D-51 -- No More Cry

Yes, it's a heck of a thumbnail that I put up there with Mr. Spock from "Star Trek" about to mind meld with the Horta in the first season episode "The Devil in the Dark". The scene also contains the rock-boring creature desperately etching out "NO KILL I" which has Captain Kirk and his Vulcan science officer wondering whether she's pleading not to be killed or she's stating that she will not kill.

The reason for all that Trekkie lore? The phrase reminds me of a song title by a band that I had completely forgotten about. I was reminded of this song on a recent episode of NHK's educational variety show "Gatten" which dealt with how to improve the activity of your cerebellum (really). Suddenly the tune "No More Cry" started playing in the background as folks began celebrating the fact that those special exercises for their cerebellum paid off in spades.

Well, "No More Cry" is quite a celebratory tune by the Okinawan duo D-51 (pronounced D Go-Ichi) consisting of YU and YASU right from the get-go. Released in February 2005 as their 3rd single, it's certainly a happy, up-with-people sort of number with that slight disco beat...would be good as a music companion on a Bullet Train ride. It was the theme song for the second series of "Gokusen"（ごくせん）, based on the manga about a granddaughter of a yakuza don who becomes a high school teacher for a bunch of rowdies. I've seen some scenes for it with the granddaughter showing off her own toughness while dressed in a red-and-white tracksuit.

Written by YASU, under his real name of Yasuhide Yoshida（吉田安英）, and composed by singer-songwriter Akira Ikuma（生熊朗）, "No More Cry" sold more than half a million copies and peaked at No. 2, their only Top 10 hit thus far. By the end of 2005, it became the 13th-ranked single and earned Yu Uezato（上里優）and Yoshida their invitation to the Kohaku Utagassen on New Year's Eve.

Thus far, D-51 has released 15 major singles up to 2012, and a mini-album, "Late Summer" came out in 2018.

Jun Fubuki -- Ai ga Hajimaru Toki（愛がはじまる時）

Actress Jun Fubuki（風吹ジュン）is one of those veteran celebrities who has been around so long that I hadn't been aware that she even had a singing career. Well, to be honest, with her J-Wiki article stating only 4 singles and 2 original albums in the mid-1970s followed by a compilation album of all of her singles together, it wasn't exactly a very long run behind the mike. My memory of her really only involved her appearances in commercials. 

And so was her debut single, "Ai ga Hajimaru Toki" (When Love Begins) which was released in May of that year. When I first listened to this one, I actually thought that Fubuki was an aidoru with the somewhat off-tune delivery, but she was groomed to be a regular singer. I mean, it's cute enough but I guess that I can't be surprised that she left singing fairly quickly. Mieko Arima（有馬三恵子）and Masaaki Hirao（平尾昌晃）were the songwriters behind this song. Incidentally, Hirao was the fellow who had introduced Hong Kong-born Agnes Chan（アグネス・チャン）to Japan a few years earlier, and there is something rather Agnes-like with Fubuki's singing, so I wonder whether he was thinking about lightning striking twice.

I found out that Jun Fubuki is a stage name. According to the 1981 book "Cinema Koseiha Land"（シネマ個性派ランド...Cinema One-of-a-Kind Land） via J-Wiki, the person who decided on her new identity chose the family name Fubuki from the phrase "Kaze ni fukareta you ni detekita"（風に吹かれたように出てきた......came in like the wind）. As for her given name, Jun, the person simply liked the sound of it (perhaps the fact that it has the same pronunciation as the summery 6th month may have also been a factor). Although it wasn't given in J-Wiki, when I did the hunt for her birth name on Yahoo.jp, the search engine flung out in huge letters, Reiko Horikawa（堀川麗子）with one site adding another family name, possibly after her parents' divorce, and then her married name.

Speaking about celebrities who I hadn't known were singers early in their career, actress Yuko Asano（浅野ゆう子）impersonated Fubuki with her own rendition of "Ai ga Hajimaru Toki".

Yumeko Kitaoka -- Ikujinashi (いくじなし)

I’ve already written about my favourite song recorded by Yumeko Kitaoka (北岡夢子) before, which is the longing-filled and youthful ballad “Mou Ichido Aetara” (もういちど逢えたら). In fact, I like this song so much that I’ve chosen it as one of the two J-Pop tunes for Kayo Kyoku Plus’ special collaboration with JTOP 10 last year.

