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.
As far as I know, I don't think I've ever traveled as far south as the Tropic of Capricorn but I gather that for a lot of Japanese, that particular line of latitude may represent some good ol' traveling in the tropical zones.
Well, one fellow at least decided to have an adventure in Africa and he brought some Suntory beer with him. Just hope that he didn't give some of that stuff to the elephants. Nothing worse or more dangerous than being close to a sick or drunk pachyderm.🐘
Anyways, the jaunty commercial song here is "Minami Kaikisen" (Tropic of Capricorn) which was a duet between Takao Horiuchi（堀内孝雄）and Tomoharu Taki（滝ともはる）released as a single in April 1980. Alice（アリス）member Horiuchi had already gotten a taste of the solo artist life when he came up with his hit "Kimi no Hitomi wa Ichi-man Boruto"（君のひとみは10000ボルト）back in 1978 but didn't have another follow-up hit since then. And Taki was someone that I discovered through the blog a couple of years ago through his City Pop song "Taxi Driver" which was also a 1978 release.
Together, they recorded this footloose and fancy-free duet folk song "Minami Kaikisen" which could probably accompany a great trip down south. I like the rollicking rhythm and also the flourish that comes right after every chorus. Of course, Horiuchi shows his usual vocal flourishes here, too. I'm kinda surprised that I never heard this at karaoke. "Minami Kaikisen" managed to reach No. 4 on Oricon (this would be Taki's first Top 10 hit), selling around 375,000 records. It also ended the year as the 32nd-ranked single.
Horiuchi came up with the melody (and yep, there's a certain similarity between this one and the aforementioned "Kimi no Hitomi wa Ichi-man Boruto") with Keisuke Yamakawa（山川啓介）coming up with the lyrics.
I have mentioned Gloria Gaynor and her definitive "I Will Survive" for one of the regular articles somewhere in KKP but I can't remember which one. However, this time, the song is getting the ROY treatment.
Released on October 23rd 1978, and yep, it is a total coincidence that I'm putting up this disco classic on its 47th anniversary today, I used to first hear this as a track being touted on one of those disco LP compilations that I saw on television all the time. And the first time I heard it in its entirety, it wasn't by Gaynor herself but actress Marilu Henner from the "Taxi" comedy series when she performed it on some TV special. In fact, I have to say that last night was the first time I got to see the entire music video with Gaynor and roller-skating dancers.
It was also interesting to find out that "I Will Survive" is the culmination of folks truly getting over some bad stuff in their lives. For example, according to the Wikipedia article for the song, co-songwriter Dino Fekaris came up with the song after having been suddenly fired from Motown Records following steady work there for many years. Gaynor herself recorded "I Will Survive" while wearing a back brace due to an injury on stage and having gone through the loss of a loved one. This is truly the anthem for defiance and overcoming adversity.
"I Will Survive" managed to reach No. 3 on Canada's RPM and No. 1 on America's Billboard chart where it kept popping up over non-consecutive weeks. Also, coincidentally enough, I managed to find the Top 10 Oricon chart for October 23rd 1978. What was up in the Top 3?
Getting some of those cold feet before getting married? Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵）probably didn't, but she can still feel your pain. In December 1979, she released her 28th single,"Aizenbashi"(Aizen Bridge).
Written by Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）with some Kyoto dialect included, the song reflects the doubts and expectations of marriage via a famous bridge which actually existed somewhere in Osaka. The pensive but stylish melody was provided by Takao Horiuchi（堀内孝雄）which is interesting since his old partner from the folk group Alice（アリス）, Shinji Tanimura（谷村新司）, had been behind an earlier hit by Yamaguchi, "Ii Hi Tabidachi"(いい日旅立ち). In fact, I'd say that the song almost borders on an enka ballad. Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）took care of the arrangement.
"Aizenbashi" reached No. 10 on Oricon and ended up as the No. 69 single for 1980. It was also included on the singer's 19th studio album"Harutsugedori"（春告鳥...Japanese Bush Warbler） from February 1980 which hit No. 5 on the album chart. The single sold a little over 270,000 records and by doing so, Yamaguchi topped 10 million records sold for all of the singles thus far in her career. In that same year of 1979, aidoru duo Pink Lady and enka singer Shinichi Mori（森進一）also pulled off the same feat.
Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）gave her own refined cover of "Aizenbashi" through her 1994 album"Utahime"（歌姫）with more emphasis on the Asian and orchestral aspects.
Welcome to another Reminiscings of Youth article. Last week, I wrote about Roberta Flack's iconic 1973 cover of "Killing Me Softly with His Song" and though I had heard that classic on the radio a number of times when I was a boy, it took a drive home late at night to really infuse the wonder of it into me.
I've had a similar experience with Nicolette Larson's1978 "Lotta Love" which was indeed a cover as well (to my surprise once more) of Neil Young's original 1976 recording, although that song wouldn't see the light of day until its inclusion in his 1978 album"Comes a Time". On Wikipedia, Young's contemplative original has been categorized as country rock; I would also add the adjective "soft" to the genre as well.
As mentioned, I'd heard Larson's version a number of times on AM radio as a kid, but as with "Killing Me Softly with His Song", "Lotta Love" finally hit me when I was actually watching an episode of the CBS sitcom "WKRP in Cincinnati". I forgot what the episode was all about but there was a scene of a Cincinnati sunset as the helicopter shot over the bridge and then "Lotta Love" came on, and I just thought that it was the most amazing collaboration of visual and aural. There was Andrew Love's boss saxophone, Plas Johnson on the flute (he was also the tenor saxophonist on the famous "Pink Panther" theme!), the disco strings and of course Larson's slightly raspy voice.
To me, Larson's "Lotta Love" wasn't country rock; it's been this amazing car stereo-friendly disco AOR tune that tells driver and passengers "Yup, welcome to the city!". It was a hit in both Canada and the US, reaching No. 4 and No. 8 respectively and then it hit the top spot on their respective Adult Contemporary/Easy Listening charts. Larson, who left us all way too early at the age of 45, didn't quite hit the heights of superstardom but was a very popular figure to her fans and on the radio with some of her other songs, one which I will be doing as another beloved example of ROY soon enough. By the way, below is the Neil Young original.
Larson's debut album"Nicolette" was released on September 29th 1978. I found the Oricon Top 10 chart for September 25th that year. What were the top 3 singles on that day?
Singer-songwriter Shinji Tanimura passed away on October 8th 2023 at the age of 74. Most of us had only heard about his death late on the 15th or early on the 16th, and according to NHK and Wikipedia, though at this point, the cause of death hasn't been announced, Tanimura had been suffering from enteritis earlier this year.
Born in December 1948, he was the son of a couple who ran a hot spring in Nagano Town in Metropolitan Osaka. In 1965 while in high school, he along with Chizuko Shimazu（島津ちづ子）and Mineyuki Yamamoto（山本峰行）formed the folk trio The Rock Candies（ザ・ロック・キャンディーズ）, a group in the style of Peter Paul and Mary. Several years later in 1971, Tanimura and Takao Horiuchi（堀内孝雄）created the folk group Alice（アリス）which had a more folksy rock style and begat hits such as "Fuyu no Inazuma"（冬の稲妻）.
While with Alice, Tanimura was also providing songs for other singers, notably "Ii Hi Tabidachi"(いい日旅立ち) for Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵）, one of her last big hits in 1978. Tanimura would cover the song in an even more genteel manner in 1986.
As I mentioned in the original article, Tanimura and his partner Horiuchi would come up with the hit "Kimi no Hitomi wa Ichi-man Boruto"（君のひとみは10000ボルト）in 1978, and though I had thought it was an Alice song, it was officially a single pegged to Horiuchi.
Alice may have been known for its good time rock n' roll folk but Tanimura's solo work could be described as elegant. At one point, I was wondering whether the singer had actually opted to become an enka singer but his material wasn't quite that traditional-sounding. Instead, I would categorize it as that middle ground between kayo kyoku and enka known as New Adult Music. It was often classy, epic, orchestral and dignified. His 1980 "Subaru"（昴）was the first Tanimura song that I'd heard as a soloist at my old karaoke joint Kuri, and I can imagine that on hearing of his passing, a lot of karaoke singers gave their tribute to him by tackling this one.
