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.
One of those singers whose information is hard to come by, I could only find out that Yuki Kato（加藤有紀）was a singer-lyricist who had graduated from Keio University. Otherwise, she released a couple of singles and a couple of albums in 1983.
The B-side to her 2nd single, "Nazo wa Tokanai de"（謎はと・か・な・い・で...Don't Solve the Mystery）,"Gokai" (Misunderstandings) isn't a major City Pop classic but I think that it's a jaunty enough urban contemporary tune paired with Kato's breathy delivery. Written by Machiko Ryu（竜真知子）and composed by Akira Senju（千住明）, the way Kato sings and the overall arrangement by Tadashige Matsui（松井忠重）makes me think that "Gokai" straddles the line between City Pop and 80s aidoru.
Ryoko Sano（佐野量子）was a celebrity that I only saw sporadically through various commercials (as shown in the video below) and I only knew later on that she had also been an actress, a tarento and a singer, with that final part of her career lasting between 1985 and 1992.
I found this song by Sano which was included in her final album, "Wind & Window" from January 1992. Titled "Hoshi ni Negai wo" (Wishing Upon A Star), I had initially thought that this was an 80s aidoru tune, and Sano indeed started out as an aidoru, but when I saw that the composer was pop singer Chikaco Sawada（沢田知可子）, my mind started thinking that this may have been a later release. Sano herself provided the lyrics and I think her singing style was an even more whispery version of Hiroko Yakushimaru（薬師丸ひろ子）.
Sano announced her retirement from show business at the end of 1994 and then married famed horse jockey Yutaka Take（武豊）the following year. According to Sano's J-Wikiarticle, she wouldn't make any more TV appearances for about 20 years but then a 2015 article on "Sponichi Annex" revealed that both Take and Sano finally appeared on a variety show. The brief video above has the Takes on a 2016 program.
Met up with some of the guys earlier tonight for some Mexican nearby. The restaurant has been receiving some good buzz as of late but I think considering how its reputation has widened only recently, the staff probably was still trying to gain their bearings on handling a Friday night crowd. The Mango Mojito and the nachos were fine but the main dishes were not as great.
Anyways I would like to start with this precious tune by CANDEE, aka Nozomi Takao（高尾のぞみ）. The singer hailed from Yokohama and made her debut with her sole album"Candee" in 1988. One of the tracks is "Heaven's Where We Are", which, according to kaz-shin from "Music Avenue", doesn't list CANDEE's partner in this duet in the album but he guesses it is probably her brother, singer Naoki Takao（高尾直樹）.
kaz-shin was raving about this particular track, and I have to say that "Heaven's Where We Are" is one polished tune that sounds as if it had been recorded as a soulful American AOR/R&B tune, ready for radio. I love the voices of the Takao siblings if it is indeed Naoki in there behind the mike with his sister. Jessie was behind the lyrics while Yuukou Kusunoki（楠木勇有行）composed the tune.
Afterwards, CANDEE also provided backup vocals for acts such as Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）and Sing Like Talking. She married singer-songwriter Kenji Hayashida（林田健司）, who also has representation on the blog through songs such as "Aoi Inazuma" (青いイナズマ) for SMAP, but not long after, CANDEE would pass away in 1998 due to acute hepatitis. So the title for this particular song has some especially poignant meaning.
The last time I wrote about the comical band Hajime Hana & Crazy Cats（ハナ肇とクレージーキャッツ）, it was for a B-side called "Hai Sore Made yo"（ハイそれまでヨ）which also made its way into one of their movies "Nippon Musekinin Jidai"（ニッポン無責任時代...Japan's Irresponsible Generation） which had come out in 1962. The trailer above was interesting to view since Cats vocalist Hitoshi Ueki（植木等）who had the lead role of Hitoshi Taira（平均）looked like a rather nerdy type but with a personality that would more match that of a juvenile delinquent.
Well, that B-side was on the other side of the main song, the theme for the movie itself "Musekinin Ichidai Otoko" (Irresponsible Man of His Generation) also sung by Ueki. Created by the same duo behind "Hai Sore Made yo", lyricist Yukio Oshima（青島幸男）and composer Hiroaki Hagiwara（萩原哲晶）, it's a Crazy Cats comical march with Ueki no doubt touting the slacker life. Incidentally, this was also the Cats' 3rd single, and both it and the movie were big hits.
Despite his unrepentant lackadaisical character from the movie, Ueki cut a dapper silver fox figure on the stage, didn't he? As I mentioned above, the song was a big hit for Crazy Cats and according to a biography on Ueki by author Juugatsu Toi（戸井十月）, it made quite an impact on the postwar baby boomer men of that time, although I think that considering what happened to Japan during and afterwards, not a lot of those guys became Hitoshi Taira. Also from the J-Wiki article on the song, according to lyricist and future Tokyo governor Aoshima, "Musekinin Ichidai Otoko" had a profound effect on comics such as Tamori（タモリ）and Beat Takeshi（ビートたけし）with the latter's view of the world turned upside down. The song would also make an appearance in the Cats' 2nd movie, "Nippon Musekinin Yaro"（ニッポン無責任野郎...Japan's Irresponsible S.O.B.） which was released in December 1962, just 5 months following the first movie.
