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.
I was once asked by one of the commenters about an Author's Picks regarding airports. After all, in terms of an old kayo kyoku, the airport serves as a setting for romantic farewells and (rarely) greetings. Plus, they can also be the launching point for adventures abroad. Now, I believe that I had yet to post such a list of airport-themed songs so I'm going with this one today to finish my trio of articles.
I was out for most of the day today with my anime buddy in a special one-off return to those old biweekly anime-and-meal Sundays that we used to have back in the 2010s. So we got to have some Taiwanese lu rou fan for lunch and then for dinner, it was some scrumptious lamb dumplings at a Chinese Halal restaurant.
We also got some anime from this spring season to watch and also I got to see a lot of my buddy's footage when he went on his latest sojourn to Japan back in May. One place he visited to apply his photography hobby was Fukushima Prefecture, and he just happened to get off at Aizu-Miyashita Station（会津宮下駅）on the Tadami Line（只見線）since from there he could get a great view of a special train bridge to take shots of. The above is brief footage by YouTube uploader jo “JO68” oku of that station from a few years ago.
Pretty quiet back then but when my friend left the station early last month, he heard some strangely familiar music and it turned out that a music plaque memorial or kahi（歌碑）as it's said in Japanese had been erected across from the station only last November. It turned out that it was a memorial for the late Taiwanese singer Teresa Teng（テレサテン）.
What was playing from the plaque was Teng's 8th single in Japan, "Furusato wa Doko desu ka"(Where is Your Hometown?), which was released in February 1977. It's been categorized as an enka and a kayo kyoku although I think in terms of its arrangement, it sounds more toward the latter genre. The tenderhearted song was written by Daisaburo Nakayama（中山大三郎）and composed by Yoshinori Usui（うすいよしのり）and it managed to peak at No. 42 on Oricon.
Now as for why Teng's music plaque was placed at Aizu-Miyashita Station can be explained by where the station is located which is the town of Mishima in Fukushima Prefecture. Back when the single was released, Teng visited Mishima to do a concert and was so moved by the kindness of the residents there that she considered it to be her Japanese hometown. The town also made the singer an honorary resident.
Can't quite believe that this song is over forty years old now. Recently, commenter Brian Mitchell remarked that he would be taking a look at the DeBarge file here on KKP, and I realized that it's been a good while since I posted a ROY tune regarding this talented musical family from Grand Rapids, Michigan. In fact, I think the last time I did, it was nearly three years ago and it was for the cool-as-ice "You Wear It Well" from October 1985.
DeBarge could do the upbeat as well as the amazing balladry and even earlier that year from February, the group had another catchy happy-go-lucky hit in the form of "Rhythm of the Night". Yes, I remember seeing the music video with El and the rest of the family almost weekly on the video shows, and dang, that was the most choreographically-talented block party I've ever seen. Diane Warren was the songwriter here and "Rhythm of the Night" is just one of those symbolic 80s songs that makes me swoon and sigh for a decade that I had once inhabited. I also notice that there are a few musicians involved in the song that have had associations with Japanese artists and their works such as guitarist Paul Jackson Jr. and percussionist Paulinho da Costa.
"Rhythm of the Night" peaked at No. 3 in both Canada and the United States. I also have to remember that it was also part of the soundtrack of "The Last Dragon".
So, what was coming out as singles in February 1985? We've got three right here.
As the byline says, Happy Chinese New Year or Gong Xi Fa Cai! (If I have this wrong, please correct me.) And indeed, it is the Year of the Snake whose titular animal is supposed to bring wisdom, transformation, calmness and creativity. I can only hope that this is really true. Within my city, I've got a number of friends who are probably celebrating with their families so I wish them well on this day.
In any case, I don't quite believe that up to now, I haven't had an article commemorating Chinese New Year but I will rectify that now. I had initially thought about putting up songs which have had something to do with Chinese places or culture, but I've now decided to post songs by singers who have come from places such as Hong Kong and Taiwan to provide hits within the kayo kyoku world.
I'm providing a special Reminiscings of Youth here today. No, not because today is a national holiday or anything to do with the Christmas season. It's just that I finally got to see a movie that I had always wondered about: Fritz Lang's 1927"Metropolis". Former writer and good friend JTM was kind enough to send me a copy of the nearly century-old film some weeks ago so this was an opportunity for an old-movie aficionado like myself.
Probably there are a lot of people who aren't silent film fans or simply can't really understand the appeal of old Hollywood black-and-white movies in general (one friend told me that he really couldn't stomach "Casablanca"...I bit my tongue there). Yeah, I get that...but after seeing "Metropolis", I can still feel that this was probably one very heady and ambitious experience for the original viewers at the theatres with the overall design of the sets and costumes, the special effects and the original gorgeous soundtrack by Gottfried Huppertz. Since I was a kid, I have had an affinity with the whole Art Deco movement (some of those Bing AI images that I've made have had some Art Deco thrown in by me) and "Metropolis" includes this with other artistic influences.
