Teruo Ikeda -- Neon Bune (ネオン舟)

I really find it interesting that I immediately took a very strong liking to "Neon Bune" at first listen. It even made Ike-Teru one of my Top 6 favourite enka singers (his other songs contributed to that as well)! He's not within the Top 3 though, and if you've been paying attention, you'd probably know who are occupying those spots already.

Anyway, I had taken note of this quintessentially enka song when I read J-Canuck's article on it, but since I had no idea who Teruo Ikeda (池田輝郎) is, it did not cross my mind to play that song. However, on an episode of "Nippon no Uta" early this year - it's originally supposed to be on TV last year if I'm not wrong, but the NHK channel here is quite behind schedule - he was one of the 3 to perform on the "Kayo HOT Zensen" corner since "Neon Bune" did well on the regular charts (peaked at 24th place) Enka-yo charts, and I couldn't stop listening to it since. I can safely say that it's currently one of my most-listened-to enka songs, besides the multiple covers of and the original "Tabi Sugata Sannin Otoko" (旅姿三人男) and Yoshio Tabata's (田端義夫) "Otone Tsukiyo" (大利根月夜), just to name a few.

As to why I am amused by this, it's because I'm actually not a particular fan of this type of enka with a heavy atmosphere, I'd usually go for the more cheery, jaunty sort. And if the tune is sung by someone with the type nasally warbling used by Ikeda and some others like Hachiro Kasuga (春日八郎), it'd take a while for me to accept it. So "Neon Bune" was a surprisingly rare exception. The full MV is on Dailymotion, you can check it out here.

Just like J-Canuck mentioned in his article, this song, though only released in 2014, sounds like it came from way back in the 70's, especially in terms of its music. Composed by Hideo Mizumori (水森英夫), what I like about the refined score is that it has some rather dramatic bits throughout. I seem to enjoy listening to "Neon Bune" most after tiring school days, it makes me imagine a white collar worker, probably more worn out than I am, drinking away at a quiet bar - it's too refined for me to picture a gruff fisherman after a tough day at work. Hmm, I should put listening to "Neon Bune" at an izakaya when I return to Japan as a new item on my bucket list. 2 items have already been crossed out: looking at moose, and gawking at American bison (at the Munich Zoo)... They are so BIG. Doesn't sound like much, but those are a couple of my favourite animals and they don't have them in Singapore - most likely too hot.

Moving on, Toshiya Niitani (仁井谷俊也) penned the lyrics to "Neon Bune", and they have Ike-Teru singing about our lead here drinking away his problems e.g. missing home, probably also missing the woman he loves, y'know, just some of the usual enka stuff.

Here's a video of Ike-Teru talking about his 8th single, and he even gives tips on how to sing it during a karaoke session, although I really didn't get that... or about half of what he's saying.

kingrecords.co.jp

Teruo Ikeda -- Minato Machi Shigure (港町しぐれ)

Out of all the new releases I bothered to listen to and eventually taking a liking to, Teruo Ikeda's (池田輝郎) "Minato Machi Shigure" is the only one I've yet to see on TV. I've already seen and heard Mae-Kiyo's "Hanabi" (花美～はなび～), written by Maekawa Jr., 4 times, Takashi Hosokawa's (細川たかし) 40th anniversary song "Enka Bune" (艶歌船) 4 times as well and it'll soon become 5 when I see the guy again on "Nodojiman" this Sunday, Ichiro Toba's (鳥羽一郎) menacing "Hida no Ryu" (飛騨の龍) twice, just to name a few. No sign of "Minato Machi Shigure" anywhere, which I find really disappointing... Hmm, now that I think of I hardly see Ike-Teru on TV. Oh well, what can I do?

However, although he doesn't appear on the tube much, I realised that instead of publicizing his new singles on the weekly music shows, Ike-Teru does so in a bunch of campaigns around the country, some of them being in those little music (enka) shops. And what he'd do would be perform his new song on a little stage in front of a respectably-sized crowd gathered around the area, followed by a short performance of other songs, then singing the new one, like "Minato Machi Shigure", once more. Quite a small scale when compared to singing on live TV before a large audience, but the plus side is, the fans literally get to see him right in front of their faces and get his autograph and have a picture taken with him! I can only dream of that... If I ever do catch him during one of his campaigns, I think I'd be the only young thing beaming at him with the CD in hand, wanting to have a photo taken with him.

(karaoke version)

"Minato Machi Shigure" was released on 11th March 2015, and like most of Ike-Teru's songs, it was penned by Toshiya Niitani and composed by Hideo Mizumori (仁井谷俊也 . 水森英夫). The music is definitely a lot faster in its pace as compared to his previous two singles (both profiled) and it has sort of a Latin kick that made this song latch on to me as soon as I watched the way too short promotional video. Niitani's lyrics talk about a woman who seems to be reminiscing the time she spent together with the one that got away in the following rainy cities of Kyushu: Sasebo, Nagasaki, Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi, and lastly Marugame, Kagawa. And apparently "Minato Machi Shigure" is Ike-Teru's first go at a song in the perspective of a woman. This song did really well on the charts when it came out, placing 20th on the normal Oricon weeklies and 2nd on the Enka-yo charts. 

