this time.

I've had this version of "Winter Wonderland" on the backlog for quite a while now, and I figure that it must have come from one of Scott's "Holly Jolly X'masu" episodes, since I could never imagine a ska version of the classic. But here we are.

akiko is a jazz singer who has been on the blog before with her 2003 take on "Good Morning Heartache", originally performed by Billie Holiday. Well, she provides her jaunty collaboration with The Ska Flames in "Winter Wonderland" via her 2007 release "A White Album". The band has been around since 1985 and has released six albums and eight singles up to 2020.

Anna Takeuchi -- Tokyo Nite

 

Before I forget completely, I would like to wish a belated Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the United States. At this point, most of you have already devoured a good chunk of turkey with all of the trimmings. Perhaps those of you reading this may be doing so through bleary eyes from sleeping some of that digestion off. Keep the stomach open for dessert, though. You can't miss that!

I guess with this article, we've done a round trip between Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro. Well, we're back in Tokyo again via singer-songwriter Anna Takeuchi's（竹内アンナ）"Tokyo Nite" from her January 2019 album "at TWO". It's been around three years since I posted an article about her on the blog so let's welcome her back.

In terms of her discography, this is the earliest I've gone back and "Tokyo Nite" is a fascinating track because it seems to be trying to be a Long Island Iced Tea of genres with the intoxicatingly sweet taste, to boot. It's got the groovy Neo-City Pop, some hip-hop rap, bossa nova and maybe even a touch of ska in the beat. The song comes across as the type of musical background a Tokyo modern of the 21st century would like to have while driving through the megalopolis on a Friday night.

Sabasister -- My girlfriend is PIZZA OF DEATH

Wikimedia Commons via Ed Bierman

I do love my mackerel, which is known in Japanese as saba（鯖）. It could be shime saba（しめ鯖） sushi which has been made here at home and at the many kaiten sushi places I've frequented in Japan. I also enjoyed it frying it up in a pan and having it with hot rice. 

So, imagine to my surprise that there is a Japanese band known as Sabasister（サバシスター）that has been around since 2022. Consisting of vocalist Nachi（なち）, drummer Gouke（ごうけ）, and guitarist Ruminasu（るみなす）, they specialize in pop, pop-punk and rock. Up to this point, I've only come across their third single from April 2025, "My girlfriend is PIZZA OF DEATH", and thus far, I've only seen videos of the song being just a little over a minute in length so I'm not sure whether there is a fuller version or it is only meant to be a mini-tune. The ladies really played up the punk in the pop-punk in the video above and there's something about the song that reminds me of the band Go-Bangs.

A couple of months ago, a variant on the song was released which basically retains the hard rock but also includes some ska. Now as for the title, which might read like something on a typical Japlish T-shirt sold in Asakusa, PIZZA OF DEATH is actually the name of the band's label, PIZZA OF DEATH RECORDS, which handles a lot of indies acts.

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra feat. Tsuyoshi Muro -- Medetashi Song（めでたしソング）

 

On a recent Friday episode of NHK's "Asaichi"（あさイチ）, the morning information variety show got a whole lot livelier with longtime band Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra getting on the floor for some very exciting music. Not surprisingly, the faxes and email were flowing in like water at the spectacle of party time just after 9 am in the morning.

I forgot who was the subject of the "Premium Talk" segment that usually comes on those Fridays but another actor did show up to help TSPO. And he was definitely essential since he helped write and perform the song. I may have seen Tsuyoshi Muro（ムロツヨシ）in a few dramas but at this point, his performance headlining "Medetashi Song" (Congratulatory Song) will be my highlight of him.

With TSPO baritone sax player Atsushi Yanaka（谷中敦）and Muro behind lyrics, and TSPO trumpeter NARGO taking care of the melody, "Medetashi Song" is a splash-bang ska tune with some surf rock thrown in there. It's all well and good as a tune about getting through the bad stuff and celebrating the good stuff. With these guys, it's all too easy to doff off the blues and hit the dance floor. The song was placed onto the band's 4th mini-album "S.O.S. ［Share One Sorrow]" from November 2021; the album peaked at No. 13.

Various Artists -- DOWNTOWN (Happy 50th Anniversary to "SONGS")

 

Y'know, the other day, I saw this adorable little teaser from Sony Music Japan's YouTube channel.

