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.
A little over four years ago, I introduced singer Anna Banana（アンナ・バナナ）to the pages of KKP, a lovely lady with some golden vocals. Just from what I've heard thus far, it seems like she inhabited some of the more urbane genres such as City Pop and jazz. My first article on her "Smile" from her 1993 album"High Dive" revealed a breezy pop sense somewhat akin to some of the works of actress-singer Miki Imai（今井美樹）.
From the same album, here is "Himitsu"(Secrets) and perhaps the secret that I envisage as I listen to this one is the secret but oh-so-desirable club in a city alley where this might be playing. Written by Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）and composed by Tsutomu Nakayama（中山努）, it comes across as a nice slice of sophisti-pop or British blue-eyed soul especially with that muted trumpet solo. I think of Swingout Sister and Basia when I listen to that refined and funky arrangement.
A few years ago, I noted that the anime "Ojarumaru"（おじゃる丸）has a long-running list of theme songs to match its own longevity on television. It would seem that anyone who's anyone in the music industry has given their contribution to the purin-loving title character. Eclectic rock diva Ringo Shiina（椎名林檎）is one of those people.
Well, a few weeks ago, I saw enka singer Kiyoshi Hikawa（氷川きよし）provide his own song to this current season of "Ojarumaru", and though Hikawa has been dabbling into other genres over the years, he has come back to his genre roots for this one. His "Tabi de Gozansu Ojarumaru" (It's a Journey, Ojarumaru) is a spritely old-school enka tune with a nice amount of brass. Written by Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）and composed by Hideo Mizumori（水森英夫）, the song takes me back when Hikawa began his career as the Boy Prince of Enka.
This isn't true with everybody but sometimes I associated certain bands and singers with famous areas. Southern All Stars（サザン・オール・スターズ）will always be connected to seaside Chigasaki because they are from that area, so that is easy. However on the other hand, I've felt that the late kayo chanteuse Keiko Fuji（藤圭子）and Shinjuku made a good pairing (although she's originally from Hokkaido) not only because she sang "Shinjuku no Onna"（新宿の女）but she just fit that urban angst in the back streets of that Tokyo neighbourhood.
This is straight from their website. Please don't kill me, Momo and Koharu.
Well, as for the eclectic accordion-driven sibling duo Charan-Po-Rantan（チャラン・ポ・ランタン）, I picture them setting up shop in the shitamachi districts of Tokyo such as Ueno or Kanda. They actually do hail from the nation's capital (though the sisters Momo and Koharu were born in Chiba) but I don't know exactly where they were raised. Now as to why I think they feel just at home in the traditional quarter of town, and this is even before they released their album of kayo covers "Showa Hyaku Nen"(The 100th Year of the Showa Era) on Christmas Eve last year, their music always hit me as being something just as comfy, old-fashioned and woodsy as the architecture of the Taisho and early Showa eras. I'm not sure whether 2025 or 2026 would be considered Showa 100 according to the Japanese reign year system if Emperor Showa had survived up to now but let's give the sisters the benefit of a doubt.
So, let's take a look at three of the tracks from "Showa Hyaku Nen". One is a cover of Takao Hirata & Sellsters'（平田隆夫とセルスターズ）"Hachi no Musashi wa Shinda no sa"（ハチのムサシは死んだのさ）, the novelty pop hit from 1972. Some great sisterly harmonizing here with the song taking on an arrangement that seems to be part ska and part old-fashioned street band chindon'ya style. And it comes with a music video that's swift and reminiscent of the old anime style from that decade. I'm especially happy that Charan-Po-Rantan picked this one since I don't think "Hachi no Musashi wa Shinda no sa" usually gets selected in any kayo kyoku retrospective either on TV or compilation album.
Hey, and we all get a lovely video of vocalist Momo not only singing but showing off a bit of summery 80s aidoru cheesecake in the music video for the duo's rendition of Meiko Nakahara's（中原めいこ）1984 hit "Kimi Tachi Kiwi Papaya Mango da ne"（君たちキウイ・パパヤ・マンゴだね。）The Charan-Po-Rantan style is fully in play here as well.
