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.
With my occasional exhortations to KKP viewers to never forget those 45" single B-sides, I did wonder about the B-side of one very famous song. And that song on the A-side is Hibari Misora's（美空ひばり）"Makkana Taiyo"（真赤な太陽）from May 1967. Of course, that hit had the Queen of Kayo Kyoku going all go-go with help from Group Sounds band Jackey Yoshikawa and The Blue Comets.
Well, I discovered that the B-side for "Makkana Taiyo" was quite a different animal. "Yasashii Ai no Uta"(A Gentle Love Song) is a more playful tune with Misora being quite the teasing lover in vocal delivery thanks to Sou Nishizawa's（西沢爽）lyrics. Meanwhile, the melody and arrangement are very much jazz mambo due to Makoto Saeki（佐伯亮）. It all sounds Tito Puente but in this case, Nobuo Hara（原信夫）, who had come up with the music for "Makkana Taiyo", lent his swinging band Sharps and Flats（シャープス&フラッツ）to the cause.
I've mentioned this to people and readers before but my favourite era in Japanese history isn't particularly the Muromachi or Taisho periods for example. Actually, the one group of years that has been interesting for me is the postwar era extending to the early 1970s because I had always wondered how Japan was able to rise above the ashes to become the 2nd-largest economic power behind the United States at one point. But before I end up wearing those rose-coloured glasses of romanticism, a lot of those years were ones of struggle and with the sudden ramp-up in industrialization once more, there was a heavy toll on the environment and health.
Still, I've been able to get a glimpse and a feel for the Tokyo of the 1950s or 1960s thanks to visits to the Ramen Museum in Yokohama. The time warp walk around the city seems to make one's vision go sepia and the ramen is pretty darn good, too. 😋 I must thank the good people at Nippon Wandering TV for the above video.
But of course, this is a kayo kyoku blog and not a ramen one, although I imagine that there are far more of those than there are of mine. And perhaps filtering over the speakers in the mockup Tokyo underneath the ground floor of the museum is a September or October 1961 single by crooner Hiroshi Inoue（井上ひろし）depending on whether you go with the J-Wiki article on Inoue or YouTube uploader Ka Fu respectively. "Tokyo Waltz" is a Mood Kayo written by Sou Nishizawa（西沢爽）and composed by Itsuro "Raymond" Hattori（服部逸郎）and has the rich tenor of Inoue expressing a man's heartbreak within the Tokyo nightlife. The melody indeed takes on a sad and slow waltz.
The B-side is "Wakare no Tango" (Farewell Tango) which continues the themes of dancing and imminent romantic loss, but this time as the title says, the melody by Tadashi Manjome（万城目正）has a bit more of that Latin spice. Ko Fujiura（藤浦 洸）came up with the lyrics, and listening to the song, I can imagine a couple born of the nightlife in the megalopolis having one last teary cheek-to-cheek dance on the nightclub floor before having to part permanently.
Getting a bit late in the night but I just wanted to put up one more article since it's based on one more performance that I'd seen last night on "Uta Con"（うたコン）. Did want to make it a set to join Stardust Revue's"Sugar wa O-Toshigoro"（シュガーはお年頃）and Kiyoshi Hikawa's（氷川きよし） "Koushuuji"（甲州路）.
Enka singer Fuyumi Sakamoto（坂本冬美）appeared on the show to pay tribute to her fellow entertainer and singer Chiyoko Shimakura（島倉千代子）nine years following her passing, and the song that she sang was "Karatachi Nikki"(Japanese Bitter Orange Diary). This was a 1958 single that Shimakura had recorded with lyricist Sou Nishizawa（西沢爽）and composer Minoru Endo（遠藤実） behind the songwriting. It's a very poignant enka about learning the hard lesson about that first love and that it often ends up in that first heartbreak. Incidentally, the above version is a 1963 re-recording of the song on Shimakura's YouTube channel.
Most of the song takes on a very wistful and content pattern but for several seconds in the middle, it goes into a minor key to signify the loss of love. As well, I think the title was well chosen since as the translation of it shows, the breakup is quite bitter. Plus, from what I've read about the karatachi（枸橘）or the Japanese bitter orange on Wikipedia is that its bitterness is such that it's practically inedible although it can apparently be made into marmalade and medicine against inflammation.