My observations can start with my surprise that this was indeed a feature-length movie of two hours that sped by surprisingly quickly. I hadn't been aware that there were silent films that went on that long back then and even without using the fast forward function, Lang kept the pace going at a fairly zippy pace like some blockbuster. Even having repeatedly seen and known about some of the iconic scenes such as the transformation to the evil Maria from the Machine-Man, it was still thrilling to encounter them again within the near-entirety of the film (apparently, according to the trailer above, my version was still several scenes shorter than this new one that has been plugged). Another observation is that the main actress Brigitte Helm had only been 17 when she began work and this was her first motion picture role, and even with the hamminess that had been part and parcel of being in silent movies, she was very impressive.
I also realized that "Metropolis" showed off a lot of movie tropes that we've gotten accustomed to over the decades and may now find as rather cliché such as two old enemies reluctantly working together for a common goal, one young man fighting against institutional evil by raising his own resistance through kindness and decency, and even the good and evil doppelgangers. But back in 1927, these may have been very fresh ingredients. It was apparently the first time as well for a movie to include a robot, albeit briefly.
I've read that although perhaps regular viewers were enthralled with "Metropolis", the critics weren't nearly as kind with H.G. Wells himself calling it silly. But since then, it's gained a lot of cachet, popularity and respect and it's certainly provided a lot of influences for the sci-fi movies to come such as "Blade Runner", "Star Wars" and "Logan's Run".
But the people that I have to thank for introducing that "Metropolis" even existed was the band Queen via the music video for their January 1984 hit"Radio Ga Ga". Getting lots of love on radio and music video programming back in the day, the song itself was Freddie Mercury and band kindly telling folks that radio should still be loved but the video was a lavish tribute to the movie (and Queen itself), even recreating certain backgrounds and sets from "Metropolis". When I first heard it, I thought it was the band getting with the 1980s program and bringing in all those synthesizers while still retaining that anthemic rock stance that they've had since the 1970s. Even watching the movie finally, I could still hear echoes of "Radio Ga Ga" in my head during certain key scenes.
In Canada, "Radio Ga Ga" hit No. 11 on RPM while in the States, it reached No. 16. Meanwhile, several countries in Europe had it go all the way to No. 1. So, what else was being released in January 1984?
Going into the last few days of 2023, we are indeed going to be talking about the "last" of a number of things here, including the final Reminiscings of Youth article for this year.
I've opted for the sophisticated pop of Swingout Sister once more. Earlier this year, I tackled the band's "Twilight World" which went for a more mysterious 60s spy movie feel, but this time around, I'm returning to sunnier climes where they're concerned via their June 1987 single"Fooled by a Smile". Back to that vibe of breezy 60s romantic comedy, "Fooled by a Smile" is another one of my favourites by Corinne Drewery, Andy Connell and Martin Jackson. As I've frequently said, I'm always going to be a sucker for a battery of jazzy horns and Drewery's splendid vocals.
"Fooled by a Smile" only scored on the UK Singles chart at No. 43 and as I recall, I didn't hear much from Swingout Sister after "Twilight World" when I was still at university...which is a pity. I'm hoping that folks afterwards have been able to discover some of the wonders from their later singles and albums.
For this final ROY of 2023, what was also coming out in Japan as singles in June 1987?
When I was doing my usual maintenance of various articles on the blog, I re-encountered one that I'd penned all the way back in June 2012. It was the one for Miki Hirayama's（平山みき）"Manatsu no Dekigoto" (真夏の出来事）and though this was a 1971 kayo kyoku, the first time I heard the song was through its technopop cover by MODOKEES in 1982 on an episode of "Sounds of Japan" on radio here. The group was fronted by vocalist Yaeko Kojima（小島八重子）and she would later change her professional name to Yaya（やや）going a few years down the decade.
I was curious about how Yaya did in her career and putting the name into the various search engines, the rabbit hole in cyberspace led me to her first single under that shorter name, "Yogiri no House Mannequin", which was released in January 1986. Compared to the breezy technopop cover of "Manatsu no Dekigoto", "Yogiri no House Mannequin" hit me with quite a wallop in terms of the arrangement. It sounded like a mix of Keiko Fuji（藤圭子）Mood Kayo and something that the then-popular Checkers（チェッカーズ）would release. Basically, it is a bruiser of a 1950s song that could be played in some roadside honky-tonk outside the city or deep within one. Give thanks to composer to Yoichi Sakube*（柵部陽一）.
Before I go into the lyrics by Seikou Ito（いとうせいこう）and Suwon Lee（李秀元）, I have to say that the title is also a striking one for me, particularly the last two words of house mannequin. Well, it's another example of wasei eigo or Japlish which refers to a sales clerk in a boutique. I've just read that the fascinating term is now officially a dead word since nowadays we simply use mise no ten'in-san（店の店員さん）. The entire title translates into "Sales Clerk in the Night Fog".
