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'm sure that a lot of the folks featured on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" have dreamt that title when they first began their foray into show business.
But for the good folks at The Square, "Make Me A Star" was not only the fusion band's debut single but it was also the title track from their third album...both of them were released on the first day of summer 1979. Composed by guitarist Masahiro Ando（安藤正容）, it's a snazzy rollicking piece which has the jazz and groovy AOR feelings but also a dollop of disco. "Make Me A Star" was also used to advertise the Sony Trinitron television...man, they made them big and thick back in the day, didn't they?📺
The summer has apparently receded far in the back mirror since it is currently October 24th, but perhaps we can bring back some of the more pleasant aspects of the heat and sun before facing the frost and snow once more. Geez, that read like something that Ian McKellen would say.
Anyways, this time I've gone far back into famed fusion band The Square's history for this article. In fact, I've plucked the title track from the group's September 1978 debut album"Lucky Summer Lady". Composed by guitarist Masahiro Ando（安藤正容）, it's over seven-and-a-half minutes long and yet it's a light and sunny skip on the beach...perhaps as that lady in black is doing on the album cover. I do like that flute in there; adds to the happy-go-lucky state of things in the song. This track along with the first track "A Feel Deep Inside" have been considered as the wellspring for all that The Square would create over the next five decades. Good heavens! To think that they will be celebrating their 50th anniversary next year!
I've heard and known about women who were and are forces of nature. There was the character of Rika Akana from "Tokyo Love Story" as played by Honami Suzuki, a few friends that I've known for decades that are far more outgoing and powerful than I will ever be, and the city of Mississauga's late mayor Hazel McCallion who was even given the nickname of Hurricane Hazel.
Indeed, all those ladies came to mind as I was listening and watching "Kimi wa Hurricane" (You're a Hurricane), a track from The Square's May 1983 7th album, "Uchimizu ni Rainbow"（うち水にRainbow...The Water of the Rainbow）. Not that its sound is as overwhelming as a mighty hurricane but it's got the relentlessness in its beat. I also think it strays more into the straight pop territory away from the usual fusion, thanks to guitarist Masahiro Ando's（安藤まさひろ）melody and arrangement by the whole band. As for the music video, maybe The Square was inspired by Yellow Magic Orchestra when they filmed one for "Kimi ni Mune Kyun"（君に、胸キュン）; that song only came out a few months earlier and both videos have their share of fun-loving and somewhat cringeworthy elements.
As for what uchimizu is, it's the act of sprinkling water outside one's home especially in the summers to help in cooling the area down and also smacking down any flying dust.
Looking at the cover of The Square's"Kyakusenbi no Yuuwaku" (Temptation of Shapely Legs) just a half-second gaze, I promise you...I was reminded of some trivia regarding the late actress Mary Tyler Moore, a regular pop culture figure in my old television history. Considering all of the fame that she was able to amass throughout her long career, it is ironic that her first TV role was portraying telephone switchboard operator Sam in the 1957 first season of crime series "Richard Diamond: Private Detective" (later to be titled "Calling Mr. D" in syndication). Her face was only shown in silhouette with her legs and occasionally her hands popping up in full view (although the above video didn't really show all that much of her lower limbs).
But getting back from 1957 to 1982 when "Kyakusenbi no Yuuwaku" was released, the title track is definitely one happily trotting instrumental with Takeshi Ito（伊東たけし）on sax and new keyboardist Hirotaka Izumi（和泉宏隆）having the time of their lives during their solos. Of course, everyone else is also in on the jam during this 4 and 1/2 minute summery tune that can have listeners dream their way out of a long cold winter. You might say that "Kyakusenbi no Yuuwaku" has legs (I'll just see myself out the door, thank you).
Ahh...James Coco (1930-1987). He's another blast from the past that I used to see fairly regularly as a stage-and-screen comedic actor. I saw him only on television though in various commercials and TV shows such as "The Love Boat" and the above "The Muppet Show".
Yup, he was the fellow that I envisaged when I first heard "Mr. Coco's One", the first track on The Square's"Make Me a Star", the fusion band's 3rd album which came out in June 1979. Composed by band guitarist Masahiro Ando（安藤正容）, it's a really funky strut down the pavement (and you bass addicts will especially love the early part of this 7-minute-plus tune). It not only conjures up some of that good ol' jazz-AOR feeling from back then, but...and forgive me for going a bit music sommelier here...I can also hear a bit of "Law & Order" and certain parts which could have become cool television theme tunes at around that very time for people such as the late James Coco who also did dabble a little bit into sitcoms. However, I have no idea how Ando came up with that particular title.
