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.
Singer-songwriter Tomoko Tane（種ともこ）has been someone that I hadn't heard in quite a long time. And commenter Robert B reminded me of her recently through a video that he'd found on YouTube. I remember first hearing her via her 1986 "Mermaid In Blue", the theme song for the anime "Sangosho Densetsu -- Aoi Umi no Elfie"（サンゴ礁伝説～青い海のエルフィ...Coral Reef Legend -- Elfie of the Blue Sea） and noticing her remarkable voice. Truly the voice of angels.
I was reminded of that voice through her performance of her June 1990 single"Mizu no Naka no Wakusei"(The Planet in the Water), and in fact, through Robert's introduction, it's the first time that I've been able to witness Tane performing in concert, so thanks to him for that. The song is so upbeat and hopeful that I'd thought that it must have been used for some sort of charity or anime, but as it turns out, it was used as a campaign song for a Denso air conditioner commercial. Considering the usual torrid heat and humidity in Japan in the summer, an air conditioner would probably provide the same sort of upbeat and hopeful feelings. And happily, it seems as if the nation may be finally cooling down for the autumn.
The original recorded version can be heard here at Nico Nico. By the way, the ad below is for Denso although it's not the one with "Mizu no Naka no Wakusei" and it was filmed all the way back in 1974.
To continue on from where I left off with Disc 1 of this special 2-CD compilation album based on Yokohama-themed songs, I'm covering Disc 2 of "Yokohama Fantasy". This time around, it was a little more difficult to track down some of the songs since once again I've covered a few of them already and others don't exist on YouTube. Also, I'd still like to write about at least one of the tracks through its own article. Well, without further ado then:
1. Bay Bridge Serenade -- Shogo Hamada (ベイ・ブリッジ・セレナーデ）
Shogo Hamada's（浜田省吾）"Bay Bridge Serenade" is an acapella ballad with him and the rest of the guys about a fellow taking that long lonely drive in the middle of the night and then stopping on Yokohama Bay Bridge to look at the bright lights and big city. Hamada's lyrics (he also composed the music) give the impression that the poor guy is about to give up on that lady love of his and move on with the rest of his life. But dang, if he's not going to make that final night one big beautiful doo-wop of a song.
"Bay Bridge Serenade" was a track on his September 1993 album"Sono Eien no Ichi Byo ni"（その永遠の一秒に 〜The Moment Of The Moment〜）which hit No. 1 on Oricon and quickly ended up as the 13th-ranked release of the year. By 1996, it had racked up a little over 895,000 copies in sale.
Then we have singer-songwriter Makoto Saito's（斎藤誠）"Yokohama" from his February 2002 album"Careless Memories" which is a very pretty love song. It's solidly in the pop vein and with the strings and Saito's guitar both in the arrangement, "Yokohama" can both take place in a rooftop restaurant or in front of a beach campfire although the instrumental bridge kicks things up a notch into the stratosphere.
One other track that I'll be profiling here is one that I'd already noted back in the article for Disc 1. This is singer-songwriter Tomoko Tane's（種ともこ）own version of the classic kayo "Blue Light Yokohama"as originally done by Ayumi Ishida（いしだあゆみ）back in 1968. I'd already provided another article on a cover of the song recently through former Speed member Takako Uehara（上原多香子）in 2004.
According to the J-Wiki article on "Yokohama Fantasy", Tane had released a couple of her takes on "Blue Light Yokohama" in 1991 with the first being a single version that I don't think I can find on YouTube. Perhaps that was the more straight-ahead version since the one that is included in the 2004 compilation and Tane's September 1991 album"Kiss of Life" is known as the Ambient version. And indeed, it is a pretty chill-out take with its own rearrangement by Yasuharu Konishi（小西康陽）. In fact, next to Konishi's contribution, his other partner from Pizzicato Five, the divine Ms. Maki Nomiya（野宮真貴）, gives an introductory narration of the eventual end of a romance in the port city.
To be honest, when I first heard this version, I did go "Huh?!" but that was more me initially getting all old-fogey about it, but now that I've heard Tane's cover a few times, it's settling in much more nicely now. In any case, if you do get a chance, be a little more ambitious as a tourist and cover even more of Yokohama than I have.
