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.
Hello and nice to have you back on "Kayo Kyoku Plus". While folks in Japan are still enjoying their Holidays, over here in Toronto, it seems like everyone's back at work despite it being a Friday. Well, let's see if we can try to give some solace before the weekend.
For that matter, let's welcome you to the first Urban Contemporary Friday on KKP for 2026. And we start off with something very relaxing in the form of Yukari Ito's（伊東ゆかり）"Utsurigi na Hito"(Fickle Person). Written by Fumi or Hiroshi Fukunaga（福永史）and composed by Yasuhiro Kido（木戸やすひろ）, this comes from Ito's July 1979 album"Anaa shika Mienai"（あなたしか見えない...I Only See You）. It occupies the bossa nova corner of City Pop and a lot of it reminds me of the song stylings of Keiko Maruyama（丸山圭子）with her famous "Douzo Kono Mama"(どうぞこのまま）. And yet, when I think of the setting, my mind comes up with a slow cruise down the Riviera. Cocktails aren't mandatory but welcome.
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.
Yesterday, I posted Part 1 covering chanteuse Mariko Takahashi's（高橋真梨子）March 1979 debut album"Hitoaruki"(Walking Alone) and so I'm completing it with Part 2 tonight. It's been a nice trip through the genres as the Hiroshima Prefecture-born singer exercises her wonderful chops for the first time as a solo singer.
Seeing that there were a total of ten tracks on the original LP, I'm assuming that Track 6"Oide Summer Holiday"（おいでサマー・ホリディ）which I have already covered in its own separate article (you can click the link in Part 1) starts off Side B. So we go onto Track 7, "Otozure"（訪れ...The Visit） which is a short but very sweet and slightly woozy and boozy bossa nova-inflected song about a visit by a lover which, let's say, is a bit bigger than a pleasant arrival for tea and cake (maybe for breakfast, perhaps😎). Yasuhiro Kido（木戸やすひろ）was responsible for the melody while the lyricist could be a man or a woman named Aki Fukunaga or Kumi Fukunaga（福永史）. According to Jisho.org, the kanji for that first name could be read in different ways.
The next track is "Futari no Monogatari"（二人の物語...Story of Two）, a bittersweet tale of a woman walking alone in the rain, being reminded when it used to be the two of them taking their walks before fate intervened and they split up. Takahashi has also been one of those few singers in Japanese pop music that also reveled in doing the occasional song with that country ballad lilt, and this is one of them. It doesn't always stay maudlin though as the arrangement by Shinichi Tanabe（田辺信一）takes things into something brighter and hopeful in the chorus. "Futari no Monogatari" was written and composed by Kuni Kawauchi（クニ河内）who had created "My Dream" from Part 1.
Takahashi has always had a deep and rich voice and she goes slightly even deeper here as she tackles Track 9, the melancholy "Yoru no Kao"（夜の顔...Face of the Night）. Written by Rei Tsushima（津島玲）and composed by Kiyoshi Hasegawa（長谷川きよし）, the song about what I think is a lady in the mizu shobai industry going about her evening business with a sense of resignation and necessity comes off in the arrangement as being dramatic to the point of being almost chanson. That intro also had me wondering whether this was going to be a Fashion Music tune but the arrangement veers things back into adult contemporary and perhaps a bit of classical pop.
From the heaviness of the previous song, we come to the final track for "Hitoaruki", "Chiisana Watashi"（小さなわたし...Little Me）. It's a love ballad composed by City Pop and jazz songsmith Kingo Hamada（濱田金吾）, and I've found the collaborations between Takahashi and Hamada to be some wonderfully tenderhearted songs such as the one they would do later, "Jazz Singer". Both Takahashi and the aforementioned Fukunaga for "Otozure" worked on the lyrics about a woman who feels warm, safe and beloved in her partner's embrace. The ballad also feels like a lullaby of sorts and I recall that at least a few of Takahashi's other albums ended in the same manner as if she knew that fans would listen to them later into the wee hours of the night so that the final track would help to send them off to la-la land.
