Yumi Takigawa -- Doukeshi no Tsunawatari（道化師の綱渡り）

 

It's certainly one of the more unusual titles I've ever heard for a City Pop song but "Doukeshi no Tsunawatari" (A Clown's Tightrope) is still some classy urban contemporary to finish this week's and this year's groovy tunes.

Sung by actress and singer Yumi Takigawa（多岐川裕美）for her October 1981 album "Sayo II"（小夜Ⅱ...Evening II）, this feels like a relaxing cruise along the French Riviera with its Latin rhythm and cool horns. Written by Yuriko Matsuda（松田侑利子）and composed by Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）, the title is more figurative than literal as a woman finds herself in a romantic bind.

As you can also see from the thumbnail on the video, "Doukeshi no Tsunawatari" was also included in the 2023 "Victor Treasure Archives Hayashi Tetsuji Victor Years Selection". Might be easier tracking down the song here instead of "Sayo II".

Yumi Takigawa -- Sayonara Mr. J.J.（サヨナラMr.J.J.）

 

Welcome to the final week of November 2024. Hope you are doing well wherever you are. It's cool and cloudy out there and it looks like we may be getting the first signs of flurries for this season, as terrifying as that may sound to a lot of my fellow Torontonians. Anyways, as a minor-key segue to this first song of this business week on KKP, I do have to say that writer and director J. J. Abrams really had a fetish for his lens flares and one of the more egregious examples was with his take on "Star Trek" in 2009. I got the feeling that the special effects budget was higher than it should have been because of them.

Now, with "Sayonara Mr. J. J.", which is a track on Yumi Takigawa's（多岐川裕美）"Sayo"（小夜） from 1979, this obviously has nothing to do with the lens flare-happy Abrams who was all of thirteen probably when the album was released. Nope, this Mr. J.J. is merely a love 'em-and-leave 'em cad whose latest victim and lover has quietly, firmly and even playfully shut the door on any more shenanigans with the guy. 

Written by Machiko Ryu（竜真知子）and composed by bassist Tsugutoshi Goto（後藤次利）, "Sayonara Mr. J.J." is more into the straight pop rather than the City Pop of "Gozen Rei-ji no Koibito"（午前０時の恋人） which was not only the last Takigawa song that I posted but the track mate for "Sayonara Mr. J.J.". Still, the arrangement is pretty refined although I think the beat is a little too fast for it to be considered Fashion Music and the overall upbeat feeling is that the lady involved is more in "no harm, no foul" mode rather than being crushed and heartbroken.

Yumi Takigawa -- Gozen Rei-ji no Koibito（午前０時の恋人）

 

So far, actress-singer Yumi Takigawa（多岐川裕美）has a short file here on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", but from what I've gleaned from her discography up to this point, she does like her City Pop.

When I first listened to this particular song of hers, "Gozen Rei-ji no Koibito" (12 AM Lovers), I noticed that the source written under the video was her BEST compilation from 1988. There is no way in heck that this tune was created and released in the late 1980s; it sounded more nostalgic than that. And as it turns out, the mellow tune helped along with flugelhorn, Fender and flute was a track on Takigawa's debut album "Sayo"（小夜...Evening） from October 1979. Written by Kohei Oikawa（及川恒平）and composed by Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）, this is another sunset cocktail type of City Pop relaxation.

I figured that I could finish this up with a video of any of her commercials since I think she would be very alluring on screen. That she is, but I was taken aback by her promotion of a Tomato and Lemon juice!

Yumi Takigawa -- Mashou no Hito（魔性の女）

 

It was just last month that I wrote on Yumi Takigawa's（多岐川裕美）"Yopparai Keiken"（酸っぱい経験）which was her 3rd single from September 1980. Well, that single then became the title track on her 2nd album which came out later in December, "Yopparai Keiken/Nurete Sayonara"（酸っぱい経験・濡れてさよなら...A Drunken Experience/A Wet Goodbye）.

Another fellow track from that album is "Mashou no Hito" (Devilish Woman) which was created by the same duo behind "Yopparai Keiken", lyricist Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）and composer Kan Ogasawara（小笠原寛）. Given the breezy bossa nova taste with that ingredient of mystery added to the smoky vocals by Takigawa, "Mashou no Hito" feels just like the song for a sophisticated night up in the bars and clubs of Ginza or Akasaka in the 1970s despite the 1980 tag.

Yumi Takigawa -- Yopparai Keiken（酸っぱい経験）

All the way back in January this year, I introduced singer-actress Yumi Takigawa（多岐川裕美 ）to "Kayo Kyoku Plus" with her 1981 "Minami no Yoru no Ohanashi"（南の夜のおはなし）. The song which originated from her 3rd album "Sayo II"（小夜II）was a bit of a Long Island Iced Tea of City Pop, Latin and Fashion Music.

Well, I have here Takigawa's 3rd single from September 1980, "Yopparai Keiken" (A Drunken Experience). Somewhat reminiscent of Yuki Okazaki's（岡崎友紀）"Do You Remember Me?" which had been released a few months earlier, there is that mix of 60s girl pop and New Music where ladies like Ruiko Kurahashi（倉橋ルイ子）are concerned. Written by Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）and composed by Kan Ogasawara（小笠原寛）, the story here is that a lady and her boyfriend are trying to enjoy themselves in a drinking establishment but the former has gotten a little tipsy and is perhaps thinking some lascivious thoughts with her beau later that evening. However, her perhaps slightly disheveled appearance is also attracting attention from others. Let us hope that they pay their bill and leave quietly.

As a part of my own drinking education a few decades ago, I've been in some excessively alcoholic situations but nothing unintentionally romantic ever came of them. I did hear the people dragging me back home making some complaints about my weight though. 

Yumi Takigawa -- Minami no Yoru no Ohanashi（南の夜のおはなし）

 

Perhaps it's a day early for the weekly round of City Pop but I figure that one such song today wouldn't be too painful. Besides, this one kinda stands on a nexus among that genre, the laconic Fashion Music and straight pop.

I'm talking about Yumi Takigawa's（多岐川裕美）"Minami no Yoru no Ohanashi" (Southern Night Talk) which was a track on her October 1981 3rd album "Sayo II"（小夜II）. Written by Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）and composed by Hiroshi Yasukawa（安川ひろし）, it does sound like something from the sophisticated pop side of City Pop but it also has that tropical mood (thanks to the percussion and the arrangement) to go along with the title. At the same time, there is also a slow serenity that brings back the Fashion Music chaise lounge and simply asking for the grapes, one by one.

Takigawa released 12 singles, 3 duet singles and 6 original albums between 1976 and 1992 but she's had a longer career as an actress. Born Kaoru Ouchi（大内薫）in Suginami Ward, Tokyo, she was a college student working part-time near Tokyo Station in 1974 when she was scouted by director Noribumi Suzuki（鈴木則文）for a nunsploitation movie called "Seijuu Gakuen"（聖獣学園...School of the Holy Beast） to play the lead character (viewer discretion advised). Yeah, that's quite a start to a film career.