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.
Just by pure coincidence, it's been exactly one year since I've had singer-songwriter Yuko Ishikawa（石川優子）up on the byline of an article. Last year, it was her 1981 "Saigo no Yoru ni"（終末の夜に）which was quite the bluesy City Pop piece.
This time, we have a completely different animal by Ishikawa up on the board here. "Akikaze no Maria" (Autumn Wind Maria) is a very upbeat number that, despite the title, doesn't really sound all that autumnal. It actually comes across as being very summery with all of the skipping and running along the beach that such a song would entail. Ishikawa took care of words and music with Joe Hisaishi（久石譲）taking care of the arrangement. And yes, it's THAT Joe Hisaishi. The song belongs to the singer's August 1987 14th album"Kimajime de Suki"（生真面目で好き...I Like You Overly Earnest）.
I mentioned in my previous article that today is a national holiday here in Canada, so of course, that means we have a special Reminiscings of Youth article regarding some of my cherished songs from my own yesteryear. And once again, we have the late and lovely Laura Branigan to bring back some of my 1980s musical memories.
Of course, I'll always remember "Gloria" and her take on the ballad "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You?", but during the early half of the decade, she had some of her other minor hits crossing into the radiosphere. One single of hers from July 1984 was "The Lucky One". Starting off like a David Foster tune (it was actually created by Bruce Roberts), it quickly went into a mid-tempo pop-rock number along the lines of a Heart-ish song.
All of my memories about "The Lucky One" were from the radio since I had never seen the music video until today. Apparently, the producers were interested in having Laura go through a contemporary version of "My Fair Lady"; she's not too bad with the comedic chops, either. "The Lucky One" went to No. 53 on the Canadian charts while in the United States, it did better by peaking at No. 20.
So, what was coming out on top of the Oricon charts in July 1984? We have Nos. 2, 3 and 4.
Listening to this song, I get images of a lonely, perhaps recently heartbroken, woman walking the streets of Tokyo alone and ending up getting a solo cocktail at what was once their favourite watering hole. The bartender is very sage and sympathetic.
I am talking about "Saigo no Yoru ni"(On The Last Night) which was the B-side to singer-songwriter Yuko Ishikawa's（石川優子）7th single"Cinderella Summer"（シンデレラ サマー）from March 1981. In contrast to the summery 50s sound of the A-side, "Saigo no Yoru ni" feels and sounds more mature, wiser and sadder, as if playing around on the beach all throughout that Cinderella summer has had its benefits, costs and consequences and now on that final night, the check has come due. To be honest, although I have categorized it as a City Pop tune, the blues and jazz push through in the melody by Ishikawa and the arrangement by Yasumasa Awano（淡野保昌）and Masataka Matsutoya（松任谷正隆）, and it may be just the song that is playing for that heartbroken woman in the bar.
Japanese music has plenty of examples of furigana that is different from the original kanji reading within a song title. This may be one of the more poignant examples. The formal reading of those first two kanji is actually "shuumatsu" rather than the more common and everyday "saigo" that is actually used to read "Saigo no Yoru ni". The kanji refers to the end in a more apocalyptic or terminal sense, giving a deeper meaning to the woman's feelings at the moment.
When I've taken trips between Toronto and Tokyo on Air Canada, it's always been nonstop. I do get to my destination in one shot but it's not easy on account that I can never fall asleep on an airplane, and of course, we're talking about eleven hours if not more for AC001 and AC002. One reason is that I haven't been a particularly relaxed passenger in recent years; I do try to get some sleep somehow but sitting upright in Economy isn't the best position for me.
Anyways, enough kvetching from me. The last time I posted anything up for singer-songwriter Yuko Ishikawa（石川優子）was back in January 2021 and back then, I had noted that it had only been a month since an even earlier posting regarding the Osaka chanteuse. Well, this time it's very different with nearly three years between articles.
This time, I've got a track from Ishikawa's August 1983 album"Feria no Koibito"（フェリアの恋人...Feria Lovers）. Maybe some of you are wondering what the heck a feria is...as I am. Well, I looked it up and it's a local fair in some Spanish-speaking regions in the world. And with the track "Nonstop Flight", there is naturally that feeling of getting on the plane for new climes...maybe Spain, Mexico or Argentina for an intriguing vacation. Written by Masami Tozawa（戸沢暢美）and composed by Kenji Iwakura（岩倉健二）, the tropical punch is in there but I also sense elements of City Pop and AOR, a combination which will always be all right by me. Lovely cover for the album, too.
