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.
When it comes to Japan Railways, there has been one campaign of theirs that has stood out because of the glorious beauty of Kyoto and that one song which has accompanied the commercials for over thirty years. I'm hoping that whoever in the JR advertising department was behind the idea of using "My Favorite Things" got a major bonus for the idea. The cinematic version of "The Sound of Music" from where "My Favorite Things" originated is practically essential viewing in the junior high schools of Japan, so that particular song among the many others in there is well known to everyone. But now, the Japanese probably relate the song more to Kyoto than the original movie.
Of course, before Julie Andrews and the movie version became the huge hit, "The Sound of Music" originated as a stage musical in 1959 with Mary Martin in the starring role of Maria. I never knew all that much about Martin but I knew her son, Larry Hagman, as the infamous JR Ewing in the show "Dallas". And of course, there was his earlier role as the far nicer military man Tony in "I Dream of Jeannie".
For the record, I'll have you know that from the lyrics, my favourite things would be apple strudel and schnitzel with noodles. If these were available at a buffet, I would be a happy man. Now, the reason for me choosing this one is that although it wasn't specifically made for the Holidays, "My Favorite Things" has been a staple on the radio and mall speakers during the Xmas season. Personally, I used to remember my kindergarten teacher always playing this on the record player...most likely to sedate us.
I figure that if Rodgers and Hart have a ROY entry on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", then Rodgers and Hammerstein should get a shot as well. Anyways, what were the big hits in 1959 in Japan when "The Sound of Music" made its debut on Broadway?
Well, I guess I'm making my way around the spy-fi theme tunes. There's the cool theme for "Mission: Impossible" by Lalo Schifrin and then Monty Norman & John Barry's iconic theme for James Bond. Both franchises I have known since I was a kid and one other similar example of spy drama and adventure that I got to know early in life was "The Man from U.N.C.L.E."(1964-1968) with Robert Vaughan and David McCallum.
The main scene that I've always remembered is the opening when some assassin in shadow bounces out with his gun and tries to shoot down another silhouetted figure but only manages to hit a shield before the agency's best agent, Napoleon Solo, comes out of his own shadow and threateningly shows what he can do with a weapon. All this was done to a dangerous snappy snare drum and timpani combo.
Then comes the theme by Jerry Goldsmith. I knew this guy was prolific but I had no idea that he was responsible for this one and many others, along with the theme for "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" years later. But to be honest, I really didn't get a bead on the "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." theme unlike the themes for 007 and "Mission: Impossible" until years later. Now that I have though, I prefer the original from the first season with the continuation of the percussion and the horn section reflecting the heroic and global organization.
Unfortunately, I don't remember much of the episodes throughout the four-season run of the series (there was one scene where Ilya fell into a vat of goop) but I read that the tone varied wildly from season to season which didn't do much for its fortunes. The first season has apparently been seen as the best one due to its straight and serious nature with succeeding seasons getting campier, and I gather that the variations on the theme also reflected this. The second season theme got jazzier in a beatnik way although the timpani returned on occasion.
The third season (and I'm assuming the final season afterwards) had a theme that just went full go-go boots and so I'm not a huge fan of that arrangement.
Some years ago, some enterprising person came up with their own fantasy opening credit sequence for an UNCLE movie starring George Clooney and Orlando Bloom which was quite well done (regrettably, it seems to have been pulled off of YouTube) and the version of the theme song was actually quite good.
Just from good luck, I managed to track it down as the first song of a medley on a compilation called "The Film Music of Jerry Goldsmith" with Goldsmith as the conductor leading the London Symphony Orchestra. Yep, as some commenters have intimated, Goldsmith was probably a better composer than a conductor here, the cues aren't too sharp, the medley at least sounds as if it had been recorded in Carlsbad Caverns, and frankly the cover of the album looks perfect as something to be found in a Wal-Mart bargain basement basket. However, I think this version is just a few rehearsals and tweaks away from being a really nice take on the UNCLE theme song thanks to the thrilling strings and percussion for a contemporary motion picture reboot.
Ah, speaking of which...the 2015 film of "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." was entertaining enough with Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer, but I do wish that the original theme had been brought in.
So, when the original show premiered in September 1964, what were some singles coming out in Japan at around that time?
Last week's Reminiscings of Youth article was on Shirley Bassey's immortal "Goldfinger" which was released in the United States on December 22nd 1964. Three days later on Xmas Day itself, this special episode of the famous cartoon "The Flintstones" came out known as either "Christmas Flintstone" or "How the Flintstones Saved Christmas".
I never knew the title of the show or even when it first aired. I only know that the episode lines up with my memories of Christmas animation which includes any of the Rankin and Bass classics and "A Charlie Brown Christmas" which wouldn't air for the first time until a year later. "Christmas Flintstone" was something that we watched every year since we got to see good ol' Fred Flintstone actually use his loud personality for something that wouldn't actually get him into trouble. He got to be Santa Claus for about 24 hours.
Original Fred Flintstone voice actor Alan Reed was also behind the two songs used in "Christmas Flintstone". The overarching one was "Christmas is My Fav'rite Time of Year" which is about as sugary and as Christmas as any Yuletide cookie and has remained in my head since I was a little kid, always to pop up during this time of year. According to blog "YOWP: Stuff About Early Hanna-Barbera Cartoons", a fellow named John McCarthy was the one behind this song which is the highlight of the episode.
McCarthy was also behind the other song performed by Santa Freddie, "Dino the Dinosaur" which actually has the Flintstones' pet painted in a heroic light instead of comic relief, albeit anecdotally, as the lizard gets a Christmas tree for some kiddies and somehow has the wherewithal to trim it correctly, too. Good ol' Fred and Dino! Saving the day for Xmas...in the prehistoric age.