As for those lyrics, I think that they as emotionally delivered by Yaya relate the story of the titular sales clerk on the cusp of her thirties, possibly wondering about her life and times in Tokyo taking care of customers while the rest of the city is having its great times. Maybe she will decide to make a transformation from nebbishy salesgirl to tight-skirted vamp in Omotesando.
With a similarly boss arrangement, the late Teresa Teng（テレサテン）also released her version of "Yogiri no House Mannequin" in her third Chinese-language album produced in Japan, "Jiǔ zuì de tàngē"（酒醉的探戈...Boozy Tango）, which I could only derive via Google Translate (if anyone can correct what I've written, please do so). The album was released on Christmas Day 1986. The above video has Teng singing the original Japanese version but I don't know where that popped up in her discography.
*The composer's family name is perhaps a rare one since I couldn't find anything about it anywhere online. Therefore, I had to take a wild guess based on the individual readings of the two kanji involved, but again, if anyone can confirm or deny how I've written the name down, please let me know.
Tonight on NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン）, the show launched with a tribute to the late singer Teresa Teng who would have turned 70 a couple of days ago. Singers including Kaori Mizumori（水森かおり）and Rimi Natsukawa（夏川りみ）covered some of her best, and it was great hearing her old hits again especially since they were among the first of the articles for "Kayo Kyoku Plus" to go up.
I've not done an Author's Pick on any of Teng's tunes so I figure that if NHK can hoist a glass in her honour, so can I. These songs really do bring back my memories of Kuri, our old karaoke haunt back in university.
Was watching the latest episode of "Uta Kon"（うたコン）tonight and on their regular segment of looking back at past performances under the theme of travel this week, the wonderful singer Teresa Teng（テレサ・テン）appeared once more in her glory.
I don't think that this was the song featured for her in the show, but re-discovering "Yoru no Joukyaku" (Night Passenger) was very pleasant. With those strings and bluesy sax, natsukashii is an understatement. Moreover, there is that extra element from what sounds like a harpsichord which further adds to the sepia tones of time here.
Written by Michio Yamagami（山上路夫）and composed by Daisuke Inoue（井上大輔）under his real name Tadao Inoue（井上忠夫）, "Yoru no Joukyaku" inhabits that certain part of Mood Kayo which has a woman trying to flee her woes of heartbreak by traveling, with the conveyance this time being a train. The ballad was her 5th single in Japan, released in July 1975. Listening to it again brought back memories of being in either a small nomiya or a karaoke establishment.
Definitely feeling that headlong pull deeper into autumn. Over the weekend, we in North America turned the clocks back one hour and that made a fairly big difference. The sun basically disappeared just a little after 5 pm today, and so for the next several weeks, night will be creeping on us that much faster until December 21st.
A few weeks ago on "Uta Con"（うたコン）, I heard a rather melancholy ballad that I could easily peg being from decades past. Titled "Shuutou" (Autumn and Winter), it's a song about love lost and the consequences felt by one person. It is an apt autumn kayo since often enough, autumn going into winter has been the setting for the death of romance in Japanese songs.
May J. and Aya Yamamoto（山本彩）did a duet on "Shuutou", and the arrangement was elegant enough to attract my attention about where this song had come from. And the story behind it adds a further layer of sadness but also happiness to the legend. The original singer and lyricist was Jouji Nakayama（中山丈二）who had recorded "Shuutou" onto a demo tape shortly before his untimely passing at the age of 36 in 1980. Douji Horie（堀江童子）created the music for the song. The above video apparently has Nakayama's actual vocals although since the J-Wiki article on the song mentioned that it was just him and his guitar on the demo tape, the dramatic violins were probably added later.
After Nakayama's passing, some of his friends such as TV personalities Hiroshi Sekiguchi（関口宏）and Maki Carrousel（カルーセル麻紀）, and actor Toru Minegishi（峰岸徹）helped out to get "Shuutou" produced via 400 records. Afterwards, the song started quietly getting known.
In 1983, a singer by the name of Miki Tachibana（橘美喜）released a cover version and it sparked a lot of other singers to provide their own version of "Shuutou". Although Tachibana's cover doesn't exist on YouTube, I could find another accomplished take of the ballad via Daisuke Hara（原大輔）who sings in a number of genres including folk, New Music and chanson. This version was one of the later ones since it was released in October and it was actually his debut single under this stage name (he was born Masaki Takanashi/高梨雅樹 and was one-half of the folk group Leila（レイラ）in the mid-1970s). The single peaked at No. 19 and became the 90th-ranked song for 1984.
From what I found in Hara's file, apparently seven singers including Hara released their version of "Shuutou" in 1983, so Mizue Takada（高田みづえ）must have been the eighth since her version came out right on New Year's Day 1984. This was her 22nd single which actually reached as high as No. 22 on Oricon, selling around 136,000 records. For the yearly rankings, it placed No. 100, just 10 ranks down from Hara's version.