Today, though, I’d like to highlight other song by this somewhat obscure aidoru. Released in July 1988 as the coupling song to her second single “Kokuhaku” (告白), “Ikujinashi” is certainly not what we can call a-side material. On the other hand, I find the catchy synth arrangement very captivating, even if some singing notes are kind of rough to the years at some points. Maybe rough is not the right word, but there’s something very childish in the way Kitaoka handles the melody here. And I really mean childish, but not in the ambiguous way that many female aidoru sing. Anyway, it can merge well with the playfulness and almost summery vibe of the Euro-tinged arrangement if you are in the right mood.

“Ikujinashi” is typical late 80s aidoru affair, but that can be said about any of Kitaoka’s songs, since she did not record or release anything very outstanding. I like her well enough, though, and even bought a cheap compilation of her singles and coupling songs, which I treasure a lot.

Lyrics were written by Ayuko Ishikawa (石川あゆ子), while the music was composed by Tetsuji Hayashi (林哲司). As for the arrangement, Hiroshi Shinkawa (新川博) was the responsible.

My Kore! Lite - Yumeko Kitaoka

Karyudo/Mika Kotou -- America Bashi（アメリカ橋）

It would seem that in Japanese pop culture, along with lonely train platforms, the bridge is also the setting for bittersweet romantic partings.

Whenever I hear about the folk duo Karyudo（狩人）, my brain automatically reacts with an aural memory of "Azusa Ni-go"（あずさ2号）, their big hit from 1977, and really it seems to be the one song that Takamichi and Kunihiko Kato（加藤孝道・加藤久仁彦）always sing whenever they get invited onto the kayo kyoku TV shows.

However, recently I did find a later song that was released in February 1979 as their 7th single, "America Bashi" (America Bridge). Written by Koshin Okuyama（奥山侊伸）and composed by Junzo Shigaraki（信楽順三）, this bridge in Tokyo, which is officially known as Ebisu Minami Bashi（恵比寿南橋）and is located between Ebisu and Meguro Stations on the JR Yamanote Line, is the source of wistful reminiscing by the protagonist since it was the final place where he and a young lady would be a couple before leaving the megalopolis.

Although it wasn't quite the blockbuster hit that "Azusa Ni-go" was a few years previously, "America Bashi" did moderately well on Oricon by placing in at No. 28. Plus, I think that the ballad is absolutely soaking in beautiful nostalgia juice, and after listening to it a few more times, there is also something rather classical in the arrangement. The song was also included in the duo's 3rd album of the same name which was released just a month after the single.

The thing is, though, that Karyudo's song isn't an original but a cover of a ballad that singer Mika Kotou（湖東美歌）had released back in September 1976. Her "America Bashi" is also quite languid but it seems a tad closer to pop and it's also several seconds longer. I probably would have to listen to both versions some more to get a more detailed comparison.

I could barely find any written information about Kotou, including a confirmation on the pronunciation of her family name, since according to Jisho.org, that name can also be pronounced as Kohigashi, so once again, if any fan of hers can confirm this with me, I would appreciate it. But from what little I could glean online, I think Kotou has been continuing her career as a jazz chanteuse for some years.

As for the bridge itself, I can't quite remember whether I had crossed over it during my years in Tokyo. It's possible since I did go to Meguro once to see an old friend at a ramen restaurant there. However, I found out the reason that Ebisu Minami Bashi was given its nickname of America Bashi. According to Asahi Shimbun articles in 2015 and 2016 via J-Wiki, the bridge had been displayed at the World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri in 1904, and then the Japanese Ministry of Railways summarily purchased it and had it built and placed into its present location a couple of years later. It was then renovated in 1970.

Interestingly enough, Noelle wrote about another "America Bashi" by enka singer Yutaka Yamakawa（山川豊）back in 2014.

Especia -- Aviator / Boogie Aroma

City Pop revivalist aidoru group Especia may not be around anymore, but their legacy of groovy aidoru pop tunes remains with us. Aside their great “GUSTO” album, my favourite ‘Especia moment’, if I can call it that way, is their major debut with the single “Aviator / Boogie Aroma”, which was released in July 2015.

