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 all of the turmoil of yesterday's House of Councilors' election in Japan, I almost forgot that today is or was Ocean Day in the country. But NHK reminded me through its coverage of families hitting the beach to swim and collect seashells.
Of course, being the day to visit the seashore and enjoy marine activities, I have those memories of good ol' summertime band TUBE or as they were known in their early days, The Tube. I've managed to find the B-side to their October 1985 second single"Sentimental ni Kubittake" (センチメンタルに首ったけ). Written and composed by vocalist Nobuteru Maeda（前田亘輝）, "Onegai Radio" (Please, Radio) continues the happy twistable rock n' roll on the beach that got these guys started. Can imagine Annette and Frankie dancing on the sand.
I started the Peter Gabriel file in the weekly Reminiscings of Youth series on KKP with the New Wave"Shock the Monkey" because it was the first time that I had heard of the English musician (and happy 75th birthday to him...happened a week ago). I learned that he had been the leader of the progressive rock band Genesis back in the 1970s and that back then it was quite the theatrically daring group during concerts. So, on seeing Gabriel providing his distinctive voice and a terrifying music video, I just had to go "Ahh, naruhodo".😕
Move ahead a few more years to April 1986. I hadn't heard all that much from Gabriel in the intervening years aside from a couple of other songs by him that I'd heard about in retrospect. But then, he released this rather interesting single titled "Sledgehammer" and once again, I was struck by the song and the music video for different reasons. For one thing, the nudge-nudge-wink-wink "Sledgehammer" didn't sound anything like New Wave or techno at all; it was more of a catchy epic pop tune with a battery of 1970s R&B horns...and a shakuhachi starting it all off. Of course, the amazing Gabriel vocals were still front and centre.
And then of course, there was the music video which earned a number of awards and probably had viewers' jaws dropping like yo-yos at the pure ambition, hard work and effects put into it. Yes, I did hear about Gabriel's back issues from his participation in the video along with the olfactory suffering inflicted upon the crew due to the two turkeys or chickens under the hot lights. That's definitely suffering for one's art. Almost forty years later, "Sledgehammer" still amazes.
It hit like a sledgehammer at No. 1 in both Canada and the United States. The song and the video will remain one of my biggest memories of the 1980s. So, what were some of the releases coming out in Japan in April 1986?
Early this morning at the most unripe hour of 6:30 am Eastern Daylight Time (7:30 pm Japan Standard Time), NHK via Jme broadcast the semi-annual episode of "Akashiya Kohaku"（明石家紅白）, hosted by Kansai comedian Sanma Akashiya（明石家さんま） and populated by singers and bands for nearly 90 minutes of hijinks and performances. Among the guests was the summer band TUBE. I haven't really seen Nobuteru Maeda（前田亘輝）and company really chat it up all that much in a long time, so it was intriguing to half-jokingly admit that not too long after their debut, it was beginning to become very hard to come up with a summer word for their song titles.
Therefore, it wasn't surprising that TUBE performed this particular song (oh, so I think...was feeling groggy) on "Akashiya Kohaku". "Kitto Dokoka de" (Somewhere for Sure) was the band's 28th single from August 1998. Even the J-Wiki description for the song mentions that none of their usual go-to words for titles including "summer", "beach", "ocean" and "sun" pop up in this one (although I'm fairly sure that their non-single album tracks have also had no overt connection with summer in the titles), and frankly although the usual big-bang chorus that Maeda sings out is still there along with the wailing guitar, "Kitto Dokoka de" doesn't really sound like a summer-specific tune.
With lyrics by Maeda and melody by Michiya Haruhata（春畑道哉）, it hit No. 2 on Oricon, going Platinum. By the end of the year, it was the 57th-ranked single for 1998. Not only was it also a track on TUBE's 19th original album"Blue Reef" which was released in June 1999, but it became the theme song for the 1998 Fuji-TV drama "Sekai de Ichiban Papa ga Suki"（世界で一番パパが好き...I Love Papa More Than Anyone Else）, ironically starring Sanma himself.
A few weeks ago, Japan had its Golden Week holidays. Well, here in Canada, we are currently in our Victoria Day long weekend so a lot of local folks here have been hightailing it out of the city over the past couple of days out to cottage country. Surprisingly, the reports have it that the ride on the highway hasn't been all that bad so far which is indeed a rare thing to hear.
It was well over a decade ago when I posted the article for good-time summer band TUBE's"Ah--Natsu Yasumi" (あ～夏休み）, their 11th single from May 1990. That was a really fun song that probably had fans and non-fans alike slavering early for the hot season, beaches and margaritas.
