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.
Showing posts with label Tsuzuru Nakasato. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tsuzuru Nakasato. Show all posts
Commenter Robert B. informed me of a kayo singer that he enjoyed by the name of Masami Urabe（浦部雅美）. He asked if I had heard of her before but I couldn't say I did. However, that family name reminded me of our family's old insurance agent since she had the same last name.
In any case, there's no J-Wiki file on Urabe but we've been able to glean some information about her. For instance, according to Discogs, she was born on Christmas Eve 1959 and hails from Abashiri, Hokkaido. At the very least, she did release seven singles and two albums between 1977 and 1982.
Her debut single from September 1976, "Sukoshi Tōde wo Shitemimasen ka"(How About Taking a Short Trip?) is a friendly country kayo kyoku which seems to follow the rhythmic pattern of John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Road", one of the most well-known non-Japanese pop songs of all time in Japan. Written by Tsuzuru Nakasato（森田公一）and composed/arranged by Koichi Morita（森田公一）, Urabe sings about inviting the boyfriend for a nice little journey somewhere to get some fresh air and perhaps some fresher love. The Hokkaido lass has a pleasantly deeper voice which reminds me a tad of the vocals of Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵）.
Back in September this year, I posted an APB for Neff for a group of Chinese-language covers of Japanese and Western songs. Basically, the mystery was solved and that included the final song of the compilation whose original version was "Tabi ni Detai" (I Want to Go on a Trip). What I hadn't realized at the time was that I had already written about it through Kyo Nishimura's（西村協）1982 cover of the song. I did realize that the windmills of my mind were getting a little tattered.
Mind you, although I did give my brief two cents' worth of the original song by folk singer-songwriter Masamitsu Tayama（田山雅充）and another cover version in the aftermath of the APB, I figured that both should get their own article so I've got them both here. Starting with Tayama's "Tabi ni Detai" which was the final track of his May 1977 album"Kouyou"（紅葉...Autumn Colours）, it's a truly folksy introspective number with that acoustic guitar as Tayama sings about taking those close to him to pleasant places outside the city such as that tiny seaside town or a small forested hill, thanks to Tsuzuru Nakasato's（中里綴）lyrics.
In January 1978, the late Yoko Kishi（岸洋子）released her cover version of "Tabi ni Detai" as her 14th single. This version has a more conventional kayo arrangement including those silky strings and what sounds like a harpsichord.
Things are getting chillier up here in the Northern Hemisphere so folks are probably hitting the nearest cafe for their lattes and apple strudel. Maybe get together with a few friends for a kaffeeklatsch while surrounded by the final vestiges of the autumn colours.
For a musical representation of this, I can provide "Moshikashitara" (Maybe) by the lovely Mariko Takahashi（高橋真梨子）from her February 1980 album "Sunny Afternoon". Written by Tsuzuru Nakasato（中里綴）and composed by Yasuhiro Kido（木戸やすひろ）, it's quite the warm and folksy country ditty about accepting love for what it practically means: not always happy but something that also includes bad times and forgiveness. Nice thing to think about as we approach the Holidays. Takahashi always does the country music wonderfully.
Heck of a photo from "Myojo"（明星）that I picked for this Chiemi Hori（堀ちえみ）article, and it's been almost three years since the 80s aidoruhas been back on the KKP byline. It's definitely wintry in the picture but when I woke up this morning, the temperature was only entertaining one lonely degree Celsius out there with a wind chill factor of -5 degrees. Nope, we're still far away from summer.
And yet, we are talking about Hori's sophomore single"Manatsu no Shojo"(Midsummer Girl) released on the first day of summer 1982. Written by Tsuzuru Nakazato（中里綴） and composed/arranged by Shigeru Suzuki（鈴木茂）, it certainly feels summery with some intriguing key changes worthy of Yumi Matsutoya（松任谷由実）. It sounds as bright and happy as the titular lass who is ready to greet the summer day with lots of brio. However, I've awoken to plenty of summer days in Japan, and I know that I was never ever anywhere near as fresh as her. I gobbled down my orange juice like a ragged man coming out of a desert. Needed a morning shower, too.😖
In any case, Hori's single peaked at No. 26 on Oricon. It's also available as a track on her 2nd album"Yume Nikki"（夢日記...Dream Diary） which came out in November 1982.
For those viewers of anime from way back, there was the 1980s "Miyuki"（みゆき）starring a pre-aidoru Yoko Oginome（荻野目洋子）as the main character. As well, the show was also well known for folk-pop duo H2O's contributions to the theme songs with the opener "10% no Ame Yohou" (１０％の雨予報）and then the two ending themes "Omoide ga Ippai"（思い出がいっぱい）and "Goodbye Season"（Goodbye シーズン）. "Omoide ga Ippai" has gone on to become one of the evergreen representatives of graduation-themed tunes.