One fantasy, and yep, considering financial and logistical circumstances, it will probably remain unfortunately a fantasy, is that I would be able to visit the nations of all of the active writers on KKP to finally meet my fellow kayo fans for the first time face-to-face. Noelle and Larry are off in Japan and America so hopefully I will have a chance to meet them someday but wouldn't it be nice if I could head over to some of the other countries such as Brazil to which I have never traveled to meet Marcos and thank him for his work on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" over the past decade? I will have to carry over the maple syrup.
Well, let's start off this week's articles on our humble blog with "Copacabana" by famed fusion band T-Square. This has nothing to do with Barry Manilow's 1978 disco classic"Copacabana" which has already been given its Reminiscings of Youth tribute because it actually refers to the Copacabana Club in New York City and not the area with the famous beach in Rio de Janeiro. T-Square guitarist Masahiro Ando（安藤まさひろ）composed this sunny and rosy song, which I am assuming is paying tribute to the actual Copacabana.
If that is indeed so, then Ando must really love the neighbourhood. It sounds like both he and EWI instrumentalist Masato Honda（本田雅人）are tripping the light fantastic on their instruments. "Copacabana" is the second track on T-Square's 19th album"Natsu no Wakusei" (夏の惑星...Summer Planet) from April 1994, and especially with the Masatsugu Shinozaki Group（篠崎正嗣グループ）handling the strings in there, the song not only has that 90s urban contemporary feel but it also sounds like something from the 1970s. I guess the strings come off as being somewhat disco.
I've used the situation portrayed in the above video, one of many commercials for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups in the 1970s and 1980s, to illustrate how "Kayo Kyoku Plus" came to be. Over a decade ago, I decided to use my blogging experience and mesh it with all of those Japanese popular music CDs that I'd collected over the decades. Now, I can also use it to describe the song for this article which almost sounds as if fusion band The Square had bumped into technopop trio Yellow Magic Orchestra and somehow exchanged ideas.
Ironically, this track, "Kawaii Techno"(Cute Techno), was placed as the final song on an album called "Magic" which was released in November 1981 (alas, no "yellow" or "orchestra"). Also, there was no involvement by Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）, Yukihiro Takahashi（高橋幸宏） or Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）at all with The Square's keyboardist, Daisaku Kume（久米大作）, handling everything. It's definitely not the usual The Square fusion piece and I still can't help but hear some of the more whimsical aspects of YMO, especially via their album "Service", although that album wouldn't come out until 1983.
Another notable thing is the guest appearance of comedian Tamori（タモリ）, who has since become one of the most venerable television celebrities in Japan, on two of the tracks in "Magic" including "Kawaii Techno". He's the one on the trumpet jamming in with the rest of The Square and he's providing some of the weird background vocals near the end.
Earlier today, Masa put out his latest video today and he may answer a question that I and perhaps a lot of City Pop fans have had ever since this music exploded on YouTube a few years ago: Why does City Pop sound so nostalgic to a lot of people who weren't even born when this Japanese-created umbrella of urban genres first took root?
According to Masa, part of it has to do with the fact that composer Koji Kondo who long ago helped out with the music for the Nintendo games "Super Mario" and "Zelda" came up with the various musical excerpts to signify "Game Over" and the like, and they were done like City Pop tunes. For me personally, I had been around even before the inspirations behind City Pop came into being (and yes, please feel free to carbon date me), so the nostalgic factor for the umbrella was all because I used to listen to those inspirations including the Doobie Brothers'"What A Fool Believes" and Steely Dan's songs on the radio.
Still, I'm wondering whether certain chords used in the City Pop oeuvre have some sort of psychological effect on people to make them feel nostalgic and get that urge to grab a Perrier and head to a beach after 6 pm.😑
However, one other thing that I gleaned from Masa's video is the discovery of another wonderful song. As even he stated, The Square's"Sister Marian" from the fusion band's April 1984 album"Adventures" isn't a City Pop tune per se. However, it is pure fusion pleasure that apparently was an inspiration for Kondo to make something similar for one of those Nintendo games. Imagine...Super Mario and Princess Peach in their carts reaching a seaside café and sipping on them margaritas while listening to this one. We can all thank The Square's guitarist Masahiro Ando（安藤まさひろ）for some relaxing and cocktail-friendly music here, although my compliments also go to saxophonist Takeshi Ito（伊東たけし）. According to the comments underneath the video, it is apparent that there had already been folks who made the Super Mario and The Square connection years back.