Finally, here is the Hibari Misora（美空ひばり）classic "Makkana Taiyo"（真赤な太陽）from 1967. There's perhaps even more of a funky element in this cover and Momo adds some Ringo Shiina（椎名林檎）growl and Ego-Wrappin' attitude into her delivery. That chindon'ya saxophone really chews into the arrangement like me on a tenderloin steak. Frankly, "Makkana Taiyo" is a song that just begs to be covered in any kayo cover album because the singers can really have at it.
Feel free to take a look at the rest of the tracklist via the link to the album above and there are some more of the songs up on YouTube.
As I mentioned in my thoughts on the most recent Kohaku Utagassen, Japanese rock legend Eikichi Yazawa（矢沢永吉）made his third appearance on the NHK special for the third time (his other appearances were in 2009 and 2012), as he sang his new song before going for that "Kohaku B'z" shot and coming up to the main stage to perform his old hits.
That new song was "Shinjitsu"(The Truth) which was released in September 2025 as part of his 35th album "I believe" which hit No. 1. First and foremost, it's a love ballad and judging from the official music video below, it seems to be addressing the love between a couple that's been around for quite a while. Written by Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）and composed by Yazawa, I actually threw the YouTube link for the above video into one of those AI music analyzers which got me the result of folk rock. I know that the 76-year-old is a rocker at heart but I'm not quite sure that "Shinjitsu" would rate as a rock song...more of a pop ballad that sounds like it came from yesteryear; maybe it's even got some blues in there.
"Shinjitsu" was also used as the theme song for a Fuji-TV live-action drama adaptation of the novel "Saigo no Kanteinin"（最後の鑑定人...The Final Appraiser） that had its run between July and September 2025.
I have to say that the above ad is a pretty clever take on a key scene from Dustin Hoffman's"The Graduate", and it was all done for Nissin's Menkoku（めんコク）instant noodles. When it comes to passion in Japan, there is the significant other and there are noodles. Oh, by the way, the Hoffman character here was played by a future governor of Chiba Prefecture.
I'm not sure when the Kensaku Morita（森田健作）-starring commercial above was broadcast but in 1981, for another commercial featuring Menkoku, there was a pretty kickass jingle accompanying it titled "Girari Netsuai" (Glaring Passionate Love) by the band Hi-Way（ハイウェイ）. Hi-Way already has one article up on the blog for their 1982 "Black Coffee"（ブラック・コーヒー）which made it onto "Light Mellow ~ City", part of the compilation of City Pop and J-AOR created and sold in the 2010s.
So, I gather that there was a foodie thing with Hi-Way during its brief time. Anyways, how "Girari Netsuai" became part of instant ramen folklore was that there had been a contest sponsored by Nissin called "Happy Folk Contest" which Hi-Way vocalist and songwriter Yoshimitsu Kamiura（上浦容充）had won with one of his own entries, thereby leading to the group's major debut which was this very song. in 1981. "Girari Netsuai" was actually written by Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）and composed by Kisaburo Suzuki（鈴木キサブロー）and it's a pop-rock song whose lyrics by Mori talk of love but can also be interpreted as something to be eaten with a whole lot of gusto as well. And when we're talking about a big hot heaping bowl of ramen...😋
In 1982, Hi-Way released their debut album "Age" and a slightly rearranged version of "Girari Netsuai" was recorded there. It kept its rock edge but there was more of a City Pop feeling in there as well, and I can't help but hear a little of Billy Joel's "The Stranger" in some of the guitar riffs. In addition, it was a guest vocalist, reggae singer Kaja（カジャ）instead of Kamiura, who was behind the microphone for some reason.
This entry will probably go down as representing a song that slipped through the fingers of my mind (as bizarre as that might be to envision, so please don't). After all, this was my introduction to the Johnny's aidoru group Shibugakitai（シブがき隊）.
Yup, I first saw Masahiro Motoki（本木雅弘）, Toshikazu Fukawa (布川敏和）and Hirohide Yakumaru (薬丸裕英）on the 1982 edition of NHK's Kohaku Utagassen doing this very number, "100%...So Kamo ne!" (100%...Maybe So!). Shibugakitai's second single from July 1982, it's quite the super-caffeinated tune about a teenage guy whose hormones have been unleashed due to the possibility of first love. At the time, when I saw them perform on that New Year's Eve special and didn't really listen to the lyrics, it was like listening to three times the Matchy or Toshi-chan who I heard the previous year. All that prancing about and singing at full volume would have had the boys desperately reaching for their Max Coffee.