Well, in between the two H2O enders, there was a second ending theme which showed up on the TV screen for a period of several weeks. Titled "Summer Holiday", this was sung by Michiko Kawai（河合美智子） as a seasonally-reflective romantic number and its old-fashioned standard-style arrangement had me thinking of early Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）and Kaoru Sudo（須藤薫）. Thanks to Masahiko Yoshida's（吉田雅彦）melody and Katsu Hoshi's（星勝）arrangement, it's so Beach-Blanket-Bingo tenderhearted that I can sink a fork into the song and take out slices. Tsuzuru Nakasato（中里綴）was responsible for the lyrics, and for Kawai, this was her 2nd single from July 1983.
It's a warm and sunny Sunday out there so perhaps something folksy and relaxing would be nice. I found this folk song by singer-songwriter Masamitsu Tayama（田山雅充）. His third single from October 1976, "Ai Suru Koto kara Hajimetemimasen ka" (Why Not Start by Being in Love?) is quite the warm-hearted tune with the strings and a psychedelic rock guitar that was used as the theme for the TBS drama "Shiroi Himitsu"（白い秘密...White Secret）, broadcast that same year. Tayama was the composer while Tsuzuru Nakasato（中里綴）and Motoki Funayama（船山基紀）were the lyricist and arranger respectively.
The Tokyo-born Tayama had his first taste of show business when he had a role in the cast for the monster movie "Mothra" back in 1961 as a child. During high school, Tayama got into music as a vocalist and a drummer in a rock band. Some years later, he started writing songs, even a few enka ones, as an employee of lyricist Kazuya Senke's（千家和也）company.
As a singer, he joined up with the vocal group Akai Hana（赤い花）in 1974 as its main vocalist and then formed a duo known as Tayama to Yuuko（たやまと夕子）from which a single and an album were released. His solo debut began in 1976 with three singles coming out including this article's song. He would release a total of eight singles up to 1982 with three albums hitting the record store shelves in 1976 and 1977. Almost all of his singles were created from that triumvirate of Tayama, Nakasato and Funayama.
In 2015, Tayama moved out to a small area in Tokushima Prefecture, and recruiting some local amateur musicians, he began a series of live street performances on Sundays at the local historical site.
It's finally feeling like a decent spring day out there after several days of chilly snaps and wet weather. Hopefully, Sunday has been a decent one for you as well.
Shizue Abe's（あべ静江）"Yurameki"(Fluttering) was her 11th single, released in February 1977. I first heard it when I was watching an old episode of "Yoru no Hit Studio"（夜のヒットスタジオ）the other day and the singer made her appearance. Written by Jiro Sugita（杉田二郎）and composed by Tsuzuru Nakasato（中里綴）, it doesn't quite have the impactful percussion that started off her classic hit, "Coffee Shop de"（コーヒーショップで）from 1973, but the 1970s kayo sweetness with a pinch of uncertainty are there. Abe sings about a couple holding onto dear life figuratively as they wonder about the fragility of love during one sunset. Y'know...investing in some life insurance can take the edge off a bit.
Not sure how it did on Oricon but may I say that it was a cute touch to have the fan blowing in Abe's "Yoru no Hit Studio" footage above. Anyways, I finally decided to put this one up after catching that scene of Ethan and Ilsa having one last tender moment in "Mission: Impossible ~ Dead Reckoning Part 1" (I've been going over some of the scenes recently). Talk about the fragility of love!
What you're looking at above is the view from the automated Yurikamome transit line in Tokyo beginning from Shimbashi Station. Quite a lot of folks have probably seen it in action on YouTube since night footage has been included in those City Pop videos. I've been on it many times before to head over to Odaiba.
Perhaps the thumbnail isn't the most appropriate for this song titled "Chikatetsu Fantasia" (Subway Fantasia) by the short-lived aidoru duo Cupid（キューピット）since the Yurikamome operates above ground. But anyways, from what I could scrounge from their J-Wiki and "idol.ne.jp" entries, they were twin sisters Emiko and Yumiko Izumiyama（泉山恵美子・泉山由美子）from Shizuoka Prefecture. Called Emi and Yumi (hmmm...sounds familiar), they made their debut in 1978 and released five singles up to the end of 1979.
"Chikatetsu Fantasia" was their 3rd single from April 1979 with Akira Ito（伊藤アキラ）on lyrics and Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）handling both melody and arrangement. It's quite the spirited aidoru tune with warp-speed strings and an intriguing guitar plucking away, although those lyrics relate the sad story of romantic heartbreak at a subway station. Also notable is that the Izumiyama sisters sang in a slightly lower register.