I found Takada's version more in the Fashion Music vein (I really have to talk more about this rather intriguing sub-genre soon) with that tinkly piano intro and even more shimmering strings. She also appeared in the 1984 Kohaku Utagassen to perform this song. The video of that performance is above this paragraph (not anymore unfortunately although I've replaced it with the actual music video), and although "Shuutou" is sad on its own, there was an added reason for all of the tears shed by Takada and some of her fellow members on the Red team. It had been announced that the singer would be retiring from show business midway through the following year so December 31st 1984 was her 7th and final appearance on the special which included 5 straight appearances up to that point.
Although I couldn't find out when exactly Teresa Teng（テレサ・テン）had released her version of "Shuutou", I felt that I needed to feature her as well for her wonderful performance. I think there was even more emotion in her take especially when it came to the refrain. Her vocals also seemed to come across as more intimate due to some of that whispery quality.
Reading Noelle's list of her favourite songs from the 1930s and 1940s, I decided it was time to talk about my likes in the shibui genre of Mood Kayo. Originally, I had been musing about getting a large list together of both enka and Mood Kayo but having done this blog for some years now, I've come to the realization that although both genres might occupy the same general watering hole with overlapping topics, so to speak, they are different customers in my estimation. Enka is about the old traditional Japan with the traditional instruments, often out in the more scenic countryside areas. Mood Kayo is more about kayo of the urban areas, specifically the bars and nightclubs, accompanied by Western instruments giving hints of jazz or Latin. Having just said that, perhaps this genre was the City Pop of the immediate postwar period even before City Pop.
In any case, let me begin. And considering the number of Mood Kayo that is already on display here, I have plenty of favourites but I had to winnow things down to a number I could count on both hands.
Yup, Noelle pegged it. This is the one I would begin with to discuss any Mood Kayo. At the time I first discovered this croon-worthy ballad by The Tough Guy back in 1981, I had assumed that it was a jazzier version of enka. And speaking of firsts, I would say that this was one of the very first Mood Kayo that I listened to and liked. Listening to Ishihara's dulcet tones and the dramatic arrangement (piano flourish, sharp trumpet, operatic lady), I always think of the Ginza or Akasaka districts in Tokyo and the late great Ishihara swirling around a tumbler of that titular brandy while inhaling an expensive cigarette and inhabiting his favourite place in his favourite nightclub.
Of course, if I'm talking about nightclubs, I have to make that smooth-as-brandy segue into "Tokyo Nightclub". One of the true classic kayo duets, I was listening to this long before I even got interested in Japanese music, thanks to Dad's stereo. Although the nightclubs were all the post-dinner thing during the really profitable times of Economic Miracle Japan, I always wondered how regular folks saw nightclubs during the time that this song first hit it big. Was it seen and heard as this fantasy place that only the well-to-do movers and shakers could enter? If so, then those staged settings of fancy nightclubs and that Latin sound definitely helped in creating the illusion.
Like "Brandy Glass" above, "Kita Sakaba" was one of the first Mood Kayo that I ever came across and took on the familiar trope of drinking. Unlike Ishihara's classic, though, Hosokawa's trademark tune was quite light on its feet. I always imagine a slightly tipsy Hosokawa and friends doing some major barhopping in northern Japan where each of the establishments are small affairs with plenty of carousing and imbibing. No time for introspection into the tumbler here; just knock back those glasses of beer or shochu and exhale mightily and satisfactorily before moving onto the next place. You can link onto the title above for my article and also here to get contributor Francium's take on "Kita Sakaba".
Also one of the first Mood Kayo that I got to know shortly after my awakening to Japanese pop music, I first listened to the empty karaoke version of Itsuki's most famous song for a number of months before I was finally able to hear the full-throated take. I hadn't been aware of how old "Yokohama Tasogare" was or even what one of Japan's largest cities was like but I knew that I was listening to something cool and urban and it did get my interest up in actually visiting Yokohama. I'm happy to say that I've been there a number of times now.
I knew that I had to include a Teresa Teng number into this list as much as I had to include a Yujiro Ishihara ballad, but the tough thing was that when it came to the late Ms. Teng's discography, it was actually hard to pick which one of her Mood Kayo songs would be the appropriate one. However, I ultimately decided to go with the one ballad that always got me in the heart, and that would be "Tsugunai". It definitely fulfills the Mood Kayo condition in that it does evoke a certain mood of nostalgia and romance but it's something that goes far beyond the bars and clubs of Tokyo; I hinted in the original article that there was something of the European enka about it. Well, when I listen to "Tsugunai", there is always that feeling of the Riviera and perhaps a drinking establishment there that might even be too pricey for most Japanese executives under President to enter.