“Aviator” is easily the song I listen to the most from these girls nowadays. While “Boogie Aroma” sounds cool and slick, “Aviator” is just cheesy and straight in your face with the bouncy and relentless synth bass line, which, by the way, is very reminiscent of some of Rick Astley's hits created by Stock, Aitken and Waterman circa 1987 and 1988 (and the origin of this particular bass line seems to be Colonel Abram’s club hit “Trapped”, but that’s another story), and some loud flourishes here and there. Also, the vocals, while still not great or pleasant most of the times, are full of personality, which is always a given in the group’s songs. Personally, I prefer the cheesy and bubbly “Aviator”, obviously, since I like dated and “wrong” music a lot more, but “Boogie Aroma” has plenty of charms itself, starting with what sounds like an organic bass line, the groovy chorus and some funky synth flute interludes. Both songs are great, in my opinion, and I was sad when the album that came after this single was nowhere near as fun and colorful.

To finish, here’s a video uploaded by their old label featuring a mashup of the two songs. The video is very pretty, but, unfortunately, we can only listen to bits of both “Aviator” and “Boogie Aroma”. It was surely done in a creative way to resemble 80s VHS tapes, but I’d still prefer to listen to the songs in their full versions, accompanied of their videos, since they are so good.

Lyrics for “Aviator” were written by mirco and Paul Moriya (ポウル守谷), while music and arrangement were composed by Schtein&Longer. As for “Boogie Aroma”, lyrics were written by UKO, while music and arrangement were composed by PellyColo.

"Aviator / Boogie Aroma"

Megumi Hayashibara -- hesitation

(cover version)

Nowhere near Megumi Hayashibara’s (林原めぐみ) most famous anime songs, “Hesitation” served as one of the six opening themes to the Saber Marionette J Again OVA (またまたセイバーマリオネットJ) that aired in 1997~1998. Also, like many of her Saber Marionette songs, it’s one of my personal highlights from her career, and the reason is probably the nostalgic sound palette of the synths chosen, coupled with the dance beat that was in fashion at the time and the wild guitar solo. Of course I like the powerful melody that is typical of upbeat anime songs and Megumi’s vocal delivery (more in the studio version than in the live concert, though, but I just love this woman, even if her singing talent is very limited) as well, but this kind of 90s anime song arrangement just gets me every time I listen to these songs.

Strangely enough, this song has never been included in one of her original albums, being relegated to the “Vintage A” compilation, which was released in June 2000. Way stranger was when Megumi included it as part of her set list for the live concert posted above. Since this song is quite rare and almost forgotten, it was a nice surprise to see her revive it during this concert in 2017.

The "Vintage A" compilation, in which this song was included, reached #4 on the Oricon chart, selling around 101,910 copies (source: generasia). Lyrics were written by Megumi herself, while music and arrangement were composed by Toshiro Yabuki (矢吹俊郎).

"Vintage A"

Logic System -- Be Yourself

Last week, I performed a ritual that will become an annual thing...and that is to clean the shelves holding my compact discs and insert in the albums that I had been collecting over the past year in their proper order. It's not an easy job and I learned that pulling this off in an afternoon is practically impossible now. Instead, I did this over three days.

Once again, we've come to another Hump Day so perhaps energies and moods are at low tide right now, especially during February. Therefore, maybe the blog and I can help out a bit with a melodic enhancer of sorts. I present "Be Yourself", a track from Logic System's（ロジック・システム）"Venus" album from 1981.

I was a little surprised on hearing this one since my impression of Hideki Matsutake's（松武秀樹）project was that he was also following the technopop path set by his associates in Yellow Magic Orchestra. Certainly, listening to most of the other tracks on "Venus", I received that vibe of synthesizer music ranging from Isao Tomita（冨田勲）to 1980s YMO (including a synth cover of Off-Course's "I Love You"), but "Be Yourself" stands out like a beacon for being this radio-friendly tune of soul and fusion. The synths weren't dominating here; it was more of the pop piano and saxophone.

"Be Yourself" was also the B-side to Logic System's 2nd single "Aishuu no Orient Express"（哀愁のオリエント急行）that came out in 1982. However, the original "Be Yourself" was recorded in 1981 by singer-actress Debra Laws in her debut album "Very Special" with Lisa Peters and William Jefry, according to the explanation under the YouTube video.