I've been enjoying some of the old J-Dramas that JTM was kind enough to send over, and one of them is "Tokyo Elevator Girl"（東京エレベーターガール）starring Rie Miyazawa（宮沢りえ）. Although at the time of its broadcast in January 1992 on TBS, I'd been back in Toronto for over six months, even I heard of this show because of the immense popularity at the time of its star through TV, movies, that best-selling photo book of her, "Santa Fe", and then there would be her temporary engagement to the rising sumo superstar who had been known as Takahanada（貴花田）at the time.
Looking at the first episode, I was struck at how immediately melodramatic "Tokyo Elevator Girl" was right from the get-go. I'd actually expected it to be one of those light-hearted romantic comedies with that cheeky Miyazawa, but instead, she was quite subdued while surrounded by some sordidness in that department store her character worked in.
What was another striking thing was Miyazawa singing the theme song for "Tokyo Elevator Girl", "Kokoro kara Suki"(I Love You From My Heart). Now, the fact that the lead thespian is singing the theme song for their show in itself is not particularly surprising in the land of Japanese dramas, but "Kokoro kara Suki" isn't the usual aidoru-like ditty that I've expected from Miyazawa since tunes like "Dream Rush".
Instead, this Valentine's Day 1992 single by Miyazawa is one classy number done in the arrangement of City Pop in the 1990s with those certain keyboards in play. Although "Tokyo Elevator Girl" is actually set in a department store in the suburbs of Tokyo, "Kokoro kara Suki" is definitely set right in downtown within a more subdued and cooler atmosphere compared to the party-hearty paint-the-town-red sophisti-pop that was inhabiting the J-urban contemporary in the Bubble Era in the mid-to-late 1980s. The boom times might have been over for Japan but there was nothing said that pop music couldn't still have some of that polished class.
Miyazawa's vocals are still plenty light but they're also more self-assured and perhaps I can posit that the styling is such that I could even imagine Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）tackling "Kokoro kara Suki". I love the lushness of this chocolate fondue arrangement by keyboardist Tadashi Namba（難波正司）but along with Miyazawa, what makes the song even more velvety is the jazzy saxophone play by Takeshi Ito（伊東たけし）. It seems as if every site including J-Wiki that mentions the song also mentions the fact that Ito is involved, and deservedly so, because he's pretty much the other half of the duet with the singing lass.
Namba (who also produced the soundtrack to "Tokyo Elevator Girl") and Ito are both from the fusion group T-Square so I'm more than happy to include that band's name in the Labels, but accolades must be given to the composer Naoki Yamada（山田直毅）who also happens to be the husband of singer Hitomi Ishikawa（石川ひとみ）. The big surprise is the lyricist whose name is given as Kikuji but has another far more famous stage name: Beat Takeshi（ビートたけし）! Surprise No. 2 for me is that I only found out today that Miyazawa has been married to Go Morita（森田剛）of the Johnny's group V6 since 2018.
I've heard of guitarists and keyboardists of certain Japanese bands going off on their own solo projects but I have to admit that I didn't hear much from the drummers. But that changes today.
Drummer Hiroyuki Noritake（則竹裕之）belonged to the fusion band The Square (now known as T-Square) and from looking at the history chart for the many members on J-Wiki, it looks like he was the longest-serving drummer belonging there between 1985 and perhaps 2000 or 2004. However, current T-Square drummer Satoshi Bando（坂東慧）will or may have already eclipsed him.
In 1999, Noritake released a solo album"Dreams Can Go" and it begins with the track "Time to Landing" which is cool and catchy. It begins with Noritake hitting the snare and then the keyboards by Akira Ishiguro come in with this amazing main melody before some tropical punch enters for a bit. That melody is going to stick with me for quite a while at least. I kinda wish we weren't landing when it comes to this one.
Noritake hails from Hyogo Prefecture and he's been keeping the family profession since his father was a jazz drummer. In 2004, he teamed up with former Casiopea drummer Akira Jimbo（神保彰）, someone to whom Noritake has looked up since his amateur days, to create the double drum band Synchronized DNA.