Written by Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）and composed/arranged by Daisuke Inoue（井上大輔）, "100%...So Kamo ne!" won Best New Artist honours for Shibugakitai at the Japan Record Awards, and also that invitation to the Kohaku. It peaked at No. 6 on Oricon and ended up as the 43rd-ranked single for 1982. Just glad that it's finally up here after over thirteen years of this blog.
Yup, my friend and I got to watch "Fantastic Four: First Steps" after our tonkatsu lunch. Having a tonkatsu lunch with all that protein and carb (rice) can get a guy at my age pretty sleepy within an hour so it was saying something that my eyes were absolutely glued to the screen as Reed, Sue, Johnny, Ben, Herbie and Franklin were saving the day out there. No rapid metabolization of all that food at all which means that I did enjoy the movie and strangely enough, it's the first MCEU movie since "Avengers: Endgame" in 2019 that I would be willing to see again.
So I thought perhaps an aidoru song titled "Makenaide, Yuuki" (Don't Give Up, Courage) would be an ideal one to talk about after catching the FF on screen. And that song belongs to Shinobu Nakayama（中山忍）who's coming onto KKP for the very first time. She is the younger sister to the late Miho Nakayama（中山美穂）so we've got another sister tandem next to the Iwasakis, Hiromi（岩崎宏美）and Yoshimi（岩崎良美）.
I knew about Shinobu for quite a while after Miporin's hits had been hitting the airwaves so I was surprised to find out that the former had only released eight singles and three albums as an aidoru between 1988 and 1990, although she would eventually lead a very long life in the acting industry thereafter. Her third single was indeed the aforementioned "Makenaide, Yuuki" which was released in May 1989.
Miporin may have gotten the royal jelly treatment from producers such as Toshiki Kadomatsu（角松敏生）to come up with some of those dance-friendly hits, but Shinobu, at least from what I can hear from "Makenaide, Yuuki", was pretty much kept to the conventional aidoru track. However, the song doesn't sound too bad here from Ryo Yonemitsu's（米光亮）arrangement of Tsugutoshi Goto's（後藤次利）melody especially with those swift violins in there. Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）was the lyricist for this one which peaked at No. 18.
On Friday, NHK's "Asaichi"（あさイチ）program had its usual Premium Talk segment and the guest just happened to be the one and only Tomoyasu Hotei（布袋寅泰）, a musician whose reputation certainly preceded him as the hosts looked pretty nervous and tongue-tied around the man initially, and it wasn't just because he towered over everyone at over 6"1' (that's still considered very tall in Japan), although still not quite as tall as Shohei Ohtani.
However, in his gray hair, spectacles, and a one-button blazer that looked almost like a comfy cardigan around him, Hotei looked practically grandfatherly (which I shouldn't say because his daughter isn't even married yet) and nothing like his hellraising self on stage with all of the leather and spiky hair. And he was very self-effacing in his talk about his life in London and his approach to his guitar, although we also all found out that he is one heck of a whiz in the kitchen and he has a green thumb.
But getting back to the music, I found this one track which acted as the final track of his March 2002 8th album"Scorpio Rising". His composition "Dreaming in the Midnight City" sounds something like a good way to finish up the album as it has this rather elegiac feeling with Hotei exhorting Yukinojo Mori's（森雪之丞）lyrics of being someone who's gone through the late nights of paying one's dues to get where he is today. I'm not sure if Hotei was indeed singing about himself or about certain people in general but he's definitely gone the anthemic way about it. "Scorpio Rising" itself reached No. 6 on Oricon.
Uh...no. This article has nothing to do with Anri's（杏里）classic "Cat's Eye"or the famous manga-turned-anime from the 1980s. But in fact, there was a brief time when this duo existed in the late 1970s known as Cats★Eye（キャッツ★アイ）.
