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.
This is one of my go-to albums when I just want to relax or just take my time waking up. "Morning Shadow" is Ruiko Kurahashi's（倉橋ルイ子）2nd album, released in December 1981. It's a concept album of sorts in that when it was originally released as an LP, Side A was titled "Rui's Café" representing daytime while Side B was "Rui's Pub" for the evening. The above video has the first two tracks: "Prologue" which is a soft jazzy instrumental with someone whistling backstage while "Morning" has that titular feel of "The sun's up...let's wake up and enjoy!" A number of Kurahashi's songs have always made themselves at home in a small street side café while folks are having that Continental Breakfast with coffee.
"Last Order" is most definitely a B-side track. The bossa nova here especially reminds me a lot of those 60s Astrud Gilberto/Antonio Carlos Jobim collaborations, and there's even a bit of Greta Garbo in the song as well whenever Kurahashi wails "Leave me alone!" If it weren't for the obvious non-Japanese flavour, I would probably say that this was a Mood Kayo.
The final track on the album is "Winter Rose". Aside from the seasonal allusions in the title, it doesn't particularly reference the Holidays, but I have often played this one before December 25 along with the other J-Xmas favourites. Kurahashi sings it lovingly like a country/gospel ballad, and I could imagine this being a nighttime tune since I've always envisioned this being played in a winter lodge after the sun has gone down.
The other notable tracks are "Hello Again", a Side-A song that is indeed the cover of Neil Diamond's hit from his movie "The Jazz Singer" in 1980. And then there is "December 24", which is the designated Xmas song of the album; that I'll be posting with the rest of the J-Xmas tunes at the appropriate time in a few months (geez....can't believe that it's already approaching that time of year).
Now, before anyone gets any preconceptions, this isn't the Akira Kurosawa who had directed "The Seven Samurai" and "Rashomon". Same name in romaji, but in kanji, the legendary director was 黒澤明, while the first leader of Los Primos was named 黒沢明. That being rectified, let us get to the song at hand.
Akira Kurosawa and Los Primos was created as this Latin-tinged Mood Kayo group in 1961. As with a number of similar chorus units during the 60s, Kurosawa and Los Primos evoked an attractive atmosphere of mood music to reflect life in urban and urbane Tokyo with its active nightlife centering on the various bar districts such as Ginza and Akasaka.
It wasn't until April 1966 though that they finally cut their first single, and it turned out that the B-side to "Namida to Tomo ni"（涙とともに...Together with the Tears) would become the far more remembered song. "Love You Tokyo" is the quintessential Mood Kayo ballad from way back when: a soft Latin jazz melody with somewhat mournful and wistful vocals reminiscent of that regret-filled and tipsy barfly slouching on that stool. Mind you, the listeners were probably enjoying their drinks while the record was playing.
For reasons that I still can't quite figure out from the J-Wiki article on "Love You Tokyo", the song was a delayed hit....at least, according to Oricon, which started up in 1968. It actually was a hit when it was first released but its No. 1 status didn't come until January 4 1968 when it became the first song in Oricon history to get the top rank. And back in the pre-Oricon days, the surprising hit, created by lyricist Nao Uehara（上原尚）and composer Hiroyuki Nakagawa（中川博之）, was such that the record label decided to re-release the 45" with the two songs flipped.
Although Kurosawa was the leader until his retirement in 1980, the lead vocal chores rested with the late Shoji Mori（森聖二）who became the 2nd leader. As was typical with a lot of these groups, the members of Los Primos wore formal wear....suits or tuxes as in the video above. The group is still going strong today but under the name of Koji Nagayama and Los Primos.
I was watching a docudrama one night on the life of The God of Manga,Osamu Tezuka（手塚治虫）. Not surprisingly, he was lionized on screen with the proverbial final scene of him in a hospital bed as he reflected on his life. Then this wonderful song came on as Tezuka's famous creations appeared on the screen, and I thought the producers really pulled out all the stops to have this throat-lumping tune finish this biography.
As it turned out, though, "Hitomi ga Hohoemu kara"(Because Your Eyes Smile) was the ending theme for the Wednesday Night Drama on Nippon Television (NTV). I wouldn't find about Miki Imai（今井美樹） for some months yet, but she was indeed the singer behind this ballad. I knew that I would have to find the song somehow. And it was indeed providential when I bought her first Best Album, "Ivory"(1989) and discovered the song at the end of the album. "Hitomi"was created by composer/singer Chika Ueda（上田知華）and lyricist Yuuho Iwasato（岩里祐穂）.
Even watching Miki Imai in the original music video gets me nostalgic since she had all that long frizzy hair back then. I believe the style was called "sauvage". In any case, the single itself got as high as No. 9 on the Oricon charts. It never came out on an original album, so "Ivory" was the first chance to hear it.
One of my favourite songs that I often heard being sung at Kuri was "Kanpai"(Here's To You!) by singer/songwriter/actorTsuyoshi Nagabuchi(長渕剛）. It was originally written and composed by the Kagoshima Prefecture native as a musical present at his old friend's wedding party, but he included it in his 3rd album"Kanpai" released in September 1980. Since then, it's been a ballad to be sung at weddings and graduations everywhere. And the karaoke videos for this song pretty much have to show a bride in either Japanese or Western wedding dress. I especially liked the string-filled bridge in the middle of the song.
That old video of "Kanpai" at Kuri never showed the young Nagabuchi. In fact, I only got to see him in Japan as this tough-as-nails rocker/balladeer who often played rough-hewn roles like yakuza enforcers in movies and TV dramas. So it was with some surprise to see his picture in the video below looking like a well-dressed hippie.