Speaking of that debut, Cupid's first single was "Ai no Duet"(Duet of Love) released in September 1978. If that song sounds similar to you, I guess "Grease" is the word. It's a cover version of "You're the One That I Want" originally performed by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John for the cinematic adaptation of the musical. Tsuzuru Nakasato（中里綴）wrote the Japanese lyrics over John Farrar's original melody. The song was used for a lotion commercial.
Hello, Monday! It's hard to believe that we'll be heading into October from this weekend but here we are.
I had never heard of Kyo Nishimura（西村協）, but I came across some of his music recently on YouTube and thought it would be nice to share. According to his (currently dormant) website (nothing about him on J-Wiki), he is a singer who arose from the Glee Men（グリーメン）, a folk chorus club at Meiji Gakuin University in 1969 with a song called "Koi Shitara"（恋したら...When You Fall in Love）, created by lyricist Osamu Kitayama（北山修）and composer Kazuhiko Kato（加藤和彦）. In the 1970s, he apparently was a part of the legendary ereki guitar band Takeshi Terauchi & Blue Jeans（寺内タケシとブルージーンズ）as a percussionist although I couldn't find any proof of that on the J-Wiki profile of the band; I had to find it at a website called White Rock.
His website states that he has been a jazz singer for the past few decades but there's nothing on his earlier discography. But I do know that he did release at least two singles as a solo artist in the 1980s with one of them being "Tabi ni Detai"(I Want to Go on a Trip). Composed by Masamitsu Tayama（田山雅充）, written by Tsuzuru Nakasato（中里綴）and arranged by Makoto Kawaguchi（川口真）, "Tabi ni Detai" was released in 1982 but it seems like a gentle throwback to the folksy kayo of the 1970s, reminding me of acts such as Kaguyahime（かぐや姫）and Karyudo（狩人）. I couldn't find Tayama's lyrics, but the overall feeling and that title make me want to think that it's another wistful account of someone traveling to the regional areas of Japan to forget a now-former romance.
(Sorry but the video has been taken down.)
The B-side of "Tabi ni Detai" is "Natsu no Owari ni"(At the End of Summer), and it's also a pretty wistful tune. However, although this song was also created by Tayama and Nakasato, the arrangement here is by Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）and it's done more like a Fashion Music (Japanese Baroque pop) tune with those strings and a sensation of something classical. If there is a trip to be done here, it's most likely somewhere in Europe.
When I was checking Twitter before noon today, I saw that City Pop maestro Van Paugam had posted up a letter from Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）to her fans. You can see that letter above this paragraph, and I will now attempt to translate it.
To all of the fans who have always supported me:
I'm terribly sorry for making you worry all this time. Although it's been baby steps, I've been recovering, so at this time, I'd like to write this letter.
This year, 2022, is my 40th anniversary since my debut, and in commemoration of that, I've been looking at doing something while facing my own health, but I can't say that I'm at the peak of health just yet.
I think that it's going to take time, but I would like to take those steps forward, so I hope that you can somehow look out for me.
Additionally, in preparations to start again, I'd like to announce that I have established a new private office. Any new information will come from this new website: akinanakamoriofficial.com.
I apologize for this arbitrary notice and I hope that I can somehow ask for your support.
August 30, 2022
Akina Nakamori
Several weeks ago, fellow KKP co-administrator and fellow Akina fan Larry Chan were discussing on her health and her whereabouts. At this point, it seems that no one, even her family, may know where she is. But at least Larry and I and Van hope that wherever she is residing, she is indeed getting better and she will be leading a happier life going forward.
Also, I'd like to thank Larry once more for providing the annual Akina article this time around back on her birthday on July 13th. I figured that perhaps a new fresh outlook was good when it came to any more insight regarding the singer and actress.
I didn't want to finish the article without leaving an Akina song and initially, I had been thinking about writing on the B-side for her very first single in May 1982"Slow Motion"（スローモーション）,"Jouken Hansha"（条件反射）. Alas, I had already written about it.
Well for Take 2, I opted for the B-side for her second single from July of that year, the rock-filled "Shojo A"（少女A）. That B-side is "Yume Handan" (Dream Decision) and it was created by lyricist Tsuzuru Nakasato（中里綴）and composer Noboru Mimuro（三室のぼる）, the same duo behind "Jouken Hansha". Not surprisingly then, "Yume Handan" has that jangly and jagged arrangement (provided by Mitsuo Hagita/萩田光雄) that was provided to "Jouken Hansha" and that characterized some of Akina's early songs as rebellious teen aidoru rock.