It was somewhat providential then that I had written a Pink Lady article yesterday afternoon since Cats★Eye was born in the throes of the Pink Lady boom starting from the mid-1970s. Consisting of Chikae "Non" Ohtani（大谷親江）and Nana Yamanaka（山中奈奈）, the duo made their debut around mid-1977 and released a mere four singles and an album before the show was all over for them sometime in 1978.
Their second single was "Mekkiri Tsumetaku Narimashita" (It's Become Really Cold) which was released in September 1977. Just judging from their performance above on what I think is "Yoru no Hit Studio"（夜のヒットスタジオ）, I gather that they were going for some of that Pink Lady choreography although their singing style was more akin to Candies. Written by Akira Ito（伊藤アキラ）and composed by Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）, it's one upbeat tune that sounds a bit reminiscent of those 1950s pop ditties, specifically "Please, Mr. Postman", although Ito's lyrics are a woman not just describing the coming cold of an autumn turning into winter but also the same thing happening with a romantic relationship.
Speaking of things going cold, according to the J-Wiki article on Cats★Eye, apparently Non went no-no to the rest of her singing career and basically fled the geinokai. Yamanaka tried to hold the fort as best as she could, but as I said above, the duo was done like dinner later in 1978.
KKP contributor Jari Lehtinen was the first one to get the Nami Shimada（島田奈美）file rolling when he wrote about the late 1980saidoru's "Onegai Kiss Me Again"（お願いキス・ミー・アゲイン）all the way back in 2013. And feel free to read his writeup since he goes into much of her history in the geinokai.
It's always interesting to delve into the slightly less-than-famous aidoru of that decade since I've found that at least some of their material is quite pleasant to listen to. And with Shimada, who I didn't really find out about until the existence of "Kayo Kyoku Plus", there is her 2nd single from August 1986, "Makenaide...Kataomoi" (Don't Give Up...One-Sided Love). It's got one of the nicest intros before some intriguing synths come crashing in and then the arrangement maintains a nice and fairly groovy rhythm throughout. The title pretty much says it all...I'm assuming that Yukinojo Mori's（森雪之丞）lyrics are about holding that torch for that guy in high school. Not surprised that the melody and arrangement are by Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）and Motoki Funayama（船山基紀）respectively. "Makenaide...Kataomoi" made it No. 15 on Oricon and it was used for a Clearasil commercial.
Back in the day (or night), whenever I traipsed through Tokyo around the Xmas season, I didn't particularly think "holy night". It was more "blisteringly bright night" with all of the seasonal illumination. I wondered often about how much power TEPCO possessed to light up all of those Christmas lights everywhere especially Roppongi and Omotesando.
All this to segue into "Tokyo Holy Night", a track from 70s and 80s aidoru Ikue Sakakibara's（榊原郁恵）November 1982 album"Variety Box". I figured that Ikue-chan, being a former teenybopper and all, just had to have a Xmas song hidden among her many tunes and sure enough, I finally found one. Written by Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）, composed by Kisaburo Suzuki（鈴木キサブロー）and arranged by Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）, it's one jaunty march that is one dance beat away from being considered Eurobeat and it starts with a great keyboard riff. The song centres around a couple who often bicker throughout the year but they call a truce during the Xmas season and have a romantic time of it. Can't really say that there is anything religious about it despite the title but Japan has mostly been about the Santa Claus side of things.
Last week, I provided an article covering Side A of the late Junko Ohashi's（大橋純子）1988 album"DEF" and so today, I'm following up with my thoughts on Side B. So far, it's got a good mixture of the various urban contemporary genres in there. Also, just to let you know, I've realized that my copy of the album, which I had purchased literally decades ago, is different from the track arrangement in future releases, so my copy is going with the track list showing for "DEF" on Amazon Japan while probably your copies have the arrangement shown on Discogs. In addition, as noted last week, the trio of lyricist, composer and arranger handling the album mostly involves Goro Matsui（松井五郎）, Ken Sato（佐藤健）and Nobuyuki Shimizu（清水信之）for the most part. Any other songwriters will be noted for each track below.
