Just for Fun...The J-C AI Gallery -- Takako, Anri and Kingo

 

Hello and welcome once more to the AI Gallery where we throw in various titles into the Bing AI art generator and see what we get. For this edition, we're back with City Pop songs.

Takako Mamiya -- Love Trip

Anri -- Shyness Boy

Kingo Hamada -- midnight cruisin'

"Midnight" City Pop

 

Well, it's a lovely depiction of my AI request for "Walking under Tokyo skyscrapers at midnight in anime style" but I don't think the streets of my old stomping grounds were ever that empty during the bewitching hour. But I digress. 

In any case, I've come to realize that maybe City Pop's favourite hour is indeed 12:00 am considering some of the genre's songs. Perhaps it's because the time is a ripe one to still enjoy painting the town red but with a lot of the folks having raced for their final train or subway, there is now a larger openness to the city boulevards and avenues to fully enjoy the night and inhale that fresh air (or what goes for it in Tokyo). The feeling can be either on foot or in the car although I think that there is probably more of that excitement while whizzing the highways and byways in the latter. Of course, you can get the convenience of hearing the relevant music on the car stereo, too, although pedestrians are also able to listen on their smartphones.

Here are some of those "midnight" or "mayonaka" City Pop songs.

(1982) Kingo Hamada -- midnight cruisin'

(1990) Miho Nakayama -- Midnight Taxi

(1983) Tomoko Aran -- Midnight Pretenders

(1982) Takako Mamiya -- Mayonaka no Joke（真夜中のジョーク）

(1979) Miki Matsubara -- Mayonaka no Door （真夜中のドアー）

PAO -- Say Yes/Stay Close to Me

 

About three years ago, I introduced the first article for the obscure City Pop trio known as PAO, and at the time that their one and only album "YOU" came out in 1980, that trio consisted of Sabine Marianne Kaneko（サビーネ金子）, Fumiko Miyazaki（宮崎文子）and Yoshikazu Miura（三浦義和）. As I mentioned in that article in December 2018, "YOU" didn't hit me amazingly when I first listened to the CD but it has grown on me steadily over the last few years.

However, there has been some buzz about PAO since City Pop was given this second life internationally from a few years back, and the reason was that there was news that the Greta ("I want to be alone") Garbo of City Pop, Takako Mamiya（間宮貴子）, had once been a member of the group. That was one of the reasons that I decided to make the effort to grab this rare album...only to find out that by the time of "YOU", Mamiya had already left the trio to be replaced by Miyazaki, although I have to admit that there seems to be some resemblance between the two women from what I've seen of that front cover.

Digging further, I found out that Mamiya was indeed involved in PAO's debut single "Say Yes" which was released sometime in 1978. Kaneko and Miura were on words and music respectively for this disco number that has some vibes of "I Love the Nightlife" by Alicia Bridges from the same year, and Donna Summer's "On The Radio", although the latter song wasn't released until late 1979. From listening to the low vocals and finding out that Kaneko provided the lyrics, I think that it's indeed Kaneko singing "Say Yes" (which is a pretty popular title for singers apparently considering that an 80s aidoru and a veteran duo have used it for their different songs), but Mamiya is helping out there with Miura on the backing vocals. Interestingly enough, the song was used in a commercial for a Showa Oil product called YES! Maybe the oil was able to make an engine dance like a disco star? (reaching, reaching)😏 But hey, that blonde lass on the cover of the single actually made a dancing appearance on the ad!

I believe that this is indeed Mamiya behind the vocals for the B-side, "Stay Close to Me" with Tommy Snyder providing words and music. There seems to be more fusion with a hint of Latin in this one. I like the song but the big thing is that I'm happy to hear the mysterious Ms. Mamiya on something outside of her wonderful "Love Trip" album.

Speaking of the mystery surrounding Mamiya, specifically about where she went following that one album, I think that's probably been the other talking point next to all of the great tracks that she provided on "Love Trip" over the past few years. Within the conversational exchange between the uploader Yoshio Takemoto（竹本善雄）and other folks in the comments under "Say Yes", there is a link to a Japanese blog entry by Yoshiko Shohoji（正法地美子）in which she expresses joy and pride about the tracks on "Love Trip" after putting the CD into the stereo. But also there is the claim by Takemoto that Ms. Shohoji's good friend mentioned in the entry happens to be married to the Takako Mamiya! From what I gather from what I've been able to read from the entry, I don't think that Ms. Shohoji has actually met the singer since she has also referred to Mamiya as that "mysterious singer", but for those Mamiya fans who can read and understand Japanese (including Mr. Takemoto), have a look at the entry and let me know if the mystery has finally been resolved about her post-"Love Trip" life since I'm not 100% sure.