Cartoon cutouts of the members of the legendary New Music band Sugar Babe（シュガー・ベイブ）appear and do some minimalistic moving around while their "Downtown" track is playing. Then the announcement comes out that their one and only "SONGS" album from April 25th 1975 is getting its special 50th anniversary release today.

Well, there was no way that I could let this one slide by KKP, especially on Urban Contemporary Friday. I did get my own special version of "SONGS" years ago at the old Shibuya RecoFan...I think it was the 30th anniversary edition and I wrote about the album way back in 2013, so that's all said and done. Plus, I had even written about the arguably most famous track "Downtown" more than a year previously in the first few weeks of the blog's existence.

However, as I said above, I'm not about to ignore the significance of this opportunity. Therefore, I've opted to provide as many of the cover versions of "Downtown" as created by composer Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）and lyricist Ginji Ito（伊藤銀次）that I've known and written about here including one that I discovered only last night.

As for why "Downtown" has been popular among listeners and musicians alike, I mentioned in the original article for the song that my favourite version among the covers has been EPO's 1980 City Pop take since it was not only the first version that I had ever heard, but also because it was just a bright and happy and welcoming song about enjoying a Saturday night in the big city, aka Tokyo. And I think despite all of the different arrangements that "Downtown" has undergone depending on the band or singer, that feeling of optimism and fun hasn't been diminished. Starting with Sugar Babe, the song dares listeners to come to the metropolis. Imagine what it must have been like back in 1975 or 1980 with the Sugar Babe original and then the EPO cover respectively when Tokyo and Japan were further going up in the world and the economy.

Sugar Babe (1975)

I have to admit that the original by this band took a while to grow on me since I was so attached to the EPO cover version. However, I can say that Tatsuro's take is also some rollicking rock n' roll fun which sounds like the gang busking about in Shibuya or Shinjuku.

EPO (1980)

EPO's EPO-tastic version is something that I will always put up alongside Mariya's "Plastic Love" and Miki's "Mayonaka no Door" as a City Pop anthem. Whenever I listen to it, I get those images of West Shinjuku and its skyscrapers at sunset and how they eventually got me to come over to Japan finally.

Haruko Kuwana (1982)

Another City Pop Queen, Haruko Kuwana's（桑名晴子）cover of "Downtown" is available on her 1982 album "Moonlight Island". Compared to Sugar Babe's rollicking original and EPO's groovy cover, Kuwana's take goes into a funkier and just-as-fun direction but it is no less City Pop.

YMCK and DE DE MOUSE (2008)

Apologies to DE DE MOUSE that I couldn't include him in Labels but I got the warning from Blogger that I reached my 20-label limit; I'll compensate on the original article since until today, I hadn't known that the chip tune band YMCK had collaborated with DE DE MOUSE on this cute-as-all-heck techno cover.

Maaya Sakamoto (2010)

Maaya Sakamoto's（坂本真綾）"Downtown" was a pretty cool take because it incorporated a couple of genres into one cover: ska and jazz. Plus, the fact that it was being used as the opening song of an anime brought me lots of joy since it would mean a new generation of folks were getting their share of this song.

Juice=Juice (2021)

Heck, even the contemporary aidoru group Juice=Juice was having their fun with "Downtown". Sounding like a spacy version of EPO's "Downtown", I wouldn't mind visiting Odaiba in Tokyo Bay while listening to this one as accompaniment. Nice oomphy percussion!

the band apart (2024)

And we come full circle with the latest version that I've gotten to know. the band apart has actually been around since 1998 and in July 2024, they came up with their "Downtown ep". Their take is more along the lines of Sugar Babe's original, and the bright and glossy music video above signifies what I've always imagined about the song vis a vis Tokyo. I'll see if I can find another song to cover by the band soon.

Strangely enough, April 25th is also an anniversary for another City Pop classic.

