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.
Not sure what the Lone Star State has to do with Yuko Ando's（安藤裕子）"TEXAS", the singer-songwriter's 5th single from July 2006. There's no mention of the state in her lyrics but there is plenty of adorable love affirmation, and perhaps not a few young couples could have adopted "TEXAS" as their tune when they first heard it. Plus, as I said off the top, I love that piano and that whole arrangement by Ando and Ryuji Yamamoto（山本隆二）which can blow all of those Monday blues away.
"TEXAS" also made its way onto Ando's 3rd full album "shabon songs" which was released in February 2007. Ironically, considering the title, I actually want a mug of cocoa with a marshmallow in it rather than a tumbler of bourbon.
Merry weekend to you all. The heat is back on in my hometown but so is the sun, therefore the weather is great for all those summer worshipers.
When it comes to contemporary J-AOR, namely within the last couple of decades, I usually think of bossa nova-influenced rhythms that are as soft as trailing a finger on the surface of a lake and mellow horns. That's kinda why I fell for the charms of singer-songwriter Yuko Ando（安藤裕子）so many years ago. Although the above commercial isn't the one I saw featuring Ando for the first time, it does feature the first song that I had ever heard by her, "Samishigariya no Kotobatachi"（さみしがり屋の言葉達）, and it has all of those characteristics that I've mentioned for the genre.
So I tracked down the album that had the song, "Merry Andrew", and this was Ando's 4th release from January 2006 (although the first 2 albums were mini-albums). Ando was responsible for words and music for all of the tracks with Ryuji Yamamoto（山本隆二）handling the arrangements.
I wasn't quite sure what to expect with "Merry Andrew", to be honest, although I got some clues from the design of the album booklet with Ando looking quite fantastical in that dress and the artsy drawings surrounding her. The first thought that came to mind was Indie Pop.
Sure enough, the first track is titled "Nirakainaririhi"（ニラカイナリィリヒ）. Of course, I had no idea what it was, and seeing a well-drawn picture of a tattooed bullfrog next to the lyrics, I thought that maybe the title was referring to the scientific name for this particular amphibian. It took a bit of doing but I finally found out through the Yahoo Japan Q&A and ultimately from "Excite Music" that in an interview with Ando, she confessed with a giggle that "Nirakainaririhi" has no meaning whatsoever and it just sounded good. Suddenly, images of Phil Collins' "Sussudio" spun around my head.
Still for a first track, the song leaves quite the impression. Spacey and atmospheric and introspective, it's an Ando song for sure because of her distinctive vocals which can bounce from soft and soothing to high and crackling.
Another track is "Lost Child,", and no, that isn't a punctuation mistake with the added comma. The ballad was Ando's 3rd single from July 2005, and it seems to relate the story of someone in crisis. However, the arrangement by Yamamoto with those strings and the lone piano leavens some of that sadness as if hope were just around the corner. There is also something about "Lost Child," that is reminiscent of the various ballads by R&B chanteuse Misia. The song was also the theme for a movie known as "Ningyo Rei"（人形霊...Departed Soul of a Doll）.
Unfortunately, the only other track that I could find from "Merry Andrew" with YouTube representation was "Nouzenkatsura"（のうぜんかつら）, a mid-tempo happy number that just gains in jollity as it goes on. Again, like "Nirakainaririhi", this was another title that I had to look up, and from the flowers depicted on the CD booklet page where this particular track's lyrics were situated and a Hail Mary lookup on jisho.org, it looks like it might be referring to nouzenkazura（凌霄花）or the Chinese trumpet vine which actually grows in East Asia. The lyrics by Ando, though, go into the developing romance between two people. A few members from Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra helped out in the recording.
The final track is actually another version of "Nouzenkatsura", officially known as "Nouzenkatsura (Reprise)", done more as a bittersweet ballad, and it's this version of the song that had been used in a sake commercial as well.
Before I forget, there is another track on "Merry Andrew" that got its own "Kayo Kyoku Plus" article, "Anata to Watashi ni Dekiru Koto" (あなたと私にできる事). The album is a long one with 14 tracks, none of them being bonus add-ons. According to the J-Wiki article on "Merry Andrew", the album gained a lot of popularity because of that sake commercial, and I'm hoping as well, the ads which featured "Samishigariya no Kotobatachi". It peaked at No. 10 on Oricon, going Gold and selling around 100,000 copies.
Ando's album here is quite the cafe-friendly accomplishment and I wouldn't be surprised if the CD were playing in some coffeehouse in Japan or even abroad. On that point, I think the singer could join the same ranks as the calming sounds of Tomita Lab（富田ラボ）and Miyuki Hatakeyama（畠山美由紀）.