Takako Mamiya -- Morning Flight（モーニング・フライト）

When it comes to flying, I have a dual feeling of anticipation and dread. The anticipation comes from the fact that I usually head off to Japan and so I'm looking forward to seeing old friends, eating my favourite dishes and walking through some fine neighbourhoods in Tokyo and Chiba. However, the dread comes from the fact that I don't like flying due to one miserable time on a flight piled on with too much turbulence. Plus, the fact that I'm inside a pressurized tin can for half a day tends to wipe out any initial energy of enjoying returning to my old home for the better part of two decades.

The past two flights out of Pearson International to visit Tokyo were morning departures although the one in 2014 ended up becoming a late afternoon one due to the usual delays and the second one in 2017 had a lot of November rain come crashing down which did no one's mood any good. However, we did leave on time.

So, with that pre-ramble, here is "Morning Flight" from Takako Mamiya's（間宮貴子）1982 "Love Trip" album which seems to have reached a certain legendary status especially in the last few years with the gaining overseas interest in City Pop.

Man, I can only wish that my experiences with morning flights had the same joy and verve as Mamiya was expressing about "Morning Flight". Maybe I ought to order a cocktail once Air Canada gets into the air. The one reason that I've put this one up is that my friend Jerry McClellan, aka Come Along Radio has just provided a fine article on his Reddit account about "Love Trip" and the mysterious Ms. Mamiya.

"Morning Flight" is the Mamiya equivalent of refreshing orange juice on the Lido Deck on one of those gigantic Royal Caribbean ships. As Jerry mentions in his article, it has got that samba feeling although the morning might not be the most energy-laden time to do that sort of dancing. But that's OK since those horns, the sax and the keyboards will do that for you. My friend also cites that it is the most uptempo track on the album, and considering that whenever I hear the name Mamiya, I always think of her City Pop ballads first, I would tend to agree that "Morning Flight" is nice and bouncy.

Prolific lyricist Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）is behind the lyrics while Genji Sawai（沢井原兒）, a saxophonist and producer, provides the happy music. I wouldn't be surprised if that was indeed him on the sax in "Morning Flight". My compliments to the trumpet soloist as well.

J-Canuck's Choices for 1980s City Pop/J-AOR Albums

Now that 2018 is on its way out, perhaps I can provide one more article under Author's Picks before 2019 comes into being. The above is a couple of issues of "Record Collectors" that my friend and fellow collaborator on the blog, JTM, was kind enough to send me for reading during Xmas, and for those who can read katakana, you can see from the cover that the main article was a history of City Pop split over two issues and two decades. Of course, there are some interviews and a good amount of listings of the various albums of the genre, although not quite as voluminous as the one in the book "Japanese City Pop".

The above is one reason for me to start up this article, and the other reason is that someone had once commented to me some months ago about whether I would put up an article about my favourite City Pop albums. In all honesty, I had balked on the topic at first since: 1) I already wrote an article on my favourite City Pop songs back in August 2016, 2) I found it difficult to come up with a list that I would be satisfied with since I figured that no matter what, I would probably end up leaving something out that I really liked, and 3) I've given the albums their own articles.

But then, I caught a few videos on YouTube not related to Japanese pop music at all. And all of them, including the above video from Cocktail Chemistry starring Nick going into how to stock one's first bar, talked about beginnings. So with some inspiration from them, I decided that perhaps I can at least suggest a few City Pop albums that can be purchased to start off their collection. I figure that with some of these artists, the albums here are simply representative of some of their other similarly themed releases, so that fans who like this stuff can branch out with other albums.

I won't go into any long commentary since I've already provided my insights in the individual articles, and they're not ranked in any sort of order. Won't even mention my favourites here since what you like is what you decide upon when you listen to the tracks.

Takako Mamiya -- Love Trip (1982)

Takako Mamiya's（間宮貴子）"Love Trip" isn't just precious because it was the only album that the singer had ever recorded before completely disappearing from the pop culture radar ("Love Trip" is indeed mentioned in "Record Collectors" and it's still unknown about where she's gone), but also because the tracks and songwriters in there are good and polished. If you've decided to start your City Pop collection and a home bar as Nick talks about, make yourself a good cocktail while you're listening to this one. The title track itself had me searching for my old Gino Vannelli album.

Makoto Matsushita -- First Light (1981)

As I mentioned in that first article on Matsushita's（松下誠）masterful "First Light", if it weren't for the fact that most of the tracks are sung in Japanese, I would have placed the album solely in the American AOR genre. The guitarist and arranger also seems to have enjoyed trying on the bespoke melodic suits of various folks from the genre such as Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers. The only thing I regret here is that I couldn't get a copy of the album with the original cover.

Fujimal Yoshino -- Yoshino Fujimal (1982)

Yes, I love the "Miami Vice" buzz with Yoshino（吉野藤丸）here. Also love the tracks in there along with Yoshino's singing, too. "Yoshino Fujimal" could be your soundtrack on the car stereo even if you're bombing down the highway outside of Tokyo. As such, any time any of the tracks end up on Van Paugam's City Pop radio on YouTube, I stick around and listen as the video travels on the highways and byways of Japan...night or day.

