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.
Yurakucho Mullion Clock
One of the great landmarks in Tokyo.
My image of Yurakucho（有楽町） in Tokyo is that it is the immediate northern and more financially accessible neighbourhood to the more famous Ginza. Yurakucho is certainly a trendy area for the young and the young-at-heart, but at least there is a likelier possibility that folks dining and/or shopping in the area won't get that much in the way of sticker shock or credit card guilt after lunch or dinner there. In recent years, there has been a fair bit of change. The massive building complex known as Yurakucho Mullion has had one of its two longtime department stores disappear although the structure still dominates the area. And there are a few more commercial complexes that have gone up in the last few years I was there, including the oddly-named Itocia which in itself includes the 2nd Krispy Kreme branch in Tokyo.
But way back in the 1950s, when Japan was still recovering from World War II, Yurakucho was far from what Tokyoites know of the place now. It was a pretty dank and dark black market area, just metres away from what Ginza was already becoming. However, it was decided that the neighbourhood would get a major facelift, beginning with the installation of a Sogo Department Store which was founded in Osaka. The campaign soon adopted a catchphrase, "Yurakucho de Aimashou"(Let's Meet in Yurakucho), taken from a Hollywood movie "Las Vegas de Aimashou" which was known as "Viva Las Vegas"with Dan Dailey and Cyd Charisse.
The catchphrase evolved into a trendy phrase outright for that time, and soon enough, at the end of 1957, a song was created by lyricist Takao Saeki（佐伯孝夫） and composer Tadashi Yoshida（吉田正） with that very title.
Sung by Kiyoto Frank Nagai,（フランク永井・永井清人） whom Yoshida had discovered, "Yurakucho de Aimashou" is a resonant and solemn song in which Nagai mentions about the train platforms, the tea rooms and the department store (i.e. Sogo....product placement apparently existed even then), all under persistent rain. The song is about as ideal a mood kayo that has ever been written. Although it was Sogo's official campaign song, I don't think it sounded like one to bring the masses to a department store in a rejuvenated Yurakucho. My impression was that it was meant to bring a certain type of clientele....the type that loves to drink and take in the atmosphere of a drinking establishment at night in the big city.
The long-term campaign to change Yurakucho lasted for well over a decade, and when it was officially over in 1973, Nagai sang the song at that year's Kohaku Utagassen. Now, over half a century after its creation, "Yurakucho de Aimashou" remains one of the most popular examples of natsumero or nostalgic melodies. Perhaps it's taken on even more of a sepia-toned hue since Yurakucho Sogo, the store that was the catalyst behind the whole project, closed its doors for good in September 2000. There is now a Bic Camera store.
One of the mainstays on Japanese TV in the 60s-80s was the cop show. And probably the most famous one of all was "Taiyo ni Hoero"(Bark at the Sun) starring Yujiro Ishihara（石原裕次郎） as the shibui leader of an elite police squad in Tokyo. The show ran from 1972 to 1986, and its cast of almost entirely men ran.....and ran.....and ran.....and ran. Plus, they probably fired off more bullets in one show than the real Tokyo police did in 20 years (remember, Tokyo is a city in which if a cop's bullet is fired at all [it doesn't even have to hit the perp], it becomes the top story on the news). The show reminds me a lot of the original "Hawaii Five-O" with Jack Lord which preceded "Taiyo" by only a few years and also had a very long run.
I wish I could have found the original opening credits scene....but I'll settle with the title card...and the theme, of course, which is probably one of the most famous in Japanese television history. It's been used in a lot of other TV shows for effect; in fact, the first time I heard it was on a parody skit done on the Drifters' comedy-variety hour, "Hachi-ji Da Yo! Zen'in Shuugo!"（８時だよ！全員集合！...It's 8 O'Clock! Everybody Get Together!)where the comedians were doing their own version of the cop show....without pants. But I can say that I have also actually seen a few episodes of the series itself.
On English Wikipedia, the theme song was described as being "mariachi-like..." Not quite sure if I agree with that description; I think the song is more a funk-rock ode to life in the big city. You just get that urge to smoke a cigarette when you hear it. In any case, the song was composed by Katsuo Ono（大野克夫）, a former member of the Group Sounds band, The Spiders (whose work is already profiled), and it was performed by the Takayuki Inoue Band（井上堯之バンド）, composed of members from The Spiders and early 70s supergroup PYG, in itself composed of the remaining members from the other Group Sounds bands, including The Spiders and The Tigers.