In commemoration of the first big long weekend for the upcoming summer here in the GTA, I'm going with the coupling song for "Ah--Natsu Yasumi", "Aquarian Girl". A little less frenetic than the main song, "Aquarian Girl", written by vocalist Nobuteru Maeda（前田亘輝）and composed by TUBE member Michiya Haruhata（春畑道哉）, it's still has loads of TUBE goodness and atmosphere to persuade folks to hit the beaches and the surf. From the looks of it on the J-Wiki article for the single, the coupling song has not ever made it to an album of any sort. Still, it's been popular enough to make it to concert performance status.
Being March 14th, it is White Day in Japan so the guys there are getting their cookies and chocolates. In the rest of the world perhaps, it is known as Pi (3.14) Day for the mathematically inclined and strangely enough, the theoretical physicist Albert Einstein was born on this day in 1879. I've already mentioned yesterday that enka singer Hiroshi Itsuki（五木ひろし）also has his birthday today. But for this weekly Reminiscings of Youth article, I'm going to be featuring once more singer-songwriter Bobby Caldwell because it was one year ago today that he passed away at the age of 71.
The man known as Mr. AOR in Japan will always be famous and adored for his 1978 "What You Won't Do For Love". I've been listening to that one for decades but it was also the fact on the ol' radio that I also got to hear another song of his, "Heart of Mine", which was the title track for his 1989 album. Yet another tenderhearted ballad by the late crooner about trying to mend a broken heart after a sudden and unexpected romantic breakup, I was surprised that the song came into being so much later than I had thought. I had assumed that "Heart of Mine" was the follow-up to "What You Won't Do For Love" which perhaps attests to its timelessness. I am still assuming that the song was used for one of those ancient Parliament cigarette commercials in Japan.
Crazy thing though. When this song first came to my ears' notice decades ago, I'd been left wondering whether it was Caldwell or other AOR crooner Boz Scaggs behind "Heart of Mine". Well, it turned out to be both: both of them co-wrote the song along with Dennis Matkosky and Jason Scheff. And Scaggs' version came out first as a single in 1988 with its inclusion in Scaggs' May 1988 album"Other Roads". As much as his 1976 "Lowdown" is one of my favourite uptempo tunes by him, "Heart of Mine" is his representative love ballad. "Other Roads" ended up peaking at No. 35 on the US charts while in Canada, it ranked in at No. 25.
May 16th 1988 was the release date for "Other Roads". Coincidentally enough, I was able to find the Oricon chart for that date. What was up at Nos. 1, 3 and 4?
Well, if summer is indeed just around the corner, then that must mean it's time for another TUBE song. It just wouldn't feel like a KKP summer without a song from Nobuteru Maeda（前田亘輝）and the guys.
As I did last year with putting up the B-side, "Namida no Harbour Light"（涙のハーバーライト）, to TUBE's debut single (when they were known as The Tube), "Best Seller Summer"（ベストセラー・サマー）from June 1985, I'm putting up the B-side here of their sophomore effort, "Sentimental ni Kubittake" (センチメンタルに首ったけ) which came out later in October. If you're wondering about the odd appearance of the title on the byline, that's how it looks on the official TUBE YouTube channel, so I'm just going with that.
Written and composed by Maeda and arranged by the band, "O.Ne.Ga.I Radio", being an early TUBE song, sounds a bit different from the usual good-time pop/rock that we've gotten used to by the guys. Instead, it has more of a straight-ahead 50s or 60s rock n' roll vibe as the vocalist sings about the old communications device being the heart of any beach blanket party. According to the J-Wiki article, although an album version of the song exists on The Tube's 2nd original album, "Off Shore Dreamin'" from December 1985, the single version has apparently never made it onto CD.
There's only a month left for Summer 2022 and I may have committed a sin by not having included the usual TUBE song. But that can be easily rectified.
"Namida no Harbour Light"(Harbour Lights of Tears) is being performed here at a 1990 concert when TUBE was fully in their prime as the ultimate in summertime goodtime boys. However, this first appeared on a B-side for their debut single"Best Seller Summer"（ベストセラー・サマー）in June 1985 when Nobuteru Maeda's（前田亘輝）band was simply known as The Tube. As with the A-side, this was written by Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）and composed by Kisaburo Suzuki（鈴木キサブロー）while the band took care of the arrangement.
I guess that with Boz Scaggs'"Harbour Lights", a number of songs in Japan probably wanted to get that cool cachet of having their own harbour lights in the title. Anyways, since I could only find this concert version of "Namida no Harbour Light" which feels like a TUBE tune, I can imagine that perhaps the original recorded take of that B-side may have been more along the A-side as created by Miura and Suzuki with more of a Checkers or Rats N' Star vibe.
