Quincy Jones -- The Dude

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It was all the way back in 2014 when I wrote up a "Kayo Kyoku Plus" article on the very first single record of a Western pop song that I had ever bought and that was "Ai no Corrida" as originally sung by Charles "Dune" May. As I mentioned in that article, I first heard the disco or post-disco classic through a cover version done by a whole bunch of young 80s aidoru in one of the special segments of the 1981 Kohaku Utagassen on NHK. The single version was also a hit in Japan.

"Ai no Corrida" hit me with such good vibes that I soon ran over to the local Sam the Record Man shop to search for this unusually titled tune, and it was a surprise and delight that I could find the 45" single even in that tiny branch. The single version though was only a few seconds north of three minutes. I wouldn't find out for several years that the album version from Quincy Jones' "The Dude" has more than double the goodness. I stated this in the "Ai no Corrida" article as well, but the Jones version was also a cover for the Chaz Jankel original from the previous year.

Yup, "The Dude"...released in March 1981. It's an album that I wouldn't buy for several years since I was frankly intimidated by that cover. In fact, I finally bought it in Japan in the late 1990s, nearly 20 years after it had been first put onto record shelves. And since then, I've been happily catching up on what I'd missed by playing it in heavy rotation.

But let me get the accolades for "The Dude" out of the way. To lift a quote from the Wikipedia article for the album: "The Dude was nominated for twelve Grammy Awards (including Album of the Year) and won three at the 24th Grammy Awards: for Best Instrumental Arrangement; Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal; and Best Instrumental Arrangement (Accompanying Vocalists). It also earned Ingram three Grammy nominations for Best New Artist, Best Male Pop Vocal Performance (for "Just Once") and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance (for "One Hundred Ways"), which he won."

I also read somewhere that "The Dude" was the Michael Jackson album that Michael Jackson had never recorded. It's just that cool and special. So, without further ado, let me go through this classic album version of Reminiscings of Youth this week.

Second up on "The Dude" is the title track itself. And Jones himself is The Dude here with his kakkoii rap. Created by Jones, Rod Temperton and Patti Austin, one couldn't have a cooler power song for a patriarch of the neighbourhood. The backing vocals by Austin and others (including a certain one-gloved wonder...I believe I did cite him earlier), Ernie Watt's sax, James Ingram's heraldic vocals and those Jerry Hey horns come together magnificently to craft a potential theme tune that would come as a reassuring message to some and a warning to others. 

One of the reasons that I've been happy with "The Dude" is that there is a good amount of variety in the types of music. Case in point, Track 3 is the late James Ingram's "Just Once", a pleasant soul-pop ballad that I had only known for years as a song that would frequently get played on AM radio before buying the source album. Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil were responsible for this second single (September 1981) to come out of "The Dude". I also remember it for its performance by Ingram on an episode of "SCTV" in which the singer was also more than happy to goof it up with the rest of the comedians. David Foster was on the keyboards here.

Smooth and velvety is how I would describe "Betcha Wouldn't Hurt Me" as performed by Patti Austin and created by the Stevie Wonder. This is the type of song that I wouldn't mind hearing in a car while heading down to paint the town red.

Austin was in front of the mike here, too, for "Somethin' Special", a truly special and slightly smoky urban cool tune which hits me like aural bacon. Rod Temperton took care of words and music here and I think that is Watts once more on the saxophone.

"Razzamatazz" is once more fronted by Austin and this is the track to hear when we are in the midst of painting the town red. Rod Temperton was also responsible for this disco flashback and another highlight is also hearing all of those background vocals percolating through the tune from all directions.

"One Hundred Ways" was the third and final single from "The Dude" which came out in December 1981. Sung by Ingram, the song was created by Kathy Wakefield, Ben Wright and Tony Coleman, and it's really a whimsical and heartfelt recipe on how to keep the heart lights glowing fiercely. Not surprisingly, this was also getting a lot of play on the radio, perhaps especially on Valentine's Day.