Tohoku Shinkansen -- Thru Traffic (1982)

This was a true revelation as "Thru Traffic" hadn't shown up in "Japanese City Pop", and I only found out about it purely by happenstance on YouTube one day. The pairing of Etsuko Yamakawa and Hiroshi Narumi（山川恵津子・鳴海寛）, two people that I had only known up to that point as behind-the-scenes songwriters and musicians, was just magic on this one-off album. I realize that even those people had to be pretty proficient as singers as well, but I hadn't been aware that Yamakawa and Narumi were that good behind the mike. With the various songs reminding me of works by the aforementioned Vannelli, Steely Dan, Manhattan Transfer, and Quincy Jones for "The Dude", I am hoping that "Thru Traffic" and Tohoku Shinkansen（東北新幹線）have gotten new love by a new cadre of fans.

Mariya Takeuchi -- Miss M (1980)

Takeuchi's（竹内まりや）"Variety" album from 1984 has the famous "Plastic Love", to be sure, and it has also been listed in both "Japanese City Pop" and the second half of the "Record Collectors" article, but when it comes to one of her releases that truly has that City Pop/AOR beat, I go for the earlier "Miss M". In an earlier article, I had mentioned about my brother remarking about the David Foster-y feeling from some of the 80s Japanese pop music. Well, I introduced him to "Morning Glory" from this release, and told him for that the first half of the album (including this song), the actual Foster along with members of TOTO and Chicago helped in the recording of this album. Even for a singer who basically adored a lot of that American pop in the early years of her career, "Miss M" stands out.

Tatsuro Yamashita -- For You (1982)

For folks discovering City Pop and Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）, this is "For You" (ha, ha). This is chock-filled with some of those hits that have made this fellow a virtual god for the fans of the genre. Love his soaring voice? Love some tight horns? Love that bass? Love that feeling of summer? Yup, you can do with this one on your shelf. Plus, considering the time that I'm writing this, a little bit of the hot season would be nice right now, and after all, "For You" was released in January 1982.

Hiroshi Sato feat. Wendy Matthews -- Awakening (1982)

I have got to get more of Hiroshi Sato's（佐藤博）works since so far it's still just "Awakening" that I own, but dang, it's a good start to his file. More on the mellow AOR side than the oft-hustling City Pop, I kinda feel like I'm listening to this while on the shaded balcony in a luxury seaside apartment rather than on the beach or in the passenger side of a convertible that perhaps Tats' "For You" would position me. And like Yamashita, Sato also has that rather distinctive voice.

EPO -- Goodies (1982)

As with Tatsuro Yamashita, it was difficult to whittle down to a lone recommended EPO album for this list since the singer-songwriter has been so associated and so good with City Pop/AOR for a lot of her early releases in particular. But I've decided to go with "Goodies", and as with Tohoku Shinkansen, this 1982 effort has EPO tripping the light fantastic through a number of musical styles. No matter the track, though, she remains a most vivacious host for this party of an album.

Akira Terao -- Reflections (1981)

I may have already mentioned this in a more recent Akira Terao（寺尾聡）article, but if not, I have to say that now that I have listened to a lot of City Pop/J-AOR over the past several years, I consider his hit album "Reflections" as being perhaps the most Japanese-sounding City Pop album. OK, that sounds rather weird since City Pop is a Japanese music genre, but with some other singers and their works in these two genres, I can hear the influence from Western acts such as the Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan, but overall with "Reflections", my feeling is that I'm most definitely in Tokyo when I listen to it. I think it even straddles the border between Mood Kayo and City Pop, with the setting being in some sort of drinking establishment.

Light Mellow series (mid-2010s)

If there is one album that I can definitely recommend for newbies to the genre, it would be anything from the "Light Mellow" series. Several of these have come out over a couple of years with names such as "Breeze" and "Highway" and "City", but what they all have in common is that they include various singers and songs of the City Pop/J-AOR persuasion from the 1970s into the 2000s. There is an interesting mix of famous and obscure tunes on each disc, and some of them have tracks that are getting their appearance on CD for the very first time.

Well, I've tried to keep things to ten entries here. Obviously, there are many more worthy candidates out there but among the ones that I do have, the above is a good place to start and they have been my go-to albums. Now, the 1980s part is something that I added pretty late to my title since I realized that all of these albums are from that decade. I will see if I can come up with a 1970s version of this later in the new year, but I really ought to be collecting more City Pop albums from that decade before I come up with anything this big.

I may have run off a bit at the mouth with my descriptions but think of this article as a hub linked to the source articles, if you haven't seen them. In any case, if you are indeed coming to City Pop/J-AOR for the first time, I hope that getting at least a few of these albums will give you hours of listening pleasure. And of course, if you have some of your own suggestions, please let me know. I may have them or I may not...and if I don't, I will be sharpening up my credit cards in 2019!😁

P.S. You can also take a gander at this article on City Pop suggestions.

