Mika Kobayashi -- Before My Body Is Dry

About a couple of years after putting up Miku Sawai's（沢井美空）"Gomen ne, Ii Ko Ja Irarenai"（ごめんね、いいコじゃいられない）, aka the first ending theme for the epic anime "Kill La Kill"（キルラキル）, on the blog, I'm adding the oft-played insert song "Before My Body Is Dry". My decision came from my watching the show a second time and I'm now in the last few episodes of the final showdown with The Sisters Matoi versus their evil mother, Ragyo (talk about the ultimate teen rebellion).

https://soundcloud.com/cheezitzrice/before-my-body-is-dry

Sung by Hiroshima-born singer-songwriter, Mika Kobayashi（小林未郁）, the song was usually played during a major battle between Ryuko Matoi and one of her many foes. With mpi and David Whitaker providing the lyrics and Hiroyuki Sawano（澤野弘之）making the music, the rock ballad was perfect to frame a 70s movie about a leather-clad lone wolf tough-as-nails female motorcycle rider.

The title may be "Before My Body Is Dry", but I'm always going to remember it as "Don't Lose Your Waaaaaaaaaaaaay!"

However, as one commenter remarked on YouTube, I have to admit that I'm a member of the group that is even more partial to the orchestral version of the song in the above video. It's a short excerpt but whenever it popped up during a climactic scene on "Kill La Kill", it had the same effect on me as the John Williams soundtrack when the first Death Star was blown up by Luke Skywalker or the music when all of the Doctors Who appeared on the 50th anniversary show to save Gallifrey. It has that superheroic sense of "HERE COMES THE CAVALRY!!" Just imagine you crashing a party to grab that last sausage roll with that music behind you.

Miki Matsubara -- Neat na Gogo 3-ji (ニートな午後3時)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/grace_lsh/2333493860?ytcheck=1

I'm trying to remember what I was doing at the 3pm hour back in my Japan days. Because of the nature of my work, it did vary from day to day. Sometimes I would be teaching a group or individual lesson at one of my schools or perhaps I would be at home watching TV between classes or I may be hanging out at a Starbucks or Doutor somewhere in Tokyo before yet another class.

Apparently for Miki Matsubara's（松原みき）heroine in "Neat na Gogo 3-ji" (Neat 3pm), tea time meant or used to mean waiting for that gentleman caller for an afternoon tryst. Whether that meant some intimate upstairs cafe or the lady's apartment, I'm not sure. In any case, this was Matsubara's 5th single from 1981, and for me it's the disco melody with the City Pop wailing guitar and horns and the singer's Cleo Laine-like vocals that won me over. Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）provided the lyrics about the passage of this relationship while Yuuichiro Oda（小田裕一郎）made the music.

The frantic nature of the song and the way Matsubara semi-comically traipsed through one passage had me thinking that this could have made for a funny theme song for a romantic comedy on Japanese TV. However, instead it was actually used in a commercial for a spring campaign for Shiseido Cosmetics. I couldn't find the ad but I could imagine the young lady there sprinting all over the city fresh as a daisy on some big job while her male colleague stumbles behind like a goof. I think it was just as well that it was for the spring campaign since I don't think there would be any way that either man or woman would have been able to do much sprinting in the torrid heat and humidity in a Tokyo summer.

Wasn't quite sure where the "neat" from the title came in. Perhaps since it was used for a cosmetics ad, it referred to having some of that cosmetic water to freshen up.

I can say that I savored 3 pm during those hot summers by guzzling down that complementary sweetened iced Nescafe in the air-conditioned Net café (see what I just did there) just across from my old subway station.

Kyu Sakamoto/Johnny Tillotson/Johnny's/Mahina Stars/Miwa Kawagoe -- Namida-kun Sayonara （涙くんさよなら）

Indeed, spring has come. And if I'm not mistaken, there is a long weekend in Japan because of that fact. Not as lucky over here in Toronto but the weather was pretty decent though not quite spring-like. And true to Toronto weather, we are due for 5 cm of the white stuff on Wednesday. So as I've mentioned before, I will not be ready to declare a true spring until we are all well into April or even May. If you have lived in T.O. (or the Six, as folks are now nicknaming my hometown), you will understand.

The night before, commenter May Lily asked me about a song that I had never heard before under the title of "Namida-kun Sayonara" (Goodbye Mr. Tears) since she heard it while doing some transcription work for the old J-Drama "Hitotsu Yane no Shita 2" (I hope you have been enjoying the job, May). Well, I was able to find quite a bit of information on this tune, fortunately.

"Namida-kun Sayonara" is one of those old kayo from the 1960s which suddenly had a bunch of singers climb on the bandwagon when it was written and composed by Kuranosuke Hamaguchi（浜口庫之助）. First up was the late legendary Kyu Sakamoto（坂本九）who tackled it for release in May 1965. It wasn't such a big hit for him but it still has that wonderful Kyu vocal style. Listening to this first version, the intro had me imagining a kayo folk tune but then the singer and the strings soared into a flourish that had me thinking of Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals such as "The King and I". I'm merely wildly speculating here but I wonder whether it was this abrupt change that had listeners initially not too enthused about the song. The lyrics were quite cheerful although on first listen they might seem as if Kyu was saying goodbye to another love. Actually he was giving his farewells (albeit temporarily by his own happy admission) to the tears themselves since he was able to find another young lady to spend time with.