In any case, "Hitoaruki" is an album that Takahashi fans probably already have as a must-own, but for those who are starting their exploration into the Japanese pop music of yore that doesn't involve aidoru or enka, I can recommend this one as an album for those who could enjoy the adult contemporary with the foray into the romantic.
As a PS, I have to say that it was listening to "Chiisana Watashi" that prompted me to talk about the entire album. I had originally planned to just write about that final track from 1979 and then also introduce Takahashi's own cover of the ballad in her most recent album of covers, "Mari Covers" from June 2019. The newer version has been fortified with some bossa nova.
In my Minami-Gyotoku neighbourhood in Ichikawa City...as was probably the case in most neighbourhoods, we had a wealth of convenience stores and supermarkets. Around the station within a radius of several hundred metres, there were four supermarkets and at least as many convenience stores. The supermarkets of course were where I got my ingredients for home-cooked meals but I visited the konbini when I was satisfied enough to get a microwavable bento or snacks. Although I think I went mostly to the local Am/Pm and 7-11, Sunkus was also just a few minutes down from the station exit so when I did come home early, I would also drop by there for food and drink.
Well, this song by Hiroshi Murai（村井博）was apparently used as the commercial jingle for Sunkus back in the early 1990s. "Video Days" was released as his 4th single; depending on where you look, it was supposed to have come out either in 1990 or 1991 but I'll go with the former year since it was more specific with the release month being June that year. Not sure how video comes into this song but it's a summery pop tune that has me thinking of the band TUBE and even Yasuhiro Abe（安部恭弘）when I'm musing about Murai's delivery.
"Video Days" was written by Anju Mana（真名杏樹）, composed by Takashi Tsushimi（都志見隆）and arranged jointly by Motoki Funayama（船山基紀）and Yasuhiro Kido（木戸やすひろ）. It was also a track on Murai's 4th and final album to date, "Natural"(1990) which shares space on the CD with "Natsu no Kakurega ~ Weekend Resort"（夏の隠れ家）. Up to now with the other three Murai songs that I've posted including "Natsu no Kakurega", it's been about the 1990s City Pop but "Video Days" is bright ol' pop...happy enough to persuade folks to pick up some bento and Pringles and milk tea perhaps.😋
"Zin Zin Zin" is a pearl of a pop tune that should be called the greatest lost treasure within 1970s City Pop. With its gentle melody, its high-quality acoustic sound due to Masaaki Omura's（大村雅朗）arrangement, and a beautiful harmony that only a masterful chorus can create, even listening to it now, it sounds absolutely fresh. It would be spot-on to say that it is a masterpiece that was forty years ahead of its time, so there's no way that it will go stale.
The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).
Hello, J-Canuck here. OK, this is another song from the 100 list that I had yet to cover personally, so I'll do it here. There is a discrepancy between the "Japanese City Pop Masterpieces 100" and what J-Wiki told me about the year that Yasuhiro Kido's（木戸やすひろ）album "Kid" was released with the former stating 1977 while J-Wiki says 1978 when I covered another song from the album "Mr. Music". But since I'm still digesting a heavy steak dinner right now, I'll just let it go. 😈
I'm not sure what the title is about, except that perhaps it might be some happy form of onomatopoeia. However "Zin Zin Zin" is that comfy, hammock-friendly 1970s City Pop that I've heard from artists such as Ami Ozaki（尾崎亜美）and Sumiko Yamagata（やまがたすみこ）. I also enjoy that saxophone that starts off with the guitar and keyboards. It's the sort of song that you race to on a Friday night to help launch that therapy of relaxation and recovery following a tough week at the office.
Wouldn't mind heading back to Tokyo for a summer vacation this year but I have a certain "allergy" against oppressive heat and humidity, and my old stomping grounds always bring out an excess of it. Of course, there are plenty of vending machines and cafés to rescue my thirst but I know that having been out of summery Tokyo for over a decade, I'd probably melt on the pavement somewhere and end up burning a hole in my wallet.