The impression that I have about singer-songwriter Masamichi Sugi（杉真理）is that he's probably one of those folks who really enjoys setting up parties of all sorts ranging from the Xmas ones to the traditional year-enders in Japan, and I think that affinity probably transferred over to musical collaborations looking at his J-Wiki file. Seven years ago, nikala wrote about one such get-together featuring him and his fellow Sony stars including Yoshitaka Minami（南佳孝）and Kaoru Sudo（須藤薫）under the umbrella name of Pops All Stars to do a Xmas thing called "Yellow Christmas" via the "Winter Lounge" album from November 1986. I was reminded of the song recently from talks with Rocket Brown of "Come Along Radio" and Scott of his own J-Xmas podcast.
Well, just by luck last night, my YouTube browsings took me to the video for another Pops All Stars session called "Holiday Company", this time taking place several months later through "Summer Lounge" which was released in June 1987. With a slightly different and more expanded lineup consisting of the aforementioned Sugi, Minami and Sudo, along with vocal group Hi-Fi Set（ハイ・ファイ・セット）, rock band Princess Princess（プリンセスプリンセス）, singer-songwriter Tomoko Tane（種ともこ）, violinist Toshihiro Nakanishi（中西俊博）and singer-songwriter Seishiro Kusunose（楠瀬誠志郎）, this "Avengers" band of pop singers takes on Sugi's arrangement of hints of Steely Dan here and crashing synths there and even some doo-wop for some desire of fun-in-the-sun vacationing.
The video for "Holiday Company" also has the crew hamming it up as the most congenial corporate section getting ready for that annual company trip (with all of the typical cornball entertainment activities) on a yakata bune cruising down what I think is the Sumida River in Tokyo. I'm just trying to imagine Hi-Fi Set and Princess Princess boogying down in the same video while Minami is about as relaxed as I've ever seen him.
It also appears that Sugi kept the good times going for some years with a number of multi-singer projects going into the late 1990s. Once COVID is finally over, I can imagine that a lot of corporate sections will be more than happy to get into the party mood.
Indeed, it's been quite a few years since singer-songwriterTomoko Tane（種ともこ）has been back up in the annals of "Kayo Kyoku Plus". Going over her epic "Mermaid in Blue" yesterday rather reminded me that I ought to include her again.
For the comments under "Mermaid in Blue", nikala and I were chatting about the fact that Tane had also created some happy-go-lucky tunes. One that I discovered was her self-penned debut single"You're The One" from December 1985. The actual music video for that song has a distinct introduction in that Tane herself provides a brief story in English on how her family first earned that family name in the form of a children's tale in a "Momotaro" style.
Then "You're The One" has her bouncing around and singing in a manner that reminds me of the super-genki EPO and Misato Watanabe（渡辺美里）, an observation that I also said to nikala in the comments. Seeing the scenes of her on stage, I got nostalgic and said to myself that yep, they actually dressed up that way over 30 years ago.
According to J-Wiki, "You're The One" was used as the campaign song for All Nippon Airways Ski Tours.
I'm not quite sure how the song got onto one of my ancient audiotapes, but I've remembered the refrain from Tomoko Tane's（種ともこ）"Mermaid In Blue" although I didn't know that it was the theme for the anime, "Sangosho Densetsu -- Aoi Umi no Elfie"（サンゴ礁伝説～青い海のエルフィ...Coral Reef Legend -- Elfie of the Blue Sea） back in the mid-80s. From what I've seen of the excerpt above, those submariners must have had a grand time on those adaptable jet-skis.
Tane released her song as her 2nd single from May 1986, and even without the anime knowledge, I immediately got this image of a fantastical underwater kingdom just from her vocals and the melody. "Mermaid In Blue" just has that sparkling quality about it, and reading the other articles of her songs by nikala pretty much cemented my impression that Tane is quite a unique pop singer. Usually when I go and see a movie, it's to escape for a few hours. This song also has that escapist quality....perhaps it's just for 4 minutes, but often that is enough to get into a nice headspace.
Happy New Year, everyone! After JTM's, Marcos', and J-Canuck's
great entries on what they consider the best of the best in 80's Japanese
music, it's time for me to offer my take. To be honest, I've never
earnestly thought about such a list before because I liked talking about songs I enjoy on their own without isolating others. But given the occasion and everyone's enthusiasm for this project, I gave it a go. Picking out only 10 songs
from the hundreds and thousands that go through my ears on a regular
basis wasn't an easy task for sure, so I reflected on what obstacles
I used to face with making rankings and decided that my Top 10 list
would focus on songs that remained fresh and memorable to me even
after multiple listens and those that basically influenced my taste
in old Japanese music as I grew up with it from a preteen into an adult.
