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.
I've profiled Yasuko Naito's（内藤やす子）"Roppongi Lullaby"(1984) which is either bluesy and brassy or bluesy and tenderhearted depending on which of the 2 versions you listen to. Rie Nakahara's（中原理恵）"Tokyo Lullaby" which was released in March 1978, is more cheerfully rollicking. It starts with a Spanish guitar riff before going into a melody which sounds slightly enka-ish but also has a touch of exoticism that was fairly popular in a number of pop songs coming out around the late 70s. In any case, it's one of those songs I've heard a number of times in TV music retrospectives and in the karaoke boxes. I think it kinda reflected (and still reflects) the hustle and bustle of one of the world's largest metropolises as it gives a shout out to places like Yamate Road, Tokyo Bay and Tokyo Tower.
Born in Hakodate, Hokkaido as Tamie Mekata（目加田貴美恵）Nakahara debuted with "Tokyo Lullaby" at 19. Sounding mature for her age with a huskier voice, her managing agency initially bumped up her age a couple of years for the sake of "authenticity". Written by Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）and composed by Kyohei Tsutsumi (筒美京平）, the song peaked at No. 9 on Oricon and earned Nakahara a berth in the 1978 Kohaku Utagassen as well as a Japan Record Award as Best Newcomer.
Nakahara also gained further fame when in 1984, she became one of the Madonnas in the Tora-san movie series entry for that year. And she was the first female co-host of TV Asahi's long-running "Music Station" for its first year.
I bought this album back in 1997 on the strength of their first single, "Shangri-La"; plus, the only Japanese techno albums I'd had were by Yellow Magic Orchestra, so I was interested in listening to how the techno scene was in the late 90s as opposed to the late 70s-early 80s.
Way back in the mid-70s, there was a disco hit that I'd liked hearing (although it would be another 5 years before I really got into music of any sort) since it was also the theme for the local CBC 6 o'clock news telecast: "Love's Theme" by Love Unlimited. Although the song sampled by Takkyu Ishino（石野卓球）for "Shangri-La" wasn't that song, it sounded similar enough to get my attention. Actually it was Argentine composer Bebu Silvetti's"Spring Rain", and that opening string flourish sounds very much like how "Love's Theme" started.
As for the single itself, "Shangri-La" was released in March 1997 as the first single from"Ace" and Denki Groove's 8th single overall. It peaked at No. 10 on Oricon and is, to date, their most successful single; overall, it finished the year as the 73rd-ranked song. Compared to the other entries on the album, it's the most mainstream-sounding. Of course, Ishino and Pierre Taki's（ピエール瀧）collective tongues were firmly in cheek as they did the video.
"Ace" was Denki Groove's 7th album which peaked at No. 3 on Oricon. Released in May 1997, all of the tracks can be described in the same way that the character in "Pocket Cowboy" is described: cool and nihilistic. "Pocket Cowboy" was the 2nd single to be released from the album, and it was also the ending theme for an anime (TBS' "Coji-Coji") created by the woman behind the hit manga and anime, "Chibi Maruko-chan", Momoko Sakura（さくらももこ）. Ishino, and a battery of other voices, create a whimsical vocal quilt.
"Volcanic Drumbeats" was never released as a single, but it's my other favourite track on "Ace". If you can imagine a psychotically heartfelt ode to the art of drumming against a major brawl amongst The Transformers, this would be the result. Pierre and Takkyu go absolutely nutso as they talk about colliding with yokozuna-class bulldozers, 2-metre long nunchakus as drumsticks and killing people with the crash of the cymbals. Not to be listened to under the influence (half-joking).
And before I forget, this is Bebu Silvetti's original "Spring Rain" from 1976. Except for one track, Ishino and Taki were responsible for writing and composition, but they were very generous in including Silvetti in the credits for "helping" compose "Shangri-La".
Junichi Inagaki（稲垣潤一） started his solo career with the release of his first album, "246:3AM" in July 1982. Two singles came from the album; his first one was "Ame no Regret"（雨のリグレット....Regret in the Rain）, a mid-tempo pop ballad. The other one was the title track itself, released on the same day as the album, and I think it's the one that started his reputation as a City Pop crooner much like his contemporary Yasuhiro Abe（安部恭弘）. Composed by ex-Off Course member Kazuhiko Matsuo（松尾一彦）and written by frequent Inagaki collaborator Reiko Yukawa（湯川れい子）, Inagaki's 2nd single is a shibui 4 minutes of Japanese urban contemporary along the lines of what Akira Terao（寺尾聡）put out in his 1981 album, "Reflections".
As for the title, it refers to a time and place: 3 in the morning somewhere along Japan's National Route 246. In Tokyo, that portion of the highway is represented by tony Aoyama Avenue which starts from Shibuya, and passes through Omotesando, Aoyama, Gaienmae and Akasaka before finishing its part in political Nagatacho. I am assuming that lyricist Yukawa was thinking more along the lines of the high-style Omotesando or Aoyama. Inagaki reminisces about snippets of a romance coming to an end in a cafeteria in the wee hours which he states right off the bat.