Takako Mamiya -- Kanashimi wa Yoru no Mukou（哀しみは夜の向こう）

From time to time, I get the question from folks about whatever happened to the mysterious Ms. Takako Mamiya（間宮貴子）. Well, your guess is as good as mine. I even sent a query over to Toshikazu Kanazawa at Light Mellow.com to find out if he had any ideas. Well, I'm still waiting for a reply. But my theory is that anyone who has been able to fall off the online radar like she has probably wants to stay that way.

Still, we all share in her great legacy represented by her one and only album from 1982, "Love Trip", which has now become a much sought after album for all of those City Pop enthusiasts. The entire category about Mamiya here at "Kayo Kyoku Plus" has been on her music from this particular release, and I figure that someday I will finally close the category by covering every one of the tracks from "Love Trip".

Well, tonight's entry is "Kanashimi wa Yoru no Mukou" (The Sorrow is Beyond the Night) about Jenny, 3 am, and some lingering melancholy. The instrument of note here is that groovy guitar which makes things sound a lot earlier than 3 am and places things more in a rooftop hotel bar overlooking the streets of Tokyo rather than Jenny's lonely bedroom. Still, it makes for a fine nighttime piece of AOR/City Pop while nursing a tumbler of one's favourite booze. Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）provided the lyrics but unfortunately I couldn't even decipher how to read the composer's kanji.

Rock A Japonica -- Kyōka Shock!（教歌SHOCK!）

Friday was the final full day of my time in Tokyo. Met up with Dan one last time and did some more shopping around in the big city. Before meeting up with my congenial host from the past weekend, Rob, and some of the others, Dan and I went over to the Shinjuku Station branch of Tower Records. It just so happened that on the 7th floor where the J-Pop stuff was located, there was quite the yelling and shouting.

It turned out that yet another aidoru group was making its presence felt in a Tower Records. This time, it was the 5-girl unit Rock A Japonica（ロッカジャポニカ）and they were actually there performing what I assume was their latest single. The audience was quite the lively mob, being proactive and reactive to what was happening on stage. Of course, I couldn't take any photos lest the Tower Records staff and group's representatives started swarming me with crossed arms (it's happened to me once before).

To give a taste of what Rock A Japonica is like, this is their 2nd single from July 2016, "Kyōka Shock!" (Teaching Song Shock!), a high-speed tune which reached No. 5 on Oricon.

Was getting a tad noisy so we went up another floor to ease our ears. I was surprised to find a small but noticeable display of City Pop in one corner, and as you can see in the above photo, there was even a listening post for Taeko Ohnuki's（大貫妙子）"Sunshower" and Takako Mamiya's（間宮貴子）"Love Trip". That latter album was a real shock since for the past decade, I had always understood it to be one of the rarest and most obscure releases that I had ever known about in contemporary Japanese music although it is one of the classics of the genre in my estimation.

Perhaps its popularity on YouTube might have gotten the attention of a few Tower staffers...or perhaps this blog (heh, heh). Whatever the case, I'm glad that Ms. Mamiya has been getting her due at last.

J-Canuck's Favourite Albums...Period

Amazon.jp

A couple of weeks ago, I was asked by one commenter about what my favourite albums in Japanese popular music were. I had to admit that I hadn't really given it much thought, weirdly enough. Yet, we have all these lists categorized into Author's Picks with me giving my favourite songs by decade and genre.

One reason that I hadn't given out such a list up to now is that there haven't been any albums in many years that I consider to be go-to heavy-rotation releases. My collection is so large now that my attention has been pulled into so many directions in terms of what I would like to listen to. Plus, I was never one of those guys who would play a record or CD several times a day over and over again. In fact, when one of my high school buddies played his album three times in a row on my stereo, I got annoyed (good golly, dude, let the record breathe!).

Still, I can say that there are albums and tapes (bought from Wah Yueh) that I did listen to frequently back in my university days as I pulled off an all-nighter. And in recent years, there have been albums that I've purchased which bring to mind the statement "Yeah, that is an overall excellent album! Not a poor track to be found."

So as such, I've scrounged around my mind to think of some of my favourites over the past 30+ years. All of them have their own articles on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" so I won't say much more over here since I will leave the usual links. I just want to acknowledge them as some of my well-liked touchstones.


1. Akina Nakamori（中森明菜） -- Bitter and Sweet (1985)

https://itunes.apple.com/jp/album/bitter-and-sweet/id903274659

Akina fans have their own opinion about which Akina album is their personal favourite. Mine is this one and I think "Bitter and Sweet" is the album that finally put her over the top from popular aidoru to pop superstar. Her voice and the work of several amazing songwriters can be thanked here.


