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.
What was that famous lyric from that Prince hit? "So tonight I'm gonna party like it's 1999".
Maybe that's the point behind Platinum 900's"Let's Boogie The Night", a track from the 1990s City Pop band's final to date album "Free (at last)" released in that seminal year of 1999. KKP contributor HRLE92, aka Island Fantasia on YouTube, was the first writer to talk about this underrated Tokyo band, consisting of vocalist Naoko Sakata (坂田直子), guitarist and bassist Kazuhiko Nishimura (西村一彦), and keyboardist Hiroshi Iihoshi (飯星裕史), and he's the one behind the primer for Platinum 900 so you ought to take a gander at his Christmas Day 2020article.
But getting back to "Let's Boogie The Night", HRLE92 did give his own opinions on this nostalgic Platinum 900 look at disco but I also wanted to put in my two cents as well since I've been enjoying the track. As he stated, the song feels like one last dance with that special someone on the lighted tiles in the club, but if I can add some more context, perhaps that dance is taking place in the milieu of a reunion. Yep, that's right. Perhaps it's a 20th-anniversary reunion of those late 70s high schoolers, now grown up and perhaps grown out, and some of those former couples have gotten together for one more fling...on the floor, that is. The boogie that Sakata, Nishimura and Iihoshi are putting out isn't quite as frenetic which is perfect for the alumni now but all that disco flavour is still in there to bring back the good memories. Just one more for the road.
It wouldn't be Urban Contemporary Friday on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" without an 80s City Pop tune, so I finally have one for today.
There was an article for velvet-voiced Kiyotaka Sugiyama's（杉山清貴）"Kaze no LONELY WAY"（風のLONELY WAY）, the former Omega Tribe（オメガトライブ）frontman's 5th single from January 1988 which was one of the many ending themes for NTV's "Kayo Suspense Gekijo"（火曜サスペンス劇場...The Tuesday Suspense Drama）. I gather that the song composed by Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）and sung by the smooth Sugiyama worked well as a poignant urbane tune for the hero and the villain headed for jail each episode.
But the B-side "Mugon no Dialogue" (Dialogue Without Words) is another bittersweet Hayashi composition although there is no crime involved...at least, not one punishable by a jail term. Nope, the malfeasance involved here is the criminal loss of opportunity as a fellow runs into an old flame by chance in the megalopolis. He then realizes that he still has feelings for the lady although it's evident that she has moved on quite happily. His reassuring spoken words are covering up the words that are lingering in his broken heart. Those lyrics by Kumiko Aoki（青木久美子）are adorned by the typical Omega Tribe-friendly arrangement of bluesy saxophone, bass and keyboards.
It was a mere few weeks ago when I contributed the article for a track from Tomita Lab's（冨田ラボ）most recent album"7+" which was released in late June. "Kemutagararete"（煙たがられて）has the songwriter and music producer recruiting a legendary veteran, Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）, to sing a jazz-pop ditty about finding anyone who can stand to have a conversation with him while smoking away.
Well, this time I'm going back a few more years to another album that Tomita Lab released in October 2018, "M-P-C 'Mentality, Physicality, Computer'". From that release, I'd like to introduce his "Let It Ride", this time featuring a relative newcomer by the name of Tokyo-born Kento Nagatsuka（長塚健斗）who has been the vocalist for the experimental soul quartetWONK since its inception in 2013.
"Let It Ride" has a pleasantly galloping beat by Tomita Lab with lyrics by Nagatsuka, and this is just my take, but I think it not only possesses that wonderful groove that Keiichi Tomita（冨田恵一）has brought to his creations since taking on the Tomita Lab moniker but also a bit of his old KEDGE synth style from the 1980s. There are parts in "Let It Ride" that remind me of the stuff that 80s technopop band PSY-S used to perform.
Unfortunately, I have yet to know more about WONK although according to its J-Wiki profile, the group plays a number of genres: jazz, soul, hip-hop and beat music. I did find an English-language interview with Nagatsuka at the Fred Perry clothing website which digs into his own musical influences.
Usually when I write up an article on a song dealing with Ginza, it's a Mood Kayo number involving a band such as Los Indios or Los Primos. The lyrics might be dealing with some risky tryst through a swanky nightclub or bar in one of the world's most expensive neighbourhoods in Tokyo while the chorus work and the Latin arrangement sound somewhat wistful and/or mournful.
But "Ginza" by Toko Furuuchi（古内東子）in recording and songwriting is a very contemporary affair although it was released as her 11th single all the way back in January 1998. It's supremely soulful and romantic as would be the case for a Furuuchi song, and it all takes place in a wintry Ginza, perhaps in accordance with the release date, sometime between the Holidays and Valentine's Day. A couple returns to the area for the first time in a long time and the lady goes through a self-assessment of the relationship with her beau. Although she feels that there is always room for improvement, she ultimately believes among the snowflakes that things are pretty A-OK.
I don't know how "Ginza" did on the charts but the song is also available on Furuuchi's 7th original album"Mahou no Te"（魔法の手...Magic Hands） which came out in August 1998. It hit No. 1 on Oricon.
When I first wrote about professional wrestler/singer Devil Masami（デビル雅美）earlier in March, I pointed out that her "Star Jazz Waltz" from the end of 1985 was quite the remarkable mellow urban contemporary tune. That was also the case for her "J" song which I have yet to find on YouTube, although it is the first Devil Masami tune that I'd heard back in my university days.
Let's turn the clock back a few more years then. I discovered her debut single"Moetsukiru made"(Until It Burns) which was released in December 1982, and it's about as different in arrangement from "Star Jazz Waltz" as one can get. For one thing, it sounds as if Keiko Fuji（藤圭子）had decided to tackle something along the lines of a tokusatsu theme tune. However, as would be the case for a Japanese wrestler deciding to get behind the mike instead of an opponent, I think this is her theme song since it describes her role in the ring as a villain (I believe the Japanese term is "super heel"), taking on all comers in big bad Tokyo on her own terms.