It's interesting to compare Inagaki and Terao. Both singers were singing the same style of City Pop around the early 80s, but their voices were quite different. Whilst Terao had that low and cool delivery, Inagaki sang in a much higher register and yet his voice carried a somewhat haunting, echoing quality which has struck me as being appropriate to some of the wistfulness that a number of his songs have.
The main intersection at Gaienmae right on
Route 246.
For couples of a certain age who still like to hit the karaoke box circuit, this is still one of the must-do songs to choose on the PADD (the modern karaoke box chains now have the "Star Trek"Geordi LaForge displays....saves time, paper cuts[from flipping those pages in those tome-sized karaoke menus] and calloused thumbs [from pressing the oversized remote controls]).
Los Indios has been around since 1962 playing their izakaya & bar-friendly Mood Kayo and Latin-tinged music. In 1968, they had a huge hit with "Como Esta Akasaka", and then 11 years later, the group had an even bigger hit with "Wakarete mo Suki na Hito" (Even If We Part, I'll Still LoveYou). And for the first time, Los Indios invited a female vocalist to sing with them, Silvia.
Silvia, who was born as Rieko Matsuda（松田理恵子) in 1958, was scouted while singing at an establishment owned by another singer/TV personality, Mitsuo Sagawa（佐川満男). Her first known assignment was with Los Indios, and the pairing was a fortuitous one since "Wakarete mo Suki na Hito" ended up becoming the 8th-ranked song for 1980 after its release in September 1979. Listening to it (along with similar songs of the genre) reminds me of some of those high times Tokyo must have been having back then, and this was even years before the Bubble Economy.
The pairing of Los Indios with Silvia started a tradition that has lasted up to the present day. Besides Silvia, 7 other female singers have worked with the group, and the 9th singer, Nina, a jazz singer, will be joining as of December 15 2012 according to J-Wiki.
As with a number of songs in kayo kyoku (such as Hiromi Iwasaki's "Sumire Iro no Namida"), the successful version has often concealed its previous versions. That has been the case with "Wakarete mo". Originally, singer-songwriter Ben Sasaki（佐々木勉) had created the song for the Group Sounds band, Purple Shadows, as their 5th single in November 1969. That version is above. It wasn't a hit for them, and some years later in 1975, the leader of Los Indios, Shizuo Tanahashi（棚橋静雄), did his own solo version of the song without it becoming a hit.
Its popularity as a duet song hasn't been lost even on the professional singers. I'm sure a lot of them on the various TV shows have gotten together to do their take on the Mood Kayo classic. Here are Hiromi Go（郷ひろみ） and Junko Sakurada（桜田淳子）.
And heck, how about a real surprise? Not sure which show or when this came up, but even the boys from B'z and comedienne Kuniko Yamada（山田邦子) did their take. Enjoy!
During the time of the girl rock band boom (Princess Princess, SHOW-YA, etc.) and the waning days of the late 80s aidorus, there was also the group of female singer-songwriters who were in the middle, singing straight-ahead pleasant pop. Singers like Miki Imai, Reimy, Midori Karashima and Mariko Nagai come to mind.
There is also Eri Hiramatsu（平松愛理）. Although the Kobe native debuted in 1987 with a couple of bands, her breakthrough was in the early 90s. That big song was "Heya to Y-Shirt to Watashi"(部屋とＹ－シャツと私...The Room and The Dress Shirt and Me) in 1992, her 8th single. One of my old friends from university would always make sure her girlfriend at the time would sing that at karaoke.
However, I first heard of Hiramatsu a couple of years previously when her 5th single was the ending theme for one of my favourite comedy-variety shows with the duo Ucchan-Nanchan. "Suteki na Renaissance"(A Wonderful Renaissance) was a sparkly pop number that had that hint of Latin piano.
Here is Hiramatsu performing at a 2004 concert. Written and composed by Hiramatsu, "Suteki na Renaissance"was released in December 1990, and managed to go as high as No. 13 on the Oricon rankings. It finished 1991 as the 80th-ranked song. As I mentioned, I would put Hiramatsu alongside Miki Imai and Reimy, but her angle seems to be that little bit of Latin music she puts into her compositions. Not just with the piano or synthesizer, but in the entirety of her uptempo numbers, it often sounds as if there is a Cuban salsa just itching to burst out. Would love to know if she has ever worked with Orquesta de la Luz. The music goes along well with her warm and slightly fuzzy voice...and in a way, I wonder if she's a musical descendant of veteran singer-songwriter Ami Ozaki（尾崎亜美）.
The single is also a track on Hiramatsu's 3rd album,"My Dear", which was also released in December 1990.
I remember back in the 1982 Kohaku when the Southern All Stars gave their bizarre performance of "Chako no Kaigan Monogatari" and ended up having the NHK switchboard light up like a Xmas tree with tons of complaints. But I also remember just before the band came on, the Red team had this other unit, Sugar, appear for their first and only time.
