Shizuka Kudo -- Mugon Iroppoi (ＭＵＧＯ・ん 色っぽい）

  

Shizuka Kudo （工藤静香）came out of the huge aidoru group, Onyanko Club（おニャン子クラブ）, of which she was also a member of a smaller subunit, Ushirogami Hikaretai（うしろ髪ひかれ隊）with two fellow groupmates. Her official club number was 38.

I had seen Kudo before as a soloist on a tape of "The Top 10" that a former student was kind enough to obtain for me. I'd forgotten which song she sang but I remember her decked out in a flashy outfit with a bare shoulder and pretty garish makeup....a mega-tsuppari (punk girl). Her face also stood out for its longer shape and her high, angular cheekbones. She also had a slightly lopsided expression which distinguished her from other aidoru.

Some weeks into my 2-year tour of duty on the JET Programme, my host family's son was driving me somewhere in Gunma Prefecture when he turned on the tape player, and out came this tune coming at warp speed. I asked him who sang this song, and he replied "Shizuka Kudo". I couldn't quite catch the title so I asked one of the teachers at my school about it, and he replied "Mugon Iroppoi"(Silence...Sexy).

A song about struggling to confess one's love to another, Kudo's 5th single,"Mugon" was written by Miyuki Nakajima（中島みゆき） and composed by Tsugutoshi Goto（後藤次利） and released in August 1988. The melody might be frenetic but the lyrics are typical introspective Nakajima. It hit No. 1 and became the 6th-ranked song on Oricon.

After listening to the song on my host brother's tape player, "Mugon" became one of my first CD single purchases.

Ienai no yo, ienai no yo
Iitai koto nara, dore gurai
Aruka wakaranaku afureteru
Watashi, kokoro wa oshaberi da wa
Iitai koto nara, anata ni wa
Ato kara ato kara afureteru
Watashi, igai to oshaberi da wa
Nanoni, iza to naru to uchiki ni naru
Toi basho kara nando mo hanashi kaketeru no ni

Me to me de tsujiau kasuka, n, iroppoi
Me to me de tsujiau so iu naka ni naritai wa
Mugon ikujinashi ne
Mugon sabishigari ne

Iitai koto nara, ano hi kara
Dare ni mo makezu ni afureteru
Watashi, kimochi wa wagamama da wa
Nanoni, iza to naru to uchiki ni naru
Kaita tegami mo shimaikonde dare mo shiranai

Me to me de tsujiau kasuka, n, iroppoi
Me to me de tsujiau so iu naka ni naritai wa

Me to me de tsujiau kasuka, n, iroppoi
Me to me de tsujiau so iu naka ni naritai wa

Ashita sukoshi yuuki wo dashite
Shisen nagete mi yo kashira

Me to me de tsujiau kasuka, n, iroppoi
Me to me de tsujiau so iu naka ni naritai wa
Mugon ikujinashi ne
Mugon sabishigari ne
Mugon ikujinashi ne
Mugon sabishigari ne

Ienai no yo, ienai no yo

Jackey Yoshikawa and His Blue Comets -- Blue Chateau（ブルー・シャトウ）

The original Blue Comets started out as a rock band back in the late 50s playing US military bases. However, several years later, with the addition of Jackey Yoshikawa as the drummer/leader, and changes in musical tastes, it became Jackey Yoshikawa and his Blue Comets, a Group Sounds band.

"Blue Chateau", the band's greatest hit, has a Canadian connection in that it was composed by the late Tadao Inoue（井上忠夫）, one of the vocalists and sax/flute player, at the Lake Louise Hotel in Banff, Alberta during a stay there. It had originally been made for actress/singer Nana Kinomi （木の実ナナ）but feeling that the song was meant to be sung by a male vocalist, it became a piece for The Blue Comets to tackle. Good for them since it became a smash hit, selling 1.5 million records, earning the Grand Prize at the Japan Record Awards and a place at the year-end Kohaku Utagassen. It peaked at No. 14 on the new Oricon charts.　"Blue Chateau" is also the third and final song of their "Blue" series, after "Aoi Hitomi"（青い瞳....Blue Eyes） and "Aoi Nagisa"（青い渚....Blue Shore [although it's translated as "My Lonely First Love"]). Their appearance at the Kohaku was interesting, since at the time, Group Sounds music had been equated to all that was immoral in life, but NHK apparently let them in. The band's 8th single was released in March 1967.

However, the composer of the song has gone on record stating that creating "Blue Chateau" triggered the end of the Group Sounds era. In a 1987 interview (via J-Wiki), Inoue (who passed away in 2000) put it out straight by stating that "It was tragic." Furthermore, he added:

".....in fact, composing 'Blue Chateau' was a dilemma. Because I ended up creating something that was completely opposite to the Western music that I had been striving for. It was also tough to see other GS bands starting to copy it. I believe that the GS tragedy started from that song."

"I had intended to create new music, but it got swallowed up by kayo kyoku."