I was going to call it a night with my previous article but then I was coursing through the Discord City Pop servers and read a comment that Hirotaka Izumi（和泉宏隆）, a keyboardist of the fusion band The Square (or T-Square as it is called now) passed away on April 26th at the age of 62 from heart failure. When I checked on his J-Wiki page, the same news was there and it was confirmed through his own website, "Misty Fountain" with the announcement made on April 28th.
Izumi also contributed to The Square through his composition of songs and my very first exposure to the band was the oh-so-cheerful and mellow "Takarajima"（宝島）, a song that he created back in 1986 which became known to a new generation of listeners thanks to its use in the anime "Hibike! Euphonium"（響け!ユーフォニアム）in 2016. In tribute to him, I'm bringing out one of his other compositions and the final track of The Square's 12th album, "Truth", which was released in April 1987.
"Twilight in Upper West" is a beautiful and introspective piece led by saxophonist Takeshi Ito（伊東たけし）which seems to describe a wonderful and peaceful end of a day after the accomplishment of something difficult but worthwhile. Izumi also has his own marvelous solo midway through the song, and the overall effect is rather elegiac.
There was an orchestra version of "Twilight in Upper West" created between The Square and the Munich Symphony Orchestra in 1994 that was used as a theme song for the Fuji-TV drama "Bakumatsu Koukousei"（幕末高校生...High School Students at the End of the Edo Era） that aired in the same year. I have to say that it's a grand and heroic interpretation of the original ballad, and I can even imagine the high school band in "Hibike! Euphonium" tackling this one.
It's a pity that Izumi has left so suddenly but fans like myself can be rest assured that he has left a lot of songs through The Square and other projects that people like me can further explore and enjoy for years to come. My condolences to his family. Apparently, there will be a Memorial Premiere video airing on his YouTube channel on May 2nd from 9:30 am (presumably Japan Standard Time) according to his website. If any fans have any confirmation and/or further information, please let us know.
The shot above was taken on the last night of our cruise on the Harmony of the Seas back in 2017. I figured that I needed to get some of those lovely evening photos on the ship before we finally disembarked in Fort Lauderdale the next day.
My photo at the top is to introduce this delectable concoction by fusion band T-Square. "Night Cruise" simply hits all of the right nerves in me, and to be honest, I had assumed that this was one of their earlier efforts from the 1980s. Imagine my surprise and delight to realize that "Night Cruise" had come out a mere 5 years ago as a track on the band's 41st album"Paradise" in July 2015.
There is a title track on the album but "Night Cruise" is paradise in itself. That bouncy drum machine, all of the band members getting their licks in, and that massaging melody just show that T-Square hasn't lost their touch after so many years together. Drummer Satoshi Bando（坂東慧）was behind the wonderful music and despite the six minutes, I wouldn't have minded a little more of the cocktail here.
True...a lot of new fans were garnered thanks to "Takarajima"（宝島）, but I would recommend them to also give this one a sail.
One of the defining characteristics for me when it comes to the fusion band The Square (now T-Square) has been the wind synthesizer played by Takeshi Ito（伊東たけし）, and that was because of "Takarajima"（宝島）.
The Fukuoka-born musician is also a virtuoso on the saxophone and he is on the alto version of it when he plays his "Godzilla", the first track on his first solo album"Dear Hearts" from 1984. I'm rather curious as to why he named this particular song after Japan's most famous giant lizard. Although by the end of the piece, "Godzilla" goes into a foot-stomping jam, the first half comes over more as something more fleet-footed and soaring as if it were more Mothra in both the larval and adult stages (yeah, I was really wanting to put that sentence down). Another observation is that it sounds as if there is alternating competition and cooperation between Ito's sax and Philippe Saisse's keyboards, just like one of those battle royales between Godzilla and Rodanon Monster Island.
Incidentally, that photo at the top was taken in West Shinjuku. One of the skyscrapers had the photo and name of the big guy emblazoned on it, so I just had to take a shot. Unfortunately, I've yet to get a picture of that huge Godzilla head in Kabukicho. Next trip, I suppose.
Enjoyed Recca's half-hour tribute to Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）yesterday on Japan Top 10 which included "Ruriiro no Chikyuu"（瑠璃色の地球）, a song that I consider to be an epic coda of sorts to her pure aidoru phase. I first heard it on a borrowed copy of her 13th album"Supreme" in June 1986. Incidentially, the album did go all the way to No. 1.
