Tears for Fears -- Change

 

As much as I was getting dazzled by Japanese pop music since the early 1980s, I was also in thrall to the songs coming in from America, Canada and the United Kingdom, especially the UK's brand of synthpop and New Wave.

The local music TV show "The New Music" on CITY-TV was one of my wonderful guides to what was happening in the music department at the time so I was privy to the electronic wonders of Depeche Mode, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and even Canada's Spoons. Plus, there were also the incredible and daring Eurythmics with "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" and the famous video.

I have often wondered why whenever I think of Eurythmics and "Sweet Dreams", the other British band Tears for Fears and "Change" come to mind. Well, as it turned out, both songs got their single release in January 1983. And I'm finally happy to get Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith onto KKP since much of their discography also formed my love for 80s music. As it turned out, "Change" was not the first single by Tears for Fears; they'd been releasing music since 1981 and a couple of their preceding songs arguably have more of a legacy as have a lot of their singles since "Change". Let's say that the Tears for Fears file on this blog will be a fairly long one in the Reminiscings of Youth part.

Still, why not "Change"? It's the first song and video that I've experience by Tears for Fears and despite Orzabal not being all that enthused about his creation, it's still a memorable tune with that percussive synth that starts it off and Smith's high-toned vocals. As well, that music video has the guys looking like an invasive New Romantic cult...with choreography. Up to that point, I hadn't seen a Noh mask used in anything outside of Noh plays, and I very rarely saw any of those. Seeing the video again some 41 years following its release, I felt like saying to the guys in there "Ah, you got the site wrong, guys. The 'Dune' set is over there!".

In Canada, "Change" hit No. 23 on the RPM chart while in the United States, it did a more modest No. 73 on Billboard. It did hit No. 4 in the UK. Bigger and better were coming for Tears for Fears though so no tears or fears here.

Now, I was going to put up the Top 3 on Oricon for January 1983 when "Change" came out, but I realized that I already had done so for Randy Newman's "I Love L.A." (which is also why I had to pivot when I did the ROY article for "Sweet Dreams"). Therefore, I offer No. 5, 6 and 7 from that Oricon list this time.

5. Masatoshi Nakamura -- Koibito mo Nureru Machikado (恋人も濡れる街角）

6. Toshihiko Tahara -- Love Spoor（ラブ・シュプール）

7. Warabe -- Medaka no Kyoudai （めだかの兄妹）

Michael Jackson -- Thriller

 

A couple of years ago, I posted Ray Parker Jr.'s "Ghostbusters" as a Halloween Reminiscings of Youth piece, so I figured that it was time for this one as well. Now I am well aware that Halloween is not a statutory holiday but merely an observed fun tradition but I'm still going to continue our KKP tradition of coming up with something spooky on the 31st or thereabouts.

I've known Michael Jackson's "Thriller" more for the epic video of around 15 minutes in length than for the original single that was released in the United States in January 1984. Never bought the album "Thriller" in my youth so the video was my introduction to the song by Rod Temperton which was produced by Quincy Jones.

The video was released in early December 1983 and the hoopla surrounding it was incredible to say the least. Even now, I don't think music videos that are a quarter of an hour in length are all that plentiful so you can imagine how the excitement was like back forty years ago. After all, this was the King of Pop Michael Jackson doing a horror-based music video with all of the special effects trimmings under the direction of John Landis of "Animal House", "The Blues Brothers" and "An American in Werewolf in London" fame, and yep, some of "Thriller" was inspired by that final movie. Anyways, folks were really excited to see the world premiere of the video on MTV, and we here in Canada were able to view it as well, probably via MuchMusic. 

Because of the plot line of the werewolf and MJ taking home Ola Ray being interwoven into the song and dance, I'd say that "Thriller" could have even been called a very specific mini-musical around one tune, and man, that was some choreography. Now if zombies ever dance again anywhere in media, they would have to follow Michael. Of course, I can't ever forget Vincent Price's appropriately ghoulish narration and his gleefully evil laughter at the end.