Skapontas -- Perfect Place

 

Toronto has never been a perfect place and it's certainly not a perfect place now...meteorologically speaking. We're currently getting walloped by a snowstorm which will most likely not end until the wee hours of tomorrow morning so it should be an interesting hike out there on Valentine's Eve. Skiers should be celebrating...if they can get access to the slopes.🎿

Let's think of a perfect place then. Calm blue ocean and all that. It's been well over a decade since I mentioned the now-disbanded ska band Skapontas（スカポンタス）which showed up with their cover of Yukio Hashi's（橋幸夫）classic "Koi no Mexican Rock"（恋のメキシカン・ロック）. Well, to redeem myself, I'm putting up their "Perfect Place" which is a track on their June 2005 album "So Peace" （So ピース）. Composed by Skapontas trumpeter Ayumi Ozaki（尾崎あゆみ）who you can see at the front of the kitchen table on the album cover, it's as mellow as can be with some jazz and rock thrown in there. No need to think of skis and horrible winter commutes while listening to this one. Just lay back in that hammock while sipping some Jamaican rum.

Well, time to dust off the heavy boots and the shovel.

Nonoka Obuchi -- Akaku Somete Shinzou（朱く染めて心臓）

 

Earlier today, I met up with my anime buddy for some diner grub nearby and then we had a short and sweet reprise of our old biweekly anime-and-food Sundays. I got to see his whole set of photos from his recent Japan trip and then we watched the first episode from one of the crop of the Spring 2024 season of anime.

"Kaii to Otome to Kamikakushi"（怪異と乙女と神隠し）literally means "Mysteries, Maidens and Mysterious Disappearances" but the official title has gone with "Mysterious Disappearances". It's a manga adapted into anime about a couple of young folks committing themselves to investigations of supernatural phenomena. The first few minutes of the pilot definitely had that horror anime feeling but then the rest of the episode had its first supernatural phenomenon affect one of the two main characters right off the bat which sets off the overarching story. 

What struck me about Episode 1 of "Kaii to Otome to Kamikakushi" is that in its urban setting, it wasn't particularly frightening and it didn't have any particularly goofy comedic moments but it still made itself very clear about what it's supposed to be, and the characters and the overall story, even within the 24 minutes, were quite engaging. As well, it was a chance to be reacquainted with seiyuu Ai Farouz（ファイルーズあい） who plays the bookstore employee Sumireko Ogawa (緒川菫子) since I first got to know her from the 2019 series "Danberu Nan-Kiro Moteru?"（ダンベル何キロ持てる?...How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?）.

The ending theme started out like something from "Rozen Maiden" but then it leapt into dance-worthy ska and rock. "Akaku Somete Shinzou" (Scarlet-Dyed Heart) is performed by seiyuu, actress and singer Nonoka Obuchi（大渕野々花）who apparently has had a role to play in the anime. Written and composed by singer-songwriter Neru, it's been provided as a happy-go-lucky tonic to cut through the heaviness of the stories to come in the show. Obuchi hails from Saitama Prefecture and it turns out that "Akaku Somete Shinzou" is her first single which was released a few weeks ago in May. 

THE BOOM -- Hoshi no Love Letter（星のラブレター）

 

Waking up early on a Tuesday as we always do now to watch "Uta Con"（うたコン）, we got to see singer-songwriter and actor Kazufumi Miyazawa（宮沢和史）of THE BOOM show up to do a collaboration with Princess Princess singer and guitarist Kaori Kishitani（岸谷香）. They performed THE BOOM's 2nd single "Hoshi no Love Letter" (Love Letter of the Stars) which was released all the way back in September 1989.

Written and composed by Miyazawa, "Hoshi no Love Letter" has this relaxing beat which either makes the song sound like either a peppy reggae song or a mellower ska tune, but for now I'm gonna categorize it as a pop/rock number. The story behind the song is of a man who presumably wrote a love letter for that lady of his dreams who got away from him. Not wanting to let this opportunity go, he vows to find her and properly let her know his feelings.

Come to think of it, "Hoshi no Love Letter" does remind me of The Beatles' "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" from 1968 and that has been categorized as pop and ska, so I guess I'll throw in the ska label after all. Anyways, just so that despite THE BOOM's sunny music and ways, we're reminded that Miyazawa and crew aren't from Okinawa, and that is shown in the lyrics in "Hoshi no Love Letter" which also include Asahi Douri（朝日通り...Asahi Avenue）, a street located in the vocalist's hometown of Kofu City in landlocked Yamanashi Prefecture, not too far away from Tokyo. 