The three members, Miki Kasamatsu（笠松美樹） (lead vocal, keyboards), Kumiko Nagasawa（長沢久美子） (vocal, guitar), and Kimiko Mohri（毛利公子） (vocal, bass, leader), sang their only big hit, "Wedding Bell". They started off with a harmonious intro before going into a bossa nova swing worthy of listening while drinking cocktails by a swimming pool. Kasamatsu's really high vocals made the aidorus sound like the baritones in a barbershop quartet, but all three were aiming for the stratosphere. Since I'm also a casual bossa nova fan, it was nice to hear this song as a contrast against some of the aidoru pop songs that had preceded it. And at the end of their performance, their harmony started quivering a little before they all gave a very cute "Domo Arigato"in unison.
Sugar was formed in 1981. Mohri and Nagasawa first met in high school in KanagawaPrefecture and then formed the unit, Karinto (named after the sweet crunchy Japanese snack). When Kasamatsu joined up, there was the name change. As for the reason for choosing "Sugar", they simply said "We are not the salty types". Uh....yeah. In any case, their debut song was indeed "Wedding Bell" released in November 1981.
However, as sweet as the music and vocals are, the lyrics by Yoshiaki Furuta（古田喜昭） (who also composed the song) are pretty bitter. "Wedding Bell" tells of the story of a young woman invited to her old flame's wedding, and her grousings of resentment against the groom and bride. And the final line in the refrain is "Kutabacchimae! Amen!"(くたばっちまえ！アーメン！）That first word roughly translates as "F**K YOU!" Kinda like getting cursed at by Minnie Mouse. I'm sure a lot of the more refined audience members were waving their sensu a little more quickly in front of their faces after that one....but then again, Southern All Stars may have trumped Sugar in that department.
The song peaked at No. 2 on Oricon and became the 13th-ranked song of 1982, so the band waited over a year to get their limelight on the Kohaku. Sugar released 13 singles and 4 original albums before breaking up in 1987. By that time, the members had given up their instruments and became known as a purely vocal group. Sadly, in 1990, the leader Kimiko Mohri passed away at the age of 29 due to complications during pregnancy.
Ah, yes....my earliest memories of Japanese TV mostly consisted of this TV program, "Mito Komon"（水戸黄門）. Heading to the old Toronto Buddhist Church basement on Wednesday nights to watch tapes on this newfangled machine called a Video Cassette Recorder (which was the size of a small coffee table in the 70s), the longest-runningjidaigeki（時代劇...period drama) in Japanese TV history (it finished its run almost a year ago....43 years!) started out with the brass blast before going into a military march while the crest ofLord Mito was proudly displayed on screen.
Everyone who watched knew the story, and I'll let the Wikipedia entry help out with the explanation:
The title character is the historic Tokugawa Mitsukuni, former vice-shogun and retired second daimyo of the Mito Domain. In the guise of Mitsuemon, a retired crepe merchant from Echigo, he roams the realm with two samurai retainers, fun-loving Sasaki Sukesaburo (Suke-san) and studious Atsumi Kakunoshin (Kaku-san).
Each episode was about the same as every other episode. The trio, joined by reformed thief-turned-Edo Era foodie Hachibei and one other female character, travel through a particular region of Japan often famous for a particular dish (Hachibei must've been the planner), come across some form of injustice being perpetrated on a few of the locals which they resolve by stealth and an episode-ending sword-clanging battle. Of course, for boys like my brother and me, this was our favourite part of the show (although we appreciated the long talky portions to get some nap time), and of course, who can resist the scene in which seemingly frail Mitsuemon reveals himself as the mighty Mitsukuni when one of his two retainers flashes out the sign and everyone, enemies and allies alike, prostrate themselves in awe? (I wonder how Lucas came up with the character of Yoda.....hmmmmmm.)
But this is a kayo kyoku blog, after all, so back to the theme song. Written by Michio Yamagami（山上路夫）and composed by Chuji Kinoshita（木下忠司）, the actual title is "Aa, Jinsei ni Namida Ari"(Ahh, There Are Tears in Life) and actually debuted on TV when the series did in 1969. Throughout the history of "Mito Komon", there have been 8 different "generations" or duos responsible for the singing of the famous song. The first generation had actor Ryotaro Sugi（杉良太郎） the very first Suke-san, and Tadashi Yokouchi（横内正）, who played Kaku-san, performing it.
However, it was the second generation that I remember the best. When Sugi left the role, the new Suke-san, Kotaro Satomi（里見浩太朗）, took on the singing duties along with Yokouchi. I think Satomi's rich baritone really made this song; this version was recorded in 1973. In any case, this started the tradition of having mostly actors on the show (often Kaku-san and Suke-san) perform "Aa, Jinsei ni Namida Ari". Every time I hear the theme, I just feel like I should sit up a bit straighter.