The above is a commercial parody of the original series for BOSS Iced Coffee, but if you look carefully, you may recognize a fellow who's just been nominated for a Best Supporting Oscar. I think he should get the Oscar right now for just performing in a Japanese commercial.
For their huge album "V" in 1986, Anzen Chitai（安全地帯）was starting to explore a little further afield in their music: a bit more blues, fusion and the like while still retaining their unique Anzen Chitai sound. I think the exploration continued in "Tsuki ni Nureta Futari"(Moon-Bathed Couple), their 6th album which was released in April 1988.
I got that feeling right from the first track, "I Love You Kara Hajimeyou"（I Love Youからはじめよう...Let's Begin With I Love You) which starts with a blast of guitar and horns. It sounds like a triumphant return for the band whose "V" had been released about 18 months previously...it's probably the purely happiest Anzen Chitai song that had been released as a single (their 18th) up to that point in their career. I could just imagine the charismatic Koji Tamaki walking down the red carpet with all the rose petals falling down upon his beaming countenance (sorry, that was a bit florid...).
"Jirettai"（じれったい）is also a track on the album. It had been released a year previously as the band's 15th single in April 1987, and it's a tune that melds the Anzen Chitai sound with some raunchy funk. I first heard it at Kuri as someone sang through it at karaoke, and I asked my Checkers/CCB-loving friend about what the title meant. She rather blanched and got very coy and refused to tell me. Well, as it turned out, the title just means "vexing" or "irritating"....although according to the suggestive lyrics, maybe Tamaki could have also intended it to mean "horny". In any case, it's a fun song that's about as close to a danceable tune that the band has made. The single itself was the 77th-ranked song of 1987. All of the songs, by the way, were written by Goro Matsui（松井五郎） and composed by Koji Tamaki（玉置浩二）.
Throughout the album, Anzen Chitai tries out a bit of techno swing (No Problem), a kid-friendly tune(Yume no Pocket) and some African rhythms (Shade Mind). "Juliet" was their 16th single (December 1987), and it starts out with some serious strings before it changes into a sweeping, dreamy ballad; I kinda wonder if Tamaki and Matsui had actually been thinking of one-half of Shakespeare's most doomed couple before she met the love of her life. Furthermore, I wonder if a lot of Koji's fans in the audience swooned at the thought of changing their name to Juliet whenever he performed the song during concerts.
The title track, "Tsuki ni Nureta Futari", is Anzen Chitai's stab at bossa nova/European balladry. I could imagine Julio Iglesias tackling this one, but Tamaki pulls out the vocal dramatics for their 17th single (March 1988), as he goes from his soft and buttery stylings to near-operatic heights. He could probably rival his old buddy, Yosui Inoue（井上陽水）, in the serenading department.
The album itself was the 19th-ranked album of 1988 with 360,000 units sold. The above is another round of Anzen Chitai performing "Jirettai" at Tokyo's Budokan back when Tamaki was still the lean, mean singing machine. There are quite a few more interesting tracks on the album, but I'll profile them separately at a later time.
In my last few months residing in Japan in 2011, I did my fair share of shopping for discs that I knew would be more difficult to acquire once I returned to Canada (and yes, that is considering the existence of Amazon Japan). I was glad that I did pick up the BEST of Mayumi Itsuwa（五輪真弓）.
But it was actually a commenter for the article on Saori Yuki's"Yoake no Scat",arad246, that re-introduced me to a wonderful ballad by Itsuwa, "Kokoro no Tomo" (Friend in My Heart). As soon as I checked it out on YouTube, I remembered the melody just like that.
After first seeing Itsuwa give that stirring performance of "Revival" on the 1981 Kohaku Utagassen, her songs popped up a fair bit on the radio program "The Sounds of Japan" on CHIN-FM. I first heard her classic "Koibito yo" （恋人よ） on that program, and in fact, an entire episode was devoted to highlighting her music.
"Kokoro no Tomo" was a track on her 13th album, "Shiosai" （潮騒...Roar of the Sea), released in October 1982. Unlike the mournful "Koibito yo", (both songs are above) this song is one of encouragement and gratitude for friendship....perhaps it's a spiritual sequel to the latter song. In any case, Itsuwa's voice just flows effortlessly throughout as if she had been the only one meant to sing this song that she had also written and composed. The melody seems to put listeners at ease, and the lyrics express that message of that close bond which ties everyone together.
Now, here is the translation of those lyrics:
At the time you took away my suffering, That living courage starts to rise even in me. Until I met you, I was a lonely wandering person. Let me feel the warmth of your hand.