Another ballad that had some shivers going up my spine when I first heard the intro was his 1983 "Nijuuni Sai"（22歳）. It had the folksy beat from his past and the epic dignity of his present (at the time).
Through Noelle Tham's article in 2014, I found out that Tanimura along with fellow songwriter and singer Yuzo Kayama（加山雄三）had been the ones behind "Sarai"（サライ）, another epic ballad of inspiration and reassurance. I had assumed that the song was a lot older than its 1992 birthdate considering that it's been used for a certain NTV telethon year after year just like how "Auld Lang Syne" has been used to signal the end of every edition of the Kohaku Utagassen on NHK.
The final song that I'll leave here in this tribute to Tanimura is a new one on KKP. "Gunshou"（群青...Ultramarine） was his 4th single released in July 1981 and it was the theme song to the August 1981 Toei Studios movie "Rengo Kantai"（連合艦隊...Imperial Navy） which described the downfall of the Japanese Navy in World War II. According to the J-Wiki article on the song itself, Tanimura had initially turned down the request by the movie's director Shūe Matsubayashi（松林宗恵）to create a theme song for "Rengo Kantai" because of the subject matter. However, Matsubayashi was finally able to persuade him by relaying his approach and opinions, and "Gunshou" was the result. The late Katsuhisa Hattori（服部克久）arranged both "Gunshou" and "Subaru", and when Hattori passed away in 2020, Tanimura himself gave great praise on Hattori's arrangements.
Tanimura leaves behind three children including singer-songwriter Shiori Tanimura（谷村詩織）. I offer my condolences to his family, friends and fans.
Last fall, I wrote about this short-lived duo called Sky with Eizo Kitazawa（北沢英三）and Takashi Morimoto（森本隆）through their 1981 song "Last Ballad"（ラスト・バラッド）. It's a slow and sweet ballad that fit the autumn quite nicely. Incidentally, just last week I wrote about a song that Kitazawa had composed under a later pseudonym, Masayoshi Hatta（八田雅弘）, titled "Kanashiki Sherry"（悲しき恋人）.
Well, a little more than half a year later, I've found another 1981 single under the Sky banner and that would be "Kimi ni, Kurakura" (Dizzying for You). And befitting the spring and rising temperatures, this one is rather more upbeat with Keisuke Yamakawa（山川啓介）providing the lyrics while Takao Horiuchi（堀内孝雄）from the folk group Alice（アリス）composed the melody. Tatsushi Umegaki（梅垣達志）arranged everything into a nice of mix good ol' rock-n'-roll and AOR.
Created as a jingle for a Kanebo Cosmetics commercial, "Kimi ni, Kurakura" is about a cocky fellow who manages to part the monochrome clouds away from a woman's life to provide some well-needed sunshine. I would probably think that the glare must have been truly dizzying for her. I'm assuming that some of that old footage in the above video is from those Kanebo ads.
The various genres listed in the Labels section on the right side, I confess, aren't a totally comprehensive group of the different kinds of Japanese popular music. Some days ago, I wrote about Quiet Storm being that blend of 1950s cool jazz and soul groove; it's a sub-genre of R&B that I adore but I've never bothered to make a Quiet Storm section in Labels since I think R&B is good enough. The same goes for the sub-genre of Fashion Music within kayo kyoku because the impression that I've gotten is that the term was something concocted by the media describing a mix of sophisticated pop and Japanese New Music with a bit of Leon Russell.
I think that I encountered an example of another type of fusion kayoyears ago and wrote about it, but for the life of me, because of the size of "Kayo Kyoku Plus" now, I can't seem to remember either the singer or the title of the tune. 😩 But I do remember that sub-genre heading of New Adult Music which strikes me as being enka or updated Mood Kayo swirled with a cool New Music or maybe even City Pop arrangement.