Living there in the 90s, the 00s and a sliver of the 10s, I wasn't one who looked forward to summer but I know that there were others who were absolutely begging for the hot season. And therefore, I'm bringing out Mariko Takahashi's（高橋真梨子）"Oide Summer Holiday" (Come Over Here, Summer Holiday) from her March 1979 solo debut album"Hitoaruki"（ひとりあるき...Walking Alone）. Written by Machiko Ryu（竜真知子）and composed by Yasuhiro Kido（木戸やすひろ）, it's a nice and light New Music/City Pop tune about a couple enjoying themselves thoroughly and anticipating some vacation time in the Caribbean. I've got a feeling that the Caribbean is less stifling than Tokyo in the summer.
Takahashi had been with multi-genre group Pedro & Capricious（ペドロ&カプリシャス）for several years in the 1970s and I mostly saw her as a folk vocalist, so it must have been quite a turn for her and her fans with something like "Oide Summer Holiday" with a bit of that disco bop and even an echo of "The Theme From 'A Summer Place'".
Yes, indeed we are in April and once again, I have an appropriate song. Strangely enough, it just happens to be the same song that I used to commemorate the arrival of the fourth month back in 2018.
For you Junichi Inagaki（稲垣潤一）fans, if "April" sounds familiar, it is because that the J-AOR crooner had first recorded it as a track on his 6th album from March 1986"Realistic". It was written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and composed by Yasuhiro Kido（木戸やすひろ）with a slightly doo-wop arrangement by Masaaki Omura（大村雅朗）.
However, Kido covered his own composition for his September 2017 album"KID 65 ~ Kiseki no Kakera"（奇跡のかけら...Pieces of a Miracle） which seems to be a sequel to his one other album "KID" which was released all the way back in 1978. Singer-songwriter and guitarist Motoyoshi Iwasaki（岩崎元是）arranged Kido's cover as a mixture of happy pop and some 1960s Phil Spector. As for those Akimoto lyrics, I hadn't written about them in the original Inagaki article but here's another kayo reflection of a cheery melody paired with some rather sad words. Apparently, a fellow is reminiscing about a woman that he loved (and perhaps still holds a torch for) but when the topic of marriage was broached, she left him so quickly that the air most likely crackled. Didn't want to be tied down with that institution, she said. Ouch! I'm just hoping that the guy is as wistful and happy as that Kido melody.
One definite musical presence in my childhood and youth was singer-songwriter Barry Manilow. After first hearing his "I Write the Songs" on some K-Tel record commercial, it seemed as if he had become a permanent resident on the airwaves with chart-toppers such as "Mandy" and "Ready to Take a Chance Again". And then even going into the 1980s when music videos were all the rage, Manilow had another hit with his 1981 "Read 'Em and Weep"; I was surprised by that release year since I didn't hear about the song until the video came out in 1983, so I gather that it was truly one of the longest slow cookers in pop.
However with all of those songs that he created, the one hit that has always stood out in my mind (and is this year's final ROY article for KKP) is "Copacabana". Released in June 1978, I'm guessing that it was one of the last great disco hits of the era and it was one song that got plenty of airplay on the radio whether I was at home or in the car. At the time, I had no idea where Copacabana was; at first, I'd assumed that it was somewhere in Africa before I learned that it was in Brazil.
Even there, I was wrong. "Copacabana" wasn't referring to anywhere in Brazil but the real-life Copacabana nightclub in New York City..."the hottest spot north of Havana" and the setting of a tragic love suspense thanks to Jack Feldman and Bruce Sussman's lyrics paired with Manilow's tropical disco. In a way, this pairing of a sad story with one heck of a happy disco-dancing melody should have earned it honourary kayo status in Japan. At the very least, it did get its own J-Wiki page where I discovered that "Copacabana" has even been used as the cheer song for the Chiben Wakayama High School（智辯和歌山高校）baseball team...and interestingly enough, the team won this summer's Koshien tournament. Thank you, Barry!