So, that was the final Xmas-based ROY article for 2023, but this will be a continuation of the Flinstones' saga on KKP. I already have an article out for the famous theme song and I've realized that there are a few more songs from the original series alone that deserve mention as a ROY. Anyways, as with last week's "Goldfinger" article, I will be picking a couple of more prize winners from the 1964 Japan Record Awards to display as what was getting the accolades at around the same time when the Flintstone Christmas special was out.
Best New Artist: Teruhiko Saigo -- Kimi dake wo（君だけを）
Just in the last few minutes, I found out that actor David McCallum who had played the eccentric but super-sharp Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard on the original "NCIS" passed away at the age of 90 earlier today. I haven't watched the show in many years but when I was living in Japan, I did catch a lot of its episodes on cable TV. Although Ducky had his own moments of anger, he was usually the most level-headed and reassuring of the investigative team.
However, being a baby from the 1960s, I first knew McCallum as stoic but baby-faced super-agent Illya Kuryakin in "The Man from UNCLE" assisting his senior partner, suave Napoleon Solo, as played by the late Robert Vaughan. "NCIS" had some fun with the Mallard/Kuryakin thing a couple of times. In the 1970s, I also remember McCallum playing the title character in the updated television version of "The Invisible Man" which only lasted a few months, I believe.
Ironically, earlier in the morning, NHK reported that the last surviving member of the vocal quartet Dark Ducks（ダークダックス）, Hajime Tohyama（遠山一）, had passed away a few days ago at the age of 93. Members Tohru Sasaki（佐々木行）and Tetsu Kisou（喜早哲）died in 2016 while Hiromu Takamizawa（高見澤宏）left this mortal coil in 2011.
In tribute then, I wanted to post a Dark Ducks song tonight and what I have here is "Giniro no Michi"(The Silver Road), an October 1966kayo kyoku of optimism and going forward. Written by Shigeru Tsukada（塚田茂）and composed by Hiroshi Miyagawa（宮川泰）, it was used as the theme song for the NHK musical-variety show "Yume wo Anata ni"（夢をあなたに...Dreams For You）. Speaking of the national broadcaster, Dark Ducks were able to get onto the Kohaku Utagassen to perform the song.
According to the article for the song on J-Wiki, the legendary composer noted that "Giniro no Michi" had been inspired by a memory from his childhood when his father, who had been a civil engineer, was involved in the construction of a special track for the Konomai Gold Mine in Hokkaido. Young Miyagawa noticed that puddles by the track glistened in the moonlight which convinced him of the existence of a silver road.
As was often the case back then, songs often had multiple singers and/or bands competing to be the first to record them. "Giniro no Michi" was no different, and though Dark Ducks had been the first act to show the song on television, female duo The Peanuts（ザ・ピーナッツ）beat them (though not by much) in terms of the release date of the single record which was also early October 1966, although their version was actually the B-side to "Roma no Ame"（ローマの雨...The Rain in Rome）. Compared to the folksy country twang of the Ducks' version, The Peanuts' take on "Giniro no Michi" starts out sounding like hippie-ish Sunshine Pop before gradually turning into a bold jazzy number.
Some 30 years following the final closure of the Konomai Mine, a stone memorial plaque with the lyrics of "Giniro no Michi" was established in 2003 in the area of the mine near Monbetsu Station. In any case, my condolences go to both the families, friends and fans of David McCallum and Hajime Tohyama.
Nothing like those Mom-and-Pop cafés in Japan. I mean, Starbucks and Excelsior are fine enough but I think that there is something more special with the individually owned establishments because the owners truly want coffee appreciation along with the other goodies that are provided such as cakes and pies and sandwiches. I'm not sure though whether a business worker can hide out from the boss and corporate life there for hours as would be the case in a family restaurant or one of the franchise branches. Plus, the coffee shop fare in the independent places might be quite a bit more expensive.
Not sure if a Japanese coffee shop would offer something like peanuts, but what I have here is "Chiisa na Kissaten"(The Little Coffee Shop) by The Peanuts (yes Dad joke segue right here). Apparently, it wasn't a single but it was a song that was most likely included in one of the duo's compilation albums circa 1970 according to the YouTube uploader rujaka.
Provided a warm and innocent arrangement, Emi and Yumi harmoniously relate the story of a couple so much in love with each other that they are content just staring at each other silently for hours in their favourite coffee shop (sounds like a couple I once knew back in university...sheesh, I felt like such a third wheel!). The European tango element was in there right from the beginning since "Chiisa na Kissaten" is a cover of a 1928 song originally created in Germany under the title of "In einer kleinen Konditorei"(In a Small Pastry Shop). Written by Ernst Neubach and composed by Fred Raymond, it was introduced to Japan in 1934 with lyrics and translator Sou Aoki（青木爽）responsible for the Japanese lyrics.
First off, allow me to wish everyone in the United States, including friends there such as Larry Chan, JTM, Rocket Brown of "Come Along Radio" and Scott of "Holly Jolly X'masu" a Happy Thanksgiving today. Hopefully, you're enjoying some of that scrumptious food and good company in some of the weather that we in Toronto have been having: not too brisk but with a good amount of sun.
For this week's Reminiscings of Youth (but once again, I should actually say Reminiscings of Toddlerhood), I'm going to go with the legendary Argentinian-American composer Lalo Schifrin. I call him thusly because I don't know of too many composers who can whip up themes that even a kid in diapers could get into and enjoy for decades upon decades. Schifrin will always be known for coming up with the theme for "Mission: Impossible" which is cool, jazzy, urgent, sneaky and suspenseful.