And it seems to be the type of song that would be ideal as contemporary kakoii theme songs for samurai dramas...such as this one. Singer-songwriter Takao Horiuchi（堀内孝雄）, one-half of the folk duo Alice（アリス）, has been listed as one such example of a New Adult Music artist, and as such, his "Itoshiki Hibi" (Beloved Days) has been categorized by that sub-genre. His October 1986 single, this was indeed used as the theme for a two-night chanbara NTV special titled "Byakko-tai"（白虎隊）, the story of several hundred teenage samurai who fought in the Boshin War. With lyrics by Kei Ogura（小椋佳）which hint at a lonely but mandatory journey, something very enka-like for a masterless samurai, Horiuchi's mellow and elegant melody is solemn and contemporary as if it could even describe a 1980s corporate warrior roaming the concrete jungle, wondering desperately how to get that next client.
New Adult Music had a lot of fans since "Itoshiki Hibi" hit No. 4 on the Oricon weeklies and became the 27th-ranked single for 1987, getting Horiuchi a Japan Music Award for Best Composer. It sold about 400,000 records and had the singer perform the song three times on NHK's Kohaku Utagassen in 1991, 1997 and 2006. Some of those other singers that have been considered to be New Adult Music artists include Kye Eunsook（桂銀淑）and a solo Kiyoshi Maekawa（前川清）, but you can give the J-Wiki list a look-see.
It may be a 10th Anniversary Special, but this one isn't quite as sentimental as the previous two articles. The thought that had invaded my head was that since we're celebrating the number of years that "Kayo Kyoku Plus" has been in existence in the wonderful world of cyberspace, why not devote one article to the "numbered" kayo? So, as one fellow who I follow on YouTube has said: Let's make this, shall we?
On a recent "Uta Kon"（うたコン）, both enka singer Hiroshi Itsuki（五木ひろし）and veteran singer-songwriter Kei Ogura（小椋佳）appeared with the latter announcing his retirement from singing as of the end of this year. It would mark 50 years since Ogura's beginnings in the music industry and so he leaves behind a legacy of oft-tenderhearted music.
One such song with Ogura's lyrics and Takao Horiuchi's（堀内孝雄）music is "Sanga" (The Mountains and Rivers) which was released as Itsuki's 109th single in April 2000. An enka song in the epic tradition of describing the might and grandeur of nature and how all of us are all bound together, I'd been thinking about all of the emotions that are brought to bear in this genre, and sure enough, "Sanga" is one prime example.
Ogura doesn't appear nearly as often to perform but when he does, he can potentially outdo the singers that he writes songs for, and I think he does this with his own cover of "Sanga". There is a warmth and vulnerability whenever he sings, and for many of his admirers, it'll be a sad if grateful day when he does retire at the end of the year.
Horiuchi also performed "Sanga" with his own vocal flourishes, as the song peaked at No. 43 on Oricon. And the song has been featured at least twice on the Kohaku Utagassen, once in 2000 and then just last year.
I have to admit that this is one of the more unusual Xmas kayothat I've encountered in KKP's 8 years of tracking down Japanese Yuletide tunes.
Never would I have imagined that an aidoru group the size of Morning Musume（モーニング娘。）or Hello! Project（ハロー!プロジェクト）would mash voices with an enka legend and a famed kayo folk singer to create one of their own Christmas songs. But that is indeed what happened in 2002 in the form of Hiroshi Itsuki's（五木ひろし）114th single released in November that year.
Titled "Ai no Merry Christmas" (Merry Christmas of Love), it is sung by the collaborative group of Itsuki, Takao and Hello! Project Seikatai（五木・孝雄+ハロー!プロジェクト聖歌隊。...Itsuki, Takao and Hello! Project Chorus） with the second fellow being Takao Horiuchi（堀内孝雄）of the folk duo Alice（アリス）. And it seems like from the video that the chorus is made up of former and current members of Morning Musume along with Aya Matsuura（松浦亜弥）at least.
To be honest, the combination of Xmas jingle and Mood Kayo doesn't exactly mesh perfectly, starting with a slightly ominous intro then into a wistful and contemporary Yuletide melody before the singing commences with the typical Mood Kayo feeling. And unlike any Hello! Project song, this had no Tsunku（つんく）helping out on the songwriting. Instead, it was the kayo veterans, lyricist Yu Aku（阿久悠）and composer Toru Funamura（船村徹）behind "Ai no Merry Christmas" with Kei Wakakusa（若草恵）behind the arrangement.