On the other hand, leader Yoshikawa said, "The GS boom left a lot of good songs. It's great that (Inoue) could be proud of them."

My two cents? I think Inoue was being a bit too hard on himself. According to Mark Schilling's "The Encyclopedia of Japanese Pop Culture", the (inevitable) death of Group Sounds can be laid more on the doorsteps of the money-hungry studios (who threw together as many mediocre GS units as possible) and the bands who did end up copying from his style. And as we all know from years (or decades...as in my case) of listening to music, fads and booms are just part and parcel of music history. New music did come,  but not by anyone in GS. Instead, it would be by a younger generation led by Yumi Arai（荒井由実）, Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）and the band Happy End, among others.

Akina Nakamori -- Shojo A （少女Ａ）

Well, I guess I'll have to hand in my Akina Nakamori （中森明菜）fan membership card in shame. Completely forgot that it was Akina's birthday exactly one month ago. Hope she had a Happy 47th Birthday.

"Shojo A" (Girl A) was her second single released in July 1982, and it was about as far away from her debut, "Slow Motion", in tone as one could get. Right from the intro guitar, this was a down-and-dirty tune featuring a shark disguised as a biker chick. The powers-that-be who were taking care of young Akina had wanted to distinguish her from other aidoru, especially Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子） (who had that hyperimage of girl-next-door goodness). I think it's safe to say that "Shojo A" was the launch point. Akina delivers it low and dangerous, contrasting it with the other aidorus' high and bouncy, and the urgent pace of the song reminds me of a motorcycle rumbling on the highway. There had been comparisons made between her and 70s aidoru Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵） when she performed songs of defiance like "Playback, Part 2", and hearing "Shojo A", I could see Yamaguchi tackling this one as well.

The song was written by Masao Urino（売野雅勇） and composed by Hiroaki Serizawa（芹澤廣明）. It peaked at No. 5 and eventually was ranked at No. 34 for 1982. Since "Slow Motion" only got as far up as 30 on the Oricon weeklies, "Shojo A" was Akina's first hit song. It is also included on Akina's 2nd album, "Variation" which peaked at No. 1 on the album charts while finishing at No. 39 for the year.

(guitar cover)

This was another favourite karaoke request at Kuri, especially by a university acquaintance of mine who kinda fit the same bill in terms of personality.

Hibari Misora -- Makkana Taiyo （真赤な太陽）

This afternoon, I went to a Japanese dance recital starring my friend's dance troupe, The Toronto Buddhist Church Buyo Group. The theme of the show was Hibari Misora's（美空ひばり） songs. So, all of the classics were there for the dancers to dance to: "Kawa no Nagare no you ni"（川の流れのように.... Just Like the Flow of the River), "Ringo Oiwake" (リンゴ追分...The Apple Forked Road) and "Yawara"（柔）. But the very last song was "Makkana Taiyo"(Scarlet Sun), released in May 1967.

I had heard the song before over the years but didn't realize/remember that it was Misora who had sung it. For people who usually see her as the Grande Dame of enka in a kimono, "Makkana Taiyo" is an eye-opener...or an ear-opener. Partnering up with the Group Sounds band, Jackie Yoshikawa and The Blue Comets (who were just savoring their big hit, "Blue Chateau"), Misora comes up with a shimmy-shammy-friendly shaker of a dance number. You'd almost think she was channeling any of the Cool Britannnia groups while singing it. I could imagine Austin Powers hitting the dance floor with it.

And you gotta see the original performance. Wigged out in a short bob, Go-Go boots and...gasp...a mini-skirt, Misora is just shimmying out the joint. Considering that the year before, she had come out with one of the most famous enka ballads in her repertoire, the tearjerking "Kanashii Sake"（悲しい酒....Sad Sake), this was quite the twist (no pun intended). "Makkana Taiyo" was written by Osamu Yoshioka（吉岡治） and composed by Nobuo Hara（原信夫）, and sold a record 1.4 million copies. It ranks 4th in Misora's all-time most successful singles.

Megumi Asaoka -- Watashi no Kare wa Hidarikiki （わたしの彼は左きき）

To be honest, I first came across this song when it was used in a parodic way for a curry rice commercial several years ago. I've heard and seen the middle-aged Megumi Asaoka（麻丘めぐみ） on TV as an actress and a personality, but never made the connection between her and this song until I watched one of those Showa-era music retrospectives, and a young Asaoka showed up to sing "Watashi no Kare wa Hidarikiki"(My Boyfriend is a Lefty).

Written by Kazuya Senke（千家和也） and composed by Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）, it was released as Asaoka's 5th single in July 1973. This would be one of the Osaka-raised aidoru's most successful songs, peaking at No. 1 on the Oricon charts, and earning the Popularity Award at the Japan Record Awards. The song was also a track on her 4th album, "Megumi to Wakai Nakama Tachi" (めぐみと若い仲間たち....Megumi and Her Young Friends) which peaked at No. 13.