My earliest information on Nakamori regarded the then 16 or 17-year-old blooming aidoru as the second coming of Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵）from the 1970s. At the time, I was still new to the whole kayo kyoku thing so I wasn't quite sure what the insight was, but after years of listening to both singers in their prime decades and reading about their lives and careers, I finally realized that Nakamori, like Yamaguchi, was being seen as the misunderstood teen girl with an attitude who widened eyes and raised eyebrows by singing some fairly raunchy lyrics for a lass in a sailor-suit uniform. "Yume Handan" struck me that way as Nakazato's words describe a pretty hot-and-heavy tryst the night before that may have happened in reality or in a dream. The protagonist is still too woozy to decide for sure. We'll see if the aroma of brewing coffee is the trigger.
Yup, "Yume Handan" is another one of those rock n' roll tunes that I knew Akina for in her early years, but that jangly yet smooth electric guitar really stands out next to the singer's ardent vocals.
The above photo shows off a little side street in the Koedo district of Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture. The area is just like the Kanto region's little piece of Kyoto, although the house on the right gives the show away. I wouldn't mind returning there again the next time I'm back in Tokyo and maybe if things go well for both Canada and Japan, I can get back in about a year.
Here is a song from the vocal trio Hi-Fi Set（ハイ・ファイ・セット）, "Sukoshi dake Mawari Michi"(Just a Little Detour), their 11th single from April 1978 and a track on their 5th album"Swing" which came out a couple of months later. A mid-tempo number of remembrance of a romance past, a fellow finds himself in an old familiar area where he and an old flame used to walk. He's gotten over the stages of heartbreak and regret and now views the old times and that pathway as fond nostalgia.
Written by Machiko Ryu and Tsuzuru Nakasato（竜真知子・中里綴）, the music was created by Tadao Inoue（井上忠夫）, formerly of the Group Sounds bandJackey Yoshikawa & His Blue Comets（ジャッキー吉川とブルーコメツツ）, and this was his real name before he decided to switch to the stage name of Daisuke Inoue（井上大輔）. Kentaro Haneda（羽田健太郎）was responsible for the arrangement. I'm not sure if that is a sitar that introduces the song but listening to it, I'm reminded of some of the Motown soul from earlier in the decade. Then there is also the delicate harp that also brings us into the light vocals of Junko Yamamoto（山本潤子）with Shigeru Okawa（大川茂）and Toshihiko Yamamoto（山本俊彦）backing her up, and the light and cheerful rhythm which illustrates the happier state of mind of that fellow.
Up to now, it's just been the one song represented on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" for Shoko Minami（南翔子）, "Nakimane"（泣きまね）from 1986, and of course, being the only song that I've associated with her, it can be easy for me to assume that this was her influential debut single.
However, that wasn't the case at all. Minami debuted in late 1984 with a single and an album, with the latter being titled "Shoko Fantasy"（翔子ファンタジー）released in October. It looks like for now, I'm going to be associating the singer with love ballads since the final track of the album that I'm going to feature here is another romantic slow number titled "Hikareteku..."(Charmed...).
I'd say that the cover of "Shoko Fantasy" would be the ideal setting for "Hikareteku...", and Minami does a wonderful performance of the song with her pure high tones. Written by Tsuzuru Nakasato（中里繼）, composed by Tsunehiro Izumi（和泉常寛）and arranged by Kimio Mizutani（水谷公生）, it seems to be the ideal ballad to walk along a beach by...and then for one-half of the couple to suddenly get on one knee to present the ring. I also think the nice thing about "Hikareteku..." is that it doesn't have all of those bells and whistles...or epic strings and electric guitar...to hammer it home that there are two people majorly in love. Not that those epic ballads are bad, but it's nice to hear from time to time, a love song that is kept simple in arrangement and focuses on a good voice.
For a long time, I had known about the actress Ayumi Ishida（いしだあゆみ）on television but didn't realize that she was a singer, and certainly I was surprised to find out that it was her vocals that graced the classic Mood Kayo"Blue Light Yokohama"（ブルーライト・ヨコハマ）. Since that realization and my creation of the blog, I've been paying more attention to her hitherto unknown discography.
Currently, I'm having the same experience with actress, TV personality and singer Ayako Sawada（沢田亜矢子）. She was another presence that I used to see in dramas and commercials for years on Japanese TV, and I have just read that she used to be one of the first co-hosts of the NTV morning talk-variety show "Look Look Konnichiwa"（ルックルックこんにちは）.