Another interesting thing that I read about "Karatachi Nikki" on J-Wiki was that it broke a jinx observed in the music industry back then. Evidently, kayo containing a spoken-word segment were seen as non-sellers. Well, "Karatachi Nikki" roundly smashed that superstition by selling around 1.3 million records and if Oricon had been around in the late 1950s, the song would have hit No. 1 easily. No worries about any lack of accolades though since Shimakura was invited to sing the song on the 9th edition of the Kohaku Utagassen in 1958 and in her appearances on the 1973 and 1984 shows. In fact, Shimakura starred in an adaptation of the song into a motion picture in 1959; in 1967, there was a TV drama version as well although I'm not sure whether Shimakura was in that one.
I caught this being performed by a married couple on today's episode of "Nodo Jiman"（のど自慢）which took place this week in Okinawa. Good to see that the show is still active out there, by the way.
This article is for the Sayurists since we've got actress Sayuri Yoshinaga（吉永小百合）paired up with singer Akira Mita（三田明）for the jaunty and hopeful "Asu wa Sakou Hana Sakou" (Let Tomorrow Blossom, Let The Flowers Blossom), a single that was released back in April 1965. Yoshinaga is no stranger to duets especially since she performed one of the most famous kayo of them all with Yukio Hashi（橋幸夫）, "Itsudemo Yume wo"（いつでも夢を）back in 1962.
(karaoke version)
Not surprisingly, this was another hit for Yoshinaga, and true to form for the connection between music and cinema back then, "Asu wa Sakou Hana Sakou" got to become a movie released later in August under the same title starring Yoshinaga as a health worker assigned to a backwater village outside of Tokyo that is in desperate need of help of any kind due to the rampant poverty. I've not seen the movie, but with a title song this genki, I think it's pretty much a given that the village gets at least somewhat better by the end. Mita himself even shows up in one scene as a popular entertainer with the same name who just happens to be from that very village. Hmm...guess which song he sings with Yoshinaga? By the way, the above video has Mita's performance with singer Midori Oka（丘みどり）.
The lyrics were provided by Sou Nishizawa（西沢爽）while the melody was composed by Tadashi Yoshida（吉田正）, the same person behind "Itsudemo Yume wo".
Met up with a couple of my foodie-and-talk buddies earlier this afternoon for lunch at an izakaya downtown and then for dessert at a new place called Nine Tails Coffee Bar where the next big Japanese food item might be born: dorayaki. When I got home at around 4 this afternoon, the telly was already onto the weekly Saturday kayo kyoku show where I got to see a singer crooning an old Akira Kobayashi（小林旭）tune of yesteryear.
When I heard the timbre of the voice and the loping melody, I kinda figured that it was an Akira Kobayashikayo, and sure enough, the fellow was covering the theme song for the 1959 movie "Guitar wo Motta Wataridori". Now, according to Jisho.org, wataridori refers only to a migratory bird, but I hardly think that the star, Kobayashi, would appreciate being called anything avian (aside from a hawk or any other bird of prey), so I think probably it would be better to translate the movie title and the song title as "The Guitar-Toting Wanderer".
In the movie, Kobayashi stars as a former detective who, for whatever reason, decides on a major career change and becomes a wandering balladeer. During his travels, he ends up in the wilds of Hokkaido where he has to use his old skills to help people. Apparently, the movie became so successful that another seven movies were made to create the "Wataridori" series.
In terms of the title tune, Kobayashi and his slightly sandpaper-y voice put forth a tune that would be just as comfortable in the American Old West as it did in Japan's northernmost prefecture. I can even hear the horse clops. In fact, looking at the above clips, I thought that kid was yelling "Shane!".
Sou Nishizawa（西沢爽）took care of the lyrics while Shoichi Komabayashi（狛林正一）provided the music. Kobayashi had one busy year in the music business since in 1959, he released a total of 9 singles according to his J-Wiki biography.
I've known veteran entertainer Sachiko Kobayashi（小林幸子）as enka singer, actress, vivacious TV personality and epic set during Kohaku Utagassen broadcasts. She cemented her career with hits such as "Omoide Zake"（おもいで酒）and "Moshikashite Part 2"（もしかして・パート２）.