Written and composed by Kaoru Kuramitsu（倉光カオル）, it's quite the grand musical entrance for Devil Masami with those trumpets ringing out their pearly tones like some epic fanfare preceding the entrance of a legend.
From what I gleaned from her J-Wiki article, Devil Masami retired from the industry in 2008. She then returned to her hometown of Kita-Kyushu in Fukuoka Prefecture to become the night manager of a supermarket. After that, she was scouted out by the president of a pickled vegetable company to become a manager of one of the shops. That shop closed its doors for good last month.
Well, this does take the proverbial cake. Almost ten years to the day after I'd put up my first Maki Ohguro（大黒摩季）song onto "Kayo Kyoku Plus", "Atsukunare"（熱くなれ）, I'm finally writing up its coupling song. I hadn't even been aware of the significance of the date (July 22nd 2012) until merely a few minutes ago.
"Atsukunare" was the hit single for rock and pop singer Ohguro that was used for NHK's coverage of the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996. For me, it still stands as the most blood-pumping J-Olympics tune that I ever heard and it could almost have me running a few laps around the block whenever I hear it. Almost.
What I had completely forgotten was that the coupling song "Soshite"(And Then), written/composed by Ohguro and arranged by Takeshi Hayama（葉山たけし）who had both contributed to "Atsukunare", was also utilized by the national television network in the 1996 Olympic broadcasts. As I remember, it was usually used as the song to end the program since the lyrics rather showed the coda of folks having joined together for a mighty effort and were now celebrating that effort through trying and triumph. "Soshite" has quite the happy and upbeat melody including one epic trumpet solo, and I can imagine young folks racing toward the shoreline to cavort about in joy and satisfaction.
It's Thursday once more and so that means another Reminiscings of Youth article. Once again, I bring you the fantastic Joe Jackson. Back in March 2021 on KKP, I introduced the Staffordshire singer/songwriter and musician through his sophisticated New Wave"Steppin' Out" and the wistful "Breaking Us In Two", both tracks from his 1982 "Night and Day".
Discogs.com
I still love the cover of "Night and Day" which illustrated the high life and high class of the bright lights and big city. But a couple of years later came his March 1984 album"Body and Soul", and the cover of that one was a straight emulation of "Sonny Rollins Vol. 2" (from 1957) according to Wikipedia aside from the tint. The impression that I got was that we were going from the gorgeous if isolated penthouse of that New York skyscraper down to the underground jazz club somewhere in Manhattan with Joe. He and his band were going more be-bop, I gathered. Even the title of the album is a tribute to Coleman Hawkins' 1939 recording of jazz standard "Body and Soul".
The reason that I decided to go for the album rather than just one track was that three of them were heavy-rotation songs on the radio, and for good reason. All of them were released as singles and all of them possessed different styles. However, what they all had in common was that no matter where you heard them: at home, in the park or in front of a stage, they could welcome an audience. Even if you were alone, you felt like you were among Jackson fans at the Masonic Hall in Manhattan where my favourite of the three singles was recorded.
My favourite is "You Can't Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)" which is filled with all types of jazzy goodness: Jackson's earnest vocals, the tight percussion, the groovy guitar by Vinnie Zummo, the boppy bass by Graham Maby (which would have sent Toshiki Kadomatsu to the moon in ecstacy) and those horns. On the radio, I usually got the shorter version which excised most of the instrumental bridge including Maby's and Zummo's work, so it was always a treat when the station would give me the full five minutes or thereabouts.
I've always thought that "You Can't Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)" could have been a great theme song for some sort of New York-based detective movie or TV show because of the jazz involved. Otherwise, it would have made for a great accompaniment to a montage of a nighttime swing through the Big Apple.
"Happy Ending" could also fit some sort of rom-com based in New York City, and it's a duet with Jackson and Elaine Caswell that I think would be amazing heard live anytime on stage by the professionals or at karaoke by the amateurs. It does have that 1960s pop ring along with that indelible Jackson-ness and it was another track that got plenty of airplay on the radio. The horns here sound really boss as if they were the E Street Band playing for The Boss.
When I was thinking about doing this article, I hadn't thought to include "Be My Number Two" within my New York movie analogy, but then reading about its story on Wikipedia, I've changed my mind. As Jackson himself put it in an interview with "The A.V. Club" online newspaper back in 2019:
"I would say it's a bit world-weary or, not world-weary, but a bit, how else to express this? Once bitten, twice shy. It's saying, 'Well, let's try again, but it's not going to be like it was the first time.' So it's poignant, I think."
Listening to the first few lyrics of the song all these years, I had simply assumed that the song was about some lout deciding to go with his next-in-line girl after his former girlfriend had dumped him. But now I realize that things are perhaps even more poignant as Jackson was quoted. The marriage failed and maybe should never have happened in the first place, but the guy might have another chance to be with the one that he should have been with all this time, although there may always be a millstone hanging around the guy's and maybe even No. 2's necks. How heavy those stones weigh will depend on time and work.
The melody pretty much loudly whispers poignancy along with melancholy, redemption and hope through the tinkling piano and Jackson's cooing vocals. As I mentioned, this could describe a certain bittersweet coda at the end of a movie with at least one of the protagonists learning a life lesson. That big sax finish might be signalling the new or renewed couple accepting each other's hands and taking a walk to the supermarket...just like they used to in the old days. FIN
"Body and Soul" did pretty well on the charts in the USA and Canada with the album hitting No. 20 in the former while peaking at No. 13 in the latter.
So, what were hitting No. 1 and No. 2 on Oricon in March 1984?