"Copacabana" hit the Top 10 in a number of countries including the United States (No. 8) and Canada (No. 7). From what I've read of the Wikipedia article for the song, although it was all about the intrigue at the nightclub in New York, the seed for it was germinated between Manilow and Sussman at the Copacabana Hotel in Rio de Janeiro. Speaking of the legendary club, it was closed down in May 2020 due to the pandemic and although there were plans to open it up again in a new location this year, nothing has happened. Still, 80 years of history are nothing to sneeze at.
So, what was coming out in June 1978 or thereabouts according to Showa Pops?
From penning this week's ROY article on Little River Band's"Reminiscing", I did find another single that came out in June 1978 but didn't include it among the three Japanese pop songs that I usually provide at the bottom of the piece because I had yet to even write about that one here. Well, I'm writing about it now.
I have already provided articles on a couple of tracks from singer-songwriter Yasuhiro Kido's（木戸やすひろ）first album"Kid" from 1978: "Kimi ga Soba ni Ireba"（君がそばにいれば）and "Love Magic". Well, I'm now also including the first track "Mr. Music" which was Kido's debut single, too.
With Toyohisa Araki（荒木とよひさ）providing the lyrics, Kido's melody has been said on one site to be similar to Sugar Babe's（シュガーベイブ）"Parade"（パレード）, and indeed there is that similarity and that feeling of happy-go-lucky walking on the park path. However before I read that comment on that site, I had my own opinions on what "Mr. Music" sounded like. I can compare it to either The Monkees' "Daydream Believer" or a certain Electric Light Orchestra song which I cannot remember right now. Anyways, "Mr. Music" really does come across as fresh and innocent as a boy running around with a butterfly net in the summer, especially with that title of "Kid" on the album and the cute album cover with those toys.
The very first song that I had ever heard from City Pop/J-AOR crooner Junichi Inagaki（稲垣潤一）was "Natsu no Claxon", this very relaxing end-of-summer ballad that I saw performed by the Sendai-born singer-songwriter on an early morning episode of Fuji-TV's"19xx" while I was shivering in my futon in snowbound Gunma Prefecture. Listening to this one was enough for me to get my first Inagaki album which turned out to be "TRANSIT", his 2-CD BEST compilation released in December 1990. "TRANSIT" was actually his 6th collection of his best stuff and it hit No. 7 on the Oricon weeklies.
Seeing that cover of him in the cool pale clothing and the tasteful silhouette, I figured that Inagaki was going to be about the classy urban contemporary. But as I gradually discovered over repeated playings of the discs, within that particular genre, the singer touched upon a number of influences whether it be Doobie Bros. AOR, some light doo-wop or down-home City Pop.
In any case, because of the number of total tracks involved, I've decided to do this first entry for "TRANSIT" by focusing on the entries for Disc 1 only today. Several of those have already gotten their own articles so you can click on the links. By the way, all of the tracks featured here were arranged by Akira Inoue（井上鑑）.
First off is "Aoi Tsuioku" (Blue Recollections) which was the B-side to Inagaki's 3rd single"Dramatic Rain" released in October 1982. Written by Reiko Yukawa（湯川れい子）and composed by Akira Mitake（見岳章）, as the title hints, it's a minor-key mid-tempo song about picking up the pieces after a breakup and realizing that there so many pieces remaining on the wet ground. It's got all of the feeling of a modern film noir in 1980s Tokyo but there is one passage near the end which actually shows a melodic beam of light shining in through the clouds for some reason. "Aoi Tsuioku" also ended up on Inagaki's debut album"246:3AM".
The opening notes for "Getsuyoubi ni wa Bara wo" (Monday Rose) struck me as being so Boz Scaggs or Bobby Caldwell. Also a track from "246:3AM", this is a gentle ballad over what seems to be a disagreement in the philosophy of love with one believing that love is nothing but a fleeting little game while the other feels that their relationship should be taken with the seriousness it needs. With lyrics by Yoshiaki Sagara（さがらよしあき）and music by Toyonobu Ito（伊藤豊昇）, I especially like the part near the end where Inagaki stretches out the title phrase of "Monday Rose".