As I encounter more of these late summer tunes, I'm also feeling that such songs also have a certain angle on the whole love thing. Whereas the spring tunes hint at love blossoming and the autumnal kayo display the dried and cracked leaves of dead romance, songs such as "Namida no Harbour Light" seem to show off a transition of the experience of summer beach love into the wistfulness of realizing that though there were some good times, it's now time to end the seasonal fling and head back home, tears and all.
My common expression on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" whenever the hot season is upon us is that it's not summer without either a TUBE or a Southern All Stars song on tap. Those songs are as necessary as cold beer or a beach BBQ.
So let us start off this Sunday with a TUBE tune. Vocalist and songwriter Nobuteru Maeda（前田亘輝）came up with the words and music for "Kokoro made SUNSHINE"(Sunshine to Your Heart), a track from the band's 9th original album"Summer City" released in June 1989. This is one of the more relaxing guitar-strumming melodies from the TUBE arsenal and the atmosphere is more cocktails to be sipped and hammocks to be slept on. Wouldn't it be nice for all of us to be in that setting now?
The album itself did very well on the charts as it hit No. 6 on the Oricon weeklies and ended up as the 59th-ranked release of the year via CD. The title track "Summer City" which was also TUBE's 9th single from that same year has its own profile on my article on the band's BEST compilation "TUBEst".
This is slightly unusual for an Author's Picks article but I did want to acknowledge that on March 6th 2021, Lou Ottens who was the inventor of the cassette tape passed away at the age of 94. Before I got into all of the compact disc technology in the late 1980s, I had been relying heavily on vinyl records and cassette tapes in the early years of my love for kayo kyoku.
As you can see above, these are just some of the tapes that I've had. I purchased these at the various record stores in Chinatown in downtown Toronto when I was a university student. It was quite the expensive hobby but the distance between U of T and those places made things simply too irresistible. And thanks to Ottens, my all-nighters were kept quite bearable since I was able to throw in those tapes into the gray tape recorder for repeat play; really needed that music to keep me up although the multiple cups of green tea also helped.
Without further ado then, I have some sample songs from some of the above tapes in my pink (or lavender) case.
With less than a week before Summer 2020 is done and heads to the heap of history, I just gotta put in one more article with Japan's band of the season.
Should have done this one some time ago but it kept getting bumped out. However this time, I'm fulfilling my vow to get TUBE's "Nihon no Natsu kara Konnichiwa" (Hello from the Japanese Summer) onto "Kayo Kyoku Plus" before September 21st. The band actually showed up on "Uta Kon"（うたコン）several weeks ago to perform this.
Written by TUBE vocalist Nobuteru Maeda（前田亘輝）and composed by guitarist Michiya Haruhata（春畑道哉）, the title track from the boys' 34th album released in July 2020 is, despite its happy traditional raucousness, even more poignant in a way since there probably weren't any of the annual summer festivals in Japan this year due to the pandemic. The music video brings back some of those happy August memories in that mixture of minyo and typical TUBE summer fun.
You know that time has indeed passed by for TUBE and their fans including me when Maeda is more than happy to sound like an ojisan in the intro as he marvels at another torrid Japanese summer. As for the album, it peaked at No. 3. TUBE still hasn't lost its seasonal touch! Let's hope that 2021 will bring back the summer traditions again.
When I was listening to Come Along Radio's"City Pop Summer Mix #3" the other night, I encountered a song that I had never heard before but identified it unmistakably as a TUBE tune. My assumption was that it was one of their later singles going into the 1990s.
Once again, I was wrong. In fact, "Sailing Love" was the first track on the band's first album"Heart of Summer" released all the way back in July 1985. Furthermore, TUBE wasn't TUBE at the time. Nobuteru Maeda（前田亘輝）and the guys were known as The TUBE...I gather that in the name of Japanese formality, they wanted that definite article.😏
Written and composed by longtime TUBE associate Tetsuro Oda（織田哲郎）with Shuusuke Nagato（長戸秀介）also working on the lyrics, "Sailing Love" was a pleasant "How do you do?" to the listeners of this new band bringing that sunny summer beach time fun that would characterize the TUBE sound for years to come. "Heart of Summer" peaked at a respectable No. 29 on Oricon and it would include their debut single "Best Seller Summer" which had been released in June 1985 with a No. 13 ranking.
It wouldn't be a "Kayo Kyoku Plus" summer without a TUBE song. Hope the boys are still cheering up the fans in Japan and elsewhere somehow during this pandemic.
Well, it is the first day of summer for 2019. I can't let that go without having at least one from Southern All Stars, Omega Tribe, Maki Ohguro or Misato Watanabe as some of the summer representatives of J-Pop. Certainly, there's no way that I would allow June 21st to pass by without having TUBE put up as an article on "Kayo Kyoku Plus". Strangely enough, the last time I wrote about Nobuteru Maeda（前田亘輝）and the gang was last year, just a few days before Xmas.
