Noriyuki Makihara -- Mou Koi Nante Shinai （もう恋なんてしない）

After enjoying Noriyuki Makihara's（槇原敏之) breakthrough hit, "Donna Toki mo"(どんなときも....already profiled) in 1991 just coming back home from 2 years in Japan, I saw an opportunity to get his 3rd album, "Kimi wa Boku no Takaramono"（君は僕の宝物...You Are My Jewel)in 1992. The English-language Japanese pop culture magazine, "Eye-Ai" offered readers to buy J-Pop CDs through its own mail-order program. So as soon as I saw Mackey's album, I got to the bank, drafted a money order and sent it with my application form. About a month later, I got the disc with his face plastered with his goofy smile on it. Yup, that was the state of trying to get Japanese music back 20 years ago. No Amazon, no PayPal, no Internet shopping.

The big single from the album was "Mou Koi Nante Shinai"(I Won't Fall In Love Again). Compared to the optimistic urban rush-rush of young people in "Donna Toki mo", Makihara's 5th single is also musically uptempo but a bit more laid-back, perhaps reflective. And the lyrics are sadder as the video shows a young man played by the singer himself trying to and not yet quite succeeding at getting over the end of a romance. The tune does get me back in a nostalgic mood, and the video certainly has quite a lot of sepia in it. The whole idea behind the song came as Makihara's attempt to cheer up his then-keyboardist, Akimitsu Honma（本間昭光）, who was getting over his own breakup. Honma is now a producer of other artists such as band Pornograffiti and Ayumi Hamasaki.

Released in May 1992, "Mou Koi Nante Shinai" was Makihara's 2nd million-seller as it peaked at No. 2 and became the 7th-ranked song of the year. It was also the theme song for an NTV drama, "Kodomo ga Neta Ato de"（子供が寝た後で....After the Children are Asleep).

Toshi Ito and Happy & Blue -- Hoshi Furu Machikado (星降る街角）

Another one from my karaoke days at Kuri in Yorkville. Once in a while, as I drank down my Brown Cows in the lounge, someone would choose this salsa-ish number. I never knew who sang it or even what the title was....until now. Just purely by accident, I came across it while I was looking for something different on YouTube earlier today.

Toshi Ito（敏しいとう) and Happy & Blue was one of the later Mood Kayo bands to set up shop. It formed in 1971 and still is in action today although members have naturally come and gone over the decades. At the very least, it has one of the more interesting monikers for a kayo kyoku outfit. "Hoshi Furu Machikado" (Stars Falling on the Street Corner), written and composed by Hitoshi or Jin Hidaka（日高仁) (not sure of the pronounciation of the kanji) was originally released in 1972, but it didn't become a hit for the vocal group until its re-release in May 1977 with a different arrangement. Since then, it was re-recorded in 1981, and "Hoshi Furu Machikado 2012" was just released earlier this August as Happy & Blue's 34th single. The 1977 version is probably the one above, and it managed to become the 33rd-ranked song of the year.

Kanako Wada -- Ano Sora wo Dakishimete （あの空を抱きしめて）

It would seem that Kanako Wada（和田加奈子） and the 80s anime series, "Kimagure Orange Road" were just like this (imagine me crossing my fingers). I love one of the ending themes for the TV series that was sung by Wada, "Natsu no Mirage"(夏のミラージュ....Summer Mirage）(already profiled) in 1987. Then a year later came the October 1988 movie treatment of the adventures of Madoka, Kyosuke and Hikaru. Titled "Ano Hi ni Kaeritai"（あの日にかえりたい....I Want to Return to That Day), the ending theme by Wada here was well made for that title.

"Ano Sora wo Dakishimete"(Embrace That Sky) is a wistful, atmospheric ballad that probably has all of those old KOR fans instantly transporting themselves back to the theatre on hearing this song. I've always loved the sweeping arrangement of the strings and the synths, and Wada's tender vocals.

"Ano Sora wo Dakishimete" is also Track 3 on Wada's 5th album "Vocu" released in 1988. The song was written by Wada herself and composed by Hiroyuki Izuta（伊豆田洋之）.

Shinichi Mori/Teresa Teng -- Minato Machi Blues （港町ブルース）

 

I was watching a retrospective on enka singer Shinichi Mori（森進一）tonight on TV Japan in which he sang a number of his hits. The first song up was "Minato Machi Blues"(Port Town Blues) which struck me as one of those wonderfully classic take-me-back tunes that a lot of enka is very capable of doing.