Side B of my own copy begins with "Madoi no Wicked Woman"（惑いのWicked Woman...The Wicked Woman of My Illusions） which has been described as a nice slice of urban funk but I can also hear some of that sophisticated pop as well. This time, the lyricist is a fellow by the name of Tsurezuregusa（徒然草）which is obviously a pen name but it's also the title of an ancient collection of essays by the monk Kenko. Nothing about nature or humourous incidents in this song though which is all about that fateful encounter with a mystery lady on the dance floor. Basically, I gather that this is the urban Japanese version of two ships passing each other in the night.
Track B2 is the soulful ballad"Tooi Hohoemi"（遠いほゝえみ...Distant Smile） which has the main three songwriters listed above but with Junko's husband, Sato, handling chorus duties this time, while singer-songwriter Masayuki Kishi（岸正之）is taking care of the melody. Meanwhile, the overall arrangement was by Keiichi Oku（奥恵一）for a tune of wistful reminiscing over a past romance. Another lovely performance by Ohashi and the piano in there has had me remembering many an 80s love song from America.
If somehow, the anime "Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai ~ Tensai-tachi no Ren'ai Zunousen"（かぐや様は告らせたい〜天才たちの恋愛頭脳戦〜）had been willing to include insert songs not sung by the God of Love Songs, Masayuki Suzuki（鈴木雅之）, himself, this particular track by Ohashi, "Burlesque ga Oniai"（バーレスクがお似合い...Fit for a Burlesque）, could have been a candidate since it involves a lot of the love and games that was going on in the first season of the series. As it is though, it's a cool blend of City Pop and funk, thanks to composer Hideya Nakazaki（中崎英也）with Hiroshi Yamada（山田ひろし）behind the lyrics.
"Mayonaka no Distance"（真夜中の距離...Midnight Distance） is a smoky and haunting funk tune with some thumping percussion (which then gets passed onto the keyboards) about a mysterious and dangerous tryst at the bewitching hour. As noted in Yukinojo Mori's（森雪之丞）lyrics, there is a Don Juan making his rounds which most likely means that there will be some major heartbreak at the end. Again, Nakazaki took care of the melody.
The final track, "Yume no Tobira"（夢の扉...The Doors to a Dream）, is unsurprisingly a quieter song (at least initially) to finish off "DEF" with. This time, Yasuhiro Abe（安部恭弘）is on board to provide the gently undulating music surrounding the aftermath of a couple's eventful night in bed. The aforementioned Oku took care of the string arrangements for some added dramatic bossa nova oomph to the climax (no pun intended). If there had been a longer coda, it would have been for the afterglow cigarettes.
Gotta say that I largely underestimated "DEF" all these years. One Gibbs slap to the back of my head. I gather that I wasn't quite ready yet but I am now. Hopefully, Ohashi's fans have been celebrating her life and career and music at the one-year anniversary of her departure.
When I first read the title of this song, my memories immediately went back to the 1976 mystery movie "Sybil" with Sally Field as the title character burdened with split personalities. However, "Sybille no Heya" (Sybille's Room) actually refers to the Japanese title for the French erotic thriller "Néa" released in the same year in France but in 1977 in Japan.
Considering what I've read of the synopsis of this rather twisted movie, the plucky theme song for the Japanese release of "Néa" sounds like it had been created for a light and relaxing slice-of-life drama. "Sybille no Heya ~ Midnight Message" is a slightly jazzy and slightly bossa nova tune written and composed by Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）and it was breathily recorded by Asami Saito（斎藤麻美）who I really couldn't find anything about. She's basically an online tabula rasa, so if anyone out there can provide any information, I would be very happy.
It's been a good long while since I've seen former 80s aidoruand tarento Mami Yamase（山瀬まみ）on Japanese television because it seems that TV Japan and the new Jme don't have the programs that feature her. She was always known for that strangulated voice which I've always thought was more of an affectation for show business rather than her real voice. And I believe that in recent years, the squeakiness has possibly mellowed down.
For that matter, it's been five years since I posted the last Yamase article onto "Kayo Kyoku Plus". That was for the zany "Go!"（ゴォ）from 1989 which took more advantage of her stage speaking voice. However, as mentioned in that article, her earlier aidoru tunes had her sounding much more pleasant and creamy. In fact, I got another demonstration of her singing prowess through her 7th single from September 1987, "Starlight Serenade" which also served as the second opening theme for the mecha anime"Kikou Senki Dragonar"（機甲戦記ドラグナー...Metal Armor Dragonar）.