This ended up sounding similar to J-Canuck's criteria, but at the end
of the day, music is personal and so are rankings.
Moreover and to spare further
headaches, I decided to avoid ranking these from least to most
favorite. So the order in which I listed these songs doesn't matter,
since they're all equally special to me for their own unique reasons.
1. Off Course -- Kotoba ni Dekinai [オフコース -- 言葉にできない] (1982)
There isn't a single ballad out there
that makes a bigger emotional impact on me than this one. With its
resonant melody and Kazumasa Oda's heartfelt vocals, it's one of the
most genuine love songs dealing with heartbreak. Some emotions don't
require words, just like the “la la la”s that ring throughout the
refrain. I first heard Oda's remake in a 2006 film “Tegami”, and
from then on I sought other songs by the singer and the early 80's
pop scene that the song belonged to. I was never a fan of ballads up
to that point, yet “Kotoba ni Dekinai” alone changed that
mindset. That's why it's so important to me.
There were tons of candidates for my top technopop song, but Yano's quirky and sweet “Hitotsudake”
just had to be the one. That melody cannot be mistaken for any other,
and the technopoppy synths that build up in the bridge and drive it
towards the chorus give this happy-go-lucky song a nice edge. I can't help but smile whenever I listen to it. It reminds me of my best friendships and long-lasting bonds. While it was
not the first time YMO contributed to Yano's solo material, I think
“Hitotsudake” and the whole “Gohan ga Dekita yo” album was when the quality of their work was at its height. It was also the first technopop song I liked before warming up to YMO's individual sound.
3. Minako Yoshida -- Town [吉田美奈子 -- TOWN] (1982)
Whenever I think of City Pop, this song
always pops up in my head. Right from that multilayered urban sound
containing some of the most thrilling bass, drumming and horns I've
ever heard, it proudly declares “This is a big city!”. Yoshida may
not be someone who sells many records, but she definitely has a lot
of talent and has proven to be one of Japan's greatest R&B and funk artists. It's interesting to note that only about half of
the song features her singing, while the rest goes into an epic
instrumental rampage that brings to mind a sleepless city. And I never want it to end.
For pop-rock I've decided to nominate
Sano's bluesy ballad “Heartbeat”. The live arrangement featured
above is the one that particularly strikes me. Must be the tingly
synths right before the chorus. Love everything about this song: the introspective melody, emotional saxophone, Sano's
tough yet vulnerable delivery, and the harmonica that closes the
piece with a melancholic mood. Sano has intrigued the listeners
with his talent and versatility over the years, and this song was one
of the earliest examples of that. I always have to stop what I'm
doing and focus whenever this comes on my mp3 player, and this has already happened many times.
I've been a fan of Japanese New Wave
for nearly 10 years now, always thinking back to Moonriders and how
they furthered my interest in Japanese music as a creative force of
its own. This song just works as it crosses many genre boundaries
like folk, pop and doo-wop while remaining perfectly structured and
melodic at the same time. That's basically my formula for a great
song: adventurous but easy to follow. Moonriders were one of the
first artists to show me that (before I came across New Music and City Pop). This is one of those songs that you
can come back to again and again and still pick out interesting
details. And there's that eccentric wonder to the melody that I've
found inspirational for some reason.
Somewhat related to Eiichi Ohtaki's
sudden passing last month, Moonriders' drummerTetsuro Kashibuchi (かしぶち哲郎) lost battle to esophageal cancer on December 17th. What a way to end the year.
6. Tomoko Tane -- Katakoi Doumei [種ともこ -- 片恋同盟] (1986)
“Katakoi Doumei” may not have been
a single, but it was surely the most impressive highlight in Tane's
second album “Minna Ai no Sei ne.” and my personal favorite from
her catalogue. It's both dynamic and ethereal at the same time, kind of
like an action-packed children's story book. The way Tane switches between
the titular and secondary lyrics in the chorus as the background rhythm beats
like a clock is just wonderful, and there's a beautiful twist to
the melody in the center of the song. Whoever came up with that synth
arrangement was clever in making an ordinary tune into something
more.