What better way to celebrate the arrival of the hot season with one of Japan's top summer bands embracing one of Japan's top customs? We, therefore, have "Hanabi" (Fireworks), another one of TUBE's dynamic, up-with-summer tunes that was also the band's 27th single released in June 1998.
"Hanabi" was written by vocalist Maeda and composed by TUBE guitarist Michiya Haruhata（春畑道哉）as a hearty welcome for listeners to leave the doldrums behind and hit the tropics of fun. I've only been able to find the concert version, but I think a lot of people would say that this is the best way to hear a TUBE tune. It starts off sounding like an intro from B'z and has some mellow parts but I still say that it's 100% TUBE goodness.
The song hit No. 9 on Oricon and was also a track on TUBE's 18th album from July 1998, "Heat Waver". It peaked at No. 2 and became the 53rd-ranked album of the year, going Double Platinum. "Hanabi" also became part of another Japanese summer tradition...it was the theme song for the nightly baseball broadcasts on NTV for a while.
Heck of a time to talk about summery band TUBE a mere few days before Christmas of all times, but, well, I do like to exercise my whimsy from time to time.
Anyways, I was lucky enough to listen to TUBE's 14th album from June 1994"Owaranai Natsu ni" (In The Endless Summer), and according to its statistics, the TUBE Oricon steamroller was alive and well, but later on that.
All of the tracks were written by vocalist Nobuteru Maeda（前田亘輝）and composed by guitarist Michiya Haruhata（春畑道哉）, and one of those tracks happens to be "Natsu wo Dakishimete"(夏を抱きしめて) which was written up by Noelle Tham over a couple of years ago.
"Kizudarake no Hero"（傷だらけのHero...Scarred Hero） is your typical uptempo TUBE spectacular, and as the title states, it's about getting up and continuing the battle even though the differences between you and a pile of pulp are lessening. Nothing like TUBE to get the blood pumping! Chances are that although a TUBE song may never be placed as a campaign tune for a Marvel flick, "Kizudarake no Hero" rather describes the feeling from any of the "Avengers" movies.
"Soredemo Koi wa Suteki"（それでも恋は素敵...Love Is Still Wonderful） is a happy-happy-joy-joy number comparing the various trials and tribulations of love but with the final judgement being that the emotion is still more than welcome. The interesting point is that besides the fact that this almost sounds like something Princess Princess would perform, Maeda and Haruhata have inserted a bit of jazziness into the usual TUBE musical beach party with the solo guitar shredding.
For my final contribution of the article here, it was pretty surprising to hear "Secret". It looks like TUBE pulled one out of the City Pop playbook here. Just from the instrumentation and the arrangement, the band went from the beach and back into downtown Tokyo of the early 1980s. And it sounds just as smooth, as Maeda sings about a couple of lovers exercising their tryst once a week. I do like the horns...reminds me of the music of Anri（杏里）back in the day.
"Owaranai Natsu ni" was another hit for the band as it struck No. 1 on Oricon for two weeks straight, and became a million-seller. It became the 15th-ranked album of 1994.
Yes, I could use with a good vat of sangria over the next number of days since the forecast for my city is Humidex figures in the 40s. Summer is definitely not over with us yet...not by a long shot. And summer is not done with this article, Part 2 of my own favourite summer tunes coming over from Part 1 earlier this afternoon. Without further ado:
I didn't mention this in the original article that I wrote for Jun'ichi Inagaki's dreamy "Natsu no Claxon"（夏のクラクション）but I think I may have heard and seen this through a concert video that was put on Fuji-TV in the early morning winter hours as I was shivering in my futon in Gunma. Oh, the irony. But then again, either Fuji-TV had a very sardonic sense of humour or the network was trying to get us folks thinking of summer thoughts to get us through the bitter snowy season. In any case, I think "Natsu no Claxon" is one of the summer J-AOR classics, and compared with the early summer vibe of "Summer Connection" by Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）who I also listed in Part 1, I like to think of Inagaki's signature song as something more mindful of the last few weeks of summer...namely now.
Ugh! Trying to think of an absolute favourite summer song by Yamashita would be like a parent choosing which one of his/her kids is his/her favourite...in front of all of the kids. I just can't do it and any one I choose will probably get some push back from the Tats fans, so let me just phrase things diplomatically and say that "Loveland, Island" is the representative of the vast number of beloved hot season tunes by the singer-songwriter. And I gotta say, I really love the song. I mean, I'm not too big on traveling but listening to "Loveland, Island" could make even me want to head off to tropical climes. Viva Tatsuro!