The then-18-year-old also earned her spot on the 1973 Kohaku Utagassen . What also helped her was her cute princess-style haircut (as has been described on J-Wiki) and the choreography involving her left hand. But of course, the song itself was infectiously bouncy and bubbly enough as well.....which explains why it was re-made into a commercial jingle decades later.

As for the significance of the title, I think it rather ironic since even now there is a feeling amongst a lot of Japanese families that any child born left-handed should be "trained" to change to a proper right-handed ability. It seems that Senke's song hints in the second verse that even if that boyfriend remains left-handed, his girl will still love him all the same. Awwww...

Anzen Chitai -- V

As I mentioned in my last entry on Anzen Chitai（安全地帯）for their album, "IV", which was the No. 1 album for 1986, changes were brewing musically for their next album. "V" was originally released as a 3-album set in December 1986 with three of its songs having been released earlier as individual singles. One of them, "Friend", has vocal Koji Tamaki（玉置浩二） in full heartbreaking mode, as his ballad talks depressingly of the end of a friendship....or a relationship. As I have also mentioned about the band, their songs were often the backbone of a karaoke night during my university days. "Friend" was one of the popular requests. As with a number of Anzen Chitai songs, it was written by Goro Matsui（松井五郎） and composed by Tamaki, and released as their 13th single in October 1986.

Anzen Chitai was a popular band outside of Japan, especially in Hong Kong. So, it was no surprise that their albums were on the shelves in the record stores of Chinatown. "V" was selling there, too, but I just couldn't rationalize lugging home a 3-album set of vinyl to my parents while I had zilch income (being a university student was no excuse), so I went to audio cassettes (easier to sneak in my bag) before I bought the 2-CD set in Japan many years later.

Musically, the band decided to pull out the stops with this album....pretty obvious with three different records containing a total of 36 songs. There were tunes like "Friend" which still had that distinct Anzen Chitai sound from their previous 4 albums (or at least from albums "II" to "IV"). However, Tamaki and company this time decided to incorporate a lusher sound with a horn section from both sides of the Pacific (thanks again, Jerry Hey), strings and even an oboe for one track. The above video is for "Kon'ya wa YES"（今夜はＹＥＳ.....Tonight's YES!）, a surprisingly extroverted popper of a song with Koji-san singing about yellow cabs and lovely legs and replicants flooding from the subways (you got me about that last one)....a typically dynamic night in New York? The tune is an example of the more exploratory, less introverted sound that the band was illustrating in "V".

"Namida wo Tometa Mama"(涙をとめたまま....Stopped Crying) is a tribute to those morose drunken nights at the local piano bar at midnight. Listening to it, I can just imagine some guy's head hitting the bar after having bent off the bartender's ear. It's one of my favourite tracks since I do like my Miles Davis nighttime jazz.

(cover version)

That sad song above interestingly segues immediately into this one, "Kon'ya Futari de"(今夜ふたりで...Tonight, The Two of Us) which is a  hopeful urban contemporary tune about a couple having that special night. Of course, being a cynic, I would've thought it better if this song had preceded "Namida". In any case, I also enjoy this one for the inclusion of the horn section (I'm a sucker for a good flugelhorn).

The final song for the whole project is "To Me". This is a showstopper finale ballad for such a big album with Tamaki putting his talented vocal cords through its paces on an almost operatic scale. In fact, the final part has him performing a crescendo which can pop out your earbuds. Probably, realizing how big the album was, Tamaki wanted something appropriately epic to finish "V" off. I suspect that this was a popular tune on the concert circuit near the end of the show.

The other two official singles from the album are "Suki sa" (好きさ...I Love You) and "Natsu Owari no Harmony"（夏終わりのハーモニー....Harmony at the End of Summer） which I will cover in separate entries.

My final thoughts on "V" are that Anzen Chitai wanted to create a concert-themed album for the fans: some sad songs, some party-as-if-it's-1986 songs. I guess after a number of years of musical introspection, the guys needed to get out and have fun. A bit of a reach, perhaps, but I think "V" was also the band's version of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"...not that I would dare elevate "V" to the level of The Beatles' magnum opus, but I think in both cases, there was a desire for both bands to explore.

And by the way, "V" ended up being the 7th-ranked album for 1987.

Sing Like Talking -- Our Dream

"Our Dream" wasn't actually released as a separate single but was included as a new track on Sing Like Talking's 1998 Best album, "Second Reunion". It's another smooth-as-silk adult contemporary piece crooned by Chikuzen Sato（佐藤竹善）. Once again, I think that love for Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers is still intact. As for "Second Reunion", it peaked at No. 3 on the album charts.

https://www.amazon.co.jp/SECOND-REUNION%EF%BD%9E-Best-Sing-Talking/dp/B00005EJOY

(excerpt only)

One small piece of trivia concerning Sato that I will include since this entry will be pretty short. He has been complimented on his delivery of English lyrics to the extent that his fans have wondered if he had lived overseas for a period of time. Apparently not. Just pure linguistic talent and probably a lot of practice.