To wrap up my list of favourite Mood Kayo, of course, I also had to find a representative of the vocal groups. And this time, there was no dawdling on my choice. When it comes to Mood Kayo groups, the first one that comes to mind is The Cool Five with the stolid Kiyoshi Maekawa as the lead vocal. That saxophone, the mellow melody and of course the harmony by The Cool Five themselves make it all worthwhile. This would be the ideal ballad to take a walk along Nagasaki Bay at night, although I could do without the rain. Heck, this would be a great song to hear while strolling along any harbour at night.
As I said, there are many more songs that I would have liked to have placed here but I would have simply gotten more mired in the decision-making. Let's just say that these 6 are for me the cream of a bountiful crop.
According to Oricon via J-Wiki, the top five lyricists in terms of singles sold are Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）, Yu Aku（阿久悠）, Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆...the rankings are in his article）, Tetsuya Komuro（小室哲哉）and Tsunku（つんく♂）as of December 2015. I've got a feeling that since then Akimoto has further left Aku and Matsumoto in the dust considering all those songs that he's created for his alphabet girl groups, and he was already in the hundreds of millions.
Lyricist Toyohisa Araki is not within that august group and I don't know where he ranks but considering the breadth of who he has provided words for over the past few decades, he can't be that far behind. I decided to write a Creator article about him one night when I took a look at his file on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" and noticed the wide variety of singers that he has collaborated with.
Araki was born in what is now Dalian, China in 1943. He attended the Nihon University College of Art in Tokyo where he was also a member of the ski club. Starting out as a writer, he broke his leg one time while skiing and ended up in a hospital. In gratitude to the nurses who helped him, Araki came up with a tune about a Niigata Prefectureonsen. The popularity of the song then started to spread around although the author behind it had remained unknown at the time until Araki finally admitted his participation.
That song turned out to be "Shiki no Uta"（四季の歌...Song of the Four Seasons）which was officially released as a single in February 1972 by Yumi Inui（いぬいゆみ）. Listening to this original version, I wasn't quite sure whether it wanted to be a gentle folk tune or something with a bit of urban pizzazz. Not sure how it did on Oricon but the fact that it didn't seem to make a huge splash was perhaps not that surprising.
However, "Shiki no Uta" has been heavily covered over the years by folks such as Yujiro Ishihara（石原裕次郎）, Chieko Baisho（倍賞千恵子）and the Dark Ducks（ダーク・ダックス）, but the most successful cover was by singer Yoko Seri（芹洋子）as a 1976 single. Her version broke the Top 10 by hitting No. 8 and it even became a million-seller. Seri's take was a uniformly innocent pop ballad which most likely was more pleasant on listeners.
Since then, Araki has provided lyrics for many singers. In fact, the reason that I finally pulled the trigger to devote an article for him was re-discovering that he had written the City Pop classic "Fly-Day Chinatown"（フライディ・チャイナタウン）for singer and composer Yasuha（泰葉）in 1981. I've also discovered recently that "Fly-Day Chinatown" has also become another favourite one for all those Japanese Future Funk/Vaporwave enthusiasts (Round One, indeed).
He's also provided some pretty refined material for aidoru such as Yoshie Kashiwabara（柏原芳恵）. The song here is the classy "Machikutabirete Yokohama"（待ちくたびれてヨコハマ）from 1985.
I think, though, Araki has tended to hover in the enka/Mood Kayo field. He wrote a number of songs for the late Teresa Teng（テレサテン）including one of my favourites by her, "Tsugunai"（つぐない）. For me, it was one of the great examples of what I've called European enka.
The above songs have all been covered in the blog but I also found some new entries. "Nageki no Melody"（嘆きのメロディー...Melody of Grief） was sung by Yujiro Ishihara as a 1984 release. Takashi Miki（三木たかし）, a frequent songwriting partner for Araki, came up with the melody so Mood Kayo that the record probably smelled of cigarette smoke and scotch as soon as it was taken out of the sleeve.
In 1990, Araki wrote the lyrics for this contemporary ballad sung by Yuiko Tsubokura（坪倉唯子）titled "Koufuku Game"（幸福ゲーム...The Happiness Game） as her 3rd single. Hiroshi Terao（寺尾広）composed the ballad which was used as the theme song for the TV Asahi drama "Utsukushii Uso Tsukemasuka"（美しい嘘つけますか...Can You Make A Beautiful Lie?）. Love lost and gained seems to be a favourite topic especially for Araki and surrounded by a classy melody.
Another example of that theory also popped up in 1990 through Yoko Minamino's（南野陽子）"Double Game"（ダブルゲーム）which was also another collaboration between Araki and Miki. This was Nanno's 17th single from June 1990 and it peaked at No. 3.
