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.
The early 70s folk group, Akai Tori（赤い鳥）, who had their biggest hit with "Tsubasa wo Kudasai"（翼をください）, broke up in 1974 with two new groups being formed from amongst its members. One of those groups, led by vocal/guitarist Junko Yamamoto（山本潤子）, became the pop vocal group Hi-Fi Set, while Akai Tori guitarist Etsujiro Goto（後藤悦治郎） and vocal/pianist Yasuyo Hirayama（平山泰代） became personal and professional partners with the latter formation being dubbed Kami Fusen (紙ふうせん...Paper Balloon).
Kami Fusen debuted in 1974 with "Ikatsuri Uta"（いかつり唄....Squid Fishing Song), but the duo's biggest hit was their 5th single,"Fuyu ga Kuru Mae ni"(Before The Winter Comes), released in November 1977. Although it's been labeled as a folk song, especially with that pretty intro, it's also got quite a bit of pop muscle in it as well with that electric guitar and that urgent rhythm section, thanks to composer Tada (?) Urano（浦野直）. Goto's lyrics, delivered by Hirayama, talk of that departed lover who cannot be forgotten.
"Fuyu ga Kuru Mae ni" had actually been created near the end of 1976, but over the year, the concert reaction to it was very positive so the decision was made to release it as a single. Good choice, as it peaked at No. 4 in 1978 and eventually became the 27th-ranked single of that year. Since then, it's been covered by Akina Nakamori（中森明菜） and members of Hello Project. And not surprisingly, like the aforementioned "Tsubasa wo Kudasai", the song has also become a mainstay for those high school choral groups and music classes.
Another boppy, happy-happy-joy-joy song by the good folks at Lindberg. After getting their big break nearly a year-and-a-half previously with "Ima Sugu Kiss Me" （いますぐKiss Me) as the theme song for a popular Fuji-TV drama, I came across another one of their other hits as the theme for another Fuji-TV program, albeit from a different genre. Written by vocal Maki Watase（渡瀬マキ）and composed by bassist Tomohisa Kawazoe（川添智久）,"Believe In Love" is one of those uptempo "There are plenty of fish in the sea" songs of encouragement. Released in July 1991, it eventually became the 29th-ranked song of the year.
As I mentioned, "Believe In Love" was the final opening theme song for another popular Fuji-TV show, "Yume de Aetara"（夢で逢えたら....A Sweet Nightmare). For a lot of Japanese folks currently my age or even younger, this was the successful "Saturday Night Live" of the country for the few years it was on, as opposed to the failed attempt to actually copy "SNL" on the same channel about a couple of years ago. For those Japanese comedy fans, it may be quite a revelation to see the opening credits of the show and find an almost cherubically young group of comedians who would become some of the most famous entertainers in the country such as the comedic duos of Downtown (jaws may drop on seeing Hitoshi Matsumoto in the early 90s) & Utchan-Nanchan, and impressionist Michiko Shimizu.
The opening credit sequence is probably one of the longest I have ever seen for a variety show and pretty much explains the lyrics to "Believe In Love". Enjoy the ancient fashion!
I have literally not heard this one in nearly 32 years! I was scouring my memories of 1981 to see what else I could dredge up in terms of old Japanese pop music to put onto the blog when the last several bars of "Kimi ni Kettei!" (You Are The One) by Toshihiko Tahara（田原俊彦）suddenly popped into my head.
Tahara was one-third of The Tanokin Trio, the media and/or fan-created name for the three popular male aidoru consisting of him, Masahiko Kondo（近藤真彦） (Matchy) and Yoshio Nomura（野村義男） (Yocchan). Tahara's pet name was Toshi-chan. "Kimi ni Kettei!" was his 5th single, released on July 1 1981, just a few days before my fateful arrival in Japan. During my month there, the Trio's popularity was at a fever pitch as their movie "Blue Jeans Memory" and the titular theme song by Matchy was blazing up the charts. But Toshi-chan was not to be outdone; I remember catching him on the music shows there hoofing it on the stage while singing this particular song, and later on back in Canada when I was watching video tapes of those same programs.
Not knowing how Japanese teens acted at the time, watching Toshi-chan and his comrades dancing and prancing in those eye-searingly bright colours, and then seeing their female fans grabbing their faces and screaming in near-orgasmic delight, I just kinda wondered if young Japanese were only just emulating the 50s only in Harajuku.
"Kimi ni Kettei!" was written and composed by a woman named Tomo Miyashita （宮下智). It peaked at No. 2 and was the 39th-ranked single of 1981.
I learned some more about Hiroko Yakushimaru（薬師丸ひろ子） when "The Sounds of Japan" devoted one of its half-hour broadcasts to the aidoru, so not only did I get to hear "Sailor Fuku to Kikanjuu"（セーラー服機関銃...Sailor Suit and Machine Gun）, but there was also "Woman", and this song, her 3rd single. Yakushimaru's angelic voice still continued to ring pure through "Main Theme", and I fell for its intro when it began with a lone synth weaving a melody which suddenly became a whole lot lusher and more classical in feel.
"Main Theme" was indeed the theme song for a Yakushimaru movie of the same title. It was released in May 1984, and created by Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）and Yoshitaka Minami（南佳孝）. It went as far as No. 2 and became the 13th-ranked single of the year.