2. Akiko Kobayashi（小林明子） -- Kokoro no Mama ni（心のままに） (1986)

https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E5%BF%83%E3%81%AE%E3%81%BE%E3%81%BE%E3%81%AB-%E5%B0%8F%E6%9E%97%E6%98%8E%E5%AD%90/dp/B00005EKTV

Along with "Bitter and Sweet" above, Kobayashi's 2nd album was the tonic to help me stay up at night while ripping through textbooks and theses. Aside from one track that hasn't dated well, this is one fine release that could answer the question of "If Karen Carpenter learned now to speak Japanese really well and decided to record an album, what would she make?"


3. Keizo Nakanishi（中西圭三）-- Starting Over (1994)

https://www.amazon.co.jp/Starting-Over-%E4%B8%AD%E8%A5%BF%E5%9C%AD%E4%B8%89/dp/B00005FXY6

Thanks to my cousin sending an audiotape containing this album, I was stoked enough to get the full CD a few years later. I found out about this in the 90s so this was never an all-nighter album but I do remember listening to "Starting Over" over and over again. The title track was quite the impetus.


4. Sing Like Talking -- Discovery (1995)

Amazon.jp

https://www.amazon.co.jp/Discovery-SING-LIKE-TALKING/dp/B00005EJK3

As I explained in the original article, "Discovery" was initially a case of mistaken identity that truly became a wonderful discovery. This is how I found out about the wonders of Sing Like Talking as they covered genres such as R&B, AOR and perhaps some 90s City Pop.


5. Mariko Takahashi（高橋真梨子）-- Dear (1982)

iTunes Apple.jp

https://itunes.apple.com/jp/album/dear/id155722937

I've mentioned this before but Mariko Takahashi（高橋真梨子）was one of the first singers to make me realize that Japanese popular music wasn't all about enka and aidoru. For contemporary pop of that time, "Dear" is one of the albums to get. I also realized that she has had one of the best sets of vocal cords in the nation.


6. Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子） -- Aventure (1981)

Amazon.jp

https://www.amazon.co.jp/AVENTURE-%E5%A4%A7%E8%B2%AB%E5%A6%99%E5%AD%90/dp/B001031SKC

This was a tough call to make since I think basically all of Ohnuki's solo albums from "Sunshower" to "Signifie" (and beyond) are all entirely listenable. However, I've decided to go with "Aventure" since she seemed to go into all sorts of directions whether it be technopop, Latin and French pop. It really is an adventure.


7. Yumi Matsutoya（松任谷由実）-- No Side (1984)

https://www.amazon.co.jp/NO-SIDE-%E6%9D%BE%E4%BB%BB%E8%B0%B7%E7%94%B1%E5%AE%9F/dp/B00005GMEI

Again, another difficult choice to make due to the vast discography that Yuming（ユーミン） possesses although for me, her best work was in the 70s and 80s. Ultimately I went with "No Side" since pretty much every track on the album is great and the emotions range from sad and introspective to fun and perky.


8. Anzen Chitai（安全地帯） -- IV (1985)

https://itunes.apple.com/jp/album/%E5%AE%89%E5%85%A8%E5%9C%B0%E5%B8%AF/id344182975

Another all-nighter album, Anzen Chitai had me right from the opening track "Yume no Tsuzuki"（夢のつづき）right to the end. Plus I can say that half of the album got heavy rotation on the karaoke circuit at my old haunt of Kuri back in those 80s. I don't doubt that the ballads on "IV" probably had listeners melting and mewing like kittens (not me, though, since I was too busy writing my thesis on Japanese politics...yeah, that's the ticket).


9. Takako Mamiya（間宮貴子） -- Love Trip (1982)

Auctions.yahoo.jp

https://www.amazon.co.jp/Love-Trip-%E9%96%93%E5%AE%AE%E8%B2%B4%E5%AD%90/dp/B00AXVSKKI

My final choice is just one representative from the wealth of City Pop albums I've encountered over the past several years but it is basically the first that I truly wanted as one of the rarest of the rare although it's been getting much love on YouTube recently. The tracks all range from pretty good to dreamy, and the title track has that arrangement that can have an 80s AOR fan swooning. As I stated from the top, I've never been much for playing a disc repeatedly ad nauseum, but with Takako Mamiya, whenever I come across the album while working, I'm more than happy to give it a spin to the end.

Well, those are my favourites. Of course, given time and money, the list can all change next year. But as you can see from my nine above, I am hovering over the urban contemporary genre as my type. What are yours?

Takako Mamiya -- Tasogare wa Ginpaku no...（たそがれは銀箔の...）

There's probably no better way to garner attention to a singer by having her release only one album that is being seen as one of the more pre-eminent of her genre and then have her totally disappear from view forever.

Yes, of course, I am talking about the mysterious Takako Mamiya（間宮貴子）whose sole 1982 album "Love Trip" is equating itself to Mamiya's entire presence on the blog. In the last few years, it seems as if there have been more and more videos about her music online, and I've gotten a couple of inquiries in as many days on the Contact Form.