However I was also aware about her beginnings as a mere kid coming up with a hit song right at her debut in the 1960s although I never got to hear the song itself. Well, I finally got to hear the song last night.
"Usotsuki Kamome" (Lying Seagull) was Single No. 1 for Kobayashi when she was only 10 years old. It was released back in June 1964 and listening to it, I thought that this was a pretty mature song for her considering her age as Sou Nishizawa's（西沢爽）lyrics talk about a woman taking it out on a seagull for making all sorts of noise in the mistaken assumption that her beloved's ship had come into port. Another notable point was that it was legendary composer Masao Koga（古賀政男）who came up with the melody for "Usotsuki Kamome".
Quite some headiness and attention for the preteen Kobayashi and so I wondered what earned her all that special treatment. Well, apparently, it was Koga who scouted her out and perhaps it was he or someone close by who proudly proclaimed her as the second coming of Hibari Misora（美空ひばり）, which could explain why she got something like "Usotsuki Kamome" as her debut. Misora also started out as this kayo child prodigy who immortalized herself into public consciousness dressed up in a very adult tuxedo and with a voice which sounded years older.
I wish I could have found the original recording of "Usotsuki Kamome", but at this point, I will have to settle for Kobayashi's later revisitings to the song as an adult. Having listened to it a few times now, I've noticed how it starts off sounding like an old-fashioned happy-go-lucky kayo strut but then suddenly switches into something quite enka-like and this is around when the lyrics start talking about the woman heading back from the port rather dejectedly.
The fact that the single sold about 200,000 records probably had everybody thinking that Kobayashi was indeed the second Hibari. But as I mentioned as well on "Omoide Zake", there came 15 years of no hits, so it was amazing that she didn't give it all up and hung in there for so long (especially with that second Hibari label hanging over her) until her 28th single, the aforementioned "Omoide Zake" in 1979 which was that next big hit. After that, success became more of a regular and much appreciated tradition for the Niigata Prefecture native.
I almost forgot it was Valentine's Day today. But then again, I was never all that much invested in it, outside of the chocolates. And from what I've heard, it sounds like half the folks aren't fans of February 14th either, although I'm fairly sure that at least two couples within my group of friends are out somewhere on the town having a romantic dinner somewhere. Well, wherever you are, I hope that you and a significant other are having a good time.
Well, NHK's "Uta Con" (うたコン) did remember Valentine's Day since the producers included the theme into the show tonight. A number of love kayo got onto the lineup including this old chestnut by the late Chiyoko Shimakura（島倉千代子）, "Koishiteirun damon" (I'm In Love After All). Kaori Mizumori（水森かおり）took care of the song tonight.
Released in 1961 when she was in her early twenties, Shimakura gave a high-pitched love song about enjoying the sensation of falling head over heels with that fine young gentleman and sometimes having that lovers' spat. With the enka music and the year of release, I can only imagine the lovey-dovey couple walking on the dirt path somewhere out in the countryside.
The idea for the song came from one of Shimakura's favourite phrases which was turned into the title. And y'know...I had always thought that the singer had that certain coquettish side to her so I could imagine that title being something that she would say. Sou Nishizawa（西沢爽）provided the lyrics while Shosuke Ichikawa（市川昭介）created the jaunty music. Also, according to J-Wiki, "Koishiteirun damon" sold 800,000 copies although it was never a song that she performed on the Kohaku Utagassen. Then again, Shimakura had a number of other hits which sold far more records.
I was commenting to Noelle's article on "Seishun Cycling"（青春サイクリング）by Kazuya Kosaka（小坂一也） the other day and mentioned about how dear the word seishun was in the world of kayo kyoku. Referring to English terms like salad days and youth, I wouldn't be all that surprised if that expression was the 2nd-ranked go-to word for Japanese song titles way back when next to ai no(愛の....of love).
No real surprise at all. I think the Japanese have had that deep sense of wistful nostalgia in a number of aspects within popular culture. Movie and TV franchises like "Mito Komon" and "Tora-san" have or had thrived for decades although the basic story of each entry didn't really change all that much. It would also explain why music shows like NHK's "Kayo Concert" still go on with its look back at enka and Mood Kayo whose songs are often far older than a number of their singers.