7. Rebecca -- One More Kiss (1988)
I was never a big fan of Rebecca minus some songs, but this one is simply delightful. It's hard for
me to find words to describe how beautiful it
is. And even with the
nostalgic sound, it remains timeless at the same time. Growing
up in the 90's, I first only enjoyed 80's music for its novelty factor, but hearing songs like sparked my interest even further. Then I realized they don't really make music like this anymore. I particularly enjoyed the slight reggae touch to the
arrangement in the verses and instrumental bits. Also,
Nokko's vocals in the song strike a nice balance between sweet and sensual, something that appeals to me.
Hats off to the video director for providing all the gorgeous visuals and
making the song even more special.
Shortie but a goodie. There have been a
mini-trend in the 80's of reviving the sounds of the 50's and 60's
thanks to acts such as The Checkers and Ohtaki. Not to take anything
from them, but I have to say that Matsuo's debut single “Itoshi no
Rosie” will always be my favorite when it comes to these retro throwbacks. Matsuo originally started off as a member of a British-style pop/techno group Cinema in 1981 before he went solo and polished
the old style even further. His debut single is full of charming
instrumentation especially the drum beat and percussions which I've gotten quite
addicted to. And even though the lyrics are kinda cheesy, I think the eclectic
arrangement makes up for it. The song just “sparkles”, for the
lack of a better word.
9. Mari Iijima -- Ai Oboetemasuka [飯島真理 -- 愛・おぼえていますか] (1984)
I apologize for a slight overlap with
JTM's list, but as far as 80's idol pop goes, Iijima's
signature song will always be the most memorable for me and not
because of its connection with “Macross”, which I never watched.
For me, Iijima has always stood out from the crowd thanks to her unique high vocals and in this one she sounds more beautiful then ever. And let's not forget Kazuhiko Kato's chill-inducing melody. This is basically my go-to track for reminiscing the good old days.
(15:25)
10. Yoshitaka Minami -- Jules et Jim /
Totsuzen, Honoo no Gotoku [南佳孝 -- 突然炎のごとく] (1986)
Last but not least, Minami's mysterious
jazzy number from his excellent album “Last Picture Show”
provides a perfect soundtrack for those late-night walks to my
apartment I have to take on a regular basis. I particular enjoy the surreal foggy ambience created by the fusion between the haunting synths and
strings in the foreground and the muted trumpet in the background.
Minami's relaxed yet sharp vocals glide with the music seamlessly. Not surprisingly, the title and the music were based on
Francois Truffaut's New Wave classic “Jules et Jim”, and there's
certainly a sense of the film's elegant setting guiding the melody. It's a masterfully crafted track, in my opinion.
So that's it. There were many strong candidates that
had to be pushed aside, so I hope to give them their own recognition in more genre-specific rankings which I plan to do later. It sure does feel strange to narrow down
a decade-worth of good music to a tiny list like this, but it was an educational experience nonetheless. Most of these may not have been successful on Oricon and
some weren't even singles, but they're still great tracks in my book.
I tried to make this list as diverse as possible, but I must say that
I only take punk and avant-garde in small doses and still have a long way to go with rock in general, so I stuck with poppier material which I'm more comfortable writing about. Perhaps we'll get a new contributor in the future who is an expert on those?
Didn't exactly plan to cover a Christmas song for my first entry on Tomoko Tane (種ともこ), but hey, it is that time of the year. I first came across herin winter 2012 through the video for "AiAi", and my impression of her after listening to various songs was that her niche fell somewhere in between the casual fun pop of Mariko Nagai and the more ethereal aural landscapes captured by Mimori Yusa. Tane's debut, however, precedes both of theirs while her first album "Issho ni, ne." (いっしょに、ねっ。) was definitely influenced by Akiko Yano. And her personality and delivery in those days was adorably goofy and quirky: definitely something I identify with. Her recent music since the turn of the millennium has become acoustic pop and her voice sharp like a dagger. She was always a good singer and songwriter, but it's interesting to listen to her discography chronologically and see how she has grown.
"X'mas", which appears on her 1990 album "Ongaku" (音楽), is one of the tracks that marked Tane's move in that new direction, although there's still some silliness left in some other songs. As far as Christmas songs go, this one is neither a party type nor an introspective folksy piece, but guitar-driven pop that evokes that old-fashioned festiveness in the background while the singer indulges in loneliness on the inside. I found it quite picturesque with the dramatic drumming and some Irish folk in the middle. Kinda like being captivated by the best Christmas illuminations in the city. Whatever your impression is, it's certainly a special song that brings out the magical side of the Christmas season.