Now, the last couple of Creator articles that I've written for the blog have been on songwriters who unfortunately left this mortal coil recently. Happily, though, it seems like Araki is still quite happy and kicking. Although it's not listed on his own J-Wiki entry, Araki, who is also a bassist, came up with his own release in 2015 titled "Sha Ba Da Ba Da"（シャバダバダ）, a jolly song of party-hearty with the video showing the man himself enjoying the good things in life. I can only hope to be that lucky at his current age of 73. I just hope to be alive at 73.
As I said, Araki has written for a wide group of singers since 1972 so you can take a look at the rest of his works listed under his name in the Labels.
It's been some months since I've written about this kayo legend so I'm happy I'm able to talk about her again.
This is one of those songs by Sachiko Kobayashi（小林幸子）that I let slip through my memories perhaps because a later hit "Moshikashite"（もしかして）pretty much embedded itself in my head as her trademark song from the 1980s. Still, now that I've become reacquainted with "Futatabino"(The Second Time), I do remember that it was popping up on those music programs via rental video tapes from Nippon Video.
Appreciating it again after so long, I've found Kobayashi's 36th single from January 1983 to be another one of those kayo that might straddle the line between enka and Mood Kayo. Certainly looking at her appearance in the above video, I can envisage "Futatabino" to be a tune that can bring up images of being in a swanky nightclub in Tokyo and in fact, the lyrics by Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつこ）, talk of a lady walking through the side streets of an entertainment district bumping into an old flame again and wondering whether the embers of love can be rekindled.
It's pretty interesting how much more conservatively dressed Kobayashi was back in the day. To be honest, I kinda prefer that way instead of the more glamourous threads she's been wearing in recent years.
Anyways, there is also something about that melody by TAI that hints at enka so you can imagine why I'm slightly stuck to definitively categorize "Futatabino" one way or another. I was surprised to find out that it was Kisugi who came up with the lyrics since I'd always thought her to be purely providing for regular pop singers.
There is no mention on J-Wiki about how the song did on the charts but it did get her another opportunity to appear on the 1983 Kohaku Utagassen. I'm pretty sure at that time, Kobayashi had yet to begin that custom of enswathing herself in yards of epic fabric on the level of an Eiko Ishioka（石岡瑛子）creation.
The late Teresa Teng（テレサ・テン）had also released her version of "Futatabino" later in October of that year but unfortunately I couldn't find her take on YouTube. (But now I have!)
I recently found myself down a Youtube music hole, as I often do, and ended up on this video of Toshimi Togawa (田川寿美). >
As soon as the intro hit I knew I'd heard the song before, but sung by someone else. It took around 20 minutes of me going through my iTunes library before I found Wo He Ni by Teresa Teng.
The original Japanese song, Kitaguni No Haru (Spring in the north country) was first sung in 1977 by Masao Sen (千昌夫)and there seems to be versions in various Asian languages. The Teng version is in Mandarin and the lyrics are different (Wo He Ni translates as "You and Me".) Of course, Teresa was singing and releasing records in Japanese at the time, and there exists a recording of her singing the original Japanese version of the song as well. The Japanese lyrics are from the perspective of someone from a small town in presumably Hokkaido, who has since left for the big city. This is a common general theme in Enka songs of the era, of course during this time many Japanese were leaving small towns for cities. the string section flourishes and drawn out vocals really give the track a springtime longing sort of feel. And there's a great version by one of my favorites, Fuji Keiko (藤圭子.)
If this photo of an ancient Canadian Tire tape looks familiar to you, that is because I used the same picture for my most recent Hiromi Iwasaki（岩崎宏美）article in which one of her songs was on an episode of "Sounds of Japan" that is on the tape.
Well, there was another song on the episode....in fact, it was the song that started off the episode. It was called "Come On, Sunshower", the 33rd single of the duo Cherish (チェリッシュ) that came out in March 1982. Looking at a chart of their singles and their success at J-Wiki, it was obvious that their heyday was back in the early 1970s. The song didn't even chart on Oricon.
Still, I liked the really upbeat nature of the tune that was created by lyricist Kohei Oikawa（及川恒平）and composer Kisaburo Suzuki（鈴木キサブロー）. And I would have liked to have introduced the actual song to you via YouTube as well. The only thing is that no such video exists there or on any of the other sites. However, what has still made this article possible is the fact that a cover was performed by Teresa Teng (テレサ・テン) a couple of years later. If I read the description correctly, it is a Mandarin cover by the late singer but it is still unmistakably "Come On, Sunshower" since the arrangement hasn't changed all that much including a happy electric guitar.
There are quite a few Cherish tunes up on YouTube. I hope that this particular one does get its due someday (it finally did after several years of waiting).
By now, I think a good chunk of folks around the globe have seen or heard or read about that last-minute blunder about the Best Movie Oscar for the 2017 Academy Awards a couple of nights ago. I almost felt like sending a tweet to late-night comedian and host for the Oscars Jimmy Kimmel: "Man, are YOU going to have one heck of a monologue tonight!"