The summer has definitely arrived here although I'm keeping things cool by closing the blinds in my room. It may look rather dark and depressing then but the temperature is quite nice.
It's been a good long time since I've written anything about the actress-turned-singer-songwriter Yuko Ando（安藤裕子）. And on a day like today, something Harajuku cafe-friendly would be nice. That's what I think of her "Sally", the title track from her very first release (a mini-album) as a singer in July 2003. Written and composed by Ando with Ryuji Yamamoto（山本隆二）also helping out in the music, "Sally" has got that indie-ish down-to-earth quality, the type of music to which you can sip your cup of coffee while people-watching. The video featuring the various scenes and looks of the very photogenic Ando herself helps in that regard.
Never mentioned this in past articles about her before I believe, but whenever I hear her, I get all these vibes of Ringo Shiina（椎名林檎）, Bonnie Pink and even Akiko Yano（矢野顕子）with that last singer probably due to some of the vocal gymnastics Ando employs. I will have to give her music another hear-see.
"Sally" was also included in Ando's first full album"Middle Tempo Magic" which was released in September 2004. The song was used as the ending theme for TBS's broadcast of the Taiwanese drama "Meteor Garden" from 2001, an adaptation of the manga "Hana yori Dango"（花より男子...Boys Over Flowers）. Although "Sally" the mini-album apparently didn't chart, the later "Middle Tempo Magic" got as high as No. 64 on Oricon.
Things have suddenly gotten quite busy this week. Along with the usual translation assignments from both clients, I have been practicing my contribution to a talk on how to get into the translation industry that I am to give later this Thursday. There is also the blog but obviously that is a mere hobby although as longtime readers know, I'm pretty dedicated in churning out a couple of articles per day.
Just to cool down a bit after an hour looking at my speech notes, I wanted to find something soothing for a Monday night. And it's been a while...say, 2 years and change...since I brought in chanteuse Yuko Ando（安藤裕子）into the blog so here is her 2nd single, "Anata to Watashi ni Dekiru Koto"(Anything That Can Be Done For You and Me). Frankly, I'm not sure I like that particular translation; I would probably go with "Anything For Us".
In any case, this song which was written and composed by Ando came out in April 2005. It's nice to hear those soft cooing vocals again with that wonderfully mellow arrangement of strings and horns. And I'm starting to think that form of urban cool music was something that was plentiful in the early 2000s but perhaps not so much now. With all of the alphabet aidoru groups out on the charts, it's more difficult to find the mellow stuff from this part of the world, perhaps.
I see that video for "Anata to Watashi ni Dekiru Koto" and think that Ando may just be like Ringo Shiina's（椎名林檎）younger, more laid back and less intimidating sister. The music isn't all that different from what Shiina could have made in an alternate universe. As it is, though, Ando also made the song for her 2nd full album, "Merry Andrew" which was released in January 2006. The album contains her 4th single,"Samishigariya no Kotobatachi"（さみしがり屋の言葉達）as well which was the first song by the singer-songwriter that I was introduced to.
Good heavens, Blogger has apparently introduced emoji for me to use....cheers! 🍸
Several months ago, I wrote an article about one of the more odder duets in kayo kyoku history with boy aidoruHiromi Go（郷ひろみ） and actress Kirin Kiki（樹木希林） performing "Obake no Rock". One of the things I neglected to add to that story was that the song had actually been a theme song to a TBS sitcom from the 70s titled "Mu"（ムー）which included both singers in the cast.
Well, a year later, the sequel to that show was "Mu Ichizoku"（ムー一族...The Mu Family） with the same large cast including Go and Kiki. Apparently, "Obake no Rock" was so successful that the two got together again to do another number for the show that had a more disco bent called "Ringo Satsujin Jiken" (The Apple Murders). From what I could understand about the show itself, the Uzaki Family is a rather weird one so the theme song got a similar treatment in the lyrics by Yu Aku（阿久悠） which detail a detective's search for a killer with only a half-eaten apple as a clue.
Of course, I also have to show a video of Go and Kiki performing another dance that drunken salarymen could love. I'm not sure if I would ever sing this at karaoke and do the choreography but I enjoy the disco. In fact, the Yusuke Hoguchi（穂口雄右） melody almost spills over into City Pop territory. The song was released in June 1978 and reached No. 6 on Oricon and became the 42nd-ranked song for the year.
Now, what perked my memories of "Ringo Satsujin Jiken" was coming across the above video by pure accident last night. A few years ago, chanteuse Yuko Ando（安藤裕子） and vocalist/musician Takafumi Ikeda (池田貴史...formerly of the funk band Super Butter Dog) got together on Ando's March 2011 album of cover songs, "Otona no Majime na Cover Series"（大人のまじめのカバーシリーズ....An Adult's Serious Series of Covers） to not only perform a cover of the Go/Kiki tune, but also make the official music video.