However, Schifrin also came up with a theme song that is probably only known to a far smaller demographic which was around in the middle of the 20th century in North America. The theme was for a long-running detective series on CBS called "Mannix", and not only did it share the same TV network and theme composer as "Mission: Impossible", but "Mannix" was also created by the mastermind behind the spy show, Bruce Geller. As much as I remember the opening credits for "Mission: Impossible" with the lit fuse and then the flashes of upcoming scenes for the episode, I also fondly recall the opening sequence for "Mannix" in which all these different frames of tough guy private eye Joe Mannix (portrayed by Mike Connors) pop up on the screen showing different aspects of him (he can duke it out with the bad guys, romance the women, and burn his fingers on toast!). My only question was what was he running from on that highway bridge? Doesn't matter...it looked cool.
One thing that I wouldn't realize until I was well into my university years (the show had already ended some ten years before) was that the premise of "Mannix" was slightly different in Season 1 when it premiered in September 1967. Joe was the old-school detective who was working for a company whose staff boasted resolved cases via computer, and he had to work under supposedly stodgy Lew Wickersham played by veteran character actor Joseph Campanella. Mannix was the one piece of grit in the oyster that was the Intertect Detective Agency, relying more on street smarts and fists rather than spinning spools of data. When I was a kid, I always knew Mannix as a solo private eye in Los Angeles with his assistant Peggy, played by Gail Fisher; he would also occasionally have a line of police lieutenants drop by for expositional purposes.
It would take even longer for me to find out that it was Schifrin who was also behind the marvelous theme song for "Mannix". In comparison with the "Mission: Impossible" theme, the "Mannix" theme was also cool and jazzy, but it was much more open and swinging. There was nothing secret about this song which fit Joe's character. The brassy blasts and the percussion showed off the fisticuffs and car chases that the detective would end up in, while the soaring and sweeping main melody led by the saxophones was Joe in his off hours enjoying the drive or that dinner with his latest romantic date. At the time, I didn't know that Schifrin had formed the theme into a jazz waltz; I couldn't conceive of jazz having a waltz since I thought of the waltz purely being in the classical music vein.
The "Mannix" theme was released as a single in 1969, but I'm going to go with the original first airing of the show in September 1967 to see what was coming out in Japan or thereabouts.
Well, this all started from reading a tweet from Scott of "Holly Jolly X'masu" fame when he noted that a couple of days ago, it was National Peanut Day. I do love my goobers, especially when it's in peanut brittle or chocolate of any form.
So I figure that it was time for me to put up a song by The Peanuts（ザ・ピーナッツ）since it's been a while. I wrote up about their very first single from April 1959, "Kawaii Hana"(可愛い花）, over a decade ago in the very early months of "Kayo Kyoku Plus", so I figure that I would take a look at their sophomore effort which came out a mere two months following that debut.
That 2nd single was "Quizas Quizas Quizas" although it sold in Japan as simply "Quizas Quizas", and like "Kawaii Hana", this particular song was also a cover of a 1947 song written by Cuban songwriter Osvaldo Farrés which became a hit for singerBobby Capó from Puerto Rico. That original Spanish title translates as "Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps", and the lyrics involve a man probably gnashing his teeth while letting his girlfriend dance with another fellow. He wonders whether this could be detrimental to the relationship, and thus the title dances about in his head.
Compared to the dramatic flair of the original by Capó, The Peanuts' cover of "Quizas Quizas Quizas" is more of a slow stealthy tango as if the poor guy who allowed his girlfriend to be possibly seduced by the other fellow is having his doubts very slowly insinuating themselves into his cerebral cortex. Hiroshi Miyagawa（宮川泰）arranged this version while the Japanese lyrics were provided by Takashi Otowa（音羽たかし）, the pen name for any director at King Records when a Western song is being translated into Japanese.
The following year, singer Chiemi Eri（江利チエミ）did a really boss version of "Quizas Quizas Quizas" in her August 1960 album"Chiemi Latin wo Utau"（チエミ ラテンを歌う...Chiemi Sings Latin）. And she performed it in the original Spanish, to boot. Perez Prado would probably have been very impressed if he'd had a chance to listen to her.
In June 2005, the incomparable Lisa Ono（小野リサ）from Brazil provided her own bossa nova-influenced take on "Quizas Quizas Quizas" in her album "Romance Latino Vol.1 -Los Boleros Al Estilo De Bossanova-". This version is so warm, honeyed and relaxing that there is no virtually no sensation of romantic emasculation here. The guy would probably let the dancing Lothario take his girlfriend away and even give the new couple some money for the hotel with his congratulations.
A couple of nights ago, I wrote about a kayo titled "Hoho ni Kakaru Namida"（ほほにかかる涙）by Eva（エバ）, a former member of the aidoru group Golden Half（ゴールデン・ハーフ）, back in 1975. I'd forgotten then that when I first discovered this particular song that I also came across another different song with the exact title.
Indeed, there was an earlier "Hoho ni Kakaru Namida" but this had nothing to do with the dream kayo songwriting team of lyricist Jun Hashimoto and composer Kyohei Tsutsumi（橋本淳・筒美京平）and certainly the latter guy hadn't even made his debut on the songwriting scene as of yet. Point of fact, this song was actually a cover of "Una lacrima sul viso" by Italian singer and actor Bobby Solo (nee Roberto Satti) that had been first released in February 1964 according to Wikipedia. It was a huge hit for Solo, staying atop the Italian music charts for 9 weeks straight and selling 3 million records all over the world.