When the 2020 Olympics finally hit the big stage in less than 2 years, I hope that NHK will pick a theme song for its coverage that at least matches the epic heights of Maki Ohguro's fiery "Atsukunare"（熱くなれ）which was used for the network's broadcast of the 1996 Games in Atlanta. Living in Ichikawa at that point, I did watch my fair share of the events but I have to confess that the big thing I wanted to watch at the end of each highlight show on NHK was the above video showing the agony and ecstasy of competition while "Atsukunare" was playing. Got the heart pumping, it did.
The above is the extended version but even the single version has been a very pleasurable melodic trip through Brazil. I was wondering in the few weeks before I finally bought this collaboration between music producer Mondo Grosso and the wonderful Bird who created this fun number although I was able to peg the singer in an instant. It's one of the relatively few songs that could instantly make me bop about in my chair...not an easy thing to do when I'm typing, but that's how much I love "Life".
TUBE was definitely not going to be left out of this list by any stretch of the imagination. If there is any Japanese band that could be known as the permanent resident of the beach, it would be Nobuteru Maeda（前田亘輝）and the guys. And again, tons and tons of summer fun have been provided by the band over the years, but if I have to pick something, I will always go with their first bona fide hit, "Season in the Sun". I'm just surprised that it wasn't used by any of the TV networks as a theme song for one of their dramas.
My next two favourites for the summer were picked because I first heard them over my cherished radio program "Sounds of Japan" during the summer itself. 70s aidoru Yamaguchi's"Yume Saki Annainin"（夢先案内人）may have been released in Spring 1977, but everything about it says summer to me. The song could apply to walking through the streets of Tokyo or the beaches of Shonan at that time but the weather is always blisteringly sunny and hot. It may be rather uncomfortable out there in a typical Japanese summer but Momoe makes it darn inviting.
"Mizuiro no Ame"（みずいろの雨）is another tune that I picked up on "Sounds of Japan" back in 1982, and along with the dulcet tones of Mariko Takahashi（高橋真梨子）, Junko Yagami was another wonderful voice who made me realize that there were some truly amazing singers in Japan. Years before I even knew of the Japanese genres of New Music and City Pop, Yagami was already charming me with her brand of cool urban contemporary material with a Latin twist. I know that a lot of folks are going ga-ga over "Tasogare no Bay City"（黄昏のBAY CITY）on YouTube, and I love it too, but I will still have a special place in my kayo kyoku heart for "Mizuiro no Ame".
I will finish my tunes here with "Summertime Blues" which is not only a great Misato favourite but also one of my musical touchstones of my time in Gunma Prefecture. Perhaps even more than her most iconic "My Revolution", this particular single reflects Watanabe's big and bright presence on stage. I think everything about it brings back the memories of summer in Japan without the annoying heat and humidity...although I will accept the sounds of cicadas.
Well, that is my list and there are quite a number of songs this time around but as I hinted in the first article, it's awfully hard to pare these down. Perhaps some of you collaborators and commenters have your own favourite summertime tunes. If so, let all of us know!
It's been a couple of months since I've covered a BEST compilation, and this time will be the first time that I've covered a second BEST compilation by any singer or band. The honour here falls on that pop group which automatically heralds the hot season, TUBE. I'm writing this here on the day before summer's official arrival but in Japan, it's already June 21st so the timing couldn't be better.
"TUBEst II" was released on shelves in April 1996, about 6.5 years following the release of "TUBEst" in December 1989. As such, the album covers the period of TUBE's singles in the early 1990s.
Now, a bit of a confession here from me. And I would like to preface things by bringing up a couple of famous sayings: "Familiarity breeds contempt" and "You can get too much of a good thing". I'm not sure when I bought "TUBEst II"; perhaps when it was first put into the CD stores. But I listened to it once....and that was it. It was returned to my shelf and there it sat for 22 years...except for one time that I took it out to be photographed as a thumbnail picture. I actually put the CD itself into the stereo for the first time yesterday since Bill Clinton was POTUS!
For TUBE fans, perhaps my confession would come across as the equivalent of approaching lead vocalist Nobuteru Maeda（前田亘輝）and slapping him with a huge red snapper. But to be honest, and I again reference those sayings in the above paragraph, after listening to "TUBEst II", I just thought I was getting too much TUBE music. It just seemed as if the band had been releasing singles once every few months and as you know, TUBE is all about the summer sound. I guess I finally got tired.
In any case, I will let you know the conclusion of my estrangement from The Boys of Summer after focusing on some of the tracks. For now, allow me to introduce the lineup.