The original single peaked at No. 56 on Oricon. A 25th anniversary edition of "Hoshi no Love Letter" was released in May 2014. That one scored a No. 48 ranking and it turned out to be THE BOOM's 35th and final single. THE BOOM was one of the earlier acts that we brought onto KKP last decade but this particular single even prefaces the more famous "Kaze ni Naritai"（風になりたい）by several years.

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra feat. Sakana-kun -- Paradise Has NO BORDER

Man, am I glad that I got to see NHK's morning talk show "Asaichi"（あさイチ）today. Usually, I don't stick around to watch the Friday morning version because it has their Premium Talk segment which usually focuses on actors and actresses, and I've never been much for the Japanese thespian element. However, the guests this time around was Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra（東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ）...all nine of them filled up the set and kinda intimidated the hosts with their charisma...and of course, their music. From the old-fashioned faxes that were probably flooding the floor to the Twitter tweets, today's episode definitely got everyone up and at 'em and the morning was unusually wild with the music of Ska-Para.

Personally, my thrill was seeing Original Love himself, Takao Tajima（田島貴男）, make a rare TV guest appearance on "Asaichi" to perform his 2001 collaboration with Ska-Para, "Mekureta Orange" (めくれたオレンジ). 

One of the many other songs that perked up "Asaichi" was the title track from the band's 20th original album, "Paradise Has NO BORDER" from March 2017. Composed by NARGO, the ska is of course in there but it also starts out with a bit of salsa and then mixes it with a comely layer of surf rock. It's the type of song that will get everyone bopping about on the dance floor.

Even this song originally had some collaboration, too, with none other than popular pop ichthyologist Sakana-kun（さかなクン...Mr. Fish） helping out in the brief music video with another bass saxophone. No idea how those two got together but "Paradise Has NO BORDER" was used for a Kirin commercial starring them.

SPY -- Taiyo to Mannequin（太陽とマヌカン）

 

Well, it was about a year ago when I first discovered that City Pop princess Nanako Sato（佐藤奈々子）had opted to go into another direction with her music. That's right...she formed a band SPY in 1980, a group which veered more toward the new New Wave and synthpop. So, last year, I could only find one song from their lone self-titled album represented on YouTube, "Hello Mr. SPY".

Since then though, I was told by one commenter that the remainder of the songs from "SPY" have apparently gotten onto YouTube. That includes the second track on Side B, "Taiyo to Mannequin" (The Sun and the Mannequin). Sato wrote and composed the tune which begins briefly with something approximating her old City Pop and there's even some fusion being filtered through some of those synthesizers. However, there is always that haze hovering overhead signaling that indeed, SPY is a different animal before some bouncy ska makes its presence known. Meanwhile, Sato's voice gets into a rather jumpy and slightly hiccoughy rhythm, almost approaching the style of future pop star Cyndi Lauper. 

Yoshihide Otomo -- Ama-chan Opening Theme（あまちゃん オープニングテーマ）

 

Can't quite believe that this NHK morning serial "Ama-chan"（あまちゃん）is now over a decade old. It just seems so recent. I never saw the series that starred Rena "Non" Nounen（能年玲奈）, Kyoko Koizumi（小泉今日子）and Hiroko Yakushimaru（薬師丸ひろ子）but I got the gist of the basic story of a young lady taking a very roundabout way to end up becoming an aidoru. "Ama-chan" also became one of the more popular asa-dora（朝ドラ...morning drama） during its six-month run between April and October 2013, directly benefiting the Tohoku region where most of the show is based a couple of years after the major earthquake and tsunami there.

However, what really caught my eye and ear was the opening theme by composer Yoshihide Otomo（大友良英）who had been the leader of an experimental rock group known as Ground Zero in the 1990s. Just known as the "Ama-chan Opening Theme", it was unusual in that it was an instrumental song in contrast with the usual sung asa-dora themes by a famous singer or band. There's very much of a comical circus-like feeling although I think, as would be the case for any NHK morning serial, "Ama-chan" probably had plenty of drama. As I figured, there is some mention in the J-Wiki article for the music used in the drama that ska was also incorporated.

The theme was a bona fide hit everywhere during that year as the opening theme became the No. 1 ringtone. It was also played during the 2013 summer version of the Japanese High School Baseball Championship at Koshien Stadium. Apparently, several candidates and political parties were using it as well during the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election that year without permission which got a rebuke and protest from Otomo.