So, this particular J-Xmas song will probably have to grow on me over the next number of days before Christmas Day finally does dawn once more, but the Mood Kayo segments are fine with me.
Another Friday night so perhaps let's go with a Mood Kayo but this time from the 1990s.
But for those who may not know what the title is all about, taketombo refers to an old-fashioned Japanese spinning toy made from bamboo and is flown when spun with the hands. You might say that it's similar to children in the West and their spinning tops. You can take a look at this video by NQC7 on how a taketombo is made.
(slightly cut off at the end)
Now, getting back to the main topic...
Takao Horiuchi（堀内孝雄）is also one of those singers who has made that transition from one genre to another. In his case, it would be from the folk of his Alice（アリス）days in the 1970s to a crooner of enka and Mood Kayo.
I found this relaxing single, his 42nd to be exact, "Taketombo" which was released in March 1998. Since Horiuchi made the switch to the more shibui genres, I've found his works to be especially elegant; perhaps I can say that he's mastered an even more sophisticated form of Mood Kayo. His songs here can be poured into a snifter and gently cradled.
Horiuchi was indeed the one who created the melody with Toyohisa Araki（荒木とよひさ）behind the lyrics. When I listen to "Taketombo", I don't imagine kids playing with their flying spinning toys in the field. Actually, I think of slickly-dressed folks like the singer-songwriter getting all introspective in some very fancy bars (definitely with bottles of scotch reserved with their names) talking with bartenders and fellow barflies about the meaning of life. As for the link between this song and the toy, Horiuchi is crooning about a fellow resignedly realizing how much happier his past life was and how he would like to fly back to those times like a taketombo, although he still maintains some stubborn pride about not losing quite everything.
"Taketombo" was then a good fit as the ending theme song for the long-running detective series "Hagure Keiji Junjouha"（はぐれ刑事純情派）. I think one of the tropes of a Japanese detective drama is having a couple of the police vets sharing a drink during a particularly hard case and commiserating over their lot. Perhaps I can even see one of the cops singing this one at karaoke before the eventual arrest is made.
I've never had any friends in Japanese law enforcement but I speculate that the cops are pretty much up and running 24-7 there as well. However, I'm hoping that at least some of them can take a break and enjoy some nice atmosphere and the occasional libation...off-duty, of course.
I saw "Tokai no Tenshi tachi" (Angels of the City) performed on a recent episode of "Uta Kon" (うたコン) and rather enjoyed its somewhat nostalgic mood music harking back to the 1980s. It was originally sung by Takao Horiuchi（堀内孝雄）from 70s folk group Alice and Korean enka singer Kye Eunsook（桂銀淑）. Over the past few decades, Horiuchi has been transitioning from the folk genre into general kayo genres such as enka and Mood Kayo. As for Unsuku, I had always wanted to include her in the blog so I had been rather surprised that I had yet to find the proper introduction for her but luckily I found this smooth tune.
In researching for "Tokai no Tenshi tachi" which was released as a single in March 1992, I found out that the two singers were now entered in this Japanese pop music genre that I saw on J-Wiki known as New Adult Music (ニューアダルトミュージック) along with other artists such as Rumiko Koyanagi（小柳ルミ子）and Masatoshi Nakamura（中村雅俊）. Perhaps I could relate it as the Japanese version of Adult Contemporary, mixing together Mood Kayo and City Pop. But I'll muse on that for now.
Still, I did enjoy this song since it has that modern take on Mood Kayo. It has that City Pop musical arrangement but I can only envision the Mood Kayo environment of a well-stocked bar when I listen to this ballad of lonely strangers in the metropolis dreaming back to happier days. Horiuchi came up with the cool melody while Toyohisa Araki（荒木とよひさ）provided the lyrics.
"Tokai no Tenshi tachi" peaked at No. 33 on Oricon and won the Golden Disc Prize at the Japan Record Awards among a few other accolades. It also got Horiuchi and Eunsook onto the Kohaku Utagassen. My impression was also that the arrangement was lush enough that it could have made for a nice enough theme song. Well, sure enough, it was one of the many theme songs for a detective series titled "Hagure Keiji Junjoha"（はぐれ刑事純情派...The Pure Clan of the Wandering Detective）.