"MARIA" is West Coast AOR concocted by lyricist Masao Urino（売野政男）and composer Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）and the message is clear as a bell...a guy is in love with a lass named Maria. Hopefully the lucky fellow and Maria are in that convertible bombing down the Ventura Freeway. "MARIA" was a track on Inagaki's 1983 3rd album"J.I.".
When I hear "Natsu no Yukue"(Summer Whereabouts) which followed "MARIA" on "J.I." and is the B-side to "Long Version", I gather that Inagaki had wanted to infuse some of that 1950s/1960s balladry into the music, thereby joining the likes of singers like Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）. Once again, that oft-traveled theme of the end of summer meaning the end of romance is parlayed again as a man stands alone at the countryside cottage after his paramour has gone back home to the city. Maybe they'll have that tryst again next year or maybe not. AKB48 Svengali and lyricist Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）provided the words while Kazuhiko Matsuo（松尾一彦）came up with the sweetly lilting melody.
This time, it was Akimoto and Hayashi working together to create "Iidasenakute" (Can't Say It) for "J.I.". A breakup doesn't sound much more bittersweet than this one, and with the shimmering strings and the electric guitar solo working with Inagaki's high-toned and resonant vocals, I wouldn't be tremendously surprised if there were quite a few fans who grabbed the nearest box of Kleenex. There are also some similarities between this one and "Long After Midnight".
From Inagaki's May 1984 4th album"Personally" comes "Kanashiki Diamond Ring" (Melancholy Diamond Ring) which has the singer returning to some of that old-fashioned vocal group pop. This song starts off the album and though it can be called bittersweet, there is more of the sweet rather than the bitter in this one written by Urino and composed by Hayashi. A man returns to his hometown to see an old flame getting married to another fellow and the wedding has him thinking about opportunities lost but well wishes given out all the same.
I really love the epic intro and the rich piano behind "Dare ga Tame ni..." (For Whom...) as Inagaki takes on a slightly more measured delivery and he sings about a happy relationship going through the usual things before the vows are taken. Also, a track on "Personally", Sagara was the lyricist with Hayashi on music. I think among the ones that I've covered on this Disc 1, "Dare ga Tame ni..." is about as straight-ahead pop as I've heard so far.
But then we come to "J no Kanojo" (J's Girl) which is an upbeat pop number which launches his May 1985 5th album"No Strings". In fact, there is one frantic instrumental bridge that almost takes things into New Wave...and maybe a bit of Dire Straits thanks to the guitar. However, generally speaking, this is a good-time pop tune about having some risky thoughts for J's girl on the dance floor. I have no idea who this J is. Is it Junichi himself or is it someone with a scarier name like Jaws or Jack the Knife? It was lyricist Akimoto and composer Yasuhiro Kido（木戸やすひろ）on this one.
(I'm sorry but the video has been taken down.)
At 1:04:40, there is "Traces" which ends Disc 1 on "TRANSIT". It is not only the B-side to Inagaki's April 1987 11th single"Omoide no Beach Club"（思い出のビーチクラブ...Beach Club of My Memories）, but it's a cover of the original 1968 ballad by the American band Classics IV that ended up becoming its biggest hit.
Hopefully I'll get Disc 2up and running sometime in August.
Back at the end of May, I wrote about a track from singer-composer Yasuhiro Kido's（木戸やすひろ）lone 1978 album"Kid", "Love Magic". Up to that point, I'd only known Kido under his songwriter's cap but with "Love Magic", I enjoyed that whimsical pop that he put out...somewhat along the lines of fellow singer-songwriter Shinji Harada（原田真二）.
According to Discogs, "Love Magic" was in the middle of Side B of "Kid", but I also found the finale for the entire album in "Kimi ga Soba ni Ireba" (If You Can Be With Me), which is a tenderhearted way to end things. As with "Love Magic", it was Kido behind the music with Toyohisa Araki（荒木とよひさ）taking care of the lyrics. What sells the ballad is the singer's vocals and the comforting combination of strings and piano. Yep, there is something in the arrangement which yells 1970s love song but when I first heard it, I thought it was a number that Kido had created in the 1980s. In whichever decade its soul belongs, though, "Kimi ga Soba ni Ireba" is a lovely little sweet for a sunset sort of time.