Then, later that year into September, American singer Johnny Tillotson did his take on the Hamaguchi song in both Japanese and English. The style of this "Namida-kun Sayonara" was a more straightforward happy pop melody that proved to be a big hit for Tillotson, at least in Japan. According to his Wikipedia article, the song was never released as an official single in the United States although it may have gotten onto one of his albums.

May Lily was correct in her guess that the first Johnny's group had also covered "Namida-kun Sayonara". Johnny's（ジャニーズ）gave their own version in April 1966 as the B-side to their 7th single which was perhaps a slightly sweeter take than the Tillotson cover.

Hiroshi Wada and Mahina Stars（和田弘とマヒナスターズ）were a little less Hawaiian Mood Kayo and more the happy-go-lucky version of "Namida-kun Sayonara" but there is no mistaking the choral style of the group's approach. Their cover was released in December 1965.

What surprised me was that over the decades, the song has been covered by plenty of other folks ranging from 70s aidoru Mari Amachi（天地真理）to another Johnny's Entertainment group, TOKIO. However, I came across this version by a singer that I have also not heard about until yesterday called Miwa Kawagoe（川越美和）. This former actress and aidoru from Kagoshima Prefecture debuted in 1988, and her version of "Namida-kun Sayonara" was her 7th single from February 1991. It stood out since it had this rather Eurobeat-y touch of the times that had me thinking of Wink, Mi-ke and Chisato Moritaka（森高千里）. I guess for the singer, the song was the gift that kept on giving since later versions were released as her 11th-13th singles. Her version was also used as the theme song for a long-running TBS drama titled "Ten made Todoke"（天までとどけ...Reach for Heaven）.

Well, May, this is probably the longest answer I've given to you on a song here. I hope the information was what you had wanted. :)

Kouhei Fukuda/Ikuzo Yoshi -- Kadode (門出)

Whoa, this is one cool and manly song - thumping of the drums mixed with the shakuhachi/flute at the start, the sting of the electric guitar that soon follows which giving the melody a nice blend of traditional and modern, and Kouhei Fukuda's muscular and forceful delivery. I love the powerful manner in which he sings the, "Yume ga..." and "Oshite..." bits.

I managed to discover "Kadode" while watching the preparations the diminutive enka singer made for one of his concerts. When the rehearsal was being shown, this was the song he was singing and I enjoyed it very much. But of course, I hadn't yet known its title and went on a trial and error through the other videos that had clips of that concert, so I found it eventually. From the way Fukuda handled "Kadode", it had me thinking that it was one of his own works. Looking it up, however, proved me wrong. As it turns out, the husky Ikuzo Yoshi (吉幾三) was the original singer and he's the one behind the music I like. It was a bit surprising to note - I was able to recognize that the electric guitar part was something he'd add into his songs, the traditional start sort of threw me off - and because I'm so used to hearing Fukuda's minyo-esque version of "Kadode", it also took me a while to imagine Yoshi belting it out in a similar fashion.

Handling the lyrics was renown lyricist, Tetsuro Hoshino (星野哲郎), whom I know best for collaborating with Sabu-chan. From what I gather, our protagonist's life is no bed of roses and he seems to be struggling with all the problems he has to face, like his job, alcohol and women. Despite that he has bite the bullet and keep pushing forward. I read that there are two meanings the words "Kadode" from this really useful translation website, Jisho.org (thanks, J-Canuck!), and in this case I think the first meaning applies: "leaving one's own house (e.g. when going to war); departure; setting out". The part where going to war was mentioned was the one that got me thinking that perhaps our character feels that having to start a new day to face his burdens is like going to war since he isn't satisfied with his life.

"Kadode" was first released as Yoshi's 23rd single in 1993. I don't think it was very popular though, judging by the lack of his version online. Fukuda's cover was released recently in 2014 as a track in his cover album, "Kirameki" (煌). The album peaked at 20th place on the Oricon charts.

amazon.co.jp

Apparently Fukuda is seen as the modern day equivalent of the late minyo star, Michiya Mihashi (三橋美智也). Can't argue with that. In fact it's appropriate since Fukuda has a background in minyo too.

Off-Course -- Endless Nights

I didn't realize that it's been well over a year since I put up my last Off-Course（オフコース）ballad. To be honest, I had seen this atmospheric uploader-made video on YouTube for "Endless Nights" some years ago and just thought it was perfect for the deep atmosphere generated by the ballad. I mean, it's almost like having really melodic alpha waves reaching into your brain to get you into that introspective mood. Never got around to writing about it until today, though.