The penultimate track "Velas" by Ivan Lins and Vitor Martins is the lone jazz instrumental track on the album. It was the first time that I realized how soulful a harmonica can be since up until that point, I'd assumed that the instrument was used just in cowboy movies. I have to therefore give my compliments to the legendary Toots Thielemans for opening my eyes (he also provided the whistles). His work along with the creamy keyboard work by Greg Phillinganes and Johnny Mandel's silky strings add to a very romantic nightscape.

And we finally come to "Turn on the Action", another look back at disco and good ol' R&B by Rod Temperton and Patti Austin. As soon as I saw that title, I figured that I was going to get something from the old 1970s dancehalls. 

I couldn't come anywhere near mentioning all of the players involved in "The Dude" here, so have a look at the personnel on Wikipedia. On America's Billboard 200, the album reached No. 9 while hitting No. 1 on the R&B and jazz charts. For the year, "The Dude" reached No. 25 on the 200 overall. Also, take a look at the article on the "EBONY" website.

With "The Dude" having its release in March 1981, what else was being put out there in Japan in that month? 

Naoko Kawai -- Juu-Nana Sai （１７才）

Masahiko Kondo -- Yokohama Cheek （ヨコハマ・チーク）

Eiichi Ohtaki -- A Long Vacation

Kohei Dojima -- Soshite Bokura wa Kanade Au ~ We Play Music（そして僕らは奏で合う）

 

Nice summery day out there which contrasts with what the forecasters had threatened last weekend about this week's weather. We could do with some rain, though.

Let's begin today's round of KKP articles with something just as nice and summery. Some elegant piano launches the wonderful "Soshite Bokura wa Kanade Au" which basically can be translated into that English co-title that it comes with. Written, composed, arranged and performed by Kohei Dojima（堂島孝平）for his June 2005 album "White and Blue", it's a really feel-good pop song with some rock guitar thrown in there for good measure, and I would love to know who's behind the horns. It sounds like Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra. Dojima's arrangement of his tune reminds me some of what Original Love and Flying Kids had been doing about a decade before. 

TENDRE -- Imagine

 

Met up with fellow KKP contributor Larry and very long-time friend Danny at a new ramen place called Afuri, and then I had my viewing of "Mission: Impossible ~ Dead Reckoning Part 1" later in the evening. Yeah, it's a winner alright but I had no choice but to race to the washroom at a key scene in the movie due to Emission: Inevitable. Never did that before and I hope to never do that again. Did run like Tom Cruise though.

Just gonna calm down from the excitement of the movie with something nice, light and mellow by singer-songwriter TENDRE. I give you the title track from his first album as a major act, "Imagine" which was released in September 2021. Maybe this could be a form of Neo-City Pop but I can also say that it's some old-time soul peppered with dance beats. Whichever way it goes, "Imagine" is cool.

Haruo Minami -- Otone Mujou (大利根無情)

"Y'know although I'm not that much of a Haruo Minami fan..."

Apparently, I said that on 20th September 2014 in my first article about Haruo Minami (三波春夫) on KKP. Oh, 2014 Noelle, that about aged as well as your initial opinion on Katsuhiko Haida. Well, maybe not nearly as extreme. Then again, the only one whom my opinion for has barely changed since day one is Yoshio Tabata. 

I wanted to do another Haru san appreciation post today since it's his 100th birthday today (19th July) and I'm all for being a little extra with the festivities. I featured an entry in his biggest chohen kayo-rokyoku project in my previous post, so this time, I thought I'd go a little further back in time before he went big on the concept of this fusion between modern and traditional. We'll go back to what seemed like its nascent stage via "Otone Mujou", which was also the very tune I featured in the aforementioned piece.

Since this article will also be heavy on my nostalgia, I had to put up the video performance of Minami I came across nine years ago that served as my introduction to him. It was from a music program "Big Show" (ビッグショー) from 1976 and it will always be the definitive version of "Otone Mujou" to my eyes and ears. The arrangement of Yoshiji Nagatsu's (長津義司) musical composition here is nice and full without being too rushed, making it menacing enough to match the older Minami's more forceful portrayals of the story's characters. 