Then I remembered that there was another song from that same album whose rather magical notes have haunted me up to the present day. In fact, it is the opening track for "Supreme", "Hotaru no Sougen" (Firefly Meadow).
Rather like a group of fireflies at night, "Hotaru no Sougen" has that magical and flittery feeling for the most part, before Seiko-chan goes into a soaring refrain about all those Photuris lucicrescens taking off into the night sky. It must have struck a lot of her fans the first time they heard it on the LP as a very different-sounding Seiko song as it incorporated a bit more synthesizer which is why the song has stuck with me all these decades.
According to the J-Wiki article on "Supreme", when "Hotaru no Sougen" was performed at a 2004 concert at Saitama Super Arena during her "Sunshine" tour, the opening notes of this song apparently sent folks into a frenzy. Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）, no stranger to penning lyrics for Seiko's songs, took care of this one and all of the other tracks on the album, while I was surprised to learn that Masahiro Ando（安藤まさひろ）, leader of the fusion band T-Square was behind its composition. Back then, I never bothered to read up on who actually wrote the songs for anybody.
One sign of that we're fully into summer in Toronto? The annual Honda Indy is back in town. Yup, starting from today, the cars have been racing around at Exhibition Place. I've got a friend who works for Honda so he'll be busy helping out and trying not to lose his hearing.
Well, why not reflect this event on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" tonight through the T-Square album"F-1 GRAND PRIX WORLD" (1992) where through its tracks, elements of a typical race and even some of the potential driver personalities are illustrated musically by the Japanese fusion band. Two of the tracks have already been given their due, "Truth" and "Circuit no Hourousha"（サーキットの放浪者）. Yes, I realize that F-1 and IndyCar are different classes of racing.
Then, came along Track 3, "Cool Professor" which sounds like it's describing the Iceman of the circuit...that one driver who never loses his/her temper, smoothly calculates the odds in his/her head while calmly taking in the information from the crew and quietly climbs all the way to the lead. The Bjorn Borg of racing (does anyone remember Bjorn Borg?).
Next is "Red Zone no Tenshi"（レッドゾーンの天使...Angel of the Red Zone）which may describe the complete opposite of the Cool Professor. With a rock guitar entry, this driver wears emotions all over the jump suit and has lots of fun (or makes trouble) whether anyone else likes it or not. Lots of fine show-off riffs on the keyboards but let's not forget the guitar.
My final entry tonight is "Pit In, Pit Out", a piece of funky groove which surprised me at first, since from the title, I had been expecting something high octane, similar to the feeling of rushing into the pit stop, getting as much gas and other repairs done within a handful of seconds before rushing right on out. Instead, this is relatively relaxing as if the crew and drivers are just hanging out and knocking back brewskis there before the big race the next day. There is even something about this track that had me thinking whether this would have made a decent theme for an 80s American sitcom about racing.
Well, all the best to the racers tomorrow and Sunday, especially James Hinchcliffe from Oakville, Ontario.
I've gotta say that I love the uploader's choice of picture for this video. I found out that this was a dusky photo of Bangkok, and when it comes to photography, I have a soft spot for sunsets and skyscrapers.
Additionally, I also have a soft spot for the song that comes with it. This would be T-Square's"Big City", and yep, the sound belongs to the urban landscape as the cacophony of honking car horns and thousands of commuters walking about.
"Big City" was composed by Masahiro Ando（安藤まさひろ）and is a track on T-Square's 1989 album"Wave". I think this would be the just the tune with which to walk through the big areas of Tokyo including Shinjuku, Roppongi and Akasaka. But of course, we've gotta have the cool sax and the slapping bass.
And here I thought that the fusion band T-Square (formerly The Square) had that one amazing F-1 racing theme under their collective belt. Yup, "Truth" spoke truth to power.
Then I found out that T-Square had come out with another groovy racing number. This would be "Circuit no Hourousha" (Circuit Wanderer) by pianist Hirotaka Izumi（和泉宏隆）and drummer Hiroyuki Noritake（則竹裕之）. Whereas "Truth" might be the band's melodic herald of "Gentlemen, please start your engines", I think "Circuit no Hourousha" is the cool prelude of the big race with all of the drivers, technicians, owners making preparations, although the listener will hear the cars zipping by at one point in the song.