So here I am with another track from "Love Trip", "Tasogare wa Ginpaku no..." (Sunset is a Silver Leaf...), an alternately dreamy/skippy mid-tempo number with some slightly tipsy flute and a warm honey trombone helping out. There's even some light Doobie Brothers beat popping up here and there like a bumblebee. The song might be flitting about between the 70s and 80s forms of City Pop.

"Tasogare wa Ginpaku no..." was written by Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつこ）and composed by Akira Inoue（井上鑑）.

One other reason that I've written this article past midnight is that in answering one of the queries, I found out that "Love Trip" may not have been her only project. I dug up some information from music journalist Toshi Kanazawa's（金澤寿和）blog "Light Mellow on the web" via a tip from Tower Records Japan that she stepped in briefly for a departed member of the chorus group PAO around 1980. Like Mamiya, PAO is not particularly well known and I think the group only released one single in 1978 and then an album in 1980 titled "YOU".

In any case, my curiosity has now been set alight once more. And if anyone out there reading this knows Ms. Mamiya, have her contact us? I realize that she probably would love her privacy but I am really interested how she's been doing all these decades.

J-Canuck's Favourite 10 City Pop/J-AOR Singles

Probably out of all of the genres in Japanese popular music that I have all enjoyed for the past 35 years, the two genres that have gotten the most scrutiny out of me have been City Pop and J-AOR. And it's not as if I was even aware that these two even existed way back in 1981. Yet, over the decades, I've come to show an affinity for Japanese Urban Contemporary through individual songs, and when I bought the bible "Japanese City Pop" back around 2010, it all just clicked. Then, things got quite ravenous on my part as far as City Pop and J-AOR were concerned.

But why did I get so much into these two genres? Well, for whatever reason, I just got hooked on a big fat bass and a Fender Rhodes piano in my music, thanks to a lot of the songs I was hearing on AM radio back in the late 1970s and into the 1980s. There was Michael Jackson, Al Jarreau, Steely Dan and the like so I was quite happy to discover that the world of kayo kyoku was extremely welcoming of this American funk and mellowness.

Still, like anything that Japan has borrowed from the West, the R&B and AOR rhythms that came over received that Japanese twist...that certain Nihon je ne sais crois (mixing my languages here). At first, I had thought that Japanese City Pop was a direct translation of American AOR but such was not the case in my estimation now. It seems to be that melange of elements from disco, AOR, R&B and other things that I can't quite put my finger on. Plus, for some reason, some but not all of the Japanese variety are songs that I couldn't quite imagine being sung even on the West Coast of the USA, and it's not just because of the Japanese lyrics. Maybe it's for this reason that a number of the songs from the genre have gotten a second life as part of this Future Funk that has become a thing on YouTube at least (I'm no longer sure if Vaporwave is the term to use anymore).

So it's time to put up my list of my favourites that I have agonized over for some time since, and I'm being very biased here, there is a plethora of fun City Pop/J-AOR tunes to choose from. The final trigger, though, was when I put up that list by Tsutomu Mori for his City Pop list and found a lot of his choices puzzling. If it weren't for the fact that his list was on Page 58 of "Japanese City Pop", I would have assumed that he was doing some trolling.

In any case, without babbling on too much longer, here is my list of City Pop/J-AOR. The songs aren't in any particular order and they all have their own articles so I won't say too much about them here. I just want to let you know that these are the ones I've enjoyed over the years.

1. Akira Terao -- Ruby no Yubiwa (1981)

I was surprised that I hadn't actually put down some of my own feelings about this one in the original article, but then again, the article was on the whole album of "Reflections" so perhaps there was some self-induced pressure to keep things a bit short. However, I can say now that "Ruby no Yubiwa"（ルビーの指輪）was one of my touchstone songs when it came to my 1981 trip to Japan, but for some mysterious reason, I didn't add it to one of my more recent Author's Picks list. But it is here on this list now, and it should be since it is the most successful Oricon City Pop song. Whenever I reminisce about 90-yen skinny cans of Coke, game centres with tabletop Space Invaders and corn potage soup at McDonalds, I will also remember their theme song as this cool bass riff accompanied by the velvety-smooth vocals of Akira Terao（寺尾聡）. I always feel like getting a cocktail whenever "Ruby no Yubiwa" comes on and I don't really drink that much!

2. EPO -- Downtown (1980)

I was talking about theme songs for "Ruby no Yubiwa" a paragraph ago. Well, EPO's "Downtown" would be my theme for the hotel district of West Shinjuku. I hear the bouncy melody and the bright vocals of Eiko Sato, and those huge hotels tower up in my mind. It truly is the fun and futuristic downtown. And as I pointed out in the original article for "Downtown", it is because of her debut single that I've dubbed EPO as one of the Princesses of City Pop.