The original version had been created by songwriters Lunero and Mogul, but in May of that same year, Kazumi Yasui（安井かずみ）, under the name Kazumi Minami（みナみカズみ）, provided Japanese lyrics and a single was recorded and released as "Hoho ni Kakaru Namida" by Mari Sono（園まり）. It's an interesting cover since the arrangement by Osamu Shoji（東海林修）makes it sound more like a plaintive Connie Francis love ballad.
A few more cover versions were made including one by duo The Peanuts（ザ・ピーナッツ）in 1964 as well. This "Hoho ni Kakaru Namida" has more of a feeling of a performance by a group such as The Platters with that sharp horn and the backup chorus. Unfortunately, I'm unaware of how well the Sono and Peanuts covers did in the pre-Oricon age.
Unfortunately, I have to let readers know about another death in the Japanese music world today as composer Koichi Sugiyama（椙山浩一）passed away on September 30th due to sepsis at the age of 90. Commenter Kyle Andrew informed me earlier this morning and I had actually caught the news of his passing even earlier during the NHK News. I actually told Kyle that I would come up with an appropriate tribute sometime over the weekend but it seems as if my project manager today told me that there was nothing coming down the pipe for assignments, so now I have my opportunity to do a Creator article for Sugiyama.
His name has already been well represented within the pages of "Kayo Kyoku Plus" for years since he composed some very famous kayo hits including The Peanuts'（ザ・ピーナッツ）"Koi no Fuuga"(恋のフーガ）, The Tigers'（ザ・タイガース）"Mona Lisa no Hohoemi"（モナリザの微笑）and a couple of folk band GARO's tunes "Gakusei Gai no Kissaten" (学生街の喫茶店）and "Kimi no Tanjoubi"（君の誕生日）in the 1960s and 1970s.
But in the NHK tribute to Sugiyama and for that matter, the Fuji-TV profile on him in the video at the top of this article, it wasn't just his Group Sounds contributions that were noted. He was also lauded within the reports as the man behind the soundtrack for the iconic "Dragon Quest" game that started its long run from 1986, something that I hadn't realized although even I, a non-gamer, could recognize that heroic theme. There were already some messages of condolences within the comments under the above video. Sugiyama himself noted in a past interview during the NHK report that he had wanted to base the game soundtrack on classical music rather than pop music.
In the J-Wiki article for him, his specialization in music was directed towards the genres ofkayo, anison and game music; his lists for the last two types in that article are quite long indeed. The Wikipedia profile on him mentioned that one day in the 1980s, Sugiyama, who was already very famous, had sent the Enix Corporation, which was behind "Dragon Quest", a fan letter for the music on a shogi game which sent the staffers there into a major swoon. They were also very impressed with his knowledge of games. I gather that this would be the equivalent of Alan Silvestri or John Williams sending a 👍 to an American game developer on letterhead. This would eventually lead to a collaboration between composer and company, and the rest is "Dragon Quest" history.
Sugiyama was born in what is now Taito Ward in Tokyo on April 11th 1931. Music was all around him during his upbringing which would explain his life's career, but J-Wiki also noted that he and both of his parents were also great lovers of games, decades before video games appeared, so that probably also explains the composer's interest in those.
He attended the University of Tokyo half-heartedly pursuing a science degree after getting disappointed on finding out that he couldn't get into a music college since he couldn't play the piano. On graduating, Sugiyama had a part-time job at a parts factory before getting a position at a radio station and Fuji-TV as a director in 1958. He left the network in 1965 and by 1968, he was fully focused on composing and orchestration.
However, even before then, he was already coming up with the melodies. In fact in October 1966, one of his earliest contributions to kayo kyoku came in the form of a single by The Peanuts, "Roma no Ame"（ローマの雨...The Rain in Rome）. The 20th single by the duo, Jun Hashimoto（橋本淳）was the lyricist with Katsuhisa Hattori（服部克久）as the arranger for this relaxed hip-swiveler of a song characterized by the staccato blast of the horns in the intro and their smooth Bacharach-like feeling in the song itself. I also enjoy the haunting but enticing vocals by Emi and Yumi.
As has been stated, Sugiyama was also providing songs during the Group Sounds period of the late 1960s. In December 1966, he and Hashimoto once more created a song...this time for the GS band Jackey Yoshikawa and his Blue Comets（ジャッキー吉川とブルー・コメッツ）as a B-side for their 7th single, "Izuko e"（何処へ...Where To?）. The brief "Sentimental City"（センチメンタル・シティ）is a pretty interesting song which seems to have a couple of rhythms spliced together: a laconic introspective melody with that electric organ and then a really skippy one as if there were two different settings for whoever the protagonist is. Above everything is a boozy saxophone.
Several months later, Hashimoto and Sugiyama would team up again to provide yet another one of the big Group Sounds bands, The Tigers（ザ・タイガーズ）, with one of the biggest hits in their career, "Kimi Dake ni Ai wo"（君だけに愛を...Love Only For You）. This was their 4th single from January 1968, and this time Sugiyama would also create the melody and arrange it for Kenji Sawada（沢田研二）and the guys. I think that there's even a bit more psychedelic rock in the proceedings. In comparison to The Peanuts' "Roma no Ame" with some of that twisting in any reflective dancing, maybe The Jerk might be the move here. Just guessing. Selling more than a million records, "Kimi Dake ni Ai wo" reached No. 2 on the new Oricon Singles chart.
If someone can identify the dance move in the video above while The Tigers are playing, that would be greatly appreciated. It's probably not The Jerk. Anyways, I wanted to put up this video since all of us can see how Sawada performed his moves. According to J-Wiki, at concerts when he beseeched his fans with "Kimi dake ni..." and flung out the "Golden Index Finger", a lot of them simply fainted away. You must learn the ways of the Force, Kenji.