Once the single came out, I remember that "Thriller" kept getting onto the top of the request charts for weeks upon weeks. Putting aside all of the Halloween sound effects, Price, and even Temperton's lyrics, the song is just one funky disco song released years after disco was supposed to have been exorcised from pop culture. The musicians supporting the song were all top-notch: Jerry Hey, Gary Grant, Larry Williams, and Bill Reichenbach on horns (all who have played on Japanese pop albums, too), along with Temperton and Greg Phillinganes on keyboards.

In Canada, "Thriller" the single made it up to No. 3 while hitting No. 4 in America. The countries where it actually topped the charts were Belgium, France, Portugal and Spain.

Now, what was coming out as singles in December 1983?

Yutaka Ozaki -- Juu-go no Yoru （15の夜）

Tatsuro Yamashita -- Christmas Eve

Warabe -- Moshi mo Ashita ga （もしも明日が）

Nena -- 99 Luftballons

 

Ironically just when I was about to start writing this article, I discovered that my niece's grandparents had bought some balloons for her upcoming birthday. But they are not red.

Just going from yesterday's special ROY article devoted to Bill Shatner, I decided to do the regular ROY today on Nena's "99 Luftballons" since the singer put a shoutout to Captain Kirk in the lyrics. Mind you, I don't think ol' Jim would have been too happy with the aftermath lyrically speaking since the song has to do with a nuclear war because of several dozen red balloons which had been mistaken for a missile attack.

But man, was this a catchy tune by Nena! I read that the original "99 Luftballons" in German had been released early in 1983 but we didn't catch wind of the song until its English-language version arrived on these shores in 1984, although since Canada tended to have a bigger ear for the European pop than the United States back then, it's possible that we could have gotten into "99 Red Balloons" somewhat earlier.

I remember it first hitting the radio and then the video started appearing on the music channels on heavy rotation. Vocalist Gabriele "Nena" Kerner's purring voice and the fast tempo New Wave of it all made an impression on me as it did on a lot of listeners and watchers. It hit No. 1 in a number of nations including Canada while in America, it peaked at No. 2. The song even got attention in Japan where it was known as "Rock Balloon wa 99"（ロックバルーンは99）and hit as high as No. 16 on the Oricon weeklies but No. 1 on the Oricon International chart.

The debut album "Nena" with the original German version was released on January 14th 1983 which seems to be a busy month when it comes to ROY articles. Both Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" and Randy Newman's "I Love L.A." got their release in the same month, but I'll be heading back to the Oricon chart and giving out what was at No. 5, 7 and 9.

No. 5 Masatoshi Nakamura -- Koibito mo Nureru Machikado (恋人も濡れる街角）

No. 7 Warabe -- Medaka no Kyoudai （めだかの兄妹）

No. 9 Shinichi Mori -- Fuyu no Riviera （冬のリヴィエラ）

Deniece Williams -- Let's Hear It for the Boy

 

For this week's Reminiscings of Youth article, my rusty memory goes back to 1984 and I think that the two of the big movies for that year were "Ghostbusters" and "Footloose". Especially with that latter movie, the title song by Kenny Loggins was huge on radio and video. In fact, I swear that the video with a young and kickass Kevin Bacon kicking off his Sunday shoes and dancing amok everywhere was made a permanent addition to any music video show.

Loggins' hit song status was to the extent that I'd had no idea that Deniece Williams' "Let's Hear It for the Boy" was actually a part of the "Footloose" soundtrack for several weeks after the video made its premiere (and nope, I never watched the movie...wasn't my thing). Still, "Let's Hear It for the Boy" was and still is a fun and really uplifting song that had its release on Valentine's Day 1984. Created by Tom Snow and Dean Pitchford, the synthesizers embraced me in its nostalgic swoon and Williams' vocals and the overall melody brought back some nice memories of what pop music was like in the 1980s. 

I've also read on the Wikipedia article for "Let's Hear It for the Boy" that Paul Jackson Jr. and Paulinho Da Costa were in the recording booth as guitarist and percussionist respectively. Both musicians are folks that I've seen within a number of liner notes for Japanese singers such as Anri（杏里）. By the way, the above video is the remix version for the song since after all, we all used to be remix hounds back in the day. Both "Footloose" and "Let's Hear it for the Boy" were nominated for Best Original Song at the Oscars that year.