Love the horns and the synthesizer having their friendly battle in the song. I wouldn't mind hearing this at Suzuka if I were to ever visit that track. I don't know whether "Circuit no Hourousha" ever made it onto any of T-Square's original albums but it was included in a collaboration album titled "F-1 GRAND PRIX WORLD"which was released back in February 1992.
The synthesizer riff from "Circuit no Hourousha" was given the Vaporwave treatment through Macross 82-99's "Horsey" featuring Sarah Bonito. It's included on his 2014 album"A Million Miles Away". Listening to this number, I kinda thought that this would make for background music for some futuristic setting much more cheerful that the one in "Blade Runner".
T-Cat's article on Marlene's（マリーン）cover of "Beware Boyfriend" had me thinking about devoting a Marlene article to another cover she did for "Magic", which was originally recorded by great Japanese fusion band The Square (known as T-Square today).
Listening to the original version by The Square which was a single from October 1981, I thought it was somewhat subdued for what I've become accustomed to by the band just according to their BEST album that I have of them (as pictured above), "T-Square Plays The Square". I mean it's got the bounce in there but I think even the vocals were a bit quieter than they should have been. "Magic" was also the title track from their 5th album which came out a month after the single.
Actually, the first time I had heard "Magic" was through Marlene's cover on one of my Wah Yueh-bought compilation tapes. In fact, it was the first time that I had even heard of Marlene herself. Her take came out as a single in September 1983 and it had a whole lot more of a kick through a fine horn section and Marlene's more forward vocals. Plus there were those virtuoso strings. Her version really stood out from the rest of the tracks on that tape since it first struck me as being so disco. It was almost to the point that I wondered why it was included on this particular tape.
In fact, all these years, I had assumed that Marlene's "Magic" was the original so when I heard T-Square performing it on the above mentioned "T-Square Plays The Square", I was slightly taken aback at hearing this instrumental version so I did some checking out and found out the actual story.
Of course, you gotta have both The Square and Marlene get together to make some "Magic". Incidentally, Linda Hennrick provided the lyrics while The Square's leader, Masahiro Ando（安藤正容）, took care of the melody.
Well, to be more accurate, "Hibike Euphonium"（響け!ユーフォニアム）brought me to "Takarajima"（宝島...Treasure Island） which brought me here tonight. Yep, after hearing anime's favourite high school band for this year perform a jazzed-up version of T-Square's"Takarajima", I was inspired to buy any album with that song by the band. And it wasn't too hard to find one. I got their cover album "T-Square plays The Square" from October 2010 via Tower Records. Just to reiterate, The Square was the old name for this fusion band before it decided to drop a couple of letters.
So I gave it a play on the stereo. Of course, "Takarajima" was truly the treasure for me. I can give this one track a goodly amount of listening. As I mentioned in its article, I believe I had heard excerpts of it on various variety shows over in Japan for years without getting to know the whole McCoy.
But that wasn't the only song that had me thinking about the past. What has stood out for T-Square has been that instrument played by band member Takeshi Ito（伊東たけし）. I referred to it lazily in the other article as "that weird woodwind" but its official name is a wind synthesizer. And taking its distinct sound into consideration since I had heard it before with another song, I played a hunch. The hunch paid off.
It turns out that T-Square had already been in my memories for decades without me officially knowing about the band. The band was responsible for one of the most famous sports coverage themes in Japanese history, thanks to their creation "Truth" which was the title track of their 12th album in 1987 as well as the band's 10th single from 1991. The rousing song with that wind synthesizer was used as the theme song for Fuji-TV's Formula 1 racing show from 1987-1998. And a cover version of it is in "T-Square plays The Square". Talk about old friends (that song, my memory) coming across one another after so long.
"Omens of Love" which starts the album off was a 12-inch single released in June 1985. And it sounds so 80s! In fact, it sounds like the perfect theme for a coming-of-age high school drama set in California back in those days...big hair, mullets and all. Pianist Hirotaka Izumi（和泉宏隆）, the same fellow behind "Takarajima" was also responsible for the creation of "Omens of Love".The song was also a track on the band's 10th album"R・E・S・O・R・T" from April 1985.
The winter has hit with a vengeance here in Toronto so I wouldn't be surprised if the entire population of the city has that hankering to flee to the Aloha State. Well, I don't have any air tickets but here is another track by The Square"Hawaii e Ikitai"（ハワイへ行きたい...I Want to Go to Hawaii）, which not only is on this album but also on their 6th album from November 1982, "Kyakusenbi no Yuuwaku"（脚線美の誘惑...The Temptation of Shapely Legs）. I don't really get any hints of Hawaii here from this song created by guitarist Masahiro Ando（安藤まさひろ）but I get this really nice and funky City Pop vibe.