The Group Sounds era faded away very early in the 1970s but Sugiyama continued to provide his music to the top stars of the day. Hideki Saijo（西城秀樹）was one of them, and for him, the composer created a couple of tracks for Saijo's June 1976 album"Ai to Jounetsu no Seishun"（愛と情熱の青春...Youth Filled With Love and Passion）. One of them was "Itsumo Futari de"（いつも二人で...Always the Two of Us） which had Sugiyama pairing up with another prolific lyricist, Yu Aku（阿久悠）. A prowling cat of a tune with a flutter of rock over a jazzy rhythm, the lanky aidoru was more than game for the arrangement. One would think that he may have been doing an old-fashioned soft-shoe in the recording booth.
Just one more example of Sugiyama's music that I will put up here also hit the public's ears in the same year as the Saijo album. This time, though, it came out in the form of aidoru trio Candies'（キャンディーズ）11th single,"Heart Dorobo"（ハート泥棒...Heart Thief）. Released in September 1976, it's an especially dynamic tune for Ran, Sue and Miki as they sing about a young teenage girl, who may be a bit of a tsundere, quietly falling hard for a guy who has suddenly raised himself to the lass' demanding expectations, according to Haruo Hayashi's（林春生）lyrics. The song rose to No. 17 on Oricon and sold about 190,000 records.
For those who had only known Sugiyama for "Dragon Quest" and the other games that he provided music for, I thought this Creator article could give some more information on how he also contributed to kayo kyoku in general. But in finishing this off, let's get back to the beginning and realize that the "Dragon Quest" overture made it into this year's Olympic Opening Ceremonies. I'm hoping that Sugiyama did hear and appreciate its appearance. Certainly, many fans did from what I've read in the comments. All my condolences to him and his family and friends.
The above photo was shot midway up the steps toward Hie Shrine in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo. I had wanted to take this picture of what seems to be a mass of traditional (the shrine gate) and the modern (skyscrapers) in the Akasaka background. If I'm not mistaken, I think that this was just after I had a delicious sushi lunch with my good friend and his wife.
Akasaka is one of the more expensive neighbourhoods in Tokyo but it also has plenty of wallet-reasonable restaurants and izakaya including a section which has a proliferation of Korean BBQ eateries. Apparently, it is also a setting for many a romantic Mood Kayo and I was able to find one in the form of "Ame no Akasaka" (Rainy Akasaka).
In its first iteration, this was the 15th single for the band Jackey Yoshikawa and his Blue Comets（ジャッキー吉川とブルー・コメッツ） released on Christmas Day 1968, and nope, it is most definitely not a Christmas song. Indeed, it is a Mood Kayo and it is the second such song for the Blue Comets after declaring that the group was no longer into Group Sounds. Beginning with "Sayonara no Ato de"（さよならのあとで）which was released a couple of months earlier in October, Yoshikawa and his Blue Comets decided to embrace the more traditional bar-friendly genre and shed their original guitar-based rock-n'-roll sound.
Yet, this creation by lyricist Jun Hashimoto（橋本淳）, Blue Comets member/composer Tsunaki Mihara（三原綱木）and arranger Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）still had some faint echoes of a slower GS sound probably due to that electric organ in there. Hashimoto's story of remembering a love affair in Akasaka which passed away sadly perhaps could also be transferred to the fate of the Blue Comets themselves in their original run. Although "Sayonara no Ato de" was another hit for the group by achieving a No. 3 ranking on the Oricon weeklies, "Ame no Akasaka" did more modestly by peaking at No. 20. The J-Wiki article for the song also mentioned that it was from this point that popularity for the band began to wane.
A few covers were done of the song over the decades since that initial release by the Blue Comets. It has never been made clear online when exactly a version by The Peanuts（ザ・ピーナッツ）was recorded but J-Wiki could only narrow it down to sometime in the early 1970s. Anyways, The Peanuts' version has probably made it onto many a Mood Kayo compilation or one of their own collections, and this one has more of a Henry Mancini feeling with those strings and less of that heaviness of the original.
Enka singer Hiroshi Kadokawa（角川博）also covered "Ame no Akasaka" through a cool and contemporary arrangement as his September 1989 single. It's still Mood Kayo but the strings are silkier and of course, a mellow sax solo has also been thrown in. Kadokawa also covered another rainy city in song years later.
The next time that I get back to Tokyo, I'm going to try and get some more night shots of Akasaka.
Last night, I had the opportunity to listen to Come Along Radio's latest Summer Mixtape and in what has become a custom, I enjoyed the hour-long session while watching another enjoyable J Utah video, this time a drive through San Francisco. I also had the opportunity to visit the city almost 30 years ago while I was taking a trip with some of my fellow colleagues at the Board of Education for my town on the JET Programme. We were able to visit Fisherman's Wharf, Chinatown, and the zigzag Lombard Street among other places. My only regret was that we couldn't get to see the Golden Gate Bridge because of another San Francisco phenomenon: the fog.
J Utah in his description for this particular video mentioned that this was filmed during the current pandemic so traffic is lower and I have also noticed that a lot of the shops have been boarded up. This hit home especially on the news that many areas in the United States including California have had to backtrack on any re-openings. And so I'm hoping that my friends in the Golden State, fellow KKP contributor Larry Chan in the SFO area and Come Along Radio's Rocket Brown in LA, are hanging in there, as well as my other friends elsewhere in the country.
One of my most cherished standards happens to be "I Left My Heart in San Francisco", and of course, the ultimate singer for this classic is Tony Bennett. However, having said that, the first time I ever heard "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" wasn't his rendition but one that was performed by The Norman Luboff Choir via that record collection of standards that my father had gotten along with the RCA stereo decades ago.