Composer Daisuke Inoue（井上大輔）and arranger Kazuo Otani（大谷和夫）went for a loud-and-proud pop/rock arrangement that could be considered to be Pat Benatar-lite. Meanwhile, Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）provided lyrics about pining for that hero out there while reminiscing about more innocent times when the lad was still within arm's distance. And Yamase sounds like she was channeling her inner Ayumi Nakamura（中村あゆみ）singing this.
Yukako Hayase（早瀬優香子）is a singer that I discovered because of the work on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" over the past dozen years. So far, although there are only a few of her songs on the blog, I've gotten the impression that she's been able to gain her own loyal group of followers for her appealingly quirky brand of technopop.
Case in point: her April 1987 single"Tsubaki Hime no Natsu" (The Summer of the Lady of the Camellias). Written by Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）and composed by Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）, even going late into the 1980s, Harry still had some of that remaining YMO magic spinning around in his head when he made what sounds like some happy techno cabaret for Hayase. I can imagine two professional tango robots tripping the light fantastic on the dance floor here.
"Tsubaki Hime no Natsu" also got a slight re-arrangement when it was placed on Hayase's July 1987 album"Polyester". It still keeps its techno sheen but it then maintains things a little more intimately as if the cabaret club got a little smaller and at the same time, it gains a bit more of that old Tin Pan Alley（ティン・パン・アレー）Tiki bar style. Incidentally, the single version was used for a Shiseido cosmetics campaign.
I know that I've already put up one anison earlier today but I just couldn't let this particular one go. Heard and saw the trailer and even the opening credits sequence for this anime without the credits last night.
I remember back in January 2017 when I posted fhana's "Aozora no Rhapsody"（青空のラプソディ）, the opening theme to the first season of the beloved "Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon"（小林さんちのメイドラゴン...Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid）, I pointed out that I was writing an article on a theme song that I was already liking but whose anime I had yet to actually see since I wasn't due to show up at my anime buddy's house for another round of anime and food for another week (although "Kobayashi-san" was probably already airing in Japan by that point). Well, it looks like I'm posting on an opening theme for an anime that no one has yet to see yet since it's not due out until early April, several weeks away.
But I gather that the original anime "Astro Note"（アストロノオト）has been getting that much buzz to have its creditless opening sequence come out so early on YouTube. And the opening song is also something that I'm getting pretty high upon. "Hohoemi Note" (Smile Note) is a happy and breezy ditty that I immediately likened to some of the pop of the 1980s and that has also been echoed in some of the writeups I've found online. It's performed by Ai Furihata（降旗愛）who already has a fair number of entries on KKP that delve into either the Neo-City Pop and/or 80s synthpop such as "Play Boy". "Hohoemi Note" is neither City Pop nor synthpop but it's 80s so I think Furihata is just the singer for it. Veteran lyricist Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）is behind the words while Akimitsu Honma（本間昭光）, who has worked with Furihata before, is the composer here. As for the song itself, it won't be out as a CD until late May but would like to see and hear the complete version before then.
Furihata even has a role in "Astro Note" playing one of the motley residents of Astro Flats, underground aidoru Teruko Matsubara (松原照子). I've rather enjoyed slice-of-life anime where a group of oddly likeable characters end up together. And I'm already seeing a love triangle on the way in this one.
April 13th 2024: Ah, finally...the ending theme is here.
I gather that back in the day, anime comedies always involved some alien or magical creature getting into the lives of a feckless schoolboy and creating general mayhem for him and his buddies. For me, that would include "Doraemon"（ドラえもん）and "Obake no Q-Taro"（オバケのQ太郎）. The above 1984 anime adaptation of the 1982 manga "Gu-Gu Ganmo"（Gu-Guガンモ）is something that I had never heard about before, but it fulfills the trope, although this time, the weird character is in the form of a pudgy chicken named Ganmo.