On the note of story, we bear witness to the tragic tale of Miki Hirate (平手造酒). Based on the actual historical figure Mikame Hirata (平田三亀) and a character in the novel "Tenpo Suikoden" (天保水滸伝... Tenpo Water Margin), Hirate is often featured in the likes of rokyoku and enka. Recognized for toting around a large pot of sake and clad in black, the once talented swordsman under the Shusaku Chiba (千葉周作) dojo got thrown out due to his alcoholism and terrible behaviour, according to Kozo Futatsugi (二木紘三) in this article. After, he was a drifting drunkard before settling under the yakuza Shigezo Sasagawa (笹川の繁蔵), further damaging his reputation. He eventually met a gory death in a turf war between Sasagawa's and his rival's gang along the Tone river, but not before cutting down a few victims of his own (a highlight in the "Tenpo Suikoden").  

The original rendition

I'm still not as familiar with the nitty-gritty details of the tale (because it's A LOT), but Ryo Inomata (猪又良) seemed to have summarized Hirate's downward spiral within the three stanzas. Haru san temporarily stepping into the roles of secondary characters (I'm not sure who they are) in between does also seem to mark the story's focal points too: The first as one who mocks Hirate for serving a yakuza, the second as one who warns one called another to not underestimate Hirate. These interludes make "Otone Mujou" ever more foreboding, emphasized by Haru san's sinister and explosive deliveries. 

Speaking of Haru san's character portrayals, I love the later-day re-recordings and that 1976 live performance where the flamboyant singer cranks up the drama by screaming like a mad man before going about business as smiley usual. It was exactly how he captured my attention back when "I [was] not that much of a Haruo Minami fan". But the original 1959 version with a much more reserved Minami does have its merits too. The first interlude in particular made my skin crawl as he did that creepy villain laugh. 10/10 Haru san. Man, imagine him reading a bedtime story or doing a poetry reading. It'd be fire.

All that said, while I enjoy it, I'd say that I now wouldn't consider "Otone Mujou" within my top favourite Haru san works (2034 Noelle may fight me on this). But it will always have a special place in my heart as the first Minami song I listened to and the first time I was floored by such a riveting performance by a singer. 

To round this off this Haru san appreciation-nostalgia piece, I think a little Mrs. Minami (Yukiko Kitazume (北詰由起子)) appreciation is in order as well. After all, it was the both of them who made our Haruo Minami possible. It's pretty widely known that Mrs. M was the one behind that iconic kimono-wearing image, but as his feisty long-time manager, she also had a strong influence over her husband's work ethic and his performance displays. By that I mean that she often takes the wheel and they'd often butt heads, with Haru san usually being the one giving in. But, to her credit, she was also a talented and accomplished performer who did pretty much anything from shamisen to manzai before she married him, and her direction did garner resounding results. From the books, she seemed like quite a fun, albeit terrifying character, and I'm ever grateful for her efforts.

I forgot where I found this picture, but it's adorable :')

Again, happy 100th, Haru san! :D

The Cro-Magnons -- Inochi no March（イノチノマーチ）

 

Of all the colourful characters that I've seen in the wonderful world of Japanese variety television, one particular fellow is Masayuki Miyazawa（宮澤正之）, ichthyologist and illustrator. To the world at large though, he is known as Sakana-kun（さかなクン...Mr. Fish）. The lad is probably one of the Earth's most enthusiastic supporters of fish while sporting a fish-shaped hat and appearing like a really happy (bordering on deranged) bespectacled Don Knotts. If the Japanese TV or movie industry ever decides to do their version of "The Incredible Mr. Limpet", then I know who to recommend.

Along with his appearances on other variety shows, Sakana-kun has hosted his own programs including NHK's "Gyo Gyo to Sakana Star"（ギョギョッとサカナ★スター）. With a majority of the programming on TV Japan being NHK-based, we have been seeing this particular show with Sakana-kun and his assistant Kanon（香音）who's a fashion model and actress. Each episode features a particular fish from the deep blue seas and when applicable, there is a segment near the end on how the fish can be handled and served.