Well, then, what were the Top 3 songs on the Oricon Singles chart in February 1984?

1. Seiko Matsuda -- Rock n' Rouge

2. Warabe -- Moshi mo Ashita ga （もしも明日が）

3. Toshihiko Tahara -- Charleston ni wa Mada Hayai（チャールストンにはまだ早い）

Madonna -- Borderline

 

On this week's Reminiscings of Youth article, I bring you the second Madonna song to grace "Kayo Kyoku Plus", and nope, it's not her 1990 hit "Vogue", which I've already written as the first Madonna ROY piece. However, I guess you can consider the above photo of my copy of her "I'm Breathless" as a segue of sorts since the album does contain "Vogue".

Nope, we're taking things back to brass tacks with Ms. Madonna Louise Ciccone. We're returning to the early 1980s when I first heard the singer on the car radio sing "Holiday" which was frequently on the "The Top 6 at 6" on 680 CFTR when the station used to play music. And I think that was for a period of months before her 5th single hit the airwaves and the TV ones as well as the record shelves in February 1984.

Much has been written about Reggie Lucas' "Borderline" including the Wikipedia article for the song so you can take a look there about what went into the making of it as well as its effects. What I can say about it is that the song and the video are a couple of my very big icons in terms of my memories of the 1980s. Except for a viewing of her on a British music program performing "Holiday", that video of her dancing and posing in Los Angeles in "Borderline" was my introduction to the future Material Girl, and for me, it is my favourite image within her many personae...that street-smart woman with the tousled hair having the carefree life, at least before that photographer recruits her to become a model.

That Wikipedia article also goes further into the chord progressions and what-not about "Borderline", but suffice it to say, when I think about all of those Madonna songs that have come since then, I think this one is the freshest and most innocent-sounding entry. I used the adjective "carefree" in the previous paragraph, and I'll use it here as well to describe the music. And for me, if I were to ever head back in a TARDIS to 1984, I want "Borderline" to be the first song I hear when I step foot back into my high school days.

"Borderline" was Madonna's first Top 10 hit by hitting in at No. 10 on Billboard Singles chart, and it didn't do too badly in Canada either by striking at No. 25. But even more significantly, the singer anchored herself firmly in the world of pop culture globally.

So for today, we have No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 on the February 1984 Oricon chart when "Borderline" was released.

1. Seiko Matsuda -- Rock n' Rouge

2. Warabe -- Moshi mo Ashita ga （もしも明日が）

4. Alfee -- Hoshizora no Distance （星空のディスタンス）

Spandau Ballet -- True

 

I've got another ROY article for you tonight. In the 1980s during my university years as my friends and I hit the discos in downtown Toronto, we gradually figured out what the get-them-out-on-the-dance-floor songs were on the DJ's playlist. For example, there was "Strangelove" by Depeche Mode, "Bizarre Love Triangle" by New Order and especially among a few of us, there was "Boom Boom" by Paul Lekakis. It was almost comical...we would be nattering away in one of the dark corners of the club or drinking up when one of those songs popped up and we just hauled ass in mid-sip or mid-sentence. Couldn't miss one note of "Bizarre Love Triangle".

This particular number, though, was released about 18 months before I set my foot into my alma mater of University of Toronto for the first time, but I could imagine that the high school dances must have had it on the playlist but not as the usual uptempo free-for-all. Indeed, "True" by the English New Wave band Spandau Ballet was probably one of those ballads that would have the steady couples hit the floor for that slow dance, but I wouldn't know that for sure since being a full-fledged nerd, I barely ever went to the after-school dances.

Spandau Ballet's "True" was a long-lived resident on the CHUM Music Video Top 30 list on TV. For all intents and purposes, that was the first time for me to find out about the golden-voiced Tony Hadley and company, so my image for them will always be the "True" music video with all those soothing colours and sounds with the band all decked out in clothes that was a mix of 1980s sleek and 1940s Warner Bros. cinema style. There was probably a whole lot of swooning for the guys. In fact, my image of the band wearing those sophisticated threads is so seared in my memories that it's still a little hard for me to imagine that these guys were the standard-bearers of the New Romantic era earlier in the decade with the baggy clothing and the cosmetics.

