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.
Showing posts with label The Blue Hearts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Blue Hearts. Show all posts
Last night, my student reminded me that Monday is a national holiday in Japan known as Culture Day. Every November 3rd, there are festivals, parades and art exhibits to promote culture of all kinds including music throughout the nation. And I believe that museums and art galleries tend to open up their buildings for free access or half-price access on that day.
When I was on vacation in Tokyo back in November 2017, my former colleague was kind enough to invite me to a culture festival held at Waseda University where she was working at the time, and as you can see above, it was packed to the gills with students and other visitors as the various campus clubs held performances and campaigns to attract new members.
As such, I decided why not put up a few songs regarding Culture Day. Admittedly, I'm gonna be rather loosey-goosey about how I'm going to go about it. The first three entries are associated with some of the things that I talked about in the first paragraph whereas the final two songs were actually popular ones played at some of the festivals themselves.
For the record, I'm probably one of the very few North Americans who never bothered to see "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure". The idea of two righteous dudes flying through time and space didn't particularly appeal to me at the time, although I've seen a lot of Keanu Reaves' subsequent movies such as "Speed", the "Matrix" series and "John Wick". At this point, it's amazing to realize that one of Hollywood's most famous Torontonians got his big break in a comedy, but then again, a lot of folks had started paying attention to Tom Cruise when he was playing an in-over-his-head teen in the comedy "Risky Business" some years earlier.
Still having not seen the picture, I was also surprised by the opening credits of "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure". For a movie about a couple of high-flying teens, the credits were pretty abstract in image, to say the least. And the opening song was also a surprise since though I had already known about it for a few years, I'd had no idea that it was used here.
I'm talking about Australian band Big Pig's"Breakaway" from November 1987. This is the only song that I know by them, and that's because the song and the video were quite striking. In fact, I had been searching for any sign of "Breakaway" on YouTube for years until I finally found it (it didn't help that I couldn't quite remember the band's name at the time).
"Breakaway" showed up on Canada's MuchMusic channel and I only saw it once or twice but it left quite an impression with tightly coiled spring vocalist Sherine Abeyratne and the rest of her crew dressed up in factory aprons lying on top of clear floors with water sloshing all over. Then, there was the image of what seemed like dozens of percussionists going crazy on the instruments (the wonder of mirrors, folks!)...I would later read that the founder of Big Pig had been inspired by Japanese taiko drummers👍 and that guitars of no sort were used. I read that the song's crash-and-bang sound was quite the hit in the dance clubs and along with the band members in those aprons, I gather that "Breakaway" could be a tongue-in-cheek example of industrial pop. The song peaked at No. 10 in Canada while in the United States, it ranked in at a more modest No. 60. Meanwhile, it hit No. 8 in Australia and even No. 1 in New Zealand.
So, what other singles were being released in Japan in November 1987?
It is indeed St. Patrick's Day (March 17th) and not surprisingly, the TV cameras all around America, Canada and Ireland have probably been poking through Irish pubs while reporters have happily and dutifully pouring back their pints of Guinness. I don't drink all that much but for a tall glass of Guinness, I'll happily make an exception.
I know I did something to commemorate St. Patrick's Day last year but I'm too lazy to find out. However, I'm pretty sure that I tried to find something with the theme of green, but it wasn't too easy. This year though I'm simply going with any Japanese artists who happen to have been born on March 17th, and I was able to find three people. I recall the long-running American information show "Entertainment Tonight" was always recognizing celebrities' birthdays so why not give the above a play (not the greatest quality, mind you) while reading this article?
On NHK, there are the weekend broadcasts of sports in which one of them last weekend featured one athlete. The usual schtick presented here is that during the interview, he/she is asked about one song that has been somewhat inspirational in his/her life, and this one man (I forgot who it was and what sport he was playing) replied that he had come across this tune that knocked him for a loop the first time he had heard it.
That song was "Hito ni Yasashiku"(Be Kind to People), the latter of the first two independent label singles that rock band The Blue Hearts had put out before they got hitched to a major label that would later be known as Tokuma Japan Communications. Released in February 1987, the athlete appreciated vocalist Hiroto Komoto's（甲本ヒロト）lyrics of encouragement and staying in the game despite what might be thrown at him.
Komoto was also responsible for the rollicking melody. I'm not a punk rock fan by any means and The Blue Hearts have been categorized as such, but I think "Hito ni Yasashiku" is the most accessible and reassuring (punk) rock number that I've ever heard. Apparently a lot of other folks agreed as well because the song reached No. 26 on Oricon. Of course, right after this single, The Blue Hearts came up with one of their most famous tunes, "Linda, Linda", a song that got some of my fellow staffers at the Tsukiyono Board of Education during my JET days kicking up a punk storm in the karaoke bar. Glad the kids were already at home hard at their studies at that time.
About a half-hour ago, the top story on the NHK morning news was the official launch of the Hokkaido Shinkansen. I'd heard about the build-up to the big launch over the past number of months but wasn't aware that the day was today. Not surprisingly, a lot of the tore-ota(train otaku) were there to see off the newest Bullet Train on its inaugural run. My anime buddy actually and a couple of other friends took off this morning to head for Japan for a few weeks of holiday; I'm sure my friend would have been more than happy to have had the opportunity to get some shots himself but the schedule just wasn't meant to be.
So I actually thought for a few minutes about what would be a commemorative song for the event. It didn't take me too long, actually. The words "TRAIN, TRAIN" suddenly started to echo through my brain with the slightly growly voice belonging to Hiroto Komoto（甲本ヒロト）of The Blue Hearts.