And finally, here's a look into one of his "Minato Machi Shigure" campaigns. 

He looks so cool in this photo!

mitsui-ag.com/teruo/discography/

Ah ah ah aaah~~~ Ame ga furu~~

... ... Good gravy, this has become "Neon Bune" (ネオン舟) part 2, hasn't it? 

Teruo Ikeda -- Otoko no Iji (男の意地)

I don't know, there's just something about Teruo Ikeda (池田輝郎) that I like. I think it's his pleasant Min'yo voice, or probably his dignified, gentle appearance. Or it could simply be because he sang "Neon bune" (ネオン舟), a song which I have somehow not gotten over despite listening to it ad nauseam over the months since I've discovered it. But either way, I've come to appreciate Ike-Teru more than I had expected and have been digging through his short discography for more.

A product that came from this little excavation was his recent single from 24th July 2013, "Otoko no Iji". The MV - half of it - was one of the first few suggestions after keying in the fellow's name into the YouTube search bar, so I went ahead to check it out. Having Ikeda standing in the middle of a little alley with bars lining it on both sides and glaring into the camera kinda reminded me of the "Neon bune" MV, just with a broader street and a different place. And Ike-Teru had dyed his hair brown then, very odd-looking. Both were written by Toshiya Niitani (仁井谷俊也) and composed by Hideo Mizumori (水森 英夫), which I'm guessing is why the two songs sound really similar in their music style and arrangement, with "Otoko no Iji" sounding more dramatic and intense. Could be due to it being about a man's pride, so some manliness had to be injected into it. By the way, Mizumori has been the one doing the composing duties for all of the singer's official singles.

(karaoke version)

"Otoko no Iji" peaked at 36th place on the regular charts, and besides his debut single "Yu no shigure" (湯の里しぐれ), the rest (7 in counting) have all cracked the Top 50... for exactly how long, I have no idea, but that's pretty respectable. Can't wait to hear his newest single, "Minato shigure" (港町しぐれ), that's gonna be released next week.

enkado.net

Come to think of it, whenever I see Ike-Teru, I see an Enka/Min'yo, more uncle-like version of Mae-Kiyo that doesn't goof around. Must be the droopy eyes and the suits. Oh, that answers my first question in the beginning of this article, huh?

Teruo Ikeda -- Neon Bune （ネオン舟）

(karaoke version)

When I first heard and saw Teruo Ikeda（池田輝郎）perform "Neon Bune" (Neon Boat) on NHK's "Kayo Concert"（歌謡コンサート） last week (in fact, I think the above performance is straight from last week's show), I naturally assumed that the enka/Mood Kayo song came straight from the 70s or 80s. Then I did my due diligence and found out that it was actually released for the first time THIS year.

Lyricist Toshiya Niitani （仁井谷俊也）and composer Hideo Mizumori （水森英夫）were responsible for the creation of "Neon Bune" for release in June 2014. Niitani has brought in all the tropes for a bar-friendly Mood Kayo: the tired salaryman, the neon of the city and the remedy of alcohol. Back in my Gunma days, I learned an expression from my colleagues: "Neon ga yonderu" (The neon is calling) which is analogous to "The night is young", and they jokingly did some jazz hands when they said that. "Neon Bune" has that inviting tone for the office-weary to head for that nomiya or izakaya in the downtown area (the song seems to be centered on the city of Hakata) after another 10-hour day. As for the fact that the neon is on the boat, I first thought about yakatabune, those floating versions of izakaya sailing through the canals but they are usually equipped with simple lanterns. So, perhaps the neon boat is referring to those much larger cruise ships slicing through the water in the bay at night. Sad to say, but I never got the opportunity to get on either of those vessels during my time in Tokyo.

Teruo Ikeda is 61 years old at the writing of this article and he's a relative newbie in the business. Born in Saga Prefecture in 1953, he had wanted to become a singer since elementary school after being moved by a Yukio Hashi （橋幸夫）song. However, for most of his twenties, Ikeda didn't pick up a single microphone...at least, not in the professional sense, since after having seen enka singers like Hiroshi Itsuki（五木ひろし）bring their A-game, he'd thought that he wouldn't last a day in the industry. Then at the age of 29, he started singing again in the genre of minyo before transitioning to enka in his early 30s and releasing his first indies record in 1995. Finally, in 2007 at the age of 54, Ikeda released his first record on a major label with "Yu-no-Sato Shigure"（湯の里しぐれ...Shower in Yu-no-Sato）.

"Neon Bune" is Ikeda's 8th single. It's certainly fine to see that enka is not only humming away in the 21st century but that someone starting from middle age can make his/her mark in show business. It's not just AKB 48 and Johnny's boys, y'know.

Yokohama Chinatown