The Oricon charts hadn't existed at that time, but if they had, I'm pretty certain that the song would have hit the top spot.
After all was said and done once we had caught the finales of the anime from Summer 2019, my friend and I were somewhat ruefully wondering whether Fall 2019's stock would be a bit sparse in terms of shows that we would like to watch. We were happy to see the zany gang from "Boku-tachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai"（ぼくたちは勉強ができない）back in action for a second season, and there is something nice with "Hōkago Saikoro Kurabu"（放課後さいころ倶楽部...After School Dice Club）...that Marrakech game looked pretty interesting. Of course, "En En no Shouboutai"（炎炎ノ消防隊）is continuing its run. Plus, there is "Kandagawa Jet Girls"（神田川JET GIRLS）which seems to be a raunchy mix of "Keijo!!!!!!!!"（競女!!!!!!!!）and "Two-Car" (hopefully, it will be satisfying along the lines of the former rather than the latter).
However, we did get some hope of maybe some more good things to come after watching the premiere of a cyberpunk noir titled "No Guns Life"（ノー・ガンズ・ライフ）back on Sunday. I liked "Blade Runner", and I've enjoyed the separate genres of future dystopia and film noir from the 1940s, so seeing "No Guns Life" especially with Space Dandy himself, Junichi Suwabe（諏訪部順一）, starring as the literally hard-as-nails, seen-it-all, heard-it-all detective Juzo Inui（乾十三）made for an intriguing experience. He strikes quite the figure, especially with a gun for a head (maybe his English name is Peter...har de har). The only thing missing was a Mickey Spillane voice over but I think Inui has been handling that part well enough.
It's not bluesy jazz but the opening theme "Motor City" by Blankey Jet City vocalist/songwriter Kenichi Asai（浅井健一）is still pretty darn good. There's something even kinda 1980s rock about this one although I currently can't think of a band from that era that "Motor City" reminds me of. As with a lot of anison that hits me as potentially earworm-y in the early part of an anime season, I often don't wait for the full version but just go ahead with the truncated version within the opening credits, so once again here I go.
There must be something about a detective-based anime that attracts some good hard-driving tunes. Along with "No Guns Life", I've been reminded of the theme songs from "City Hunter" and last year's "Double Decker". Looking forward to some more of this show.
It's been a good long while since the last Yujiro Ishihara（石原裕次郎）kayo so I figure it is time to put on that trench coat, stick a cigarette between the lips and grab two fingers of scotch.
"Nageki no Melody" (Melody of Lament) is a tango-esque waltz of a Mood Kayo that fits the Tough Guy to a tee. Released in February 1984, it's a typical Ishihara kayo of the 1970s and 1980s in that there is that haunting female background vocal sounding like the cold wind hammering away at a fellow's back, the silky strings, the French accordion and, of course, the Tough Guy's tender vocals. As the title attests, Toyohisa Araki's（荒木とよひさ）lyrics talk about a palooka heading down the Avenue of Broken Hearts and perhaps entering into some hole in the wall for a good slug of Old Parr while bending the bartender's ear. Takashi Miki（三木たかし）was responsible for the shibui music.
I'm not sure if it ever was but I wouldn't be surprised if "Nageki no Melody" had been used as the ending theme for one of Ishihara's cop shows. In any case, this is one for the bars in Akasaka or Ginza.
I guess that this would be the ideal autumn-flavoured City Pop tune.
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"Tameiki Avenue"(Avenue of Sighs) indeed has the right tone right in its title. Satoko Shimonari's（下成佐登子）5th single from October 1981 is all about the quiet after the storm that was a sad breakup to a relationship, and isn't autumn the ideal time for the death of romance according to kayo tradition? However, the lyrics are buoyed by a fairly lighthearted bossa melody and Shimonari's delivery, and the combination is such that this could be covered nicely as well by another New Music/City Pop veteran, Junko Yagami（八神純子）. Shimonari was responsible for the music while Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつこ）took care of the lyrics.
The song is also a track on Shimonari's debut album"Aki no Ichi Nichi"（秋の一日）from November 1981. The title track is something that I covered a couple of years ago and is much more folksy in sound. In addition, my first purchase of anything by the singer is her 1987 album"Keep In Touch", and the music there is more of a late 1980s contemporary pop release. Just from the tracks "Aki no Ichi Nichi" and today's "Tameiki Avenue", then, I would like to get my hands on the debut album for the contrast in the sound between the two albums.