I've been reading some of the comments for the YouTube clips of "Gu-Gu Ganmo" which seem to feature the hapless Hanpeita ending up half-naked. Well, back in the day, the animated funnies in Japan didn't seem to mind having nudity among the kids as long as it was deemed in good fun. "Dr. Slump"（ドクタースランプ）was practically the master of the bawdy.
What got more of my attention was the opening theme song for "Gu-Gu Ganmo", "Ganmo Doki!"(Ganmo Gulp!). Written and composed by Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）, this was recorded by the one-and-only Miki Matsubara（松原みき）, although for some reason, she opted for the name Suzie Matsubara（スージー・松原）. One comment under one of the videos for the song mentioned that she probably went for the name change out of a certain sense of embarrassment over doing an anison. Frankly, I'm not sure whether that was the case since Miki/Susie certainly doesn't sound as if she's phoning her performance in. Moreover, I don't know how much of a household name she became in the half-decade since her big hit "Mayonaka no Door"（真夜中のドアー）, but her distinctive voice of sweet, spicy and sultry is still rather recognizable. Maybe it was more of an affectation that Miki Matsubara just opted to go with Susie whenever she was doing anison, and apparently she did quite a few of them from the 1990s. But if someone has a different theory, please let me know.
Mori's melody for "Ganmo Doki!" has got that tropical Latin jazz and funk that I've heard before on either side of the Pacific, but it was the comment under the J-Wiki description of the theme song that got my interest. Apparently, the composer had woven it under the genre known as Funk-a-Latina（ファンカラティーナ）. That was news to me since it was the first time I heard of it (love the opening credit dance sequence, by the way). It took a bit of doing but I found the "Rate Your Music" site had some information on this genre:
Funk-a-latina is a term most likely coined in Japan for a danceable, Pop-oriented and primarily British subgenre of New Wave that, as the name implies, takes inspiration from the rhythms of Funk and Latin music (including both Hispanic American Music and Brazilian Music). Specifically, funk-a-latina is closely related to the Britfunk offshoot of Jazz-Funk, incorporating its energetic, uptempo beat and heavy use of brass; its Latin influences show through the incorporation of Salsa and Samba rhythms as well as percussion. Other major influences include Disco and the vocal stylings of British Blue-Eyed Soul. Sophisti-Pop in comparison is less manic, lacks the latin sound, and is much more jazz oriented.
The interesting part is right in the first line where the name Funk-a-Latina was supposedly whipped up in Japan. Maybe it was a Dentsu invention or something that the record company thought up of. Regardless, if that is indeed the case, then I believe Meiko Nakahara's（中原めいこ）"Kimi Tachi Kiwi Papaya Mango da ne"（君たちキウイ・パパヤ・マンゴだね。）could certainly be considered to be part of the genre. Matt Bianco is a band that I also know, but I'm also reminded of Kid Creole and the Coconuts.
The ending theme, "Hyokopon Kankei" (Hyokpon Relationship), was also recorded by Suzie and created by Mori. It's not quite as standout as the opening theme but it does have that old-style rock n' roll feeling.
Seiyuu Yuko Goto（後藤邑子）did her own version of "Ganmo Doki!" as a track on her 3rd album"Gotoson"（ごとそん）from January 2010 which provides plenty of anison covers. It reached No. 74 on Oricon.
With the O-Bon holidays arriving in Japan (despite all of the meteorological tempest being thrown upon the nation), families are getting together, festivals are being held and ghost stories are chilling listeners. Perhaps this is the first normal summer in terms of traditional activities there in four years.
Those two masters of the contemporary urban groove, Tomita Lab（冨田ラボ）and Kirinji（キリンジ）, are back together once more, and they've been collaborating regularly perhaps ever since the latter's "Aliens" in 2000. This time around, they released a digital single at the end of April this year titled "Natsu no Ghost" (Summer Ghost).
With words by Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）and music by Tomita Lab with Takaki Horigome（堀込高樹）behind the mike, this is an interesting twist on the summer ghost story. For one thing of course, with Tomita Lab and Kirinji cooperating, listeners are not going to get the usual scary music with a Theremin. It's gonna be groovy pop and the story concerns a ghost who may or may not be a woman's former lover still hanging about her surroundings and spouting some fancy stuff such as a Chilean Chardonnay, a walk through a marché, and even a cheap Cabernet. The only frightening thing here is the ghost's rising jealousy as he suspects that the woman may have gotten a new guy. Furthermore, I was struck by one line in "Natsu no Ghost" where the ghost puts out what he calls the paradox of him having no value unless there is unhappiness in her.
