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.
Not sure how a famed doo-wop group such as The Kingtones got to do a song regarding the often tear-soaked graduation ceremonies in the Japanese education system. But of course, the guys handled the task with their usual harmonic aplomb.
"Namida no Graduation Day"(Tearful Graduation Day) was released as the group's 19th single in February 1981, just around the time when those graduation ceremonies are about to launch. Written by Jun Hashimoto（橋本淳）and composed by Shunichiro Katsuyama（勝山俊一郎）, the song has that old-fashioned doo-wop delivery but with an arrangement that sounds more contemporary, kinda like another doo-wop group that was making the rounds at the time, The Chanels. Not surprisingly, the lyrics by Hashimoto have to do with the tearful goodbyes from students, knowing that they will not be seeing their beloved tough-but-fair teacher ever again on a regular basis. Being a former JET Programme teacher, I got to see that up close and personal.
Have you heard that old-fashioned standard, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"? Well, I only found out today that it had evolved from a song known as "Mbube" which was first released in 1939 by South African musician Solomon Linda and an acapella group known as The Evening Birds. I also read that Linda never got his due accolades or remuneration for his creation according to the Wikipedia article for the song. I think his descendants are still fighting on that one.
As the decades passed by, the song got transformed into pieces covered by various artists such as the American doo-wop group The Tokens with their 1961 "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". The song was also titled "Wimoweh" in other versions. I first heard it many years ago and I think The Tokens' version is the one that is most cited among the covers.
I also remember one cover that was done by a fairly obscure UK pop group called Tight Fit back in 1982. The music video showed up on an episode of the local music show "The New Music" here in Toronto.
Recently, I read that the song had a pretty important role in the both of the "Ace Ventura" movies starring Jim Carrey. Although I enjoyed him in "The Mask" and "Liar, Liar", maybe he just got a little too "carrey-ed" away in those for my liking (I will see myself out for the rest of the paragraph, thank you😁).
Anyways, the Japanese music industry was also aware of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" since I managed to find out that there were at least two recordings of the song. One was by musician and singer-songwriter Noriyuki Asakura（朝倉紀行）with his group GANG, also in 1982. Asakura has provided a lot of songs to aidoru and other singers since he basically switched over to composing and arrangement but back in those early days, he came up with his own very frantic version of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" under the ironic title "Lion wa Okiteiru"（ライオンは起きている...The Lion is Awake）, although the original English title is also clearly labeled at the top of the single cover. As would befit the times, Asakura's version feels New Wave but somewhere in the middle, things slow down significantly for a bluesy turn.
The GANG cover was used as the theme song for the dramedy "Keiji Yoroshiku"（刑事ヨロシク...Detective At-Your-Service） starring comedian and future movie auteur Beat Takeshi（ビートたけし）. And yep, those opening credits for the show may have inspired the man. By the way, the translations into Japanese were done by Arisu Sato（佐藤ありす）.
Japanese doo-wop vocal group The Kingtones（ザ・キング・トーンズ）had given their own cover of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" back in 1969 in one of their albums.
This song is due to be a Yutaka Kimura Speaks entry in a few weeks so I decided to jump ahead of it with my own take. Honestly speaking, I hadn't heard of this one by singer-songwriter Hiroshi Takano（高野寛）but it has been included in the Top 100 in "Japanese City Pop", so I had to take a gander, especially with the late Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）handling its arrangement.
"Yume no Naka de Aeru desho"(We Can Meet in Our Dreams) had actually been meant as a Takano contribution to the vocal group The Kingtones（ザ・キング・トーンズ）as one of their singles, but as circumstances permitted, it ended up getting out as a Takano single in October 1994. Sakamoto and Takano have made it an early 1970s soul single and I can also hear why the latter had wanted to offer it to The Kingtones with their doo-wop balladry. The single reached No. 67 on Oricon and has been included as a track on his March 1995 album"Sorrow and Smile" which peaked at No. 49.
