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.
Those first few seconds had me wondering whether I was going to get a kayo version of a mariachi song. However, Jun Ariyoshi（有吉ジュン）quickly went into 1950s/1960s pop mode with "Rendezvous", her 2nd single from January 1977. Written and composed by Yoshihiro Kai（甲斐よしひろ）of the Kai Band（甲斐バンド）with arrangement by Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）, it's a spirited tune that had me thinking of good ol' Richie Cunningham and Lori Beth Allen.
Ariyoshi's time in the limelight, though, was quite brief. A year after entering ballet school as a junior high sophomore, she became a regular assistant on the NTV show "Zen Nihon Kayo Senshuken"（全日本歌謡選手権...All-Japan Kayo Championship） before making her debut as a singer in 1976. She released a total of five singles up to 1978 and also had a few roles in TV dramas before she called it a day in 1979 and retiring from show business.
Kai himself covered "Rendezvous" himself many years later when he released his October 2011 album"Homecoming KAI BOOTLEG SERIES VOL. 1". This one has got a lot more rock in it along with a bit of hip-hop, thanks to rapper GAKU-MC.
My shoulders are taking on a more granite-like texture thanks to several hours of translating today. Yes, I realize that it is the weekend and the due date isn't until Tuesday but I'm never too crazy about leaving something half-done. I simply get a little jittery when that happens. This probably explains why I've been doing "Kayo Kyoku Plus" for so long on nearly a daily basis. Anyways, it's done and I can now enjoy my Saturday...at least until my English lesson tonight.
Mio Takagi（高樹澪）is an actress and singer but I've only known her for just her version of the sultry song "Dance wa Umaku Odorenai"（ダンスはうまく踊れない）. Well, I did find another single of hers recently. This would be her 6th single"Heart ~ Futte mo Hareto mo" (Come Rain Or Shine) from October 1983.
It's a nice and light synth-based ditty that was written and created by Yoshihiro Kai（甲斐祥弘）of the Kai Band（甲斐バンド）as the theme song for the NTV comedy-drama "Minna ga Daisuki!"（みんな大好き!...I Adore Everyone!）. The slightly doo-wop beat reminds me of Billy Joel's"The Longest Time" from his 1983 album"An Innocent Man", a release whose tracks I've listened to over and over again on the radio until I finally got the CD years later. It is pretty cheerful which goes in keeping with the program's premise of a fellow from the countryside coming into Tokyo for a round of unplanned hijinks while trying to keep his upbeat attitude. The song still manages to retain a bit of sultriness thanks to Takagi's delivery.
All right....a bit of personal history here so please be patient. When I was but a wee lad (and unfortunately, I did wee quite a bit), part of my television memory scape involved watching those compilation LP commercials by the famous K-Tel Records company. That nasal announcer barked out all those splendid hits of the 60s and 70s by acts like Sammy Davis Jr., ABBA and KC & The Sunshine Band. Another group that seared itself into my memory because of those ads was Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, the famed doo-wop group. Frankie had that supremely high voice when he and the guys performed hits such as "Sherry" and "Walk Like A Man". Frankly, when I first learned what a eunuch was, my mind immediately went to Frankie.
So, here come The Kingtones. Masato Uchida（内田正人）began this vocal quartet in 1960 but it wasn't until almost a decade later when the guys released their very first 45", "Good Night, Baby". I've heard this chestnut off and on for decades via their performances on TV, and always considered The Kingtones to be a Japanese version of The Four Seasons (although they might be closer to The Platters) because of the doo-wop and Uchida's high tones.
Released in May 1968, I had once thought that "Good Night, Baby" came over from the United States. However, as it turned out, it was totally Made In Japan. Written by Manami Hiro（ひろまなみ）, whose real name was Toshiko Ohinata（大日方俊子）and composed by Hiroshi Mutsu（むつひろし）, it took its sweet time getting up the charts, finally breaking the Oricon's Top 20 in January 1969 and then spending most of March of that year in the No. 2 position. It was even released under the Atco Records label in America where it got as high as No. 48 in the R&B category. The 1969 Kohaku also came knocking and The Kingtones appeared on the stage on New Year's Eve.
A decade later, Kai Band's Yoshihiro Kai（甲斐よしひろ）released a rock cover of "Good Night, Baby" for his debut as a solo artist from May 1978.
(Music163 is no longer accessible.)
The legendary Hibari Misora（美空ひばり）also gave her own version of the song although I couldn't track down the exact year she recorded it. It is available on "Misora Hibari Seitan 70 Nen Kinen Misora Hibari Cover Song Collection"（美空ひばり生誕70年記念 ミソラヒバリ カバーソング コレクション...Hibari Misora 70th Anniversary Memorial Cover Song Collection）. Of course, other singers have covered "Good Night, Baby" including one Masayuki Suzuki（鈴木雅之）who also led a doo-wop group of his own some years later.