I have to say that I was taken a bit aback by witnessing a happy smiling Ando doing the goofy dances since my image of her had been rather rainy and melancholy. But she and Ikeda go for the gusto all over Tokyo, including nearby Tokyo Sky Tree. And to add further fun, Kiki returns for a cameo in her first appearance in a music video in 33 years. By the way, "Otona no Majime na Cover Series" peaked at No. 19 on the album charts.
As for "Mu Ichizoku" itself, well, it certainly doesn't start off in the usual home comedy way.
And as a bit of a gift, here's Go with AKB 48 performing "Ringo Satsujin Jiken". Ole!
When it comes to the last number of years of Japanese pop music, I've been drawn to the mellower side of things. Tomita Lab's"Shipbuilding" album comes to mind, along with the ballads of Sing Like Talking. Y'know....music which would be nice to hear in a trendy little café somewhere in the side streets of Harajuku.
Then, I came across this song by Yuko Ando（安藤裕子） via a commercial. "Samishigariya no Kotobatachi" (Words of the Lonely) fit the bill perfectly. It could go well with that cup of chamomile tea. It was something about those mellow horns, the relaxing melody and Ando's vocals that got me to see if I could track down the single or the album. As it turned out, I went for her 2nd full album, "Merry Andrew" which came out in January 2006. The single itself had been released as Ando's 4th single in October 2005, and was written by the singer and composed by Dan Miyagawa（宮川弾）, who was the keyboardist for the band Love Tambourines.
Ando was born in Kanagawa Prefecture in 1977 and took the equivalent of a bumper car ride to her current role as a singer-songwriter. According to her Wikipediaarticle, she had always been a creator and started out drawing. As she grew up, she decided that she wanted to get into making films but without any breaks in that area, she became an actress for a short while, mostly getting roles as extras. But then in 2002, Ando handed over a demo tape to a film director that she had gotten acquainted with on a TV drama which got the completed song a place as an ending theme for another movie he was directing. A 2003 mini-album, "Sally" would follow and then a concert. And the rest as they say is history.
"Samishigariya no Kotobatachi" peaked at No. 35 on the Oricon singles chart. And "Merry Andrew" was able to reach No. 10 on the album charts.
Well, we are in summer after all, aren't we? Time to get another one of the 80s summer bands on the blog here. Actually, when it comes to Omega Tribe, "Kimi wa 1000%"(You're 1000%) was the first song that I had ever heard by the band either under Kiyotaka Sugiyama（杉山清隆）or Carlos Toshiki. The tune was on one of those compilation tapes that I used to buy in Chinatown, but then I also started seeing the actual band performing it on those video rentals of shows like "The Top 10".
The original Omega Tribe under Sugiyama existed from 1983 to 1985 but with the different members heading into other musical directions, the band decided to break up with their final concert in December 1985. But then, not too long afterwards, a couple of the old band members got together with fresh faces, including the new lead vocal in the form of Carlos Toshiki Takahashi（カルロス・トシキ・タカハシ）, a Japanese-Brazilian who had started his career in 1982 with his single of "Lucia". And in May 1986, the new band, officially known as 1986 Omega Tribe, released "Kimi wa 1000%" as its debut single.
So, it was actually Carlos Toshiki that I had first heard as the vocal for the band before coming across his predecessor. Although Toshiki had a slightly higher if huskier voice than that of Sugiyama, the sound of the new incarnation didn't really change all that much if at all (I'm saying this as someone who likes their stuff but not as a die-hard fan, so if there are any of those fans out there who can distinguish the two bands, please chime in.). It still had the summery & relaxing feeling of lying out on the beach, when compared to TUBE's energetic romp on the sand and Southern All Stars' raunchy party atmosphere.
The re-launch of Omega Tribe looked very promising as "Kimi wa 1000%"went as high as No. 6 on Oricon, and would later finish the year as the 18th-ranked song of the year. The song also became a track on their album, "Navigator" which came out in July of the same year. It peaked at No. 2. By the way, it was written by Masako Arikawa（有川正沙子）who had been responsible for a number of the tracks on Akira Terao's（寺尾聰）No. 1 album of 1981, "Reflections", and composed by Tsunehiro Izumi（和泉常寛）.
May 26, 2014: Found out that songstress Yuko Ando （安藤裕子）had done a smooth jazz cover of "Kimi wa 1000%" as the coupling song for her 6th single, "The Still Steel Down" back in 2006.