Officially on Wikipedia, "True" is categorized as blue-eyed soul and New Wave. I can certainly agree with the first category...I do hear and feel the soul but I think that it also probably ended up getting played on a lot of AOR stations. Most likely as well, those opening notes are probably some of the most recognizable for fans of 1980s pop music, and the entire song seems to flow with nostalgic relaxation for me nowadays. This much is true (ha, ha), it hit No. 1 on Canada's RPM top singles and America's Billboard Adult Contemporary charts.

The single "True" was released in April 1983 but so was "Never Gonna Let You Go" by Sergio Mendes, and I've already put up a ROY article about that romantic hit with the top 3 Oricon songs in that month. However, I am undaunted so I will put up the No. 4, 5 and 7 hits instead.

4. Warabe -- Medaka no Kyoudai （めだかの兄妹）

5. Eisaku Ohkawa -- Sazanka no Yado （さざんかの宿）

7. EPO -- U, Fu, Fu, Fu, (う、ふ、ふ、ふ）

The Police -- Every Breath You Take/Righeira -- No Tengo Dinero

Rather interesting duo for this particular Reminiscings of Youth article. How did this all come about?

Well, actually, I had been thinking about focusing on just the Spanish-language "No Tengo Dinero" (I Don't Have Money), a song by Italo Disco duo Righeira that came out in 1983. When I first saw the music video for this on one of the many video shows that were showing on the local channels here in Toronto, I was absolutely mesmerized by this bizarre mix of graphics and old historical footage as Stefano Rota and Stefano Righi kept yelling out the title. At the time, I couldn't recognize the language but I'd assumed that it was Brazilian Portuguese. The weird symbolism that I got from the video made me think that this would have made for a wonderful psychoanalytical tool!

However, the thing is that I couldn't pinpoint the exact month that "No Tengo Dinero" was released (no tengo ni idea, I guess), so I decided to bring in the Top 3 Oricon singles in Japan for that entire year this time around. But for that, I figured that I had to track down what the No. 1 song on Billboard was for 1983. Therefore, I went for both songs.

At first, I'd thought that it would be Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean", but that actually came in at No. 2. "Billie Jean" was eclipsed by The Police's "Every Breath You Take". I had my introduction to Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland during that trip to Japan in 1981. One of my classmates had a compilation audio tape of a whole bunch of singers including Split Enz and Queen. The Police was on the tape as well with "Roxanne".

Back to "Every Breath You Take", I got to know the music video far more than I did the audio version of the song. Indeed it was a striking video with the black & white footage of The Police in that darkened ballroom while this deceptively comforting song of Sting vowing to keep an eye on a lover like an omnipresent guardian. The video got heavy rotation on the music video shows and it probably populated the top of the charts for weeks on end.

However, a lot of time later, I found out through interviews that Sting was rather bemused about how "Every Breath You Take" was being received as this deeply romantic ballad when in fact, it was meant as a lyrical version of a twisted suspense movie. The so-called guardian was actually an obsessive ex who wouldn't take NO for an answer. Wowzers! I guess maybe it got left off the playlist during prom season then. It might also explain why Sting looks so intense in the video.

Anyways, what were the biggest hits in Japan for 1983? Well, two of them were enka tunes.

1. Eisaku Ohkawa -- Sazanka no Yado

2. Takashi Hosokawa -- Yagiri no Watashi

3. Warabe -- Medaka no Kyoudai

Warabe -- Moshi mo Ashita ga （もしも明日が）

Provided that the above doesn't get taken down (it has but still have the original song), I have to say that this is probably one of the more quietly surreal videos that I have ever imported into this blog. After all, what is more intriguing after 3 a.m. (and I'm pretty sure this is 3 in the morning since I can't recall seeing any Japanese network put up a music video at 3 in the afternoon) than having a bleary-eyed night owl watching a video of a balloon flying up a Shinjuku skyscraper followed by a bird's-eye view of the Tokyo neighbourhood while one of the cutest songs known in kayo kyoku history is playing? I hope that the above stays up for a good long time since I would have to change the narrative completely here if it gets taken down.