3. Takako Mamiya -- Love Trip (1982)

Takako Mamiya（間宮貴子）is one of the first discoveries that I made in "Japanese City Pop" soon after my purchase of it at Tower Records, and I was delighted that I could find evidence of this rare album on the Net. With that bass and those lovely keyboards in there, I remember acts such as Gino Vanelli and The Manhattan Transfer with the title track from the only album Mamiya released. Rooftop bar at sunset, anyone?

4. Yasuhiro Abe -- Irene (1984)

Yasuhiro Abe（安部恭弘）must have been in a choir group when he was a child with those high-falutin' vocal cords. He was another happy discovery via "Japanese City Pop" and it was all because of the wonderful "Irene" (アイリーン) that I went not just for his BEST compilation at Tacto but also his original album "Slit" that has this song. I can just imagine the lad strutting down Chuo Dori to this tune.

5. Miki Matsubara -- Mayonaka no Door (1979)

The late Miki Matsubara's（松原みき）trademark song which has that alternate title of "Stay With Me" may have been released a couple of years before my trip to Japan, but along with Akira Terao's magnum opus, it is also a theme song of sorts for my adventures in Tokyo. "Mayonaka no Door"（真夜中のドア）may have truly been the door for the Golden Age of City Pop.

6. Makoto Matsushita -- One Hot Love (1981)

Dang that intro still sounds good. Yup, Makoto Matsushita（松下誠）, the veteran musician and arranger, was another "Japanese City Pop" discovery, and "One Hot Love" was my introduction to him. Man, I can hang an entire wardrobe on that guitar hook. My only regret is that I hadn't heard about him earlier but whenever I come across these decades-old songs, I just say "Better late than never".

7. Minako Yoshida -- TOWN (1982)

Curse the powers-that-be who took down every evidence of this funky song from YouTube. "TOWN" is already up on another couple of lists but when it comes to City Pop, I just had to include one of Minako Yoshida's（吉田美奈子）greatest songs. With all of those sounds of the city included, that mighty horn section and Yoshida herself, I'm still holding out against hope that this may be included in the Opening Ceremonies of the 2020 Olympics.

8. Tatsuro Yamashita -- Amaku Kiken na Kaori (1982)

Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）has put out a lot of mellow and funk as one of the big guys in City Pop but for me, this is my favourite. I guess that "Amaku Kiken na Kaori"（あまく危険な香り）would kinda belong in the sub-genre of Resort Pop since I can envisage the folks from the city heading out to the oceanside resorts just southwest of Tokyo while I'm listening to this.

9. Mariya Takeuchi -- Plastic Love (1984)

Well, if I can get the husband in here, then I have to invite his wife as well. Mrs. Yamashita, aka Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）, came up with a really groovy City Pop-friendly tune in "Plastic Love". Again, I'm a sucker for the horns and drums, and the overall arrangement that just seems to present the perfect reason for taking a night drive all over The Big Sushi.

10. Sing Like Talking -- Mitsumeru Ai de (1995)

My only 90s entry on this list, Sing Like Talking, like Tatsuro Yamashita, has a ton of songs that would easily fit into the City Pop category but "Mitsumeru Ai de"（みつめる愛で）has that feeling of being on the cusp of driving into downtown to have a grand old time with good friends. Mind you, the conveyance most likely wouldn't be a Toyota Corolla...think more of a Cressida or a sports car. In a number of ways, I think this song especially kinda sums up City Pop as a mix of genres...it's got that SLT funk but also some good ol' jazz riffs in there, too.

And that is my list. I've left a lot of other good artists and songs out unfortunately such as Junko Yagami（八神純子）and even Toshiki Kadomatsu（角松敏生）but the above 10 are my favourite picks from the genre.

Takako Mamiya -- Chinese Restaurant （チャイニーズ・レストラン）

Ah, it's a Friday night. Time for some City Pop. But as a humble lead-up to a segue to tonight's song, I have to say that even some years after returning from Japan, I do miss the ol' Kanto a lot. However, coming back to Toronto, I think all of us here are quite blessed by the wealth and reasonable prices of Chinese food in my burg. We've got at least 5 Chinatowns here in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and meeting up with my anime buddy two Sundays a month, I've had a chance to sample some fine Cantonese/Mandarin/Szechuan fare pretty regularly. Of course, I also get the opportunity to have the usual takeout stuff as well which I also enjoy. Y'know...chop suey, sweet n' sour pork/chicken, etc. My buddy and his friends might pooh-pooh those last couple of items as the fake stuff but, hey, it's all good to me.

Now in Japan, there seems to be two classes of Chinese restaurant: the regular corner eatery which would be serving mainly ramen but also dishes like mabo dofu, spring rolls and subuta (sweet n' sour pork), and the places that have the high-end cuisine including dim sum and Peking Duck with restaurant exteriors that look like you need to surreptitiously pass the doorman a few bills to even get past the gate. And sure enough, the few times I've been able to get into those places in Yokohama, it cost me a pretty yen...thousands and thousands of them actually. Delicious stuff to be sure but my wallet and I are quite grateful here in Toronto.