I've also gotta mention that there is that opening riff in the theme that comes straight out of French composer Jacques Offenbach's "Galop Infernal", the famous tune for the 19th-century Can-Can dance. That was what tugged at my ear initially since I often heard the song being used at hockey games.

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra feat. Haruko Nagaya -- Aoi Haru no Etude（青い春のエチュード）

 

No "Uta Con"（うたコン）tonight due to probably the fact that Japan is celebrating yet another national holiday in the form of the first day of spring today. However, going back to an episode a couple of weeks ago which had more than the usual number of interesting songs, I've got yet another here.

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra has always been fun to have on a show for something that's bouncy and bopping. On "Uta Con", for instance, whenever there is a heartrending enka ballad leaving folks in tears, then maybe TSPO can be the one to liven up those happy thoughts once more. Indeed, they showed up on the March 7th show but they had an extra member on loan for their new song.

Vocalist Haruko Nagaya（長屋晴子）of the pop band Ryokuoushoku Shakai（緑黄色社会）has made a guest vocal (and extra trombone [she used to play it in junior high school]) appearance alongside TSPO to perform the band's collaborative digital download single "Aoi Haru no Etude" (Green/Blue Spring Etude). To be frank, I've always wondered about the colours aoi（青い...blue） and midori（緑...green） as they apply to nature. I've heard that aoi can also mean to be green for those first signs of spring on the trees and other flora. As it is, though, I did see a translation of the title (but not the lyrics) show up on "Lyrical Nonsense": "Etude of Adolescence", and that suits me fine because saxophonist Atsushi Yanaka's（谷中敦）lyrics talk about a teen struggling through their feelings of love for someone...an existential rubber band, so to speak. 

But obviously there's nothing maudlin about "Aoi Haru no Etude" since bassist Tsuyoshi Kawakami（川上つよし）keeps the TSPO tradition of keeping things jumping and lively. Hey, spring is coming...nothing should be sad or depressing at this time. The single came out a couple of weeks ago and it's also on the band's mini-album which came out on the 15th titled "Junk or Gem".

Mayumi Kojima -- Rock Steady Girl（ロック ステディ ガール）

 

It's been a while since I put up anything by Mayumi Kojima（小島麻由美）. The last time was back in 2018 for her song "Poltergeist" which hailed from her 2003 album "Ai no Poltergeist"（愛のポルターガイスト...Poltergeist of Love）. That song and the first one that I covered by her were more in the jazz realm.

But this time, Kojima's 12th single "Rock Steady Girl" from April 2002, is a smart little lounge ska number concocted by the singer with arrangement by ASA-CHANG who had been the founder and leader of Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra until he left in 1993. Along with the ska beat, I also enjoy the snappy percussion and the sax solo which I'm assuming is probably by TSPO's Atsushi Yanaka（谷中敦）. In addition, I like the music video with its resemblance to a 1960s Technicolor flick. The lyrics by Kojima deal with a woman who's possibly been dumped by a guy and unlike the title, she's struggling to keep it together as the resentment begins to bubble out. "Rock Steady Girl" hit No. 40 on Oricon.

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra -- HAMMERHEAD

 

I heard about this terrifying movie about a shark called "JAWS" when I wasn't even a teenager yet at the time, and I knew that this wasn't a movie that I was going to see or even want to see. The poster and John Williams' genius minimalist two notes were enough to keep me and millions of viewers out of the water for years to come. I finally did see it on VHS tape much later (accompanied by a cushion) and I still shiver at that infamous scene of "something" popping out to greet Richard Dreyfuss underwater.

So iconic was the "JAWS" theme that Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra lifted those two famous notes and injected them into their creation "HAMMERHEAD", a track on their 30th anniversary album "Tsugihagi Colorful"（ツギハギカラフル...Patchwork Colorful） released in November 2019. Yup, I know that it wasn't a hammerhead shark that was attacking the citizenry in the waters off of Amity Island, but hey, it's still a shark.

A feisty instrumental number created by band trumpeter NARGO, there's nothing horror about "HAMMERHEAD". It's simply another dance-friendly and hit-the-floor running song with Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra leading the way, and a lot of the members have their solo time on the instruments. It even sounds like a theme tune for a secret agent with that very name. As for "Tsugihagi Colorful", it peaked at No. 5 on Oricon.