Well, I've also learned the fact that she also had spent her time as a singer for nearly a decade between 1973 and 1982. In fact, according to a 1973 issue of "Heibon Punch"（平凡パンチ）via J-Wiki, Sawada was drawn into show business at the age of 23 when she had been scouted while playing piano in a bar at the Takanawa Prince Hotel in Tokyo as a part-time job.
Though her first two singles came out in 1973 in short order, it would be about four more years before her 3rd single was released in May 1977. That was "Michinori" (Limits of the Journey[?]), a slightly melancholy kayo with strings and horns sung beautifully by Sawada. Written by Masami Sugiyama（杉山政美）and composed by Kantaro Yamamoto（山本寛太郎）with arrangement by Katsuhisa Hattori（服部克久）, I wasn't able to find the lyrics online but from the sad but seemingly never-give-up beat, I can only imagine that it's about someone getting on with life despite a setback, romantic or otherwise. The song was also the opening theme for a drama that had Sawada in the cast, "Sasurai no Tabiji"（さすらいの旅路...Wandering Journey）.
Strangely enough, though, the very first time that I heard an Ayako Sawada song was through my recent purchase of a CD from the "Light Mellow" series. In "Wing", I found an example where she had jumped on board the City Pop bandwagon originally through the B-side of her 7th single"Dance ni Muchuu"（ダンスに夢中...In Love with Dancing） from 1981. Titled "Air Pocket", I'm not surprised that this had been welcomed into the "Light Mellow" series since those two words describe "Air Pocket" to a T. It has that summery saunter to it including a nice guitar solo. Tsuzuru Nakasato（中里綴）wrote the lyrics of enjoying that City Pop life in which there is even a quick shoutout to Boz Scaggs. Junichi Kamiyama（神山純一）took care of the lightly bouncy music. Both A and B sides were also on her 2nd album from 1981, "Silky Night Sawada Ayako First Album" （Silky Night 沢田亜矢子ファーストアルバム）. I gather that the "First Album" naming was due to that this was not only her inaugural release for Crown Records but it was also her first album in nine years since her debut album in 1973 for RCA Victor.
P.S. Her daughter, Kaori Sawada（澤田かおり）, is a singer-songwriter as well, and you can take a look at one of her songs.
It's July 12th here in Eastern Canada but it's already July 13th in Japan....which means that it's Akina Nakamori's（中森明菜）birthday! 😃 So, lets first have the gang from "Sesame Street" fulfill the festivities here.
OK, now as such, I think today is an appropriate day for me to present Akina-chan's 2nd album"Variation ~ Hensoukyoku", and as was the case with her debut album, "Prologue ~ Jomaku"（プロローグ〈序幕〉）, that latter Japanese term is just the translation of the former word. "Variation" was released in late October 1982, a little less than 4 months after "Prologue", and as the title for the 2nd album would have it, it's been praised by a book called "Hotwax Presents Kayo Kyoku Meikyoku Meiban Guide 1980s"（Hotwax presents 歌謡曲 名曲名盤ガイド 1980's...Hotwax presents Famous Songs and Recordings Guide 1980s ）for having some more variation in the song stylings due to the different songwriters at work here along with the singer's progress in her abilities.
Three of the tracks have already been covered in "Kayo Kyoku Plus", the hit single teen rock "Shojo A"（少女Ａ）, the City Pop"Yokohama A-KU-MA"（ヨコハマA・KU・MA）and another urban contemporary tune "Aishuu Majutsu"（哀愁魔術）.
"Variation" is book-ended by some dramatic strings by Kei Wakakusa (若草恵...who helped arranged the album along with Mitsuo Hagita/萩田光雄), and the album then starts off with the wild and woolly "Cancel!"（キャンセル！）which has some similarity to "Shojo A" in that it's got that teen rock sensibility with the fast beat and the wailing guitar. Composed by Kazuhiko Izu（伊豆一彦）, the lyrics are provided by Masao Urino（売野雅勇）, the same guy behind "Shojo A", as Akina plans to drop a phony of a beau like an anchor.
The following track is "Moroi Gogo"（脆い午後...Sentimental Afternoon） has a couple taking a secret trip to Kyoto. It's a wistful mid-tempo song characterized by those strings that seemed to have accompanied many an Akina number in the early days of her aidoru career. The strings could be jagged or, as it is in "Moroi Gogo" more sweeping to fit the more vulnerable side of the singer here.
The strings take on even more character in "Sakihokoru Hana ni..."（咲きほこる花に…To the Flowers in Full Bloom） as they start off sounding more like late Beatles, but then remind me of some of the Fashion Music that Chika Ueda（上田知華）helped create at around the same time. However, words and music were actually provided by Etsuko and Takao Kisugi（来生えつこ・来生たかお）...which then made me go "Ahhh...naruhodo" since whenever the Kisugi sister-brother combination get together to create music, it's always of pretty refined quality. It seems like the entire song is devoted to the beauty of flora, so there is that overwhelming image of having a cup of tea in a high-class shop with a window view of one of the great gardens in Japan.
