P.S. on Tokyo House Party: Group Sounds

 

I almost forgot that I had another topic within the "P.S. on Tokyo House Party" series that I had to get off my chest. A week ago, I did the rather shibui tribute to Mood Kayo which had its huge heyday in the 1950s and 1960s although the genre would continue forward well into the 1980s at least. 

Well, another genre that actually had a much shorter life span consisting of the latter half of the 1960s, but still left quite an impression is Group Sounds, so dubbed since the bands that resided within this type of music emulated some of the rock n' roll groups in the West such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Beau Brummels and Herman's Hermits. So we had a fair share of Japanese rock n' roll bands which likened themselves to members of the animal kingdom including The Tigers, The Spiders and Ox, although there were other bands with names such as The Blue Comets and The Golden Cups.

The GS bands also left a number of songs that still have nostalgic appeal today, and some of the members also found success years later after the boom died out in the early 1970s. Those would include singers such as Kenji Sawada（沢田研二）, Akira Terao（寺尾聰）and Hiroshi Kamayatsu（かまやつひろし）. So without further ado, here are just a few of those bands.

The Spiders（ザ・スパイダース） -- Yuuhi ga Naiteiru (夕陽が泣いている）and Bang Bang Bang （バン　バン　バン）

The Tigers -- Hana no Kubi Kazari (花の首飾り）and Seaside Bound （シーサイド・バウンド）

Amazon.jp

Ox -- Girl Friend（ガール・フレンド）

Amazon.jp

The Golden Cups -- Nagai Kami no Shojo （長い髪の少女）

P.S. on Tokyo House Party: Mood Kayo

 

A few days ago, I came up with some suggestions for those folks who were curious about what the traditional Japanese music genre of enka was all about with the male and female singers. Well, tonight, I offer the curious another genre in the Tokyo House Party series: Mood Kayo...the bar/nightclub genre as I identified it on the show back on February 27th.

According to J-Wiki, Mood Kayo supposedly originated from the late 1950s from musical interactions among native entertainers and members of the Occupation forces (mainly American forces), gradually moving to the nightclubs in the entertainment districts of the big cities such as Ginza and Akasaka in Tokyo. The dance music with its Latin, jazz and Hawaiian influences was observed to have generated a certain mood in those establishments thus the music gaining its genre name.

Mood Kayo was often but not always characterized by male groups with a lead vocalist and perhaps a backing chorus of three or four men. But there were also solo artists consisting of both men and women, notably with some pretty smoky voices. Moreover, another trait of the genre was that song titles frequently pinpointed a certain geographically famous area such as the aforementioned Ginza and Akasaka.

Of course, as I've said all along for this series, there are plenty of other examples from this genre that I couldn't get on here, and that includes a number of enka singers who have also dabbled into Mood Kayo from time to time.

from Amazon.jp

Sachiko Nishida（西田佐知子）-- Tokyo Blues （東京ブルース）and Akasaka no Yoru wa Fukete （赤坂の夜は更けて）

from Amazon.jp

Los Indios（ロス・インディオス）-- Como Esta Akasaka ?（コモエスタ赤坂）and Wakarete mo Suki na Hito （別れても好きな人）

from YouTube

Akira Kurosawa & Los Primos  (黒沢明とロス・プリモス）-- Love You, Tokyo (ラブユー東京）and Tasogare no Ginza (たそがれの銀座)

from Rakuten.co.jp

Frank Nagai （フランク永井）-- Tokyo Nightclub （東京ナイトクラブ）and Tokyo Gozen San-ji （東京午前三時）

From Amazon.jp

Mina Aoe（青江三奈）-- Isezakicho Blues （伊勢崎町ブルース）and Koukotsu no Blues （恍惚のブルース）

From YouTube

Hiroshi Uchiyamada and The Cool Five（内山田洋とクール・ファイブ）-- Nagasaki wa Kyou mo Ame Datta （長崎は今日も雨だった）and Soshite, Kobe （そして、神戸）

P.S. on Tokyo House Party: Enka Singers (Female)

 

First off, allow me to give a little bit of an explanation for both this article and the one that I did on the male enka singers last night for the Tokyo House Party label. I have left out the younger enka stars in the kayo sky such as Kiyoshi Hikawa（氷川きよし）and Kaori Mizumori（水森かおり）, and that's not to say that I don't like them. It's just that I was so focusing on the Showa Era veterans that I'd forgotten to include them and since I've already put in those male stars from that period of time, I may as well also focus on the female enka singers from that earlier time. But if you are interested in knowing about the more recent talent in that genre, let me know and I'll see if I can draw you to some of them.

Sayuri Ishikawa（石川さゆり） -- Tsugaru Kaikyo Fuyu Geshiki （津軽海峡・冬景色）and Amagi Goe （天城越え）

Hibari Misora（美空ひばり） -- Yawara (柔）and Kanashii Sake （悲しい酒）

Sachiko Kobayashi （小林幸子）-- Omoide Zake （おもいで酒）and Moshikashite Part 2 （もしかして・パート２）

Amazon.jp

Harumi Miyako（都はるみ）-- Kita no Yado Kara （北の宿から）and Suki ni Natta Hito （好きになった人）

Youtube.com

Keiko Fuji（藤圭子）-- Onna no Blues （女のブルース）and Shinjuku no Onna （新宿の女）

P.S. on Tokyo House Party: Enka Singers (Male)

 

Seeing that up to now, I've been taking care of all of the pop songs for the Tokyo House Party label over the past several days, it's now time to handle the genre of the most traditional heartfelt balladry. Namely, I'm talking about enka（演歌）with all of its sakura petals, heartfelt kobushi and Japanese instruments. I only gave a very bare bones assessment on last Saturday's livestream broadcast at "Tokyo House Party", so you can take a look at the Wikipedia description of the genre, and I can give you some of the main singers that have been representative of enka over the decades. I had initially thought that having the one article would be enough but I now believe that separating the topic into male and female articles was the right thing to do. Therefore, let's begin with the male singers.