The Kingtones' take of the song did come out in April 1995 as their 29th single. Couldn't find an original recorded version but I did find this concert footage of the guys doing their doo-wop best. As heard here, it sounds a bit more lighthearted but the story is the same: a couple greatly enjoying each other's company on Earth and in the stars.
A sweet soul tune penned by Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）, "Touch Me Lightly" is sung by the gentle high tenor of Masato Uchida（内田正人）which seems to melt into the night sky. Having once composed "DOWNTOWN" for The Kingtones (but to no avail), there was still a connection between the songwriter and the group, and perhaps this was their common denominator of the roots of Black music, most notably doo-wop. But "Touch Me Lightly" comes across as 70s and approaches a sweet and mellow sound.
The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised"(2020).
J-Canuck here. I'll just jump in briefly to say that sometime last night, the number of views for this blog reached and exceeded the 7 million point. Allow me to give everyone reading "Kayo Kyoku Plus" a hearty thank you for their support over the past dozen years. I would toot my horn even more but considering that the famous YouTube video of Mariya Takeuchi's（竹内まりや）"Plastic Love" reached that point in three months...well, meh.😏
Also, we have reached the halfway point in the "Japanese City Pop Masterpieces 100" translations. Another year to go then!
After all of the excitement from last night's final game of the NBA season, thanks to the Raptors, perhaps tonight should be a mellower affair.
(cover version)
Nothing like a song of seductiveness and style, and who better than the master himself, Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）? His "Touch Me Lightly" from his October 1979"Moonglow" album is the perfect make-out tune for those couples who like that City Pop/J-AOR with their romancing. Take it nice and slow here.
"Touch Me Lightly" provides a nice contrast with the summery "Let's Kiss The Sun" and the shuffle-happy "Funky Flushin'" from the same album. It's good to have that cool-down track amidst all of the uptempo fun.
Originally, though, "Touch Me Lightly" was a Tats song given to The Kingtones（ザ・キング・トーンズ）for their 1978 album"Resurrect ~ Ginga kara no Kikan"（レゼレクト 銀河からの帰還...Return from the Galaxy）, and I have to admit that having listened to the original version, it's awfully difficult to decide which one is the definitive take. That arrangement which starts out sounding like a 1970s soul song with an addition of a French accordion and bluesy sax along with Masato Uchida's（内田正人）vocals is simply irresistible. It makes it all the more poignant since Uchida passed away at the age of 82 earlier this year in February.
A soulful lullaby is what I would consider this song. I've referred to "Resurrect" last month as well because of another track "Let's Dance Baby" which is another one penned by Yamashita.
Back in 2016, I wrote about one of Tatsuro Yamashita's（山下達郎）1970s classics"Let's Dance Baby", his very first single as a solo artist in January 1979. One of the things that I remarked there was that it had originally been a song offered to and performed by the doo-wop group The Kingtones and Marie several months earlier.
Perhaps at the time, the YouTube video of that Kingtones recording didn't exist, but it does now, so I'm featuring it now. Yamashita came up with the mellow melody while Osamu Yoshioka（吉岡治）provided the lyrics. The Kingtones' original version of "Let's Dance Baby" first popped up on their 3rd album"Resurrect ~ Ginga kara no Kikan"（レゼレクト 銀河からの帰還...Return from the Galaxy） which was released in October 1978.
This was a revelation to me since I had only known The Kingtones for that one doo-wop tune, "Good Night, Baby" which always seems to be the one to be performed by the quartet whenever they show up on television. However, they do just as well with "Let's Dance Baby" under a similar arrangement to Yamashita's self-cover. There is that extra layer of soft disco and a bit of spaciness, though, which underlies everything like a good large piece of shag carpeting. Doo-wop does well by "Let's Dance Baby".