November 4th 2019: Well, the Shinjuku video did get taken down but you can look at the really cute video in its place above.

In any case, the above video here is perhaps more appropriate and cuter for Warabe's（わらべ） "Moshi mo Ashita ga" (If Tomorrow) although the song is a shorter version. Exactly a year after the variety-show aidoru trio hit the pop charts with "Medaka no Kyoudai"（めだかの兄妹）, their most successful single came out in December 1983. And it wasn't just Warabe's most successful single; it was 1984's most successful single, selling just under 1 million records! On the Oricon weeklies, it stayed at No. 1 for about a month.

The same fellows who created "Medaka no Kyoudai" also made "Moshi mo Ashita ga", Toyohisa Araki and Takashi Miki（荒木とよひさ・三木たかし）. The lyrics come off sounding like a 3-minute version of "He loves me, he loves me not...." with Atsumi Kurasawa and Mami Takahashi（倉沢敦美・高橋真美） singing of various next-day scenarios for a lovesick girl and that guy. And the melody is perfectly kid-friendly like its predecessor from a year earlier with a touch of Dixieland. The background chorus consisted of other members from that variety show I mentioned in the previous paragraph, "Kin-chan no Doko Made Yaru no?"（欽ちゃんのどこまでやるの）, including one pint-sized actor/comedian who has become a household name in afternoon TV, Kazuki Kosakai（小堺一樹）.

Now, there is one name missing here from the roster. Last year, there was also the eldest of the "sisters", Tomoko Takabe（高部知子）. Unfortunately, early in 1983, between "Medaka" and "Moshi", there was a rather large scandal involving the then-15-year-old in photographs of her saucily holding a cigarette while supposedly nude in bed with a futon covering her. Well, lots of stuff hit the fan ultimately resulting in her getting expelled from Horikoshi High School (the Tokyo high school for the teen celebs), Warabe and the program. However, she did return to show business 15 years later.

Warabe -- Medaka no Kyoudai （めだかの兄妹）

I had to laugh when I read the writeup for this song, "Medaka no Kyoudai" (The Killifish Siblings), on J-Wiki. The arranger for what would become the 3rd-ranked hit of 1983 was none other than Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）of the Yellow Magic Orchestra. Apparently, when the song landed on The Professor's lap, he remarked "I wondered why it ever came over to me?!"

Well, I think he should take a bow for one thing. By all measures, "Medaka no Kyoudai" was a big hit in Japan. Released in December 1982, it would remain a long-running success for all of 1983, peaking at No. 3 on the Oricon weeklies before hitting the same rank for the yearly chart. It was written by Toyohisa Araki（荒木とよひさ） and composed by Takashi Miki（三木たかし）, and sung by the variety show-born aidoru trio of Warabe（わらべ）.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaloN5h-zpI

Warabe consisted of Tomoko Takabe（高部知子）, Atsumi Kurasawa（倉沢敦美）, and Mami Takahashi（高橋真美） who appeared on the long running TV Asahi program "Kin-chan no Doko Made Yaru no!?" （欽ちゃんのどこまでやるの?!...Kin-chan's How Far Will You Go?!） as the onscreen daughters of the host, Kinichi Hagimoto（萩本欽一）. They first appeared in 1982 when the show was given a bit of a face lift halfway through its run (1976-1986).

Cute has always been one of the tools to success in the Japanese music industry, and so it was here with "Medaka no Kyoudai", thanks to the kid-like vocals, the cute-as-all-get-out sway-happy melody and the choreography. Apparently even today, the song is being used at nursery schools all over the country. The lyrics are on the fairy tale level of things with sparrows becoming eagles and penguins, cats becoming lions and tigers, and the titular medaka (killifish) becoming carp and whales, all with the cutesy onomatopoeia. I can imagine My Little Pony and Hello Kitty coming down and sighing contentedly.

P.S. It was back in 1981, when on another Kinichi Hagimoto program, a trio of zany boys came up with a huge hit of their own, "High School Lullaby".