Written by Rei Nakanishi（なかにし礼）and composed by Kosho Inomata（猪俣公章） (who had been responsible for Mori's 1966 debut hit, "Onna no Tameiki"), Mori's 11th single is a geographical tribute to a lot of the port towns along the Japanese archipelago. Some of the towns mentioned in the lyrics are Hakodate, Takamatsu and Beppu. Enka loves to highlight the various places throughout the country. Released in April 1969, "Minato Machi Blues"hit the No. 1 spot on the new Oricon and became the 2nd-ranked song for that year....just behind Saori Yuki's（由紀さおり）"Yoake no Scat"(already profiled). It won a number of awards including one for Best Singer at the Japan Record Awards, and the single sold 2.5 million records, a mega-hit in any era.

The above video has the then-22-year-old Mori performing for the second time at the 1969 Kohaku Utagassen. 42 years later, Mori performed "Minato Machi Blues" at last year's Kohaku in tribute to the port towns that had been hit by the tsunami on March 11 2011 such as Kesennuma, Miyako, and Kamaishi.

Teresa Teng（テレサテン） also gives a powerful version of the song here, and the trumpet intro is lovely. Where Mori has that distinctive high, gravelly delivery, Teng provides a bright vocal, just about on a par with that trumpet.

Miki Imai -- Ame ni Kiss no Hanataba wo (雨にキッスの花束を）

"Ame ni Kiss no Hanataba wo" (A Bouquet of Kisses in the Rain) is a track on Miki Imai's（今井美樹) marvelous 1990 album, "Retour" which I have already profiled. I honestly can't say it's my favourite song on the album because all of the songs are great; it'd be like choosing who my favourite child was. Composed by KAN and written by Yuuho Iwasato（岩里祐穂), it's a cheerfully whimsical tune which befits its composer. Of all of the songs on the album, this track was the one that has gotten the most radio airplay, according to J-Wiki.

Perhaps one of the reasons for its popularity on the radio is because of TV. Following Mariko Nagai's（永井真理子）"Miracle Girl" as the perky theme song for the anime "Yawara" in its first season, "Ame ni Kiss no Hanataba wo" became the new opening theme for "the fashionable judo girl's" second season. Above is the opening credits sequence for the second season. As I may have mentioned in the Nagai entry, "Yawara" was an anime that I often caught on Monday nights on NTV.

And this is the concert performance of the song by Imai.

Kai Band -- Hero

Well, my hometown Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League just won the championship Grey Cup game last night. For anyone who has lived in Canada's largest city, they know that sports championships have been awfully hard to come by of late, and so the Argos' win over Calgary is definitely one to savour. In tribute to them, I give you "Hero" by the Kai Band（甲斐バンド）.

Formed in 1974 in Fukuoka, the band is led by Yoshihiro Kai（甲斐よしひろ), and initially lasted until its breakup in 1986. About a decade later, it reformed for a limited time and since then has come in and out of action a number of times. Their 11th single, "Hero" was the biggest hit of their career. With the subtitle of "Hero ni Naru Toki, Sore wa Ima" （ヒーローになる時、それは今...The Time to Become a Hero is Now), the song was released in December 1978 and hit the top spot on Oricon. It eventually became the 13th-ranked song for 1979.

It was also one of those songs that got a lot of airplay at the karaoke bars and boxes that I visited on both sides of the Pacific.

Now, if only our other teams can become heroes as well....

Oricon Album Rankings for 1978

1. Pink Lady                         Best Hit Album
2. Alice                                Alice VI
3. Soundtrack                       Saturday Night Fever
4. Alice                                Alice V
5. Kenji Sawada                    Omoikiri Kiza na Jinsei
6. Masashi Sada                    Shikashuu
7. Eikichi Yazawa                   Gold Rush
8. Miyuki Nakajima　　　　　　　　Aishiteiru to Ittekure
9. Twist                               First Album
10. Alice                              Eikou no Dasshutsu

Pink Lady were once again dominating the singles chart for 1978, and this time, Mie and Kei even topped the album charts. But it looks like the folk duo Alice had its year with 3 albums in the Top 10 including one album (No. 10) which was their live album at the Budokan in Tokyo. And hey, even John Travolta is in there (well, his movie soundtrack is)

"Star Wars" did get into the Top 50 at No. 38.