Takako Shirai -- Uchiki na My Boy（内気なマイ・ボーイ）

 

Gradually building up the Takako Shirai（白井貴子）file over the years, I've realized that she hasn't been all about the rock n' roll discography. Although she has come up with the rocking "Chance!" from 1984, I discovered several years ago that she has had her City Pop side, thanks to the David Foster-ish "Pillowcase ni Sayonara"（ピローケースにさようなら）from 1982.

And then there is her debut single from November 1981, "Uchiki na My Boy" (My Shy Boy). It's not rock or City Pop but something that resides somewhere in the middle...a mellow AOR number. Written by Machiko Ryu（竜真知子）, arranged by Kazuo Shiina（椎名和夫）and composed/written by Shirai herself, it's quite the breezy and summery song despite its autumn release. I get the impression from the lyrics that the young lass loves to tease and bother the bashful lad into a relationship. Hmmm...reminds me of a recent anime.

Takako Shirai -- Kaze no Naka（風の中）

 

Happy Saturday! Looks like we've traded the bitterly cold temperatures over the past several days for a good dumping of snow overnight. It's looking like another winter wonderland out there but the temperatures are a little less frigid, and the sun is still out there.

It might be nice to start off this weekend with something mellower. For example, we can try the final track from singer-songwriter Takako Shirai's（白井貴子）November 1981 debut album "Do For Loving", "Kaze no Naka" (In the Wind). Shirai wrote and composed this one with Machiko Ryu（竜真知子） also getting a co-lyricist credit. 

Compared to the snazzy City Pop from the first track "Pillowcase ni Sayonara"（ピローケースにさようなら）and Shirai's noticeably lower vocals, the final track "Kaze no Naka" is more in the light and bouncy AOR vein with the singer going higher in pitch. And of course, for those who have known her for years as a rocker, it still must come across as a revelation to hear this early groovier side to Shirai.

Takako Shirai -- Chance!

 

Looking rather dreary in my neck of the woods and of course with it being Hump Day today, I figure that it would be nice to have a bit of aural sunshine break through the cloud layer.

Takako Shirai's（白井貴子）9th single from June 1984, "Chance!", sounds like just the tonic. It is the quintessential song by her with that 80s pop/rock mix of upbeat feelings and sense of moving ahead proudly through life. Written and composed by the singer, the protagonist here is prodding her nervous beau-to-be to take that chance and make that plunge for romantic fulfillment. The song was also used for a Citizen watch commercial.

Seeing that lip-locking below in an 80s commercial, I was slightly surprised because public affection wasn't exactly encouraged back then in Japan. I remember seeing some footage there of a young couple kissing outside when a cranky elderly man whacked them with an umbrella and scolded them for such uncivilized behaviour. Perhaps things have mellowed out since then.

Takako Shirai -- Someday

 

I've only mentioned this once or twice before so perhaps you the reader may not have noticed it, but for the past few years, I've been keeping tabs on the Labels (on the right side) specifically in the Years section right at the top. There's been a dogged horse race among the years of 1981, 1982 and 1983 nearing 500 and I can now say that this 1982 article has now hit number 500...indeed, this is the 500th article for the year 1982 and therefore it's currently the year with the most number of articles on the blog. It was quite the prolific year and my congratulations to the year (I don't think I've used the word "year" in this much in a paragraph before).

The auspiciousness of the occasion is all due to Takako Shirai's（白井貴子）"Someday" and after listening to it, if the melody does sound familiar to you, then you must also be a Motoharu Sano（佐野元春）fan. This is the cover of Sano's famous song that I covered when I posted the article for his May 1982 album of the same name all the way back in April 2015. Shirai's cover came out as her 4th single in August of that year with it being included in her 2nd album, "I LOVE Love" which was released later in October.

Back in the Sano article for the album, I noted that his "Someday" had that feeling of an American rock anthem. Shirai's version sounds somewhat softer even with the punchy percussion and there's a bit more of a breezy kayo lilt in there. Both versions are great.

Again, many congratulations to the year 1982. The Noritake dish set is on it way.🍽

Takako Shirai -- Happy New Year

 

Happy New Year to everyone although I have to say that it's going to be a little subdued for 2024 on hearing about the strong earthquake and resulting tsunami that struck Ishikawa Prefecture and beyond overnight local time here and around 4pm on January 1st in Japan. From what I've heard and read so far, there's been considerable infrastructure damage but no news on any injuries and deaths. I am hoping that everyone in the area is staying safe and sound despite the massive disruption to their New Year's holiday.

Let's begin 2024 with something short and sweet then by pop rocker Takako Shirai（白井貴子）. "Happy New Year" is barely over a minute as a sung January 1st message of love to that significant other, and I just love the piano arrangement for this song which was written and composed by the singer. It was included as a track on her December 1985 EP "Princess Night".

Tomoyo Harada -- Motto Sunao ni...（もっと素直に…）

This is gotta be one of the catchier techno kayo tunes that I've encountered so far.