It was during my 2 years in Gunma Prefecture that I came across the 1988 CD single of "Kanpai". This version, released as a single for the first time, has Nagabuchi singing in a much more gravelly voice...kinda similar to Tom Waits or a later-day Bob Dylan. Also, the melody comes off as being more stately and elegiac...as if the celebration came after quite a bit of sacrifice. It sounds just as much as a tribute to lost ones as it is a toast to the ones who made it. Released in February 1988, it hit No. 1, as did the album it came on, "Never Change", a release of covers of his old songs. The single eventually became the 5th-ranked song of the year.
In 1990, Nagabuchi had his premiere appearance on that year's Kohaku Utagassen. In what became the longest individual performance in the history of the annual NHK special, he performed "Kanpai" and 2 other songs in succession in front of what was left of the Berlin Wall, about a year after its downfall. Definitely a fine place to give a toast to.
There was never anyone quite like Kenji 'Julie' Sawada（沢田ジュリー). Before the Yellow Magic Orchestra started putting on the eye shadow and blusher during concerts, before Anzen Chitai'sKoji Tamaki（玉置浩二） equipped himself with his dark brooding appearance and sharp suits, Sawada had already been doing that. As early as 1975, the former member of the Group Sounds band, The Tigers, was getting up on stage looking distinctly dandy-ish with a bit of glam rock makeup, to boot. Those comparisons to David Bowie were probably not too far away.
Sawada was metamorphizing. The media may have placed him in the company of enka singers Hiroshi Itsuki, Shinichi Mori, and big-voiced singer Akira Fuse as The Four Emperors (as a counterbalance against The New Big Three of Hiromi Go, Goro Noguchi and Hideki Saijo), but it certainly seemed as if he were trying to distance himself with comments like "To be honest, I'm not influenced by the kayo world. The Julie sound is based on Western music.".
In 1976, Sawada had a pretty bad year. Getting into fights on two different occasions on a Bullet Train platform and on the train itself meant that any hopes of earning music awards and an appearance on the Kohaku Utagassen frittered away that year. So it was with some irony that in the next year, Sawada hit pay dirt with "Katte ni Shiyagare". Written and composed by Yu Aku (阿久悠）and Katsuo Ohno（大野克夫）, the song was titled after "Katte ni Shiyagare", the famous 60s French movie directed by Jean-Luc Godard known as "A Bout de Souffle" and titled as "Breathless" in English, in which a young criminal leads police and a girlfriend on a nihilistic chase before meeting his end at the end of a gun. Not only does the title of Sawada's 19th single refer to that movie, but the lyrics also hint at a fellow who's on the run.
But for me it was the melody by Ohno. It lifts off right from the start with a rush of piano that sounds as if it were being played to symbolize a Spanish bullfight. And the urgency keeps on going via shimmering strings and opportune injections of horns.
Sawada's transition from former GS singer to glam rock musician arguably started from this song. His appearance on the 1977 Kohaku Utagassen caused quite a stir as he came on stage wearing a black silk hat, leather pants, a rakishly-angled hat and a razor blade earring on his left ear. It left even kids trying to impersonate his style afterwards. The kayo kyoku singer as dandy fop arrived.
After its release in May 1977, it hit the Top 10 two weeks later and would stay at the No. 1 spot for 5 weeks running and then staying as either the No. 1 or No. 2 song for a total of 10 weeks. "Katte ni Shiyagare" also won a number of awards, such as a Japan Record Award, and became the 4th-ranked song of the year.
As for the literal translation of the title, it means "Do Whatever The Hell You Feel Like". Sawada certainly did.
"Omoide no Screen" (Screen of Memories), for me anyways, completes the Big 3 when it comes to Junko Yagami's（八神純子）early singles, the other two being the Latin-infused "Mizuiro no Ame"（みずいろの雨）and the disco pop of "Purpletown". Yagami's 6th single is firmly in the Latin category. Composed by Yagami and written by Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）(who would later write Seiko Matsuda's "Aoi Sangosho"), the singer's voice again just soars and cruises through the heavens as the lyrics go through the usual motions of lost love, two ships passing through the night, etc. Again, I'm more of a melody guy rather than a lyrics listener.
The song was released in February 1979 and reached as high as No. 12 on the charts and ended up as the 53rd-ranked song of the year, selling 240,000 records.
Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）may have been the cute and innocent aidoru, while Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）played it tough and defiant. Then I would say that Kyon-Kyon was the footloose and fancy-free best buddy when it came to her uptempo stuff. "Nantettatte Aidoru" is one of her representative works in that category; I'm not quite sure how it would translate into English....I tried looking at various sites to no avail, but I can only guess that it would probably come out as "What an Idol!" If there are any fans of hers out there reading this, please set me straight.
According to the J-Wiki, this was Kyoko Koizumi's（小泉今日子）declaration tune as to her status in the music industry, and it was suitably brash and sassy, just like her image. Apparently in the beginning, her 17th single needed a title, and so a public contest was held in which people could give in their ideas for a name. 174,000 samples of correspondence flooded in. Ultimately, an economist by the name of Kazuhiro Ohnishi just put together the expressions "nantettatte" and "aidoru" together and sent the suggestion in. A song was born. Also, the song was written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）of Onyanko Club and AKB 48 fame, and composed by veteran Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）.
"Nantettatte Aidoru" hit the top spot on Oricon right from its release in November 1985 and became the 21st-ranked song of 1986. The strong impression of the song earned Koizumi a quick ticket to her 2nd appearance on the 1985 Kohaku Utagassen, just 5 weeks after the song's release. 420,000 copies were sold.
The single is also available as a track on her 8th album, "Kyoko no Kiyoku, Tanoshiku, Utsukushiku"(今日子の清く楽しく美しく...Kyoko's Pure, Enjoyable, Beautiful).