From that tea shop in a well-manicured garden, we head off to Tokyo Disneyland or some beach paradise via "Meruhen Location"（メルヘン・ロケーション...Fairy Tale Location） to join a couple on a date. It's an aidoru tune with that touch of Resort Pop, and even some country twang near the end as the lucky pair enjoy each other and their travels to fantasy land. As was the case with "Yokohama A-KU-MA", Tsuzuru Nakasato（中里綴）was the lyricist while Noboru Mimuro（三室のぼる）was the composer.
"Dai Nana Kan ~ Septieme Sense"（第七感（セッティエーム・サンス）...The 7th Sense）at 30:33 above in the full album is Akina being happy and coy in the embrace of some saxophone-led City Pop. Mayumi Shinozuka（篠塚満由美）and Yoshitaka Minami（南佳孝）created this light shuffle of a song with a bit of Latin which seems to have the lass walking through an autumn forest as she perhaps considers her options about shedding one guy for another. The fact that one of Shinozuka's lyrics repeats Akina getting pelted with a shower of autumn leaves hints that change is in the forecast.
The rock feeling and the wailing guitar are back for "x3 (Bye-Bye) Lullaby"（X3 (バイバイ) ララバイ）, and usually when it does, it means that Akina is in trouble. In this case, she's just been dumped near a Yokohama interchange, but the tough one simply brushes the cad away like dust and basically sings a big kiss-off. The tandem of Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）and Yasuo Kosugi（小杉保夫）, who were also behind "Aishuu Majutsu", worked on this one. Strangely enough, the verses sound similar to the Manhattan Transfer's"Twilight Zone" from the late 1970s. For me, I especially like Akina's delivery here...very sultry and sweet.
The finale is "Catastrophe Amagasa"（カタストロフィの雨傘...Catastrophe Umbrella） which has a style reminiscent of a French pop ballad from the 1960s and a contemporary kayo ballad by Mariko Takahashi（高橋真梨子）. Shinozuka from "Dai Nana Kan" is back to write the lyrics as Akina sings about taking a rainy walk soon after the end of a relationship. She's taking it relatively well considering that the title includes the word catastrophe (which was kindly explained in the liner notes in terms of what it means...I'm not even sure whether the word is still known now in Japanese katakana), and as Tsunehiro Izumi's（和泉常寛）melody hints, tomorrow is another day. There is always hope for the future.
I mentioned about the Queen Bee theory in the article for "Prologue" when it comes to Nakamori's upbringing in music, so I wonder with all of these songwriting talents involved in "Variation", whether there was a sign that the then-teen aidoru was being seen as a potential superstar so all of the genres were being thrown at her as a challenge. Those powers-that-be then should take a bow since all of the types of music featured in the album did appear in bulk in the rest of Akina's discography going right to the end of the 20th century. Perhaps then, "Variation" might be seen as an even more seminal release.
"Variation" hit the top spot on Oricon as Nakamori's first No. 1 album and it stayed there for a total of three weeks according to "ALBUM CHART-BOOK COMPLETE EDITION 1970 〜 2005", a part of Oricon's marketing promotion. It hung out on the charts for 29 weeks and ended up as the 8th-ranked album for 1983, selling around 440,000 LPs and 300,000 tapes.
Anyways, I hope that Nakamori will enjoy her 54th birthday!
Commenter kaz and I were conversing on my last Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）article a couple of weeks ago, and he related about the intention by her and lyricist Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）to make the B-sides of her singles in the early 1980s to be as good as those A-sides. Of course, they along with the various composers succeeded nicely.
I then wondered about one of the other great aidoru during that time, Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）. How were the B-sides on her singles? It's something that I've already started exploring and one of the gold nuggets that I managed to dig up was the great "Lonely Journey"（ロンリー・ジャーニー）, the B-side to her massive hit, "Meu Amor e"（ミ・アモーレ）from 1985.
The exploration continues here with the B-side to Akina's 1982 debut single, "Slow Motion"（スローモーション）whose KKP article I provided all the way back in March 2012. "Jouken Hansha"(Conditioned Reflex) is quite the contrast with that first song, and in my opinion, the harbinger for a certain number of her songs early in her career. Those songs, including her 2nd single,"Shojo A"（少女Ａ）, are the harder-edged ones (punctuated by rock n' roll guitars) depicting Akina as the big-haired troubled teen in a difficult situation.