Hey, it's a Friday night as well so it probably means the karaoke boxes are (or were, to be exact) going through the busiest night of the week. As I remember, "TRAIN-TRAIN" was as much a karaoke favourite and stress-busting song as The Blue Hearts' big hit of "Linda, Linda" which was a personal favourite of some of my former colleagues. And just like that good time song, "TRAIN-TRAIN" starts off slowly before going off on full rock speed which would match quite nicely with the acceleration of a Bullet Train.
Written and composed by guitarist Masatoshi Mashima（真島昌利）, "TRAIN-TRAIN" was the 7th single released by The Blue Hearts (the J-Wiki pages for this particular song and the band have different numbers for the song depending on the band's professional status...I just counted down the chart) in November 1988. I think along with the raucous fun that Mashima produced through the arrangement, that refrain of "Train, Train" which sounds something like a bunch of little kids would yell out was the key element to its success.
"TRAIN-TRAIN" was the first Top 10 hit for The Blue Hearts as it rose to No. 5 on Oricon, and it became the 29th-ranked song for 1989. Not only was it a karaoke hit but other entities were more than happy to borrow it for their own purposes. It became the theme song for a TBS drama titled "High School Rakugaki" (はいすくーる落書...High School Grafitti) starring aidoru Yuki Saito（斉藤由貴）, and a number of variety shows liked to co-opt it for anything related to trains. Plus it seems like sports events also used the song for particular athletes. And why not? What better song to show off happy unleashed energy to infiltrate the spectators and lucky players? Not quite sure if Japan Railways ever got onto the bandwagon, though.
For some reason, I kept running into either the whole video or parts of it somewhere on the telly over the years. Leave it to Japan to have a rock band sing a good ol' thumping tune while the official music video has cute animation. And for that matter, all of the band members appear as adorable animals with Ultraman moves.
"Kiss Shite Hoshii" (I Wanna A Kiss) was The Blue Hearts' 3rd single which came out in November 1987 right after "Linda, Linda". No mention about rodents this time, though. It's just the joy of a young man with the love of his life, although the video has the anime version of Komoto and company cheering up a female friend by taking her out on the town. I think this song is just as fun and infectious as the previous single.
Written and composed by main vocalist, Hiroto Komoto（甲本ヒロト）,"Kiss Shite Hoshii" managed to get as high as No. 48 on Oricon and is also a track on the band's 2nd album, "Young and Pretty" which also came out at the same time as the single. It hit No. 10 on the album charts.
I kept seeing one small clip of this video that made me wanna get this song: Hiroto Komoto（甲本ヒロト） of The Blue Hearts looking like a snazzily dressed middle-aged Gilligan from "Gilligan's Island" accompanied by Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra and doing a heartwarmingly goofy "Hey, Ma, it's me!" greeting from a window frame.
Listening to the song (especially the great intro and Komoto's mellow rasp) is fantastic as well, but the video also provides plenty of entertainment. Just seeing Komoto looking as if he were Popeye chewing on a Jawbreaker while his legs go spastic is worth the price of admission. And there's nothing better than seeing talented well-dressed professional musicians plainly enjoying themselves.
"Hoshi Furu Yoru ni"(On The Night of Falling Stars) was released in May 2006 as the band's 30th single since the first one was released in 1990. It got as high as No. 13 on the Oricon singles chart, and was also a track on TSPO's 12th original album, "Wild Peace" (June 2006) which peaked at No. 2. It is also on "Best of Tokyo Ska 1998-2007" which also got as far as No. 2, and is the album that I got to hear this gem. The song itself was written by the band's baritone saxophonist Atsushi Yanaka（谷中敦） and composed by the man on trumpet, NARGO.
The only thing I can say is to Komoto to lay off the multiple carafes of coffee before filming.
Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra
Best of Tokyo Ska 1998-2007
I didn't encounter "Linda, Linda" until I was in Japan from 1989-1991...when the party seasons for the year-end and April meant a number of trips to the karaoke bars or boxes. Back then, when most of the group were in their 20s (so no veteran teachers or higher), if things got a little slow in the room due to excess enka or ballad singing, someone was bound to throw this into the mix. And it was just like putting nitro and glycerin together.
Oh, much hilarity ensued. One guy took the Hiroto Komoto (甲本ヒロト） lead singing "If I were a sewer rat..." and then in a few seconds, the rest of the guys would just explode into action. Ah, if only their students were in that room to see the anarchy....
The Blue Hearts started up in 1985 and had their major debut with "Linda, Linda" in May 1987. The four members were Komoto, Masatoshi Mashima（真島昌利）on guitar, Junnosuke Kawaguchi（河口純之助）on bass, and Tetsuya Kajiwara（梶原徹也） on drums. The band explored all sorts of rock: punk, blues, folk and hard rock., and had been compared to acts like The Ramones, The Sex Pistols and The Clash before their breakup in the mid-90s.
Even watching the video is fun to see Komoto let loose. I don't think it'll ever happen again but if I were to ever sing and dance to this song again at a karaoke box....I'd probably end up in traction.
The single, by the way, got as high as No. 38 on the Oricon charts. It was also part of the band's debut album, the eponymously titled "The Blue Hearts" which was also released in May and rose up to No. 31 on the album charts. More significantly, "Rolling Stone Japan"ranked the album as the all-time No. 3 of Japanese rock albums.
As for the origin of the band's name, Komoto merely said that they wanted an English name that even elementary school children could say. Plus, they wanted a name that didn't give away the type of music they played.