Met up with the movie group today to catch "Kingsman: The Golden Circle" downtown. I never got around to see the original movie from 2014 which I regret although I gave the Blu-Ray of it to my brother for his birthday a couple of years ago. I had a hoot with it and it was actually nice to see Mark Strong play a truly decent character for a change. Plus, there was Jeff Bridges playing his usual good ol' country boy character that he can probably do in his sleep nowadays. However, from what I've heard from my friends is that the original "Kingsman" was the better movie. For those folks reading this in Japan, I hate to say it but you'll have to wait until early next year to catch the sequel.
So, to start off October, I decided to try a Kingtones（ザ・キング・トーンズ）song. Now, the most famous song by them is "Good Night, Baby" which I had assumed was a cover of an original American tune because of the doo-wop nature but was actually a Japanese original.
This time, though, and I admit I'm being a bit cheeky with the title above since as soon as readers of a certain age listen to the performance above, you'll recognize "Kemuri ga Me ni Shimiru" as "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes"which had its origins as an American standard number from 1933 written by Otto Harbach and composed by Jerome Kern.
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However, the most popular version and my favourite version is the one done by The Platters in 1958 which can still get me a little giddy after so many years. By the way, the Kingtones' cover was placed in their 2nd album, "Ai no Nocturne/The Kingtones"（愛のノクターン / ザ・キング・トーンズ...Nocturne of Love） from September 1969.
Then, there is Tatsuro Yamashita's（山下達郎）marvelous take on the song which is just given the original English title. This was a tune that popped up on his Xmas album, "Season's Greetings" from 1993, and the arrangement here would probably have Nelson Riddle clapping appreciatively. It's one of the reasons that I like playing the album over the Holidays.
All right....a bit of personal history here so please be patient. When I was but a wee lad (and unfortunately, I did wee quite a bit), part of my television memory scape involved watching those compilation LP commercials by the famous K-Tel Records company. That nasal announcer barked out all those splendid hits of the 60s and 70s by acts like Sammy Davis Jr., ABBA and KC & The Sunshine Band. Another group that seared itself into my memory because of those ads was Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, the famed doo-wop group. Frankie had that supremely high voice when he and the guys performed hits such as "Sherry" and "Walk Like A Man". Frankly, when I first learned what a eunuch was, my mind immediately went to Frankie.
So, here come The Kingtones. Masato Uchida（内田正人）began this vocal quartet in 1960 but it wasn't until almost a decade later when the guys released their very first 45", "Good Night, Baby". I've heard this chestnut off and on for decades via their performances on TV, and always considered The Kingtones to be a Japanese version of The Four Seasons (although they might be closer to The Platters) because of the doo-wop and Uchida's high tones.
Released in May 1968, I had once thought that "Good Night, Baby" came over from the United States. However, as it turned out, it was totally Made In Japan. Written by Manami Hiro（ひろまなみ）, whose real name was Toshiko Ohinata（大日方俊子）and composed by Hiroshi Mutsu（むつひろし）, it took its sweet time getting up the charts, finally breaking the Oricon's Top 20 in January 1969 and then spending most of March of that year in the No. 2 position. It was even released under the Atco Records label in America where it got as high as No. 48 in the R&B category. The 1969 Kohaku also came knocking and The Kingtones appeared on the stage on New Year's Eve.
A decade later, Kai Band's Yoshihiro Kai（甲斐よしひろ）released a rock cover of "Good Night, Baby" for his debut as a solo artist from May 1978.
(Music163 is no longer accessible.)
The legendary Hibari Misora（美空ひばり）also gave her own version of the song although I couldn't track down the exact year she recorded it. It is available on "Misora Hibari Seitan 70 Nen Kinen Misora Hibari Cover Song Collection"（美空ひばり生誕70年記念 ミソラヒバリ カバーソング コレクション...Hibari Misora 70th Anniversary Memorial Cover Song Collection）. Of course, other singers have covered "Good Night, Baby" including one Masayuki Suzuki（鈴木雅之）who also led a doo-wop group of his own some years later.