Let me preface this regular Reminiscings of Youth entry by saying that I was never the sharpest billiard ball in the rack. And as I've mentioned in the past on the blog, I didn't pay much attention to lyrics as I did to the melody when it came to music. In the 1980s, I was enjoying the waves and waves of music that were crashing on my shore from both Japan and the West. Cyndi Lauper, the Unusual Girl, was one of the regulars that came onto land via radio and music video.
A little over a year ago, I did a ROY on her 1983 classic "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" which I had discovered was a cover version of the original by Robert Hazard in 1979. I was a big fan of the song and then the melancholy ballad "Time After Time" came to our eyes and ears. That was OK but then I got really interested in her 3rd single from her debut album"She's So Unusual", "She Bop", which was released in July 1984.
For me, it was the fact that the original single already sounded like one of the coolest dance remixes before even getting the remix treatment, including those amazing rumbling deep synths. I guess "She Bop" can be considered to be one of my early aural earworms following the sight of the Ceti Alpha Eel on "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan". So, it was always me trying to catch "She Bop" on the radio as often as I could and then when the official weird and wonderful music video came out, it was pretty much all hands on di...deck.
But then after reading some newspaper and magazine articles on the hit which peaked (climaxed?) at No. 3 in both Canada and the United States, I rather reacted "Say what now?!". I took another closer look at the music video, and I realized that "She Bop" was all about mastering one's domain (look up "Seinfeld"). Ahh, well. I was still looking long and hard for a remix version of the song and I was lucky to finally hear it on the Saturday all-night remix programs on the radio. Hey, nearly 40 years later, "She Bop" still gleefully explodes.
Anyways, now that we're past the PG-rated double entendres, what was on Oricon's Top 10 list for July 1984? We have Nos. 2, 3 and 4.
I wrote about Yuko Ishikawa's（石川優子）1979 "Doyou no Yoru wa Party"（土曜の夜はパーティー）about a month ago, and I thought it was typical of her style of rock n' roll-tinged pop.
Today, I found this track from the singer-songwriter's June 1982 album"Full Sail", "Toki no Odoriko"(Time Dancer), and this time around, her words and music come together to form this breezy light n' mellow number in the Caribbean or the Riviera. It practically demands a tropical cocktail by the speakers. Another interesting thing about "Toki no Odoriko" is that the breeziness surrounds a major-chord refrain of happy kayo that takes the action off the cruise ship and back onto the West Coast.
From what I could gather from the lyrics, the titular dancer is heading off on a cruise ship to see what adventures she can get into while of course dancing the night away. It wouldn't surprise me if she were on the actual Love Boat itself.
Well, as I was telling my good friend just now, I've set up the PVR to record this year's Kohaku Utagassen early tomorrow morning. As much as it's interesting to watch (especially this year under the new restrictions), I don't think it's quite worth it for me to wake up at 5:30 in the morning. Just can't believe that tomorrow will be the final day of 2020.
Partying isn't going to be the thing tomorrow for medically obvious reasons but I'm hoping that folks will try to enjoy New Year's Eve in their own way. At my home, we'll be having the customary toshikoshi soba for dinner and I'll be continuing to put up my fair share of KKP articles as we race toward the blog's 9th anniversary in late January.
Speaking of parties, here is some Yuko Ishikawa（石川優子）with her "Doyou no Yoru wa Party" (Party Saturday Night) which is a track on the Osakan singer-songwriter's October 1979 debut album"Yuko ~ Tokimeku Koro"（優子 ときめくころ...Anticipation Time）. I don't have a lot of her material on the blog quite yet but from what I have heard, Ishikawa has enjoyed that rock n' roll with her pop as can be heard on her "Cinderella Summer"（シンデレラ サマー）of 1981. And "Doyou no Yoru wa Party" is no exception.