"Motto Sunao ni..." (More Straightforward) was written and composed by singer-songwriter Takako Shirai（白井貴子） as a track for 80s aidoru Tomoyo Harada's（原田知世）November 1984 mini-album "Nadeshiko Junjou"（撫子純情...Girlish Innocence[?]）. My knowledge of Shirai's material is still quite limited but my current impression is that of someone who started out as a City Popper but then years later went into a more pop/rock mode. From another angle, listening to "Motto Sunao ni..." would have had me thinking of regular aidoru with a hint of AOR goodness.

But then, the arranger was none other than Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）who was still embracing the technopop within himself in the early 1980s. And so, the computer-y sounds that I would often associate with a Yellow Magic Orchestra tune are also in "Motto Sunao ni...". However, indeed it's still sweet Harada behind the mike, exhorting the need to take the reins, not hold back, and go for it where potential love is concerned. Among all of the bleeps and bloops, I particularly enjoy that techno basso profundo moan in the refrain. It's almost as if Lurch from "The Addams Family" was helping out in the recording.

Takako Shirai -- Pillowcase ni Sayonara（ピローケースにさようなら）

Ahhh...the cool, hopeful and gleaming sound of City Pop. With this song, I hear the smart horns and the reassuring keyboards relating the story of a successful metropolis in the 1980s.

Curiously enough, these were also the sounds emanating from Takako Shirai（白井貴子）back in her early days. Up to now on the blog, I only had the one song by her, "Namae no Nai Ai demo Ii"（名前のない愛でもいい）which was this heart-on-sleeve ballad ready-made as the ending theme for the "Kayo Suspense Gekijo"（火曜サスペンス劇場...The Tuesday Night Suspense Drama）. And Toshikazu Kanazawa（金澤寿和）, the representative of the "Light Mellow on the Web" site, mentioned in the liner notes for "Light Mellow ~ Beams" that there would be some surprise from listeners since Shirai has been known as a rock artist.

However, like Mai Yamane（山根麻衣）, Shirai the rocker also started out in the mellower genre of City Pop and J-AOR. In fact, "Pillowcase ni Sayonara" (Goodbye to my Pillowcase) was her 2nd single released in February 1982, but I got my copy through as a track on the aforementioned "Beams". This was indeed written and composed by the singer-songwriter, and I really get that American 80s urban contemporary scent and Al Jarreau vibes. Heck, even the cover for Shirai's debut album, "Do For Loving" from November 1981 has her looking like she was ready for a yuppie jog in the suburbs. Shin Kazuhara（数原晋）, later of Tokyo Ensemble Lab, was on the flugelhorn.

As for the meaning of the title, Shirai is reflecting the feelings of a woman who no longer needs to cry into the pillow case, her to-go textile source of solace, since she's ready to get back onto her feet and face the world once more.

Takako Shirai -- Namae no Nai Ai demo Ii（名前のない愛でもいい）

One of the most famous musical cues on Japanese TV ranking with the American "Dragnet" brass blast was the intro for "Kayo Suspense Gekijo"（火曜サスペンス劇場...The Tuesday Night Suspense Drama）on NTV, which finished its long run in 2005. With the dramatic "BAN BAN BAN...", the viewers were taken into quick cuts, bloody and otherwise, of the episode to come with faces showing emotions ranging from horrified to furious to intrepid, all against musical pacing that seemed like an equivalent of a typical Tarentino flick. Of course, there was often the final showdown on top of a windy bluff overlooking an ocean. Maybe the culprit might have ended up getting a very close look at the water, too.

All this melodic and visual preamble before the titles came on in and an excerpt of the ending theme that changed from year to year. Hiromi Iwasaki（岩崎宏美）was once the go-to singer for those suspense drama enders such as "Ieji"（家路）but then Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）brought in at least a couple of her hits with "Kokuhaku"（告白）and "Single Again".

Simply speculation on my part, but I think when the singer was contracted to whip up a "Kayo Suspense Gekijo" ending theme, the request on the particulars probably included that the song be melancholy but with some hope in the refrain. Furthermore, the lyrics were to be rather introspective and the whole ballad took on a tone paralleling the mystery inevitably getting solved with the detective stoically leading the murderer away to justice...just like Sgt. Friday on "Dragnet".

I've heard about Takako Shirai（白井貴子）for years and often mistook her name with the name for Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）for about the same length of time. Sheepishly, I must admit that today is the first time that I've included one of her songs in the annals of "Kayo Kyoku Plus", but don't tell her that, eh?

My first song by her then is "Namae no Nai Ai demo Ii" (A Love Without A Name Is Fine), a ballad which seems to have a couple of themes: doing a full stop and smelling the coffee once in a while, and not taking anything for granted since it may just disappear in a puff of smoke before you know it. "Namae no Nai Ai demo Ii" was Shirai's 24th single from June 1994 and the 13th ending theme for "Kayo Suspense Gekijo" for the bulk of that year.

The dramatic part of the melody is no surprise considering the song's purpose but there is also a noble folk-like feeling, thanks to Shirai's delivery. In a way, she reminds me of folk singer Tokiko Kato（加藤登紀子）and perhaps even a bit of Buffy Ste. Marie, though somewhat mellower. Shirai came up with the music while Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）provided the lyrics.