1. Ah--Natsu Yasumi (あ～夏休み） 2. Shonan My Love（湘南My Love） 3. Sayonara Yesterday（さよならイエスタデイ） 4. Natsu da ne （夏だね） 5. Glass no Memories（ガラスのメモリーズ） 6. Natsu wo Machikirenakute（夏を待ちきれなくて） 7. Datte Natsu janai（だって夏じゃない） 8. Natsu wo Dakishimete (夏を抱きしめて) 9. Koi Shite Mucho（恋してムーチョ） 10. Melodies & Memories 11. Yuzurenai Natsu（ゆずれない夏） 12. Ano Natsu wo Sagashite （あの夏を探して） Bonus Tracks 13. Shonan Bon Odori（湘南盆踊り） 14. Yõ Yõ Yõ 15. Umi e Ikou（海へ行こう）
All of the tracks were written by Nobuteru Maeda and composed by TUBE guitarist Michiya Haruhata（春畑道哉）.
First off, I will begin with "Glass no Memories" (Glass Memories), TUBE's 15th single from July 1992. It's actually close to the middle of the order but I wanted to start here since this is the song that I most remember from "TUBEst II" because of that keyboard flourish. Also, it's perhaps the first time that I ever heard of a TUBE song that sounded like it originated in a place other than the familiar beaches of Shonan. Maeda and the guys may have decided to high-tail it to Acapulco for their muse.
"Glass no Memories" peaked at No. 5 on Oricon and was the 23rd-ranked single for 1992.
Speaking of Shonan, there is "Shonan My Love", a love letter to the place where the band members had spent their salad days. I have to admit that on hearing this again, the nostalgia nerves were pressed although I would hardly ever consider myself a lover of sea and surf. This was TUBE's 12th single from May 1991 which reached No. 7 on the weekly charts and finished the year at No. 64, going Gold.
"Natsu wo Machikirenakute" (Can't Wait For Summer) takes things nearly into B'z land with the guitars and power. Dusting off the disc after so long and listening to the album, I have to say that this particular single was the one that got me thinking "Perhaps I was a tad too harsh in my assessment". For the lack of a better way to express things, it comes off as being rather cool and dramatic as Maeda sings about making a broken relationship right again. TUBE's 16th single came out in May 1993 and hit No. 1, becoming the 33rd-ranked single and going Double Platinum. This was also the single that got the band their first invitation to NHK's Kohaku Utagassen that year.
TUBE's 19th single"Koi Shite Mucho" (Fall In Love A Lot) from July 1994 takes things back overseas for some spicy salsa. I wonder if Orquesta de la Luz and TUBE ever collaborated during one of the latter's concerts. In any case, this also broke the Top 10 by reaching No. 6 and becoming the 71st-ranked single of the year. Looking at all this concert footage, I wonder if I did miss out by not only not catching Kome Kome Club（米米クラブ）but also TUBE.
My final part here is the reason that I have also put up the enka label for TUBE, strangely enough. I could only find the Apple excerpt as a decent sample, but I just had to include the Bonus Track known as "Shonan Bon Odori". Just imagine...giving a traditional festival dance the TUBE treatment, but it does make a wonderful example of Japanese musical kismet. "Shonan Bon Odori" was the coupling song for the above-mentioned "Glass no Memories". Nice way to take it back to Japan.
"TUBEst II" did even better than the inaugural BEST album by peaking at No. 3 and becoming the 19th-ranked album of 1996. It even broke the millions barrier. It was good listening to all of the tracks this time around, and I can provide yet another expression "Absence makes the heart grow fonder". All I needed was some time away (perhaps not as long as 22 years) to appreciate the good times of summer Japanese pop again. Perhaps this could even get me to try out some of TUBE's more recent fare...yep, they're still going!
It's been officially summer now for over 12 hours. Therefore, I think it is that time of year to bring in another TUBE tune.
Considering the overall melodic familiarity of the TUBE discography, I sometimes think that listening to an entire BEST compilation of the band can reach a certain level of monotony. However, in short bursts and with the appropriateness of the season, Nobuteru Maeda（前田亘輝）and his crew can bring on that appreciated feeling of summer into our ears.
Case in point: "Natsu da ne" (It's Summer). This was their 14th single from May 1992, and I guess this would be the ideal song for a sunset on the beach. Something about that soprano sax brings that feeling for some reason. I'm not a Kenny G. fan by any stretch of the imagination but having it included in this beach ballad helps things go down nice and smooth, and it's always reassuring to hear Maeda issue in the season.
Written by Maeda and composed by TUBE guitarist Michiya Haruhata（春畑道哉）, "Natsu da ne" was used as a campaign song for a Pocky commercial, although I would have thought the famous Japanese confection would have been more for a season other than summer. Y'know...I'm not sure how long a Pocky stick would last in the sun, especially in Japan.