Written and composed by singer-songwriter Tatsushi Umegaki（梅垣達志）, this track from "Tokimeku Koro" launches with that buzzy electric guitar and cool saxophone. It's not particularly a melodically raunchy number, though; "Doyou no Yoru wa Party" is a merrily-as-we-go-along tune as if Mary Beth has invited her fellow poodle skirt-wearing classmates for an at-home sock hop. Well, I'm not sure if they'll twist again to this particular song but you get the idea.
Yuko Ishikawa（石川優子）....a name that I've heard now and then over the decades but never really got to know. The only song I know that she's been associated with is "Futari no Ai Land"（ふたりの愛ランド）(1984), her duet with Chage of Chage & Aska fame due to it being a popular karaoke song at Kuri way back when.
Still, I'm more than willing to rectify the situation even at this late date. I've tried to read up on her via J-Wiki and anything else I can find on the singer-songwriter. One of the phrases that I've seen a fair bit about her is that despite her cute looks, she quite firmly declared that she wasn't an aidoru, and this was during a time when aidoru were pretty much popping out of the woodwork.
I've come to her 7th single, "Cinderella Summer" that was released back in March 1981. The single version has that appropriately summery sound with the wailing electric guitar that makes me think that this would have been ideal for the aidoru of the early 80s, Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）. However, it was Ishikawa who composed, wrote and sang this beach-friendly song with that hint of 50s. I could be transported back to those days on the graduation trip to Japan listening to this.
Took a bit of searching around but I was able to track down on a Japanese-language blog that "Cinderella Summer" managed to peak at No. 10 on Oricon and sell over 330,000 records. The tune eventually became the 42nd-ranked song of the year. The song also got onto the album of the same title which was released in June 1981. Unlike the single version, the album version has a slightly more techno kayo sound to it without the wailing guitar. No complaints from me.
Not surprisingly, "Cinderella Summer" was used as the campaign song for Japan Air Lines Okinawa in that year. I could imagine tourism getting a nice boost from it.
Came across this song by Yuko Ishikawa（石川優子） titled "Hoshizora no Dance" (Starry Sky Dance) via YouTube. Written and composed by the singer, the lyrics don't specifically mention anything related to the Yuletide, but there is enough sentiment of being at that big party and the jaunty melody to make it J-Xmas-y. And it was included on the 2nd of Ishikawa's Christmas-themed albums, "Greeting"which was released in November 1985.
The last time I mentioned Ishikawa was for her contribution to the karaoke-friendly favourite with Chage (of Chage & Aska fame), "Futari no Ai Land"（ふたりの愛ランド）, and I failed to mention anything of her background. So, allow me to rectify this. She was born in Osaka in 1958 and took that first dip into entertainment by entering the 1978 edition of the Yamaha Popular Song Contest alongside the aforementioned Chage & Aska, Hiroshi Madoka and Crystal King. A year later, she made her debut with "Jinchouge"（沈丁花...Winter Daphne）. However, she also became a popular figure in commercials due to her cute looks. Below is one such ad (and remember that back then having a slightly-off orthodontic structure was a sign of cuteness....et tu, Seiko-chan?)
Another old Kuri favourite here. I'm not sure about now, but way back when, "Futari no Ai Land"(Loveland for Two) was that cute peppy summer duet song that a lot of folks liked to tackle even before mass quantities were imbibed in the lounge. Cute and peppy.....a bit of a surprise then when I found out that one-half of the original duo behind this cross-cultural pun of a title was Chage（チャゲ）....the quieter partner of Chage & Aska. He's quite a bit more lively here partnering with singer-songwriter Yuko Ishikawa（石川優子）.
Chage was responsible for writing and composing "Futari no Ai Land" with Goro Matsui（松井五郎） (who was usually associated with Anzen Chitai) helping out on lyrical duties. Another cross-cultural pun was born within the words here; Chage had wanted to insert the word "coconuts", but someone told him that there were no coconut trees in Okinawa (the song was used for the 1984 JAL Okinawa campaign commercials). Rather obsessed with keeping that coconut in there, Chage somewhat sarcastically (according to J-Wiki) created a rather clever pun by placing the homophonic lyric "Koko natsu" as in "Koko wa natsu"(ここは夏...Here is summer!) Necessity is the mother of invention, indeed.
"Futari no Ai Land" came out in April 1984 and peaked at No. 3. Selling just under 440,000 records, it became the song of the summer for that year. For the entire year, it was the 16th-ranked song.