The one columnist over here gave the broadcast a rare thumbs-up in spite of or because of the historic ending although I'm pretty sure critics were all over the spectrum in terms of how much they liked it. As for me, I finally gave up on the Oscars several years ago after watching the Seth MacFarlane debacle.
So, on that note, I thought it would be nice to finish off February with Teresa Teng's (テレサ・テン)"Scandal". Plus, it's been a long time since I put up one of her tunes on the blog. I actually listened to my lone BEST CD of hers recently and came across this number which seemed to be a bit atypical for a Teng tune since it had that strutting and bossy arrangement by Yasuo Sako（佐孝康夫）with the music by Takashi Miki（三木たかし）that I would usually attribute to a song by Hiroshi Tachi（舘ひろし）.
The lyrics by Toyohisa Araki（荒木とよひさ）are from a woman's point of view. The woman might be working in a hostess club or she may be the proprietor of some bar in Shinjuku but in either case, she is holding a major torch for a gallivanting fellow who enjoys painting Tokyo red and presumably meeting a whole bunch of women along the way. You would probably think with lyrics like those, the music would be somewhat more melancholy much in the way of the ballads that I usually associate Teng with. However, the spritely melody indicates that the woman in question isn't all that torn up about her crush; that's just the way he is, she reckons. She might be the Moneypenny to the guy's James Bond.
I'm not sure where the scandal in "Scandal" is. Perhaps the heel is already married with kids but he enjoys his "hobby" much more. Then again, a womanizer like him will probably get his comeuppance someday. In any case, it's interesting looking at the above performance on "Yoru no Hit Studio"（夜のヒットスタジオ）and seeing Teng all dolled up with sunglasses, to boot.
Her 17th single was released in November 1986 and peaked at No. 69 on Oricon. "Scandal" is a song that I have heard before so I'm guessing it's been covered numerous times on the kayo shows over the years. Considering how happy-go-lucky it is, I think it would be a favourite for the singers to perform.
Before the first big snow of the season tonight, my family and I had a pretty nice dinner at a oyster bar surprisingly close to the house. I say surprisingly so since in my neck of the woods, it's usually the fast food or family restaurant franchises that hold sway. Oyster bars are places that I often associate with the downtown area. Still, ironically enough, I'm not a huge oyster fan...certainly not raw. I'm more for the deep-fried variety with tartar sauce. But that wasn't available at this place, so I had a decent surf n' turf.
(cover version)
The threat of a winter storm in the next several hours makes this song all the more appropriate since it is by singer-songwriter Miyuki Nakajima（中島みゆき）...she of the dark lyrics penned next to jaunty melodies. It's not easy to find a fully intact original song by her on the Net; I usually have to settle for karaoke covers so I'm hoping that this one sticks around a while.
"Hitori Jouzu" (Better Alone) is Nakajima's 9th single from October 1980 and I'm really quite drawn to that intro, especially how that guitar just anchors that melody of uncertainty so well. Well, it may start off uncertainly but it quickly goes into an adventurous jaunt although her lyrics talk about a woman who's struggling to get over being dumped while mucking through the winter landscape. The miserable lass is internally telling everyone to not label her as someone who is better alone; she wants that heel back.
There is something about that one amazing song which makes it so Nakajima-esque. As soon as I hear it, I automatically think of the eccentric singer. It may be New Music...the adoption of a non-Japanese arrangement but it just wouldn't be a piece that I would ever have heard in the West. It and Nakajima are inseparable.
"Hitori Jouzu" got as high as No. 6 on Oricon (her 2nd Top 10 single) and it ended up being the 36th-ranked single of 1981. It was also placed as a track on her 8th album"Ringetsu"（臨月...Full Term）from March 1981 which became a chart topper on the Oricon album weeklies. It later became the 7th-ranked album of the year.
The late Teresa Teng (テレサ・テン) covered the song in a slightly City Pop way for her 1983 album"Mànbù rénshēng lù"（漫步人生路...Walking Life's Road）. My apologies on the transcription of it...I only had Google Translate to help me out there.
Yup, I did adapt Las Vegas' famous catchphrase just now but it basically describes this Mood Kayo. I didn't encounter this song on an episode of "Kayo Concert" or "Nodo Jiman", but the fairly uptempo melody struck me as quite familiar, especially with the flute, so I gather that it must have popped up at a karaoke establishment sometime over the last 30 years (perhaps Kuri?)
However, what got me to write about it was seeing the above video with the picture of a sober-sided fellow holding a cigarette while the neon font of "Hotel" in katakana is glowing above him. Yep, nothing says Mood Kayo more than a record cover like that. And as soon as I heard the first number of bars of the music, I realized that I had heard this one in the past.
There seemed to have been quite the sweepstakes surrounding the song by Rei Nakanishi and Keisuke Hama（なかにし礼・浜圭介）starting with its original release in February 1984 as sung by Junichi Tachibana（立花淳一）. According to J-Wiki, a number of singers have given their own versions of "Hotel", and although Tachibana's original sold over 800,000 records, it is the one in 1985 by enka singer Yutaka Shimazu（島津ゆたか）that has become the representative version and a hit also for Shimazu.