I love Bennett's version but there was also something very haunting and elegiac about the cover by The Normal Luboff Choir, almost as if their version was meant as a tear-jerking musical requiem for a beloved longtime resident in the City by the Bay. Unfortunately, I couldn't find their take on YouTube or elsewhere.
According to Wikipedia, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" was originally written back in 1953 by George Cory and Douglass Cross with Bennett's first recording his version in 1962. Of course, others have covered it over the decades and that includes Japanese singers according to what I got when I placed the Japanese translation of the title "Omoide no San Francisco" (San Francisco Memories) into the YouTube engine. One such English-language cover was by The Tough Guy himself, Yujiro Ishihara（石原裕次郎）. The uploader states that Ishihara's version was recorded in 1974 and it can be found in his 5-CD "Ishihara Yujiro ~ Cover Song Shuu"（石原裕次郎 カバーソング集...Cover Song Collection）. Ishihara is no Bennett but he's got the timbre and gravitas in his vocals to perform a pretty decent cover.
(Sorry but the video has been taken down.)
Judy Ongg（ジュディ・オング）also provided her version of "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" on a TV show and along with her wonderfully smoky delivery of the tune which I would love to have caress my ears in the minutes before slumber, there are other reasons for my choice. One is that I finally get to see trumpet player Shin Kazuhara（数原晋）for the first time and the other is that Ongg's cover is done in Japanese, thanks to Rei Nakanishi's（なかにし礼）lyrics.
In the "Killing-two-birds-with-one-stone" department, I also found a San Francisco-themed kayo to include here. Titled "San Francisco no Hito" (San Francisco Woman), this was The Peanuts'（ザ・ピーナッツ）33rd single from October 1971 and was the final part of the "Hito"（女）trilogy of songs that Emi and Yumi Ito（伊藤エミ・ユミ）recorded following "Tokyo no Hito"（東京の女）and "Osaka no Hito"（大阪の女）in the previous year.
While "Osaka no Hito" took things into enka territory, "San Francisco no Hito" is more into happy-go-lucky pop kayoalthough the story is more melancholy as a woman gets summarily dumped on one of those San Francisco slopes. The same duo behind "Osaka no Hito", lyricist Jun Hashimoto（橋本淳）and composer Taiji Nakamura（中村泰士）, was also responsible for this one, and "San Francisco no Hito" was performed by The Peanuts at the 1971 Kohaku Utagassen at their 13th out of 16 appearances on the New Year's Eve special.
And no...The Peanuts' voicing of "Cisco, Cisco" wasn't probably not a premonition for a certain multinational technology conglomerate that rose up years later. To be honest, when I first heard those lyrics, my immediate thoughts went to a certain Starfleet captain-turned-religious emissary (yes, I know the spelling is different😒).
Finally to end things off, for those who have never heard of The Norman Luboff Choir, you can have a listen to another standard that coincidentally saw off the show in which that Starfleet captain had starred in. Wow, this was something...I never thought I could incorporate Tony Bennett, The Tough Guy, The Peanuts, "Star Trek" and J Utah into one article.
There was a reason that May Day yesterday was devoid of any "Kayo Kyoku Plus" entries and the above photo should make that abundantly clear. Yup, I did catch "Avengers: Endgame" at the Scotiabank Theatre with my movie buddy, and despite a number of questions in terms of plot holes (time travel will do that to a script), it was quite the epic end to the very first decade of Marvel movies...and a movie that did need its share of Kleenex by the end of "Endgame".
One song popped up for one scene which summed up one character's arc, and that would be the gorgeously delivered "It's Been A Long, Long Time" originally by the Harry James Orchestra and Kitty Kallen back in 1945. Cue copious waterworks.
Now, since this is a kayo blog, allow me to make the connection here with The Peanuts'（ザ・ピーナッツ）rendition of "It's Been A Long, Long Time" which was supposedly released in 1961 according to the YouTube uploader. No incredible James trumpet here but Emi and Yumi provide a nice cover punctuated for effect by a warm sax solo. Glad to bring in some sort of "Avengers" association here.
It makes me wonder whether "It's Been A Long, Long Time" will become one of the slow dances of the prom season.
Had a hearty dinner at a Japanese fusion restaurant. This is Carrot Cake with Shio Konbu.
Folks of a certain age (for example, ME) might go back to their childhood television history and remember a musical-variety show featuring an amiable conductor-host, champagne music and lots of bubbles (along with Geritol as the main sponsor) to start each episode. Well, that was "The Lawrence Welk Show", and yup, I remember Lawrence and his band along with young and smiley dancers Bobby & Cissy, Norma Zimmer, clarinetist extraordinaire Henry Cuesta and Myron Floren the accordionist.
Now, the above footage is from 1960 (the show had already been on for nearly a decade), a few years before my birth. My memories of "The Lawrence Welk Show" have all been in colour, but it was a regular part of our viewing lineup along with all of those farm-based shows on CBS, and "Mr. Dressup" on CBC.
Scoot ahead a few decades when I was teaching in Japan. I was teaching my weekly English circle with my gang of middle-aged and senior citizen mothers, when one of my students revealed that she used to be a dancer on a NTV variety series back in the 1960s called "Shabondama Holiday" (Bubble Holiday). I'd already known that my student was a ballet teacher and she certainly looked very graceful and lithe, so it was no surprise when I heard that she'd had her time on telly as a young dancer.
Premiering in 1961 and having a long 11-year run, with that title and the nature of the product, I figure that it must have gotten some sort of impetus from "The Lawrence Welk Show". I couldn't confirm it for sure, but looking at the old footage on YouTube, the half-hour show on Sundays certainly had the look and feel of a launch pad for those classic standards, and it always starred famed duo The Peanuts（ザ・ピーナッツ）and comic band Hajime Hana & The Crazy Cats（ハナ肇とクレージーキャッツ）which accounted for the higher comedy ratio than in "The Lawrence Welk Show".