I hadn't heard of "Jouken Hansha" until just a few months ago, and I gotta say that the intro with the guitar caught my attention and held it for the rest of the song. There was no conditioned reflex from me; my reaction was rather proactive. Written by Tsuzuru Nakasato（中里綴）and composed by Noboru Mimuro（三室のぼる）, "Jouken Hansha" is about a woman who still gets attracted to a man despite the fact that he seems to treat her at best as a trophy girlfriend.
The main observation that I've had so far about the song is that even though this was part of her debut single, I could really sense here that Akina already had the beginnings of a great voice, compared to the A-side. One particular point in the song that impressed me was how she almost seemed to breathe out the title. That one point had me thinking of Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵）, the 70s aidoruthat this future 80s superstar had often been compared to in terms of her singing style.
For me, there are more Akina B-sides to explore. "Jouken Hansha" is also a track on Nakamori's debut album"Prologue (Jomaku)" ( プロローグ〈序幕〉) from July 1982. I've already written up an article about that one, but luckily, "Jouken Hansha" hadn't already been covered there, so I could happily take care of it here.
While I was just listening to a YouTube recording of an old Japanese radio music program, I heard this tune that I hadn't heard in decades. I had first heard it as one of the songs featured on an episode of "Sounds of Japan" back on CHIN-FM in the 1980s, but as luck would have it, I lost the listing for the playlist so I couldn't find out who sang it or even what the title was.
However, thanks to the DJ of that old radio music program, I have finally been able to resolve the decades-long mystery. It just happened to be 70s aidoru Saori Minami（南沙織）and the song title was "Hito Koishikute" (Missing You). Released as Minami's 16th single in August 1975, it possesses a distinctive introduction which has haunted me all these years, sounding like exotic Asia. And I guess because of the nature of "Hito Koishikute", I couldn't really peg it as a Minami song at first.
It's a sad folk song about a couple breaking up after a major fight and the woman at least regretting every moment that she's now separated from her one true love. With folk singer Masamitsu Tayama（田山雅充）composing the song, Tsuzuru Nakasato（中里綴）wrote the lyrics for which the first line has stayed with me: "Kuresou de kurenai, tasogare doki wa"（暮れそうで暮れない黄昏どきは...This twilight time when I can despair but I won't）. It resembles a chant. According to Minami's fan website, that entire first line was supposed to have been the title, but the producer for the song, Masatoshi Sakai（酒井政利）, changed it to its current title.
"Hito Koishikute" managed to get as high as No. 8 on Oricon and finished the year as the 52nd-ranked single. It also won Minami a Japan Record Award for Best Performance and got her another invitation to the 1975 Kohaku Utagassen. The album "Hito Koishikute" was released in December of that year, and topped off at No. 19.
For the Shonentai（少年隊）file on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I believe I have covered all of the songs that I knew about from their discography, so the following is rather new to me.
I have to admit that their 3rd single"Diamond Eyes" from July 1986 has got a pretty catchy melody by bassist/composer Hiro Nagasawa（長沢ヒロ）with lyrics from Tamaki Kawada（川田多摩喜）and Emi Kanda（神田エミ）snappily delivered by Nikki, Kacchan and Higashi. Kanda, incidentally, is just an alias for the late lyricist Tsuzuru Nakasato（中里綴）.
Not to say that current Johnny's groups such as SMAP and Arashi（嵐）have been slumming on their dancing, but man, that Shonentai was really kicking things up into high gear as far as their choreography went. Anyways, "Diamond Eyes" has got that breathless beat accompanied with some tight horns as the boys sing about trying as hard as they can to get the attention of a certain hard-to-get lady with a pair of really flinty eyes. Perhaps I'm thinking of a Clintonia Eastwood. However, I think the girls in the audience were all armed with more puppy-dog eyes.
"Diamond Eyes" was their 2nd No. 1 after their hit debut of"Kamen Butokai"（仮面舞踏会）in the previous year, and it ended up as the 79th-ranked single for 1986.
It's sometimes a bit jarring to see Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）now, and then compare her to how she started out in the music business over 30 years ago. When some of us Akina fans on the blog talk about her, we can't help but express some concern considering that fragility she has displayed for many years. And yet, my impression of her early days was that the Tokyo aidoru of the early 1980s had initially been groomed to be the anti-Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）through her music: a punk girl in a school uniform with the big booming hairdo talking rough and tough. Perhaps she was the Rolling Stones to Seiko-chan's Beatles although some of those cute smiling photos of her in "Myojo" and "Heibon" magazines (as above) probably undercut that tsuppari image.
Being an Akina fan, it was those very early days of her career in the early part of the decade that I actually know the least about since my interest in her and her music didn't begin until the middle of the 1980s. So there is stuff to learn about still.