Saburo Kitajima（北島三郎）-- Yosaku (与作）and Hakodate no Hito （函館の女）

Hiroshi Itsuki （五木ひろし）-- Furusato （ふるさと）and Omae to Futari （おまえとふたり）

Shinichi Mori （森進一）-- Erimo Misaki （襟裳岬）and Minato Machi Blues （港町ブルース）

Hachiro Kasuga （春日八郎）-- Rosario no Shima （ロザリオの島）and Nagasaki no Onna （長崎の女）

Hideo Murata (村田英雄) -- Osho (王将) and Hana to Ryu (花と竜)

Michiya Mihashi （三橋美智也）-- Kojou（古城）and Aishu Ressha (哀愁列車)

P.S. on Tokyo House Party: 1980s Singers, Part 4

 

Coming in from Part 3 yesterday, here is the continuation of a whole bunch of 1980s singers that you kayo newbies can try out like a new/used car.

Dreams Come True -- Ureshihazukashi Asagaeri (うれしはずかし朝帰り) and Ureshii! Tanoshii! Daisuki! （うれしい！たのしい！大好き！）

Jitterin' Jinn -- Nichiyoubi （にちようび）and Natsu Matsuri (夏祭り）

Omega Tribe -- Summer Suspicion and Kimi wa 1000% （君は１０００％）

Miki Imai（今井美樹）-- Natsu wo Kasanete （夏をかさねて）and Boogie Woogie Lonesome High Heel

Princess Princess -- Diamonds and M

Kome Kome Club（米米ＣＬＵＢ）-- Shake Hip! and Sure Danse

P.S. on Tokyo House Party: 1980s Singers, Part 3

 

Full disclosure...half of the singers featured here actually debuted in the 1970s and one of their songs actually in this list was released in 1979. However, the main point here anyways is to showcase some of the recommendations for people coming to "Kayo Kyoku Plus" for the first time who may be sampling the wares for the first time. Well, that's why I started up the Tokyo House Party label in the first place. I've done the aidoru portion for the 1980s and now I'm going to take care of pop singers in general for this decade today and tomorrow.

Anzen Chitai（安全地帯） -- Wine-Red no Kokoro （ワインレッドの心）and Koi no Yokan（恋の予感）

Yellow Magic Orchestra -- Rydeen (雷電）and Behind The Mask

Hiromi Iwasaki（岩崎宏美） -- Sumire Iro no Namida （すみれ色の涙）and Ieji (家路）

Toshiki Kadomatsu（角松敏生） -- Sea Line "Rie" and After 5 Crash

Anri（杏里） -- Surf City and Cat's Eye

EPO -- Girl In Me and DOWNTOWN

P.S. on Tokyo House Party: 1980s Singers, Part 2 (Late 1980s Aidoru)

 

Continuing on from yesterday's introduction of early 80s aidoru, I've got some of the late 80s aidoru here that newcomers can try out. As I was mentioning at "Tokyo House Party" last weekend, I think that there was a particular difference between the early 80s female teenybopper singers and their late 80s counterparts. In comparison with the fluffy-dressed summer song-singing aidoru including Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）and Kyoko Koizumi（小泉今日子）, the late 80s singers rather diverged into a couple of groups: 1) those who kept on the innocent theme but with lusher arrangements almost approaching that of baroque pop and 2) those who took on a slinkier dance-party theme. Again as has been the case with the previous Tokyo House Party entries thus far, this is not a complete list but it can be a start for those who want to explore what the aidoru scene was like back in the 1980s.

Hikaru Genji（光GENJI) -- Paradise Ginga (パラダイス銀河）and Glass no Juu-dai （ガラスの十代）

Miho Nakayama（中山美穂） -- C and Virgin Eyes

Onyanko Club（おニャン子クラブ）-- Sailor Fuku wo Nugasanaide （セーラー服を脱がさないで）and Jaa Ne （じゃあね）

Shizuka Kudo（工藤静香）-- Mugon Iroppoi (ＭＵＧＯ・ん　色っぽい）and Arashi no Sugao （嵐の素顔）

Yoko Oginome（荻野目洋子）-- Dancing Hero （ダンシング・ヒーロー）and Roppongi Junjouha （六本木純情派）

P.S. on Tokyo House Party: 1980s Singers, Part 1 (Early 1980s Aidoru)

 

The P.S. on Tokyo House Party series continues with the early 80s aidoru, so if you are interested in what kind of teenybopper singers were around in the pre-AKB days, take a gander at some of these folks. Enjoy the big hair!

Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子） -- Aoi Sangoshou （青い珊瑚礁）and Akai Sweet Pea (赤いスイートピー）

Akina Nakamori（中森明菜） -- Slow Motion (スローモーション）and Shojo A （少女Ａ）

Kyoko Koizumi（小泉今日子） -- Watashi no 16-sai (私の１６才）and Nantettatte Aidoru （なんてったってアイドル）

Masahiko Kondo（近藤真彦） -- Gingiragin ni Sarigenaku （ギンギラギンにさりげなく）and Blue Jeans Memory （ブルー・ジーンズ・メモリー）