SOAP -- Balcony Party（バルコニー・パーティー）

From ABLE

 

OK, first, my apologies to my old real estate agency Able for using one of their photos but I never got to take a photo of my balcony in my humble Ichikawa apartment and this is what it looked like although I don't think it's my exact apartment; probably one on the other floors. Besides, why would I have wanted to take a shot of my very narrow balcony back then? It was so narrow and it was merely the place for the washing machine and the futon to air out on. Couldn't have had any party there and even my modest abode at 269 square feet/25 square metres was a bit of a struggle to have any sort of soiree, although in my early days, I managed to pack 20 people in the living room for a hot pot party!

Regardless, allow me to present this very cheerful song by the vocal group SOAP. It hails from their 1981 album "Harmotopia" which also includes the other two songs that I've posted by them: "Shinjuku Transfer"（新宿トランスファー）and "Roommate"（ルームメイト）. The mellow and fun "Balcony Party" straddles the line between City Pop and regular pop with some good ol' tropical in there, and of course, there are the heavenly vocals by all involved. Written by Keisuke Yamakawa（山川啓介）and composed by SOAP member Takanori Arisawa（有澤孝紀）, the song feels like it's taking place on a balcony of an apartment that is far more expensive and bigger and luxurious than anything possible in my old building. Basically any party on SOAP's property has the indoor and outdoor stages or it's actually happening on the Lido Deck of a huge cruise liner.

Also, from my memories, whenever anyone wanted to go smoke while at my apartment for a party had to do so out on the external corridor outside of my place or in the tiny kitchen under the vent hood. Hey, but let me finish this off with the video below of properly party-friendly balconies in Tokyo. Maybe you can even play "Balcony Party" while watching the video below on mute.

Takanori Arisawa -- Moon Prism Power Make Up!

 

I guess that now we have the recent "Sailor Moon Crystal", the original run of "Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon"（美少女戦士セーラームーン）is known as "Sailor Moon Classic". And that is the series that I will always cherish, especially because of the comedy (although creator Naoko Takeuchi/武内直子 may not agree). As an old English conversation teacher, watching Usagi and the gang make their way through the English language is always very amusing.

However, the reason for me to put up another "Sailor Moon" entry on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" is due to that article that I contributed a few days ago for "Shiny Luminous Henshin"（シャイニールミナス変身）from the second season of "Futari wa Pretty Cure"（ふたりはプリキュア）as the theme song for one of the dozens of transformation sequences that I remember best.

And yet, all of those magical girl henshin sequences from the PreCure franchise can perhaps pay their tribute to one over a decade prior. The comedy kept me coming to "Sailor Moon" throughout its half-decade run on TV Asahi but one of the things that hooked me was the music for the very first transformation of Usagi Tsukino（月野うさぎ）into Sailor Moon in its first season.

Yup, seeing all of the various pieces of uniform come into play as Usagi got spun around was enhanced by that music provided by the late Takanori Arisawa（有澤孝紀）. I gather that the official title on any "Sailor Moon" soundtrack is "Moon Prism Power Make Up!" just like the lass yells out before the sequence commences. 

Compared with the Disney heroine + disco + country-western in "Shiny Luminous Henshin" for the titular character, "Moon Prism Power Make Up!" sounds like an 80s anime action sequence soundtrack hearkening back to the music of that decade's prime anime such as "Macross"（マクロス）. Those horns and, yes indeed, the chorus crooning out the heroine's name make this the one to beat. Considering that Arisawa was one-quarter of a Manhattan Transfer-like vocal group, SOAP, I'm not surprised by that chorus help.

This isn't my first rodeo with Arisawa since I did give my compliments to him a couple of years ago due to his heroic and stylish theme for Moon's paramour, Tuxedo Kamen.

Masae Ohno -- Matenro no Hero（摩天楼のヒーロー）

I didn't know of any comedy-adventure programs with kids on the telly back in the day. With movies, though, there were "The Goonies" and "Stand By Me".

In the same decade that those two Hollywood films came out, there was a 1987 program on Fuji TV called "Omoikkiri Tanteidan Haado Gumi"（おもいっきり探偵団 覇悪怒組...The Utmost Detective Group ~ Haado Tribe） featuring some schoolkids. Never saw it before but from what I could figure from the title and the above trailer, it was about an amateur pre-teen sleuthing society helping out the folks in the neighbourhood with some mysterious assistance by a fellow who looks like he predated "V for Vendetta" by a couple of years at least.

Anyways, I was taken by the opening theme song, "Matenro no Hero" (The Hero of the Skyscraper) because of that Andrews Sisters boogie-woogie jazz melody. The song was written and performed by Masae Ohno（大野方栄）, so I gather that the Hero of the Skyscraper met The Queen of Commercial Songs. Takanori Arisawa（有澤孝紀）, who would later come up with the soundtrack for the "Sailor Moon"（セーラームーン）anime, composed the catchy tune which pretty much hints that the Haado Gumi would come out of each episode with no problem. Considering that both Ohno and Arisawa have expertise in jingles, it is no wonder that they were able to meet and collaborate

Not sure whether "Matenro no Hero" refers to the masked fellow or actually the intrepid kid detectives. In any case, that danchi area must have been an interesting place to live in back in the late 1980s.

Takanori Arisawa -- Theme for Tuxedo Kamen（タキシード仮面）

Yes, you Sailor Moon（セーラームーン）fans have known this one for the longest time...ever since the original series started in 1992. Sailor Moon, even with her innate goodness and abilities, gets herself into a pinch against the villain of the week and all seems lost, when suddenly, a rose gets thrown down at supersonic speed just scraping past the bad guy or gal enough to disrupt his/her train of thought. Then, on the top of some tall structure, there is the ippiki ohkami himself, Tuxedo Kamen (Tuxedo Mask), appearing as rescuer (well, more like diversion-maker)/mentor to Usagi-chan while the lass has valentines for eyes.

Of course, every dashing hero needs the requisite theme song for his entrance, and so, Tuxedo Kamen got his with a bit of Latin and a bit of elan. It wasn't part of the opening theme or closing theme, and I don't think it ever got lyrics,but Tux's song was that nice and reassuring bit of sweeping strings to help Sailor Moon obtain some of that extra boost to finish off the villain.

Since he provided the music for "Sailor Moon", I'm also assuming that the late composer and arranger Takanori Arisawa（有澤孝紀）was also responsible for the theme for Tuxedo Kamen. Arisawa had provided commercial jingles and other anime soundtracks until his untimely death at the age of 54 in 2005. Even before that, though, he and his wife were two of the members in the City Pop vocal group SOAP.

I have to admit that for one Halloween party back in my NOVA days, I actually made up my own Tuxedo Kamen costume. Considering that most of the students who attended were far above elementary school age and we didn't have any "Sailor Moon" fans in the school, I was given a very hearty round of indifference as a reaction. In a way, I guess I really did want to disappear as quickly as the character always did.