Love is always a lullaby, Whenever you feel tired from your journey, Just call me Your friend of the heart.
Why do people pursue happiness whose days have passed, Forgetting especially the belief in one another somewhere? Close your eyes quietly and open the door to your heart. When you take a hold of me, wipe away your tears.
Love is always a lullaby, Whenever you feel weak, Just call me Your friend of the heart.
My knowledge of enka is quite a bit more limited when compared to the pop sectors in kayo kyoku. So, basically my remembrances of certain enka songs are based even more on just pure emotion. Case in point, I've heard Harumi Miyako's（都はるみ）"Kita no Yado Kara" （From An Inn of the North), released in December 1975 and her 66th single, countless times but I didn't really listen to the lyrics until recently. I've always gone by the melody, and the intro for this song is amongst one of the most recognizable in the genre. The song starts with the uncertain strings followed by a pure but lonely section of saxophone and a mandolin-like instrument before the soft and haunting vocals arrive.
The Yu Aku-penned（阿久悠）lyrics and the music composed by Asei Kobayashi（小林亜星） weave an image of a terribly lonely woman up in that northern inn, talking of "....knitting a sweater that she cannot wear..."despite the cold and self-deprecatingly asking her long-gone lover whether "....if it would be OK to die?" Yup....terribly lonely. Without even being aware of the lyrics, though, I got the impression from the music alone of a traditional countryside enka....no hints of raucous drinking at an izakaya in town or standing sternly on the bow of a fishing boat....just a soft delicate song in the winter. However, according to J-Wiki, the late Aku recollected the following:
"I had intended to write of a strong woman, but it ended up being an impression of a sad or scary woman."
"Kita no Yado Kara", despite Aku's later recollection, struck a chord with listeners and critics alike. Winning no less than 6 different awards, including The Japan Record Awards' Grand Prize, it hit the top spot on Oricon, became the 3rd-ranked song for 1976, and just missed out on being in the Top 10 of 1977 for a second year in a row, reaching No. 11.
You might think that it's a tad early for a hammock-swaying song such as this one, but then again, "Kimi no Heart wa Marine Blue"(Your Heart is Marine Blue) [I think that's a compliment] was actually released in January 1984....nearly 30 years ago....pass the Geritol, dear. Kiyotaka Sugiyama（杉山清隆） and Omega Tribe took care of this one, right up in their wheelhouse of gentle beach-and-rolling surf pop. It's the melodic equivalent of an Orange Mimosa.
Omega Tribe's 3rd single was written by Chinfa Kan（康珍化）, a lyricist for a number of the band's songs and for hits by other artists such as Anri, Akina Nakamori and Mariko Takahashi, and composer Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）. It was the theme song for a TBS drama, "Toshigoro Kazoku"(年ごろ家族...A Family of Age), for which the band also appeared on apparently. Peaking at No. 12 on Oricon, it became the 45th-ranked song of the year, and was a successful seller in the stores with over half a million records sold.
Again, one of my reminiscings as a semi-pro couch potato will help me launch this profile. During my 2 years in Gunma Prefecture, late Saturday nights were sometimes spent watching Fuji TV's "Neruton Beni Kujira Dan"（ねるとん紅鯨団...Nelton Red Whale Party) or as it was called more easily, "Nelton Club". Hosted by the very zany comedic duo The Tunnels, this was a 30-minute view of a weekly matchmaking party with 5 guys wooing 5 gals. In any case, for a while, one of the sponsors, Mizuno Skiware, showed a commercial with a pretty catchy song:
Ahhhh, yes.....young, beautiful and urban folk traipsing around Tokyo in their Kelvin Thermos. And that song. That was "Niji no Miyako e"(To The Metropolis of Rainbows) by Hiroshi Takano（高野寛）. Originally, the song was meant to be just that 30-second jingle for Mizuno, but being played for 6 months during "Nelton Club" helped it evolve to single status and get it released in February 1990. No surprise there....it just had this infectious refrain that got me awake after 11 p.m.
Written and composed by Shizuoka-born Takano, I don't consider "Niji no Miyako e" as a technopop tune, but there is enough of a happy synthesizer in there that reminds me a bit of the ol' Yellow Magic Orchestra. Not surprisingly, according to the J-Wiki writeup, YMO is listed as one of Takano's influences along with The Beatles, late rocker Kiyoshiro Imawano（忌野清志郎）and American musician Todd Rundgren. In fact, Rundgren was also responsible for the production of this song.
"Niji no Miyako e"was Takano's 4th single and his most successful song. It peaked at No. 2.