My final track for tonight is "Tomorrow's Affair" which provides a wonderful performance by Ando who also composed it. The original version was a track from T-Square's 4th album from 1980"Rockoon", and with that homemade video above, it seems to fit as a proud city anthem for Tokyo. Plus with that blistering Ando guitar, I couldn't help but think about the theme song from the crime movie "Goodfellas" but that didn't come out for another 10 years following "Rockoon".
"T-Square plays The Square" is my first J-fusion purchase and it's a proud one. I will have to give it some more solid listening to glean some more insights but at first blush, I've enjoyed my first full experience. And I've got to thank an anime that will be wrapping up its second season in less than a week for my introduction. Now let's see about that Casiopeia album.
And for the record, the lineup for T-Square is guitarist Masahiro Ando, saxophonist Takeshi Ito, keyboardist Keizo Kawano（河野啓三）and drummer Satoshi Bando（坂東慧）although the members have shifted in and out over the years...just like The Avengers!
Happy Monday to all! Last year, when the anime "Hibike Euphonium"（響け!ユーフォニアム...Sound Euphonium）had its debut season, things were running well enough when Episode 5 was broadcast, but then delights and ears were further raised with the Kitauji High School Band doing their own version of Yellow Magic Orchestra's classic "Rydeen". After the ultimately successful first run of the show, all of us including myself and my anime buddy were wondering if something similar were going to happen in the second season which is starting to approach its endgame.
Sure enough, there were the band versions of "Gakuen Tengoku"（学園天国）and an old Eiichi Ohtaki（大瀧詠一）tune but they were excerpts and there was the feeling that these weren't the big songs. Well, it took 7 episodes this time and it came in the middle of some rather turbulent (and frankly overwrought) drama (did I mention that I'm no longer a huge fan of J-dramas?), but this season's "Rydeen" finally entered the picture. The Kitauji High School Band did their own take on another 80s song"Takarajima" (Treasure Island) at Kyoto Station, and once again the animators stepped up to the plate and hit a home run. I loved everything about the scene since it emulated the buildup for the "Rydeen" performance...a quiet happy scene before it, closeups of the individual sections of the band clearly enjoying themselves this time, and even the leader of the band club, the much put-upon Haruka Ogasawara (played by the popular Saori Hayami/早見沙織), not only getting some redemption in the series but also her 15 seconds of fame with a solo on the baritone sax. And it was thrilling hearing those French horns as well.
However, unlike my beloved "Rydeen", "Takarajima" and the original band, The Square, were completely unknown to me. The Square (now known as T-Square) is a jazz fusion band that started its long run in 1976 at about the same time as another famous genre band, Casiopea. Apparently, according to J-Wiki, its name was inspired by a piece of apparel...the Madison Square Bag from New York City.
"Takarajima" which has become one of The Square's signature songs, was a track on the band's 11th album, "S・P・O・R・T・S" from March 1986. The description for this track is the longest among the tracks on the album as written up in the J-Wiki article on the album, but the biggest thing I got out of it was that it was voted No. 1 in the categories of "Favourite Song" and "Most Memorable Song" by EMI Music Japan which has been releasing the long-running record/CD series "New Sounds in Brass" since the early 1970s. It might explain why this particular song was chosen for "Sound! Euphonium".
So last season it was technopop. This season, it is AOR. "Takarajima" as composed by then-band keyboardist Hirotaka Izumi（和泉宏隆）is as relaxing as a slowly fizzing glass of Perrier. And the strange thing is that I may have heard this song a number of times before especially when that weird woodwind comes in right after the intro. If that is the case, then it's been used for many a feature on the wide shows and variety shows over the years. I might have discovered that "Takarajima" is the Japanese pop equivalent of Chuck Mangione's"Feels So Good".
In any case, I was so charmed by "Takarajima" that I've just bought the band's self-cover album tonight with the song, "Takaranouta ~T-SQUARE plays THE SQUARE~"（宝曲~T-SQUARE plays THE SQUARE~）from 2010 at Tower Records. Hopefully, it will get here by Xmas.
And here is the real band performance at Kyoto Station by Heian High School in the city of Kyoto. Too bad about the sound, though.