When it comes to the Masa Takagi（高木麻早）file, I've been swinging back-and-forth like a hammock in a light breeze between her 1970s folk music and some of her more urban contemporary offerings in the 1980s. For example, last month I went over Takagi's country-and-western "Omoide ga Ohsugite"（想い出が多すぎて）.
This time, I'm swinging back to the future to 1983 and her album "Pick Me Up". I've already covered one track in this AOR part of Takagi's discography, "Anata ni Say Goodbye" (あなたにSay Good bye), and now I have another track, "Shuumatsu no Gogo" (Weekend Afternoon). As with "Anata ni Say Goodbye", "Shuumatsu no Gogo" was also written by Takagi and composed by Yasuhiro Kido（木戸やすひろ）.
As has been the case with a number of folk singers in Japan, Takagi makes a good transition into the City Pop/AOR fields. "Shuumatsu no Gogo" indeed has that mellow arrangement with the guitar (and at points, I felt like the music was paying tribute to her folk days) and synths, and the entire song suggests that feel-at-ease summer weekend afternoon in the apartment overlooking the city streets below. Again, "Pick Me Up" might be one of those rarities that may need looking through the odd online auction but it can make for a fine addition to one's Japanese City Pop/AOR collection.
I listened to this song some hours earlier in the afternoon and then again just now following dinner, and I have an interesting thought about it. Perhaps it was the chicken steak in Japanese-style onion sauce that did it.
Yasuhiro Kido's（木戸やすひろ）"Love Magic" is one interesting mix. A track from his lone 1978 album"Kid", it was composed by him and given lyrics by Toyohisa Araki（荒木とよひさ）, and it's one of those songs that has some different genre flavours. For instance, it starts off with a bit of contemporary jazz before Kido goes into his singing while I hear some City Pop here and then even some 70s art pop there, courtesy of Queen and Electric Light Orchestra. Plus, Kido's delivery and the overall arrangement reminded me of some of the work of Shinji Harada（原田真二）.
There was mention of the word wine in "Love Magic", and I think perhaps if I were to make an analogy here, there is that feeling of all sorts of flavour notes in this aural glass of vintage red. As for that interesting thought I spoke of in the first paragraph, I kinda figure that if the band Kirinji（キリンジ）in their current form had been around in the 1970s, "Love Magic" is the sort of tune that they would have distilled. I ought to make that chicken steak more often.
Merry Christmas to everyone out there! I'm hoping that all of you are enjoying presents, each other and the eventual feast (turkey or ham or KFC).
Let me begin with something that was pricking the curiosity of my mind like pine needles for the past couple of years. It must have done quite a lot of pricking to a lot of folks globally since it has become quite the meme in both the Xmas and anime/gaming fields. There is something called "Padoru" which involves a cute little anime girl in a Santa Claus outfit singing the first several words of "Jingle Bells" in Japanese before yelling out "Padoru Padoru". It's gotten mention in the "Know Your Meme" website a couple of times now including an article just a few days ago.
Well, I found out that the excerpt came from the PlayStation game "Fate/Extra" with the character of Nero Claudius (Red Saber) doing the cute thing. It's the "Padoru Padoru" that was making me wonder all this time. I'd initially assumed that it had something to do with paddling, but apparently it's the Japanese onomatopoeia for the reindeer clopping their hooves on the roof. Other information I found was that the seiyuu is veteran Sakura Tange（丹下桜）. Plus, the original Japanese lyrics for "Jingle Bells" were written by the late poet/lyricist Shoichi Miyazawa（宮澤章二）shortly after the end of the Second World War.
Now that this mystery has been solved, let me show you an original J-Xmas tune that would make The Manhattan Transfer swoon with holly-covered happiness. I found this video containing a track called "It's a Merry Christmas to You" from the 1995 album"Christmas Mail ~ Voice Fill".