"Hotel" can come through my first statement at the very top. One of the big Mood Kayo tropes is about that side tryst in a hotel; have that one-night stand, enjoy a bit of brekkie in the lobby café and then part ways without respective family members or work colleagues none the wiser...perhaps. And there is also the one other trope about the enka genre in which female singers have sung from the point of view of the man and vice versa. "Hotel" fulfills both tropes as Shimazu and a number of other male singers have sung from the view of the woman in the affair who actually falls in love with her tryst partner and tries desperately to bring him around to her way of thinking. Meanwhile, the man is trying to put his selfish misdeed in the past. Would love to have heard a sequel song to "Hotel"..."Morgue", perhaps? (Sorry, I am writing this as I watch a particularly dark episode of "Gotham".) In any case, I don't think things will go well for either party.
And on that last part, Shimazu, who debuted in 1970 as an enka singer, had his first big hit 10 years later with "Hana kara Hana e to"（花から花へと...From Flower to Flower）before releasing "Hotel". However, his career imploded in 2002 when he said something inappropriate on an NHK radio program and suddenly found himself with a lot of free time on his hands. And apparently, things haven't changed much since then.
The late Teresa Teng (テレサ・テン...and I'm sure other female singers) provided her own cover of "Hotel", although it didn't come out as an official single. Unfortunately I don't know when exactly it was released.
I think Teresa Teng's（テレサ・テン）2nd single,"Kuukou" (Airport), is filled with that sentiment. Originally released in July 1974, when I heard the song performed being performed by singers Kanji Ishimaru and Miyuki Hatakeyama on this past week's "Kayo Concert", that amazing trumpet that started things off jogged the old memory synapses. Yep, I've heard this one over the years whether it be through audiotape and old VHS tapes. I hadn't known who the original singer was, though.
Kosho Inomata（猪俣公章）was responsible for the bittersweet and classic melody and Michio Yamagami（山上路夫）took care of the lyrics about making those final goodbyes at the airport suffused with all of those feelings of "We'll always have Paris" and "Here's lookin' at you, kid". Listening to "Kuukou", I think it's kayo like these that give an extra meaning to the word "terminal" aside from it meaning an airport building. Then there are Teng's vocals which carry those tender, delicate and heartbroken emotions as she reflects that person who has to see off her lover one last time from the observation deck as he heads off for his hometown and his wife.
Just makes me want to get that drink at the terminal bar. Heck, I've got so many options now that Haneda Airport is chock-filled with places. Still, I'm not sure whether there is a drinking establishment over there facing outside which would capture the ambiance of "Kuukou". In any case, the song peaked at No. 29 on Oricon and earned Teng a Best Newcomer Prize at the Japan Record Awards for that year. I think the trumpet player should have also gotten a little something for that performance.
Now this one's a song I haven't listened to in a while... probably unwittingly ignored it for a good two years if not more when Aska was (still kinda is) the center of my attention. If I remember correctly, 'Imademo...' was one of the first few songs by the singer-songwriter I had uncovered on my own through YouTube. Listening to it again recently - wanted to take a short break from Enka - made me wonder why I had left it in the dark corner for such a long time.
That song also introduced me to the woman whom Mom had brought up from time to time when there was mention of Chinese/Taiwanese-Japanese singers. And that lady happened to be Teresa Teng. I'd always heard that she was extremely popular in both the Japanese and Mandarin/Cantonese music industries before she passed away in 1995, but I never got what the big deal was about her - I didn't bother to listen to her songs at that time.
Anyway, it turns out she had her own rendition of 'Imademo...' too. As I was of a simpler mind back then, I assumed that she was doing a cover of Aska's song since I listened to his version first and also because he wrote and composed it. It was only about a year later when reading through the list of songs he had written (lyrics, music or both) for various artistes did I realise that it was the other way around. The song was supposed to be for Teng, and Aska was the one doing the self-cover!
I couldn't find much on the song, all I know is that it was released in 1985 according to Chage & Aska's website, 2 years before Aska began his solo career. There wasn't any write up on the song, let alone mention of the song in Teng's discography on the J-Wiki... or on any Wikipedia page or website on her, so I don't suppose it was a popular song. I think its underrated, if you ask me. As for Aska's version, it was released as a track in his first solo album in 1988, SCENE with a different arrangement.
(cover version)
Now that I have listened to both versions, I can't say that I have a clear favorite since both are good in their own way... ... Yeah, and now I understand why Teng was so popular. She had a nice, sweet voice that complimented her innocent-young-thing image. I actually first heard her sing while listening to her rendition of the Enka song 'Naniwabushi dayo jinsei wa' (浪花節だよ人生は) not too long ago, and that immediately changed my mind about Teng being a tad overrated.