I've come across this track from Akina's 3rd album"Fantasy ~ Gensoukyoku"（ファンタジー〈幻想曲〉...Fantasia）which was released in March 1983 titled "Aitsu wa Joke". Now, as for a little bit of Japanese vocabulary information, aitsu isn't exactly the nicest word to use in public discourse since although it is technically defined as another word to represent the third-person singular (he/she), practically it can mean "that jerk" or worse. So perhaps in the intention of imbuing the translation with Akina's feelings, I will probably go with "Jerk's A Joke".
Written by the late Tsuzuru Nakasato（中里綴）and composed by Kuniko Fukushima（福島邦子）, "Aitsu wa Joke" has that sound that I've often associated with early aidoru Akina uptempo tunes: wailing electric guitar, sweeping-and-staccato strings and a slightly lower-than-usual aidoru voice that can straddle between defiance and pleading. I can also hear and understand why Nakamori had been compared to the big aidoru of the previous decade, Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵）.
Going through the song's lyrics, Akina spends virtually the entire song castigating a former beau as if he were the most offensive cockroach oozing from under the refrigerator only to give hints that her vitriol may just be a front until the very last line where she basically confesses that he still pines for the lug through the tears reflected in the mirror. I still haven't gone through many of Akina's songs during this time but thematically, the words remind me of one of her early hits "Shojo A"（少女Ａ）in which within all the tough talk, there is that vulnerable hidden center inside of her. Perhaps this was a common trait with her songs.
As for "Fantasy", it did hit No. 1 on the Oricon weeklies. Well, perhaps this can be another item on the wish list.
Never thought that I would ever see actress Keiko Takeshita（竹下景子）within the pages of this blog.
That's simply because I was so accustomed to seeing her on commercials and quiz shows as a tarento and thespian.
However, I should've known better since there has been that custom of actors becoming singers and vice versa back in the earlier days of Japanese entertainment. And so sure enough, Takeshita managed to release 6 singles in her short singing career during the late 1970s to early 1980s. That includes her debut single"Kekkon Shitemo Ii desu ka" (Is It OK If I Get Married?) from 1978.
I rather like this one for its simple old-fashioned melody by Yuuji Nakamura（中村ゆうじ）and lyrics by the late Tsuzuru Nakasato（中里綴）. Plus, I gotta say that the young Takeshita had a pretty nice voice, somewhat reminiscent of Hiroko Yakushimaru（薬師丸ひろ子）. In the song, the actress sounds as if she is writing a letter to a secret beau who has either gone away or made himself scarce to say that her mother has introduced a prospective life partner and that she will be devoting herself to that fellow if the secret beau doesn't say anything. No pressure there.
About a couple of years ago, I came across a gem in the vast Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）discography with the title of "Lonely Journey" which was the B-side to her super hit song "Meu Amor e"（ミ・アモーレ）from 1985. I just fell in love with the swift and soaring song created by EPO as it seemed to whip Akina and her listeners all over Tokyo at night.
It looks like I may have found another gem by accident when I discovered a much earlier song by Nakamori way back in her truly aidoru days. I saw this wonderful combination of Yokohama travelogue and Akina backed up by "Yokohama A-KU-MA" (Yokohama Devil) on YouTube. Back in those days, my image of the fresh new aidoru was that of a teenage malcontent singing not synth-sweet songs of cutesy adventures with her beau but tunes of high school-age rebellion backed up by wailing electric guitars.
The title of this new discovery suggested the same sort of deal but when I heard it for the first time a few nights ago, it was Akina singing a fairly epic disco-tinged City Pop tune that reminded me of "Monroe Walk" by Yoshitaka Minami（南佳孝）. And I should have been reminded of that song since "Yokohama A-KU-MA" was indeed composed by Minami with lyrics provided by the late lyricist/singer Tsuzuru Nakasato（中里綴）. The heroine here is riding sidesaddle with her beau in what is probably a vehicle a little more expensive than a Toyota Corolla as the two take that ride on the highway through Yokohama. The hint is that she is still a teen most likely skipping school but still wants even more thrills as the titular she-devil. Musically, it's definitely different from the rock-tinged hits such as "Shojo A"（少女A）which incidentally is on the same album as this tune, "Variation"（バリエーション）, her 2nd album from October 1982.
Since it was early days for the singer, her voice didn't have that familiar depth yet but the song is interesting for a just-beginning aidoru tackling something that sounded more mature and more like something that Hiromi Go（郷ひろみ）would have tried at the same time. Perhaps "Yokohama A-KU-MA" was a hint of what Akina was destined to become. "Variation" itself did quite well, hitting the top spot on Oricon.