Tomita's music is always reassuring and comforting and this time there's a bit more romance in there, so the song is about as far as one can get from the typical supernatural tale. I thought that it was also a great idea to film the music video in Vietnam, a former French colony, where a woman played by Sakura Motoyama is walking the streets and sitting around, perhaps thinking about her past, present and future. I'm glad that the producers didn't opt to have a ghostly presence follow her.
"Natsu no Ghost" is one of the tracks on Tomita Lab's latest album"WORKS BEST 2 〜beautiful songs to remember〜" which was released in June.
Toronto has a main road alongside Lake Ontario called Lake Shore Boulevard. Even before I learned how to spell well, I knew the word "boulevard" by its abbreviation "Blvd". When we were kids in the family car, we sometimes drove on either Lakeshore or the overhead Gardiner Expressway, and at the time, the smell from the sugar mills and the dying fish in the lake was very...distinctive. In the last thirty years or so, things have been considerably cleaned up so that the area has had this cachet of being a neighbourhood of tourist-friendly establishments and condo towers
However, it's become painfully evident that Lake Shore Boulevard has now become one of the largest parking lots in the nation due to increasing traffic and ongoing long-term construction. At this point, I sure wouldn't get anywhere near the area which is congested with metal, exhaust and steamed and frustrated drivers.
I gather that the boulevard mentioned in "Koibito-tachi no Blvd." (Lovers' Boulevard) is a whole lot more spacious and happier. Perhaps it may be the Champs-Elysees in Paris. In any case, this is Shibugakitai's（シブがき隊）22nd single from November 1986. According to theJ-Wiki article regarding the song, this was the boys' 6th single from that year alone, so they were really busy.
Written and composed by Yuuji Ozeki（尾関裕司）and with Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）helping out with the lyrics, Toshikazu Fukawa（布川敏和）, Masahiro Motoki（本木雅弘）and Hirohide Yakumaru（薬丸裕英）are tripping the light fantastic on the titular avenue which is supposed to be the place to go for all of the lovers out there. Interestingly enough, the techno-jazzy song was used as a commercial jingle for SMBC Nikko Securities; mind you, being in the Bubble Era at the time, I guess that even securities officials felt like dancing all over the place while spending their millions at golf clubs and English classes. In any case, "Koibito-tachi no Blvd." broke into the Top 10 at No. 9 and was included in Shibutgakitai's 10th studio album from December 1986, "Horoscope".
As an end credit sequence might go: Any similarities between this song and Glenn Miller's"Moonlight Serenade" is purely coincidental.
Well, as Colonel Potter from "MASH" would say, that's a load of bull hockey. Yosuke Tagawa's（太川陽介）May 1979 10th single"Moonlight Carnival" is giving a clear tribute to one of Miller's trademark tunes from time to time in the arrangement and with half of the title. Being a fan of "Moonlight Serenade" especially because of the clarinets (which I used to play), I don't particularly mind the melodic shoutout per se.
Written by Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）and composed by Masaaki Hirao（平尾昌晃）, "Moonlight Carnival" partially answers the question of "How would 'Moonlight Serenade' sound as a disco tune?". It's not really a silly query since I knew that there were a lot of old songs that were getting the disco treatment (those strings, man) back then ranging from John Williams' "Star Wars" to the "I Love Lucy" theme. But as I said above, it's just a partial answer since Mori, Hirao and arranger Tachio Akano（あかのたちお）use the hints of "Moonlight Serenade" as bookends while whipping up a melody of romance among the stars and disco ball dance halls in Roppongi. It's all happy and gleaming Tokyo.
I did forget that "Moonlight Carnival" was the longest-lived theme song for NHK's legendary music program for the young, "Let's Go Young"（レッツゴーヤング）. The show lasted between 1974 and 1985 with "Moonlight Carnival" headlining each episode from 1979.
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