Maeda may have gained some weight over the years, but his voice is still in fine fettle. So, hopefully, TUBE will continue to entertain audiences on the beaches everywhere in Japan, Hawaii and other tropical climes. The song peaked at No. 2 on Oricon and became the 24th-ranked entry for the year. "Natsu da ne" was also included on TUBE's 12th album from June 1992, "Noryo"（納涼...The Cool of the Evening） which got as high as No. 3 on the album charts and then finished the year in the 31st position.
Still only the end of April but hey, summer is around the corner, I guess, and today the weather has been quite scrumptious. Therefore, why not throw another TUBE song on the barbie?
TUBE=Summer....a very simple equation. And so, to add another variable in there, here is their 22nd single, "Ano Natsu wo Sagashite" (Search for That Summer) from July 1995. Written by vocalist Nobuteru Maeda（前田亘輝）and composed by guitarist Michiya Haruhata（春畑道哉）, there's really not that much to add to it aside from the fact that it is one of their usual grand and celebratory paeans to the hot season. One would think that the single adorned a Pocari Sweat ad but actually it was the theme song for a Fuji-TV drama based on a manga, "Hyaku Oku no Otoko"（100億の男...The 10 Billion Man）, and nope, it isn't the Japanese version of the 1970s sci-fi TV series "The Six Million Dollar Man" but a show about some poor sap who got saddled with a 10-billion-yen debt. Methinks that the guy would need the Six Million Dollar Man for protection from creditors.
"Ano Natsu wo Sagashite" was another big hit for TUBE. It peaked at No. 2 on Oricon going Platinum while becoming the 98th-ranked single for 1995. I heard it covered quite a lot on TV as well, notably through the old series on NTV's "Yoru mo Hippare"（夜もヒッパレ）on Saturday nights. The above video features the late great Kiyohiko Ozaki（尾崎紀世彦）giving his version of the TUBE song.
There's been quite a lot of buzz about Kiefer Sutherland's latest show of action and political intrigue "Designated Survivor". I finally got to see it for the first time tonight and it turned out to be the fall finale. Basically, I saw it as a combination of "24" and "The West Wing". It's a tad ironic that Sutherland is actually playing the President of the US this time instead of someone protecting the President or taking him down.
Another one of my weird segues but it's also a tad ironic to realize that TUBE actually recorded an Xmas tune. And this all happened nearly a decade ago. Yup, the Boys of Summer released a mellow 27th album just before winter back in December 2007 titled "Winter Letter". The J-Wiki article for the album states that a lot of the tracks were slow to mid-tempo tunes so it was definitely not the usual TUBE output.
The Xmas tune in question happens to be "Christmas Rose" and it doesn't really break the TUBE mold. What I mean is that it follows the usual pattern of their softer songs such as "Stories" with vocalist Nobuteru Maeda（前田亘輝）starting off with a relaxing croon before hitting the big and proud notes at the climax. However, that's not to accuse the band of slumming here. "Christmas Rose" is a fine addition to the Xmas category of J-Pop/kayosince Maeda really can send a shiver up the spine with the way his voice swoops up at the refrain.
Bassist Hideyuki Kakuno（角野秀行）took care of the lyrics about driving through the snow to reach a loved one. It's another reason I like the song since there is something very sentimental about getting home for the Holidays. Guitarist Michiya Haruhata（春畑道哉）came up with the music and I gotta give my compliments for that riff he does at the beginning of the song.
As for the album, "Winter Letter" peaked at No. 7 on Oricon and ended up as the 204th-ranked album of 2008. Well, it was a bit more of a niche album and I think TUBE's heyday was back in the 20th century. Still, although I stopped buying TUBE albums (aside from BEST discs) in the early 1990s, I am happy to hear that Maeda could still pull off those songs with his boomer of a voice well into the 2000s.
Now for someone else known as a summery singer who came out with an even more famous Christmas ballad, check here.
I figured I should do an article on a summer song since we are dead in the middle of the sizzling season. And I'm going with a song by none other than TUBE, the band whose name immediately brings summer to mind.
I'd say that I'm only briefly acquainted with TUBE. I see some of their works that scream sun, sand and surf, often on 80's and 90's hit medleys but while I'm fine with the songs, none really caught my attention like "Natsu wo Dakishimete" did.
Rather than on one of the aforementioned medleys, I first came across "Natsu wo Dakishimete" while on a plane ride home not too long ago - from Taiwan, I think - as I browsed the 90's J-pop compilation album. Expecting something on the line of "Ah~ Natsu Yasumi" (あ～夏休み), which is what I know TUBE most for, I was surprised to hear something that was more to my taste and I ended up playing it on repeat throughout the rest of the journey. By the way, it's not to say that the former isn't a nice song; it is, but thus far I'm just not a big fan of it.