As for Kye Eunsook, she was born in Seoul, South Korea in 1961 and made her debut as a model during her high school years after which she then made her debut as a singer in 1979. Then in 1984, she was invited to come to Japan by composer Keisuke Hama（浜圭介）. The following year, she debuted with her first Japanese song "Osaka Boshoku"（大阪暮色...Osaka Twilight）. Since then, she has become known for that husky and slightly halting voice.
His trademark "Sssankyu!" is adorable. ( Yes, I know it's "Thank You")
Although I've seen Takao Horiuchi (堀内孝雄) countless times on the Enka-based "Nippon no Uta" and he's sings songs under that genre, I will always see him as a quintessential Folk/Country singer. Partially due to his origins from Folk-Rock band, Alice, but also because he's got the look for it too. He's got the look, a mellow voice, and if he's not wearing a suit, he'd be decked out in a white shirt and an unbuttoned vest and strumming away on an acoustic guitar. All he's missing is a Cowboy hat and a pair of Cowboy boots.
Another thing about Horiuchi that I've taken note of is that his songs have interesting names, and they usually have a lot of Kanji characters that I don't know how to pronounce, one example of this would be "Kageboshi" - I only knew how it's pronounced after looking it up on the J-Wiki. "Kageboshi" was one of those songs where I had really wondered how it would sound like because of its strange name, but never got around to scratch that itch. Not until a couple of days ago, that is. And I was pleased to hear that it sounded very pleasant and not as boring as I had anticipated - I really like its chorus. Toyohisa Araki (荒木とよひさ), who Horiuchi frequently collaborates with, penned the lyrics while Horiuchi himself was responsible for the music, and it starts off seeming like a loud song with the electric guitars screaming away, but it eventually becomes quite mellow once the singer-songwriter opens his mouth. And with his soft vocals and the relaxing music, I can see myself listening to this while enjoying a sunset at the beach or something like that... or while taking a train home from school (that's gonna start again soon... Urgh...).
"Kageboshi" was released on 25th April 1993 and peaked at 26th place on the Oricon charts. Horiuchi achieved his second win at the Japan Music Awards because of this song, his first win came 3 years earlier in 1990 with his better known and more successful hit, "Koi Uta Tsuzuri" (恋唄綴り) - not a fan of that one though, I much prefer "Kageboshi". He sang this song once on the Kohaku on the very same year and was used as an ending theme for a crime drama called "Hagure Keiji Jounjo Ha" (はぐれ刑事純情派) that stared veteran actor, Makoto Fujita (藤田まこと). There were 18 seasons to that show spanning from 1988 to 2005, and interestingly enough, the ending themes used were always Horiuchi's newly released songs for that particular year. So I'm guessing that "Kageboshi" was used in the 6th season (1993)?
It's been a while since I did an article on either Ruiko Kurahashi （倉橋ルイ子）or Takao Horiuchi（堀内孝雄）, so I decided to do a isseki nicho and cover their September 1985 love song duet, "Hanrira". I first encountered this song on one of Kurahashi's BEST compilations, and it's a tune that has slowly grown on me. The reason for the length of time is perhaps the fact that the melody by Horiuchi is not quite the ennui-laden pop that Kurahashi has often covered or the folk/pop that Horiuchi usually sings. It also feels a bit exotic (and maybe even arboreal) thanks to that certain synthesizer and the whistle. But Horiuchi's melody is very mellow and relaxing...almost like a lullaby.
According to J-Wiki, the mysteriously titled "Hanrira" was Kurahashi's 8th single with lyrics by Tokiko Iwatani（岩谷時子）. Now, I say "mysteriously" here since I'm not sure where the title comes from. The opening lyric states that it means "beautiful", and for years I'd thought it was some sort of Polynesian word. But then there was a Q&A on OKWave.jp exactly about the derivation of the title with the person asking if "Hanrira" was derived from Korean. Well, apparently not. And the responder couldn't quite give a definitive answer; he/she posits that it may be an artificial expression. I guess it wouldn't be that surprising since the 80s were also the decade that came up with "Sussudio" by Phil Collins.