Some nice jazzy vocals are provided by singer-songwriters Junko Hirotani（広谷順子）, Yuko Kawai（河合夕子）, Eri Sugai（菅井えり）and Yasuhiro Kido（木戸やすひろ）with music/arrangement by Sugai and lyrics by Lynne Hobday. As I said, there's something quite Manhattan Transfer about it and I am even reminded of The Andrews Sisters (of course, I also think about the vocal groups in Japan such as Hi-Fi Set and Circus). Along with some scatting, there's even a bit of tap dancing which had me humorously wondering if one of the singers decided to adopt comedian/actor Billy Crystal's technique at 3:10 above. Hearing it a few times now, I can envisage someone like Kohmi Hirose（広瀬香美）covering this one, too.
Anyways, let me leave you with a dance remix of "Padoru Padoru". I wonder whether Tange ever thought about getting this whole thing trademarked.
When I heard Junko Ohashi's（大橋純子）"Kousui" (Perfume), a certain insertion of a synth in the intro had me thinking whether the City Pop chanteuse was going YMO technopop, but it was just an embellishment as the song and her vocals got back onto the genre that she's been most well-known for.
"Kousui" is a track on Ohashi's 1982 album"Tasogare"（黄昏...Twilight）. Unfortunately, I couldn't find out who wrote or composed this fairly racing tune, but I like to think that this lack of information will give me some impetus in picking the album up to sate my curiosity. In any case, it's another Ohashi song of the city with her wonderful voice and an arrangement that brings to mind a woman making a mad dash in full makeup and fashion so that her date is not kept unduly waiting at that hotel top bar. Gotta make sure that the perfume is right, too.
Miyoko Nagao（永尾美代子）is one of those singer-songwriters who is perhaps at the same level of Takako Mamiya（間宮貴子）in terms of media exposure. In other words, there is very little information about her. Nothing written about her on J-Wiki, that's for sure.
However, there is an entry for her in "Japanese City Pop". Her 1981 debut album"Miyoko - Rivage"（美代子・リバージュ）has been described, though, as not a City Pop album, but more of a Resort Pop confection. To summarize, less Tokyo and more Karuizawa.
And certainly, the second track "Ashiya Sailing Spot" is a breezy morning AOR number that talks about enjoying oneself at Ashiya, which is a small city in Hyogo Prefecture which seems to be frequented by the hoi polloi of Japan as a resort area. Given lyrics by Nagao herself, composed by Yasuhiro Kido（木戸やすひろ）and arranged by Ichizo Seo（瀬尾一三）, it's something to be savored while tucking into that Eggs Benedict in the kitchen alcove. Mind you, the City Pop bass and horns are in there but they're complemented with a water-reminiscent keyboard, some gentle guitars and strings, and then Nagao's soft voice...my compliments to Ise. The whole song sounds as if it were actually five years older than its release date, reflecting a summer of the mid-1970s.
Not sure whether Ashiya is still a garden spot in the Kansai region, but "Ashiya Sailing Spot" does make it enticing.
Obviously, it's April. Still not quite the spring temperatures we've been hoping for but at least it's sunny out there. Plus, the unusual start isn't just in a meteorological sense; apparently we can now have April Fool's fall on the same day as Easter Sunday. I only hope that there wasn't anything nasty in those chocolate Easter eggs for the kids.
Well, to commemorate the arrival of the fourth month, here is "April" by J-AOR crooner Junichi Inagaki（稲垣潤一）. Only that it's not really an AOR number. This was the flip side to Inagaki's 24th single"Ichi Das no Iiwake"（1ダースの言い訳）from December 1991, and the song by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and Yasuhiro Kido（木戸やすひろ）has that 60s doo-wop feeling compared to the Motown sound brought about by "Ichi Das". Both songs also existed as separate tracks on his 6th album from March 1986"Realistic".
Although I mentioned that there was a bit of that doo-wop in there, the arrangement by Masaaki Omura（大村雅朗）includes some synth-y keyboards which rather brings "April" into the 1980s especially during the instrumental.