Anyway, I'd compare "Natsu wo Dakishimete" the cool sea breeze blowing across a sunny beach. It's gentle at the beginning - just enough to make one's hair billow slightly - as heard by just the acoustic guitar, the tinkling synths, and Nobuteru Maeda's (前田亘輝) subdued delivery. But then the moment the music kicks it up a notch after the first chorus, it's as if the wind has picked up, making even the coconut trees sway vigorously. That's from the electric guitar roaring, and Maeda's voice returns to its bullhorn-like volume. I very much enjoy having it blasting away at a high volume. Somehow I find that comfortable. Perhaps it reminds me of the good times I had when I went cycling by the beach on my day off... The wind was usually blowing against me which made me pedal harder, but at least I've got that to cool me down.
"Natsu wo Dakishimete" was written by Maeda himself and composed by Michiya Haruhata (春畑道哉), one of TUBE's guitarists. Released on 11th May 1994, the song did well, peaking at 1st place on the Oricon weeklies and settling at 21st by the end of the year. Eventually it also became a million-seller, having over 1.05 million copies sold. "Natsu wo Dakishimete" was also used as a commercial song for the Toyota COROLLA CERES. I bet the CM had the car cruising by the sea/beach as the song played.
Gotta admit that the title is cute and clever. Well, summer is indeed here and it has become a "Kayo Kyoku Plus" tradition to bring in a TUBE song to herald the hot season. I had actually thought about writing about one of their many singles when I figured that it has been a while since I brought in a BEST article so here is "TUBEst". Released in December 1989 (I guess the boys are not lacking in irony with that release date), it was the band's very first BEST compilation.
As for the asterisked entries finishing up the album, they are actually the products of the Nagisa no All Stars（渚のオールスターズ）, an informal summery supergroup consisting of TUBE, two of their songwriting contributors Tetsuro Oda and Tomoko Aran（織田哲郎・亜蘭知子）, and a whole bunch of other musicians. I will take care of those songs in another article but "Be My Venus" has already been covered.
"Sentimental ni Kubittake" (Sentimentally Head Over Heels) was the band's 2nd single from October 1985 when they were still known as The Tube. As with their debut entry, "Best Seller Summer", the song had more of a 1950s rock-boppy beat along the lines of early 1980s acts such as The Chanels or The Checkers, although lead vocal Nobuteru Maeda's（前田亘輝）delivery was already in there. It was created by the same duo behind "Best Seller Summer", Kisaburo Suzuki and Yoshiko Miura（鈴木キサブロー・三浦徳子）. It peaked at No. 64 on Oricon and is also a track on The Tube's 2nd album, "Offshore Dreamin'" which got as high as No. 62 on the LP charts.
As for the lyrics....just like a lot of TUBE songs, they all have to do with frolicking on the beach!
"Because I Love You" was TUBE's 4th single from September 1986 and their first ballad out as a single. It makes for a nice sunset song for the young lovers just walking on the beach. Written by Tomoko Aran and composed by Daiko Nagato and Masatoshi Nishimura（長戸大幸・西村麻聡）, it peaked at No. 13 and was the 78th-ranked single of the year. It is also available on TUBE's 4th original album, "Boys on the Beach".
Then there is the even better ballad "Remember Me" although it's much more bittersweet since it deals with reminiscing over a past romance. TUBE's 8th single from December 1988, that piano intro reminded me of an old Boz Scaggs tune. This was Maeda's first foray into writing lyrics for an official TUBE single while Seiichiro Kuribayashi（栗林誠一郎）took care of the music. "Remember Me" jumped up to No. 12, and I think as long as the young lovers don't listen to the lyrics too hard, it should also still make for good strolling-along-the-beach-at-dusk music. It belonged to TUBE's 8th original album as the title track.
Back to some fun in the sun with "Summer City", the song that triggered me to write about TUBE today. I was surprised to realize that I had yet to write about this one into the blog considering that I enjoyed the song after it came out in June 1989, about a couple of months before my arrival in Japan for the JET Programme. That intro which was the musical equivalent of a bunch of delirious surfer dudes racing to be the first one into the ocean before Maeda yells out "SUMMER CITY!" could be the clarion call for all to hit the beaches. Maeda took care of both words and music with this single which peaked at No. 11 and ended up as the 87th-ranked single of the year. It was also the title track for TUBE's 9th album which came out just a few weeks after the release of the single. The album itself topped out at No. 6 and was the 59th-ranked album of the year.
"TUBEst" itself peaked at No. 5 and became the 75th-ranked album for 1990, going Double Platinum and selling over 600,000 copies. And the good times would still keep going for TUBE with 5 more BEST albums into the 21st century.
.JPG)