So I present to you, "Chinese Restaurant" by Takako Mamiya（間宮貴子）. Ms. Mamiya, due to the fact that she only released one album "Love Trip" in 1982 and also because I'm a huge City Pop fan, is perhaps the only singer on this blog whose category and album are one and the same. Yup, I've got three more entries covering tracks from "Love Trip" (well, two actually since I had to demote one article to Draft since any audio for "All or Nothing" has been cleared from the Net),

"Chinese Restaurant" was written by Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）and composed by Katsu Hoshi（星勝）, and as with the other songs by Mamiya, it's another mellow Perrier-friendly tune to be played over the speakers at some sunny lakeside cafe under a huge multi-coloured umbrella. I don't really think it quite fits the Chinese restaurant atmosphere but the lyrics only have the singer wistfully wondering whether her old lover still remembers their first meeting at such a restaurant. I'm sure the two cracked open fortune cookies at the end of dinner looking for affirmation of their burgeoning love....and feeling suddenly hungry again a few hours later.

As for this coming weekend, I will most likely be heading with my friend for some early lunch at an Asian Legend. Soymilk soup, here I come!

One of the mainstays in Old Chinatown

Takako Mamiya -- All Or Nothing

Currently the sunset is just right out there. My window faces east but the reflection of the sun off of the houses on the other side of the street is of the perfect softness coming through the blinds. So, it's the right time for another Takako Mamiya（間宮貴子）song from what is probably the only album she has ever released, "Love Trip" in 1982. Another trigger for me bringing in another track from this rare album is a comment from Cerulean Cerise for the article for another "Love Trip" track, "What A Broken Heart Can Do" in which he/she asks about whether this album was the sole album for the enigmatic Mamiya. As I replied, the article may be old but the music...and the mystery...are still fresh, and so the Mamiya file is still very open.

Tonight's song is "All Or Nothing", a languid sunset-friendly ballad that would be welcome to hear in the twilight hour of any season except winter...couldn't imagine hearing it with the presence of icicles or snow out there. Katsu Hoshi（星勝）is responsible for the oh-so-City Pop melody while Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつこ）provided the lyrics.

A bit of a Hail Mary here but if Ms. Mamiya somehow reads this and would be willing to respond, let us know how you're doing and why you only provided the one album...the quintessential City Pop album.

Takako Mamiya -- What a Broken Heart Can Do

In the last number of months since I found and put up the shortened version of Takako Mamiya's（間宮貴子）"Mayonaka no Joke" （真夜中のジョーク....Midnight Joke）, a few people have actually put up videos of some of the other tracks from her exceedingly rare "Love Trip" album from 1982.

Listening to "What a Broken Heart Can Do" (sounds like a Doobie Bros. title), I sometimes wonder if arranger/producer Jay Graydon (Al Jarreau, The Manhattan Transfer) didn't have something to do with it. In "Japanese City Pop", that book of the selected 500 albums of the genre, it mentions that this song has plenty of "ennui"....which probably refers to the languid relaxed sound. I think it rather fits a nice Sunday morning like today.

"What a Broken Heart Can Do" is actually the English version of the title track, "Love Trip". Unfortunately, the powers-that-be took down the former song so I've put up the Japanese original version. Prolific lyricist Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつこ）provided the words while the Perrier-friendly music was composed by Kazuo Shiina（椎名和夫）.

Takako Mamiya -- Love Trip

A mystery for me...and for anyone who reads this. I came across this album, "Love Trip" (1982) through the auspices of "Japanese City Pop". Furthermore, I found just one song by Takako Mamiya （間宮貴子）on YouTube, and I'm not even sure if it's been uploaded in its entirety. "Mayonaka no Joke"(真夜中のジョーク...Midnight Joke) is a pretty decent City Pop tune. But despite looking throughout the Net, I haven't been able to find any more information about this singer. Would like to track it down someday, but I've got a feeling that this could be one of the rarest of the rare. (April 15, 2017: Obviously since my original comments, things have improved on this front...as long as the powers-that-be don't take it down. And I hope they don't. I still consider the album a very rare find.)

"Mayonaka no Joke" was written by lyricist Ichiko Takehana（竹花いち子）and composed by Hiroyuki Nanba（難波弘之）. Takehana apparently has her own foodie blog. As for the title track, "Love Trip" is one smooth tonic that brings to mind folks like Al Jarreau and Gino Vannelli in the arrangement. Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつこ）and Kazuo Shiina（椎名和夫）were responsible for words and music respectively, and as with the album as a whole, "Love Trip" the song has all of the tropes that has made City Pop as delectable as it has for many a new fan, including what I call the Evian spring water keyboard riff. This is a must-get for any convert to the cause.