So I tried to look up another song that has seishun in it, and it didn't take too long before I came across "Seishun no Jokamachi" (Castle Town of My Youth) by Mitsuo Kaji（梶光夫）. That title makes for a fine pairing between my word of this article and jokamachi. What better place than a town built around a castle outside the main cities to engender that feeling of old-fashioned gentility? I've been translating my fair share of articles on the various jokamachi in Japan over the past several months, so in an example of an author falling for his own prose, I've been getting a bit more interested in visiting some of these places in areas like Kyushu or near the Japanese Alps. I have actually visited Kumamoto Castle and Osaka Castle but that was years and years ago. Knowing now what I didn't back then about aspects like castle towers and the overall structure of this architecture from the Edo Era and beyond, I wouldn't mind giving these places and the surrounding townscapes another visit.
Anyways, "Seishun no Jokamachi" was Kaji's 3rd single from June 1964. The young singer from Osaka debuted under composer Minoru Endo's（遠藤実）wing at the end of 1963 at the age of 18 with "Kurogami"（黒髪...Black Hair）and counted Kazuo Funaki（舟木一夫）as his senpai which might explain his delivery of his big hit of "Seishun no Jokamachi". Just like Funaki's evergreen "Koko Sannen-sei"（高校三年生）, this particular song about promising to come back from the big city perhaps to his love still living in his old furosato of a castle town is delivered by Kaji as if it were some sort of proud anthem or musical declaration. The message is that when Kaji sings it, he means it. He's coming back home someday after making his money.
Not surprisingly, Endo composed both "Seishun no Jokamachi" and "Koko Sannen-sei" while Sou Nishizawa（西沢爽）came up with the heartwarming lyrics. As I mentioned, "Seishun no Jokamachi" was Kaji's big breakthrough after which he would gain some more hits not only in the music industry but also in TV as an actor. The remarkable thing, though, is that he placed a deadline on his career in show business and kept his promise. In 1970, at the height of his popularity, he announced his retirement as a singer and went into the family jewelry business, eventually becoming a jewelry designer. However, once in a while, he has returned to the stage to sing his seishun song.
I guess I'm no different when it comes to catching the seishun bug. I did start this blog, didn't I?
From what I've seen and read, the 'Zundoko Bushi' has had many versions sung by different artistes over the decades. Most notably the renditions done by the somewhat young and hugely popular Enka singer Kiyoshi Hikawa (氷川きよし), Comedy group The Drifters (ザ・ドリフターズ ), and last but not least, big shot actor-singer from the 60's Akira Kobayashi (小林旭).
I would have to say that out of the 3 aforementioned versions, my vote goes to Might Guy's one. Why? Because of the lyrics... or whatever I can pick out from it. Hikawa's one mentioned something about going to your usual ramen joint and ordering your usual bowl of ramen with 2 or 3 pieces of chashu, which reminded me of this ramen joint my family would always patronize in Shinjuku's Kabuki cho (yeah, not very family friendly huh?) every time we visited Japan. Still remember seeing one of the chefs had half an ear burned/bitten off... heh...
Gah, sorry for going on a tangent! As I was saying, while Hikawa's version brought back some nice memories, Kobayashi's one kinda talks about the fellow out on the town with his sweetheart, and then one part described their parting scene. For example, the fellow saying, "Good night!" to the lady and gives her a sly wink as he leaves. More romantic in that sense, and yes I can be a sucker for things like that. Also I feel that this set of... I suppose you could say flirty lyrics, done by lyricist Sou Nishizawa (西沢 爽), compliments the nifty music composed by Minoru Endo (遠藤 実) better.
Anyway, 'Akira no Zundoko Bushi' was actually released twice in 1960. The first time it was released as a B-side to 'Kagoshima Ohara Bushi' (鹿児島おはら節) in June and was the theme song to one of Might Guy's movies 'Umi wo wataru hatoba no kaze' (海を渡る波止場の風) and was a hit, but I don't know how many copies were sold since the J-Wiki page never mentioned it for this one. Then about 3 months later in September it was released again - same songs, but 'Zundoko Bushi' was on the A-side, possibly because of its popularity. This one sold over 200 000 copies.
Above is Kobayashi singing what seems to be an updated version of it with the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra (東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ). And man, the music for this one's groovy with all that electric guitar!