I've always wondered if Ruiko was just getting
exasperated at being repeatedly asked about
the meaning of "Hanrira" in the cover photo.
I have to say that the fellow above just gives a lovely rendition with his guitar and voice. Mind you, he is not Takao Horiuchi（堀内孝雄）, the original singer of "Kotoba ni Naranai Okuri Mono"(A Present That Can't Be Put Into Words), but he acquits himself well here. Usually I would try my darndest to find the original song and put it up in the blog, but since the Horiuchi original is so wonderful (if unavailable on the Net) and this fellow does such a great job, I thought I just had to get it up there in some form.
The songs that are very precious to me are often the ones that I don't have copies for on my shelves or in my hard drive or on the Net but sometimes exist in very rough form somewhere else. In this case, my only proof that "Kotoba ni Naranai Okuri Mono" exists in my consciousness is through one of my first tapings of "Sounds of Japan" in 1982. I have a very scratchy episode in there which includes Horiuchi's beautiful performance of this song which starts with this fragile-sounding piano descending gingerly down the keys. And then Horiuchi comes in softly and modestly with this musical present to his love. The intimate melody by him and heartfelt lyrics by his professional partner, Shinji Tanimura（谷村新司） from their duo, Alice（アリス）, make this a classic to me, and for those musically inclined Japanese boyfriends ready to pop the question.....well, you got your song right here.
Horiuchi's official debut single, the jaunty "Kimi no Hitomi wa Ichi-man Boruto" （君のひとみは１００００ボルト）, didn't come out for another 3 years, but his first album which was also titled "Kotoba ni Naranai Okuri Mono" was released in October 1975. That title track fades in and out and scratches a lot on that old Canadian Tire tape, but I can still hear the various genres melding in the song: the gentle lull of folk but with a breezy saxophone during the bridge that rather gives the song a City Pop feeling of being on the roof of an old brownstone apartment in New York. The whole song has this ethereal and grounded feeling that is sung in Japanese and yet doesn't quite sound like a Japanese pop song of its time.
If, somehow, you can find a copy of this album, then grab it just for the title track alone. Otherwise, if you are at a Horiuchi concert and he is willing to take requests, by all means, ask for this one.
I had always thought that this was a song by the folk duo Alice, but officially, this belongs to one-half of the unit, Takao Horiuchi（堀内孝雄）. Still, this was a joint effort with Horiuchi taking care of the composing duties while his partner Shinji Tanimura（谷村新司） covered the lyrics. Released as Horiuchi's debut single as a solo performer (although he had been releasing albums since 1975) in August 1978, "Kimi no Hitomi wa Ichi-man Boruto" (Your Eyes Are 10,000 Volts), the song still has that Alice jangly and happy country-folk vibe. I'm sure it encouraged a lot of the audience to stand up and clap when it was first known to the record-listening public, and even now, I'm sure there are still some karaoke rooms from which the song is still happily sung.
The top video has Alice and Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵） performing the song on stage. Yamaguchi had a connection with the group in that one of her huge hits, "Ii Hi Tabidachi"（いい日旅立ち) had been created by Tanimura at around the same time.
"Kimi no Hitomi wa Ichi-man Boruto" broke the Top 10 of Oricon about a month after its release at No. 3 and would hit the top spot a week later. By the end of the year, it would become the 4th-ranked song; the only songs ahead of Horiuchi's hit were all Pink Lady tunes. I think in any other year, it would've become the biggest hit of the year since it earned close to a million sales. However, it did get another accolade in a way in that the karaoke folks have often mistakenly upgraded the titular number from 10,000 to 1,000,000 volts, something that Horiuchi has known and is perfectly fine with. The song was also included on his 3rd album"Aitsu ga Shinda Ban" （あいつが死んだ晩...The Night The Bastard Died) which also hit the top spot on the album charts after its release in September 1978.
It also appropriately became the campaign song for Shiseido Cosmetics for that year.
Horiuchi finally got a string of Kohaku appearances under his belt starting from 1988, but surprisingly never performed the song, although it's possible that he may have done so when Alice made its debut appearance on the NHK New Year's Eve special in 2000.