"Endless Nights" was Off-Course's 31st single from November 1985 and it was one of the tracks on the band's self-cover album "Back Streets of Tokyo" which had been released earlier in August. The song and the album were notable in that they were all English cover versions of past Off-Course material. In the case of "Endless Nights", the original source song was "Tasogare"（たそがれ...Twilight） , the band's 29th single from May 1985.

I couldn't get a complete version of "Tasogare" on YouTube but there is an excerpt on the above video right from the start. In either case, Kazumasa Oda（小田和正）who wrote and composed the song just dares you to look for that snowy night to walk downtown at night thinking about life. Good timing on that November release for "Endless Nights". Considering that I live in Toronto, I think there will still be a few of those to come in the next several weeks before we finally enter spring for good.

Perhaps neither "Endless Nights" nor "Tasogare" would be considered classic City Pop ballads but I can't foresee any other place than a city like Tokyo as a setting for this song. Besides, "Endless Nights" does make a shoutout to the Big Sushi in its lyrics. And although it is an Off-Course song, I can hear where Oda started getting his own sound as a solo singer before he started coming up big with his own hits from the late 1980s.

"Tasogare" managed to peak at No. 7 on Oricon before finishing 1985 as the 100th-ranked single of the year. It didn't get onto an original album by Off-Course but was placed on the band's 5th BEST album "IT'S ALL RIGHT SELECTION III 1984-1987" from July 1987. As I said before, its English-language cover got onto "Back Streets of Tokyo" which went all the way to No. 1 and finished the year as the 35th-ranked album. "Endless Nights" got as high as No. 26.

Songwriter Randy Goodrum also helped out on the lyrics for "Endless Nights", and I found out that he was also responsible for a lot of the songs from my youth. One such hit was DeBarge's "Who's Holding Donna Now?"

Agnes Chan -- Ai no Mayoigo （愛の迷い子）

https://www.flickr.com/photos/hkpop/3891804629

The other night, I was watching a special via TV Japan which featured some of these unsung craftsmen who had the ability to make miraculous restorations from supposedly lost causes. What was interesting was that it wasn't just about tables and chairs. One fellow who might be someone I would call a forensic culinary researcher was able to re-create a lost beloved curry sauce recipe for a lady whose late father ran a small restaurant but never wrote down how to create any of his dishes by asking some of his old regulars and checking the remains of the curry levels in the old pot.

What wrapped up the special was the appearance of former 70s teen aidoru Agnes Chan（アグネス・チャン）. She brought her old guitar which is most likely the one you see in the above picture. Tenderly referring to it as her companion and security blanket of sorts in her early years in Japan, she came on the show to find out if someone was able to restore the guitar since it had gotten a good amount of fuzz in the sound over the past number of years. The master guitar repairer checked it out to realize that the bracing inside the instrument had cracked thereby causing the undesired roughness. Several days, some glue and many vice clamps later, Agnes' old friend was back as she tearfully and gratefully played a Stevie Wonder song on the guitar. It was actually the first time in my life that I got to hear her sing in English.

With that happy prelude, I bring to you Chan's 8th single from December 1974, "Ai no Mayoigo" (Love's Lost Child). It's kinda ironic since the song by lyricist Kazumi Yasui（安井かずみ）and composer Masaaki Hirao（平尾昌晃）is about a poor woman trudging through an autumn forest (and nothing says lost love more than a lot of dead leaves in kayo kyoku) after her beau decides to stop the romance and head back home, although near the end of the song she admits that she is wiser for the experience. And for a sad ballad, Hirao made quite the galloping melody which contrasted interestingly with Chan's characteristically sing-song vocals.

"Ai no Mayoigo" peaked at No. 2 on Oricon and ended up as the 19th-ranked single for 1975. The song was also able to have Agnes appear on the annual Kohaku Utagassen for a 3rd straight time. It would be her final time at the Kohaku, though, since the next year, she would start studying social child psychology at the University of Toronto for the next couple of years although that apparently didn't stop her output of singles. In terms of her singing career in Japan, I think the heyday most likely started fading from that point but obviously she's been able to go on to bigger and better things since then such as a UNICEF ambassadorship, a professorship and appearances as the occasional tarento.

Rebecca -- Lonely Butterfly

Back in the day, I wasn't too big a fan of 80s band Rebecca since I was more into the aidoru and pure pop than pop/rock but I have mellowed over the years, and actually speaking, Rebecca wasn't really all that heavy into the rock in the first place.

Case in point, "Lonely Butterfly", Rebecca's 6th single from October 1986. Listening to it once again after so long, I've come to realize that it is more pop than it is rock. Probably at the time, I just assumed that any song that had a loud set of drums and more than one electric guitar was a bit too rich for my blood. Rookie mistake. Written by vocalist NOKKO and keyboardist Akio Dobashi（土橋安騎夫）, the nostalgia angle has also played a role since I don't hear anything like Rebecca's sound anymore in J-Pop, especially that synth.

"Lonely Butterfly" managed to get as high as No. 6. Watching the official music video, I appreciated NOKKO's wear of Tom Cruise's outfit from "Top Gun".