According to the J-Wiki account, there is a long list of celebrities who made their appearance on the show including Kyu Sakamoto（坂本九）, Kiyoko Suizenji（水前寺清子）, The Drifters（ザ・ドリフターズ）and Rumiko Koyanagi（小柳ルミ子）.
All of the goofy cornball comedy aside, though, when The Crazy Cats get into one of their many music session, they can cook, and the first part above with The Peanuts getting into the rhythm is pretty cool. Still, The Cats can't resist pulling on their comic side.
What I hadn't known before I started thinking about doing this article was that even after "Shabondama Holiday" had finished its original run in 1972, there was a second run of sorts which lasted for a far shorter 6 months between 1976 and 1977 on late-night Saturdays. And this time, The Peanuts were replaced by Pink Lady（ピンク・レディー）. Sorry that I haven't been able to find any footage for that short season.
However, I did find footage of one special episode of the series which was televised in 1989.
It’s
been a while since I last discovered one of these gravure aidoruturned singers
from the early 90s. It’s no mystery that this has always been one of my
favorite Japanese music niches, mostly because of how bad and really “in your
face” it actually is. In fact, most of these artists were not even mainstream
at all, being relegated to some shady variety TV shows that only wanted to show
the girls in bikinis, but whatever. Really, it reminds me of how TV was
decadent in Brazil during the 90s, but no complaining here.
Apparently,
Harumi Inoue (井上晴美) was one member of a Onyanko Club-styled (おニャン子クラブ)
larger group called Sakurakko Club Sakuragumi (桜っ子クラブさくら組). I’ve
read this name a few times, but never listened to the group’s music, which is
fine for me, since I’m not in a hurry to meet all B-rated aidoru groups from Japan’s
past decades. And as I’m talking about B-rated aidoru, just to contextualize, I
discovered Inoue’s songs after searching for some Aya Sugimoto’s (杉本彩)
live performances on YouTube. So, nobody's more suited than the raunchy Sugimoto to pave my way for the awkwardly sexy Inoue.
Harumi
Inoue only released two singles, in May and
October 1991, respectively. The first was “Furimukanaide” (ふりむかないで), one very well known The
Peanuts’ (ザ・ピーナッツ) song
from the 60s, with a cover of Hibari Misora’s (美空ひばり) “Makkana Taiyou” (真赤な太陽) serving as the coupling song. As for the second
single, it’s “Eve no Yuuwaku” (イヴの誘惑), a dance
version of Beethoven’s “Für Elise”, which counted with a cover of Akiko
Nakamura’s (中村晃子) “Nijiiro
no Mizuumi” (虹色の湖) as
the coupling song. In fact, with the obvious exception of Beethoven’s “Für
Elise”, all of Inoue’s songs were covers from 60s hit singles.
Honestly, I don’t really care for “Furimukanaide” at all,
and Inoue’s version does nothing to make the song stand out from the other
million versions out there. Yes, this song is always pleasant, but it was
probably meant to be a cute and safe debut song before launching Inoue’s brief
music career into something sexier and cring… sorry, more interesting.
And with the b-side “Makkana Taiyou” things start
to pick up, since Misora’s 60s hit is turned into a sexy funky house song
with some slicky synths. Also, the clip is a must, since the seductive
Inoue does everything to turn our attention away from the very low budget
video. It’s almost as if we were watching one of those infamous image video, but with actual music (and not just some easy listening melodies) serving
just as background noise. Well, it’s clear how Inoue’s looks were the true intended
product here, but I like the cheesy music as well. I can groove in my chair and tap my feet to it.
Things are not very different in “Eve no Yuuwaku”... but maybe a little worse and less polished (which counts as better and more interesting to me, of
course). If it wasn’t obvious enough how bad of a singer Inoue was (and dancer too, it
that counts), this bizarre dance version of Beethoven’s “Für Elise” is
here to scrub this fact in our faces. It continues in the sexy route and
Beethoven would probably be a little bit upset – to say the least – at how one
of his famous works turned into a piece of regurgitated pop in our times…
or maybe he would be positively hypnotised by Inoue’s captivating persona (really?) and
the strangeness of the whole thing. Who knows, right?
To finish Inoue’s adventure in the music industry
as a solo act, we still have the delicious “Nijiiro no Mizuumi” with its urgent
synth-y arrangement that maybe could pass as a Tetsuya Komuro (小室哲哉) production for Alisa Mizuki (観月ありさ) or Yuki Uchida (内田有紀), or even a Minako Tanaka (田中美奈子) song from her early studio albums. I also like
how Inoue is dressed in this video, just like the almighty Reiko Kato (かとうれいこ) did for her video promotions
one year earlier. The fashion style of those gravure aidoru turned singers was
really something at the time. And the male dancers around Inoue??? Well, I really love how bad they are. Not that I'm a better dancer, but I don't show up on some random aidoru videos. Shame on them, but it's really funny to see.
I can’t tell if I will still be fascinated by
Harumi Inoue’s music in the near future, but I'm still having fun with her cute
crooked smile and cheap early 90s dance-pop tunes. Long live the obscure late
80s/early 90s aidoru!
"Furimukanaide" (left) and "Eve no Yuuwaku" (right)
I've been continuing to go through the additions to my kayo record collection and found one such record by the beloved kayo duo The Peanuts（ザ・ピーナッツ）. And yep, I'm quite happy that I finally have a platter by Emi and Yumi.