Masaharu Fukuyama -- Ikiteru Ikiteku（生きてる生きてく）

 

When I was about to hear this song by singer-songwriter and actor Masaharu Fukuyama（福山雅治）, I had been expecting another wholesome pop/rock ballad. Instead, I got the lad acting mildly goofy for the camera and singing a Beatles-like melody in a slightly affected nasal voice. In fact, I was wondering whether Fukuyama was trying to emulate Keisuke Kuwata（桑田佳祐）of the Southern All Stars（サザンオールスターズ）.

"Ikiteru Ikiteku" (Alive and Living) was Fukuyama's 28th single from March 2012, and as it turns out, there was a method to his madness in that the song was his contribution as a theme song to the "Doraemon"（ドラえもん）animated feature "Eiga Doraemon Nobita to Kiseki no Shima 〜Animal Adventure〜"（映画ドラえもん のび太と奇跡の島 〜アニマル アドベンチャー〜...Doraemon the Movie: Nobita and the Island of Miracles ~Animal Adventure~）which came out in the same month. According to the J-Wiki article for the song, Fukuyama had wanted to provide something upbeat that the kids could sing with a bit of ska. Sure enough, the singer was trying to go for Beatles music, and I'm thinking specifically of "Ob‐La‐Di, Ob‐La‐Da". As for the nasal quality, he recorded "Ikiteru Ikiteku" as if Bob Dylan was trying to sing it. Fukuyama wrote and composed it while he and Akira Inoue（井上鑑）arranged everything.

The song was another No. 1 hit for Fukuyama and it finished 2012 as the 38th-ranked single. It also ended up as a track on his 11th studio album "Human" from April 2014 which also hit No. 1 and became the 7th-ranked album of the year. 

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra feat. the Narashino High School Brass Band -- Kaze no Profile（風のプロフィール）

 

It was rather sweet the other night on a previous "Uta Con"（うたコン）episode when I saw Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra's（東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ）bass saxophonist Atsushi Yanaka（谷中敦）getting a little misty-eyed. Nope, TSPO wasn't breaking up or anything like that. It was actually tears of joy.

To explain, on that night, there was a reunion of sorts between Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra and a past collaborator: the Narashino High School Brass Band（習志野高校吹奏楽部）from Chiba Prefecture. After all of the isolation that COVID-19 has wrought on society all over the world, it was good to have a couple of musical groups come back to perform a song that was originally recorded in 2019.

From TSPO's 22nd original album "Tsukibaki Colourful"（ツギハギカラフル...Cobbling Together Colourful） of November 2019, I give you "Kaze no Profile" (Wind Profile). Written by Yanaka and composed by trumpeter NARGO, I'd initially thought that the Narashino band was simply joining in on a cover of a past TSPO hit, but in actuality, it was a totally new song. It's got the usual playful ska arrangement but then it's given some measure of that proud and anthemic feeling by the NHSBB.

I additionally thought that "Kaze no Profile" had been created for some sort of festival or other major event, but it was used for a commercial regarding a Kirin drink.

Walküre -- Ikenai Borderline（いけないボーダーライン）

 

This is a slightly irregular approach for this particular tune but if you can bear with me. I was doing a bit of adjusting last night on an old 2015 article featuring "Futari no Kimochi no Honto no Himitsu" （ふたりのきもちのほんとのひみつ）, the ending theme for the nutty anime "Kill Me Baby", and as I was doing so, I noticed at the right side of YouTube that there was another song from another anime, and something told me that I should give it a shot. Instinct has led me to many a great tune in the past on the blog, so I did as I was inspired.

Instinct...I owe you a Big Mac set! I heard "Ikenai Borderline" (The Borderline You Don't Cross) and was automatically smitten by the really bouncy ska beat and the feeling that this could have been the theme song for a really action-packed anime.

Well, I wasn't too far off the mark. This was actually Track 3 on the debut single for the fictional aidoru group, Walküre（ワルキューレ）, on the 2016 anime "Macross Delta"（マクロスΔ）. And sure enough, that single was "Ichido dake no Koi nara/Rune ga Pikatto Hikattara"（一度だけの恋なら/ルンがピカッと光ったら...If It's a One-Time Love/When the Rune Sparkles） whose second song was one that I covered back in 2019. "Rune ga Pikatto Hikattara" was also one banger of a tune whose spiritual ancestor happens to be one of my favourite songs of all time, "September" by Earth Wind & Fire.