Along with the topic material and Sakana-kun's effervescent personality, another reason that our family has been sticking to "Gyo Gyo to Sakana Star" like remoras under a shark is the theme song, "Inochi no March" (The March of Life) which was also the December 2022 14th single of rock band The Cro-Magnons（ザ・クロマニヨンズ）. Never would have thought that a punk rock tune would front a light-hearted variety show about fish but hey, that's Japan for you.

The Cro-Magnons is the third band fronted by colourful personality himself Hiroto Komoto（甲本ヒロト）, also of The Blue Hearts and The High-Lows. Along with Komoto, he's joined by former fellow Blue Hearts bandmate, guitarist Masatoshi Mashima（真島昌利）, bassist Masaru Kobayashi（小林勝）of The Black Comet Club Band and drummer Katsuji Kirita（桐田勝治）, formerly from the thrash metal band Gargoyle. Since their beginnings in 2006, they've released 26 singles and 16 albums.

Rumiko Koyanagi -- Hitori Bayashi ~ Gion Matsuri yori（ひとり囃子－"祇園祭より"－）

Good Free Photos

Over the weekend, I caught some live YouTube coverage of the annual Gion Festival in Kyoto. It's good to see some of the venerable events back in Japan again, although the weather all over the country has been volatile, to say the least. 

Last year around this time, I also acknowledged the return of the Gion Festival with a 1986 song by Shinji Tanimura（谷村新司）simply titled "Gion Matsuri"（祇園祭）that could possibly fall into that middle ground between kayo kyoku and enka known as New Adult Music. This time, I have a much earlier song from June 1974 titled "Hitori Bayashi ~ Gion Matsuri yori" (Lone Musical Accompaniment ~ From the Gion Festival) by Rumiko Koyanagi（小柳ルミ子）.

Considering Koyanagi's status in the music industry back then, the song has been categorized as an aidoru tune but with some of the traditional melodic affectations imbued, I couldn't help but also throw in the enka tag, too. Maybe it indeed skews a little closer to that genre compared to "Gion Matsuri" by Tanimura. There's also a certain child-like innocence in the arrangement and even the vocals by the singer herself as if the famous Kyoto festival were being seen by a little kid for the first time (most likely on the shoulders of Dad considering how crowded the streets can be to witness the gorgeous floats). 

Koyanagi's 12th single "Hitori Bayashi" reached No. 21 on Oricon. It was written by Makoto Kitajo（喜多条忠）with Masaaki Hirao（平尾昌晃）as the composer. The song was also a track on her 8th album "Koyanagi Rumiko ~ Atarashii Tomodachi"（小柳ルミ子 －あたらしい友達－...New Friends） which was actually released a month earlier, although the J-Wiki article on the song warns that the arrangement is different there.

Sky -- Wasurekaketa Hitomi（忘れかけた瞳）

 

Last October, I introduced a very obscure pop duo called Sky with their "Last Ballad"（ラスト・バラッド）that smacked of the band H2O and the song stylings of singer-songwriter Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）. 

Information on Sky is sparse so what I've provided on the article for "Last Ballad", which was actually the B-side to their 1981 single "Wasurekaketa Hitomi" (Forgotten Eyes), is pretty much everything. I didn't have any additional information when I wrote up a follow-up article earlier this April for their "Kimi ni, Kurakura"（君に、クラクラ...Dizzying for You）, so "Last Ballad" is it. 

Sky members Eizo Kitazawa（北沢英三）and Takashi Morimoto（森本隆）took care of music and words respectively for "Wasurekaketa Hitomi". Compared to the obviously balladry of "Last Ballad", the A-side has a faster tempo which seems to follow more of a dramatic folk-pop line thanks to the arrangement by Keiichi Maruyama（丸山恵市）. I did mention about strings for "Last Ballad", and this time, they are in this tune but I wouldn't qualify "Wasureakaketa Hitomi" as a Fashion Music example. The song was also used as the theme for the TBS drama "Ai wo Hitotsumami"（愛をひとつまみ...A Pinch of Love）.