Back at the end of May, I wrote about this singer-songwriter that I had never heard of before by the name of Masa Takagi（高木麻早）, and from listening to a number of her songs on YouTube, I discovered that she had dabbled in a number of genres ranging from Folk to City Pop.
Well, I found this one from her 1983 album"Pick Me Up" called "Anata ni Say Goodbye"(Saying Goodbye to You). At first, judging from that cover of the album that this was something in the City Pop realm but as I listened to the track, I realized that the song is probably a little too mellow so I decided to categorize it as J-AOR. In any case, it's quite a stretch from her country twangy debut single all the way back in 1973,"Hitoribocchi no Heya "（ひとりぼっちの部屋）. "Anata ni Say Goodbye" isn't any different from a number of seaside contemporary ballads I've heard but it's pleasant enough to listen to with a nice drink.
Takagi wrote the lyrics but Yasuhiro Kido（木戸やすひろ）took care of the music.
As I mentioned in my first entry on Kanako Wada（和田加奈子）a week or so ago, her very first album, "Tenderness", released in 1986 has remained just an LP record. It was never even converted into cassette tape, let alone CD. I'd bought my own copy from Wah Yueh just on a whim and because of the cover showing a pensive young Wada sitting on what looks like the desert floor.
To be honest, after playing it on the old record player for the first time, I frankly thought that that was $28 I could've used on something else. Some of the songs just struck me as being a bit too much of the generic synthesized power pop that was being dumped on the airwaves amongst a number of aidoru that have come and gone during the 80s. So after a few more listens, I put Kanako in the corner. But some years later, after I came across her "Dreamin' Lady" from a Japanese commercial, I actually started to appreciate her stuff at the turn of the decade.
"Passing Through" has been the only song from this album to make it onto any Best compilation by Wada. You might say it's kinda like Pat Benatar-lite: the electric guitar/synth/drum combo, and in the official video, Kanako is singing away in a leather jacket with the necessary pop-rock gravitas. Music was provided by Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）with lyrics by Neko Oikawa（及川眠子）.
(Ah, did find one track "Radio ga Kowareta Yoru"/Radio がこわれた夜"
The Night the Radio Died)
The rest of the album consists of songs that I hadn't heard in 25 years, so I'm basically listening to them for the first time.... again. Again, a few of the freshly uploaded songs on YouTube still come off as being unremarkable but there are some others such as this one, "Twilight Dinner" that I've started to appreciate a bit more because of the passage of time, and the fact that Wada hadn't quite fit into my still-developing ears for Japanese music of that time. By the same token, I'd given Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子） the boot initially as well. Yasuhiro Kido and Kumiko Aoki created this one.
"Jealous Girl" is the first track on Side-A created by Ken Sato（佐藤研）and Akira Ohtsu（大津あきら）. A dynamic start to "Tenderness", I think the horns sound as if they were borrowed by Earth Wind & Fire.
"Feedback" is the only song that I had originally liked from "Tenderness". It's the final track, and though Kanako's voice seems a bit uncertain and threatens to be overwhelmed by the melody at times, I enjoy the Latin beat and the feeling that Wada is on some sort of musical voyage. Tsugutoshi Goto was responsible for this last song with Keiko Aso（麻生圭子）behind the lyrics.
Ah, finally a YouTube video that I can embed (for now). This is "Toki ni...Hagurete"（時に。。。はぐれて...Missing Out Sometimes） which is Track 2. One of the reasons that I wasn't initially impressed by Wada was that I didn't think she had the strongest vocals for songs that didn't really stand out. And unfortunately, the above performance kinda showed that. Tsugutoshi Goto（後藤次利）composed this one with Yoshiaki Sagara（さがらよしあき）providing the lyrics.
On re-discovering "Tenderness" on YouTube, I also found out that Wada has made a small comeback recently, after retiring in 1991. According to J-Wiki, she made an appearance at some sort of surfing event in Chiba Prefecture back in 2010 singing a couple of cover songs. Then, she came out to the same event almost a year later where she sang one of her old hits. You can see it below.
Twenty years later, it sounds like she still has the chops.