As was the case with that song, "Ikenai Borderline" was also created by lyricist Naoki Nishi（西直紀）and composer Minoru Komorita（コモリタミノル）. This time, it's actress JUNNA as Mikumo on lead vocals with the rest of Walküre on backing vocals.

This video only came up in the last 48 hours or so and that is because the album only came out in the last 24. Yup, on April 6th, "Macross Yonjuu Shuunen Kinen Korabo Album Deculture!! Mixture!!!!!"（マクロス40周年記念コラボアルバム デカルチャー!! ミクスチャー!!!!!...Macross 40th Anniversary Collaborative Album） was released, and a cover of "Ikenai Borderline" is included as sung by seiyuu May'n and Megumi Nakajima（中島愛）as their characters Sheryl Nome and Ranka Lee respectively.

Ai Furihata -- Moonrise

 

I've been following a few songs by seiyuu/singer-songwriter Ai Furihata（降幡愛）for over a year now, and it was enough for me to pull the trigger and get her debut mini-album "Moonrise" from September 2020. It's a bit quaint when I wrote my first article on her "CITY" since I noted that it was still a few months before the release of that one.

Although I've never watched any of the anime which has included her in the voice actor cast, I still just want to note that Furihata played the role of cute-as-all-get-out Ruby Kurosawa（黒澤ルビィ）in "Love Live! Sunshine!!"（ラブライブ!サンシャイン!!）back in 2016. But from listening to "CITY" and "Cinderella Time"（シンデレラタイム） which happen to be the first two tracks on "Moonrise", this album isn't an aidoru one at all. It's more in the synthpop area or even loving tribute to City Pop or J-AOR of the 1980s. The music video for "CITY" really emphasizes that part. In addition, all of the 6 tracks were given their lyrics by Furihata with Akimitsu Honma（本間昭光）providing the music and overall sound production for "Moonrise". The singer herself has given some brief remarks in the liner notes for each of the songs.

Track 3 is "Y no Higeki"（Yの悲劇...Y's Tragedy）, and it's a short and straight-ahead ska tune about a woman who's at her wits' end with her boyfriend's teasing. Not only do I get Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra vibes but even some old Chanels' doo-wop in there. According to Furihata herself, the number of times that the word "YADA" (I hate it!) pops up from her and the background chorus is 108. Feel free to confirm this if you have the time.

Next is the techno-Latin sound of "Love Song wo Kakete"（ラブソングをかけて...Put On A Love Song）, a pretty happy tune on the outside about trying to recover from a romantic breakup on the inside. Furihata mentions that she had noticed that she was only coming up with sad songs and although the lyrics are still in that vein, I guess that she consulted with Honma to see if he could at least make it sound cheerful. That he did since any listeners who don't understand Japanese wouldn't guess that this was anything but a happy-go-lucky tune devoted to the Caribbean. Instead, Furihata sings out a request for someone to put on a lullaby-sounding love song to get her to sleep.

As with "Love Song wo Kakete", my expectations were also kinda twisted inside and out with the next number "Poolside Cocktail"（プールサイドカクテル）. From that title, I had been thinking of something bossa nova or calypso regarding a calm summertime date by the pool. Even Furihata mentions how surprised she was at Honma's choice of melody for this one which is actually more on the technopop and spacey side of things. And yet, the singer's lyrics are still on the sad side as apparently that pool is the setting for unrequited love.

Both Furihata and I were on point here. When I first heard this final track "Out of Blue", I immediately got those 1980s ballad vibes a la Chicago or TOTO, and sure enough, the singer in those liner notes cited that she was going for that decade and that style of song. I almost thought that Peter Cetera was suddenly going to jump into the singing. With those lyrics, I can imagine Furihata looking tearfully at the setting sun while realizing that one can't go back home again temporally or spatially and that forward is the only path left.

"Moonrise" got as high as No. 18 on Oricon. It's not an instant classic but I think it's got a goodly amount of fun music that will grow on me over time.