The record I have is a 33 1/3 maxi-single with two songs on each side, one of which is titled "Kanashiki Kangaroo" (Sad Kangaroo), a cover of a popular 1960 single, "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport" released by the (now notorious) Australian singer-entertainer Rolf Harris. The Peanuts' cover came out in January 1964 with the Japanese lyrics written by Kazumi Minami.
However, a few months previously, the group Danny Iida & The Paradise Kings（ダニー飯田とパラダイス・キング）provided their own more country music-feeling cover of "Kanashiki Kangaroo" as another example of their Yakushi Pop（訳詞ポップス）, Japanese-translated versions of Western tunes. In both the Kings' version and the one by The Peanuts, the wobble board from Harris' original is applied. And I think with both covers, the happy-go-lucky jingly-jangly nature of the song would probably have made it quite popular in Japan and on Japanese TV as well.
And here I thought that there was only one Japanese pop song with a kangaroo in the title.
I guess if I had to come up with an overarching theme phrase for this article, it would be "All good things must come to an end". After starting their illustrious career with a sung version of a jazz song and then becoming kayo pop stars for the better part of two decades (including a stint as movie princesses providing a song to a gigantic caterpillar), the female pop duo The Peanuts（ザ・ピーナッツ）decided to call it a day, at least when it came to their time as recording artists.
So why not end things with a jazz song to complete the circle? Their final single was "Uwaki no Aitsu" (That Cheating Jerk) from March 1975. It was jazzy as heck but unlike the 1959 "Kawaii Hana"（可愛い花）which started off their career, "Uwaki no Aitsu" was something to let them go out with a bang. There is a mix of jazz and maybe rockabilly in there, and I even wonder if the material that the Manhattan Transfer was performing at about the same time had some influence. Yoko Yamaguchi（山口洋子）wrote the lyrics while Hiroshi Miyagawa（宮川泰）, the same fellow who arranged "Kawaii Hana" from the original as performed by saxophonist Sidney Bechet, composed the snazzy melody.
The same songwriting duo also came up with the B-side, "Yokogao" (Profile), a somewhat more sedate jazz number. I actually like this song even better than "Uwaki no Aitsu" since it has that comforting nightclub feeling, and I feel as if Miyagawa threw in some kayo influences and even a musical shoutout to "Blues in the Night" by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer. I almost expect the Peanuts to say goodbye to the listeners at the end; it makes for a nice farewell to everyone.
I believe I mentioned "All good things must come to an end". Well, in keeping with that theme, I would like to recognize the fact that Adam West, the actor who first introduced me to Batman as a toddler passed away yesterday at the age of 88. Decades before we all got to re-acquaint ourselves with the superhero as the brooding Dark Knight through revamped comics, graphic novels and movies, I got to know him as the ever-faithful goody-goody good guy with Robin as they threw the fisticuffs every episode. The Bright Knight indeed. So long, ol' chum!
Somewhere in the piles and piles of photos from yesteryear in old dusty drawers, there are a few of those photos that I took as a high school student of the Gion Festival（祇園祭）in Kyoto during my July 1981 trip. However, since I don't have the time or energy to go into excavation mode, I have decided to upload this photo of one of the many floats used in the highlight parade from the festival.
I distinctly remember seeing those grand floats slowly going down the street from my particular vantage point deep in the crowds on the sidewalk as I valiantly took photos on my dinky little camera. Being the middle of summer, and a Kyoto summer at that, it was a miracle that I didn't end up being transported to a hospital due to heatstroke. Still, I survived although I also remember taking a long nap in my hotel room afterwards.
The song for this article, "Gion Kouta" (Ballad of Gion), is one that I first heard on a recent "Uta Kon" (うたコン). Elegantly performed by Misaki Iwasa（岩佐美咲）, formerly of AKB48, I was intrigued as to its origins, so I did a bit of investigation and found that it had first been sung all the way back in 1930. Not only that, it was performed by a geisha by the name of Fumikichi Fujimoto（藤本二三吉）(1897-1976). Born in Tokyo, the singer was born as Fumi Fujimoto（藤本婦美）and became an apprentice geisha in 1909 under the name of Hanko（はん子）before getting her official geisha name of Fumikichi in 1915. From 1924, she began recording songs in a number of the traditional genres such as min'yo with her first hit being "Naniwa Kouta"（浪花小唄...Ballad of Naniwa） in 1929.
However, her huge hit was "Gion Kouta" which was recorded in 1930 as the theme song for the movie "Ehigasa"（絵日傘...The Decorated Parasol）. Written by Mikihito Nagata（長田幹彦）and composed by Kouka Sassa（佐々紅華）, Fujimoto sings descriptively about her love for the Gion district in Kyoto. Instead of importing the video directly, I have left the link above since going to it, you will find an English translation of the lyrics by the uploader.
Now to be honest, I am very hazy about some of the very old genres of Japanese music but apparently along with min'yo（民謡...folk songs） and the early examples of enka, there were other genres including hauta（端唄...short love songs）, zokkyoku（俗曲...another form of folk song） and kouta（小唄...ballads）. I was going to categorize this ballad as a min'yo but seeing the title, I can only surmise that fans of this song would probably want me to place this in the correct category of a kouta although I would need some education in differentiating these genres. Good grief. And here I thought it was just the various techno genres that I needed help with.
"Gion Kouta" has probably been covered by just about every enka singer and I was able to find this version by the late Keiko Fuji（藤圭子）which has that more familiar enka arrangement.
(Sorry but the video has been taken down.)
Well, whaddaya know? Here is that performance by Misaki Iwasa.
Heck, even The Peanuts（ザ・ピーナッツ）contributed their own very slightly jazzy take on "Gion Kouta" as a single in 1963.