Singer-songwriter Minami also did his own cover of the song under a similarly generic title called "Standard Number"（スタンダードナンバー） which was his 16th single in 1984. The situation reminded me of Yakushimaru's debut single, the aforementioned "Sailor Fuku to Kikanjuu", when composer Takao Kisugi（来生たかお） also did his own cover of that song under the title of "Yume no Tochuu"（夢の途中...In The Middle of a Dream）, although the reasons there were somewhat more antagonistically based. The arrangement for "Standard Number" was more City Pop in design.
"Subaru" by Shinji Tanimura（谷村新司）was one of the heavily-sung songs at Kuri. I didn't understand the lyrics back in the 80s, but just from the epic feeling of the melody and the way the karaoke folks sang it like an anthem (for which rousing applause was the usual reaction), I got the distinct impression that "Subaru" in Japan meant more than an expensive car.
But I found out some years ago that it is the Japanese word for the star cluster known as The Pleiades. And as that title would suggest, the lyrics talk of taking that big leap forward to the stars or making that big move into something better despite the odds. I just wondered if Tanimura, when he wrote and composed the song, had been channeling George Washington, Kiichiro Toyoda or Kal-El of Krypton. However, the inspiration for "Subaru" was somewhat more down-to-earth.
Actually, Tanimura got the idea and the lyrics for his 2nd single when he was helping out a moving company pack stuff in cardboard boxes as he was changing residences. Not sure if he had been doing this at night while facing the sky, but that's apparently how the song came to be. He also composed the rousing melody, and the song was released in April 1980. It managed to reach No. 2 on Oricon and became the 12th-ranked song of the year. But it would be 7 more years before he was able to sing his epic at the Kohaku Utagassen. However, in the meantime, I'm sure that Tanimura got the ultimate accolade via tons of karaoke lounges and international exposure for his song since it also became popular in China, South Korea and Cambodia.
In J-Wiki, the writeup for "Subaru" indicated that there was give-and-take as to whether the song was a pop song or an enka ballad. Although Tanimura has sung the genre since then, I never considered this particular song as an enka tune since I think the genre has usually been about the local or regional, but in contrast, "Subaru" goes beyond all borders. It could be played for anything from celebrating a buddy's promotion or Man's first landing on Mars (hopefully within my lifetime).
"Subaru" was used for a Nikka Whiskey commercial, but strangely enough not for any of the myriad moving companies in Japan. And frankly as a karaoke song, I couldn't touch it....I'd have to earn a lot more stripes before tackling that one.
On "Hitotsudake", the BEST selection of Akiko Yano's（矢野顕子） songs, this tune with the obsessive-compulsive title, "Donna Toki mo, Donna Toki mo, Donna Toki mo"(No Matter When x 3) just followed her big hit single of "Harusaki Kobeni"（春咲小紅） on the track list. And I thought it made for a good thematic sequel for it as well. The fun and frenzy of "Harusaki Kobeni"seemed to reflect a girl's joy/panic at getting that date with the handsomest boy in class while "Donna Toki mo x 3" was at the end of the date when that tired but still happy lass realized her new beau had been just as nervous; she could now take the driver's seat and calm him down.
Little did I know that Yano and Shigesato Itoi（糸井重里） had written the lyrics from the boy's point of view according to the pronouns used. I guess Yano's sweet breathy voice and the coquettish melody had me thinking otherwise. It is still very much an adorable love song from the guy to his girl with Yano singing at the very end that the lass will always be wonderful no matter when, no matter when, no matter when.
The guys from Yellow Magic Orchestra are backing her up here, and there is this great steel guitar by Hiroki Komazawa which comes during the bridge and the end which neither makes "Donna Toki mo x 3" sound Country nor Hawaiian, but it does add to the marvelous world of whimsy that Yano inhabits. The song was never released as an official single but is a track on her 6th album, "Ai ga Nakucha ne"(愛がなくちゃね....Gotta Have Love, Eh?), which was released in June 1982.
Perhaps I should've made this one the Valentine's Day entry.
I already started hearing some of the popular stuff from Judy and Mary from the mid-90s as their media exposure steadily increased. Through the show "Countdown TV", I saw their videos for "Over Drive" and "Sobakasu"（そばかす）, and their performances on that show and "Music Station". As for "Hello! Orange Sunshine", I actually heard that one several months after hearing those songs. Although according to J-Wiki, the song was used as one of the campaign songs for NHK Broadcast Satellite (somewhat unfortunately abbreviated as BS), I remember that it was used as the ending theme for the Fuji-TV Saturday night variety program starring the Osaka comedic duo, 99.
J&M's 4th single was released in August 1994, and I think when it comes to the pop to rock range that the band covers, "Hello! Orange Sunshine" is definitely more on the cutesy pop side of things. They may look kinda rough but take them to your mother's home for dinner, they'd probably be the most well-behaved bunch of guests. Written by YUKI and composed by Yoshihito Onda（恩田快人）, the song peaked at No. 22 on Oricon, and was also a track on their 2nd album, "Orange Sunshine", released in December 1994. It peaked at No. 5 and became the 46th-ranked album of 1995.
