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.
Unfortunately, YouTube doesn't currently have a video of Ramjet Pulley's"Overjoyed" but apparently it's out on a number of sites, including this one.
Ramjet Pulley consisted of 3 members of a larger band by the name of rumania montevideo. Not sure how the trio came up with the name although they may have been hanging out at an airport hangar. In any case, I came across their 2nd single purely by accident one day while watching the Top 100 on one of the cable music channels one Sunday morning.
"Overjoyed" , released in April 2001, isn't a cover version of the famed song by Stevie Wonder. It was written by RP's bassist, Satomi Makoshi（麻越さとみ）, and composed by guitarist Kazunobu Majima（間島和伸）. The soft, breathy vocals were provided by Akiko Matsuda（松田明子） who also handled the keyboards for both RP and rumania montevideo. According to the writeup on the band, Ramjet Pulley did a lot of jazz and lounge until it ended its run in 2003, but "Overjoyed" comes off as a spacy-dreamy pop tune...unlike anything I had come across before....not mainstream pop, but not quite Shibuya-kei either.. Hearing it on Sunday just enhanced the experience enough that I went out some days later into Tokyo and grabbed the single. With a name like Ramjet Pulley, it was hard to forget. For the trio, this song was their most successful single, peaking at No. 90 on Oricon.
Linda Yamamoto（山本リンダ）....one-of-a-kind force of nature. There probably has never been nor will there ever be a personage like her. It was from this song, "Nerai Uchi"(Sharpshoot), that I labeled the singer the Japanese Charo...and no, I'm not referring to that cute little bilingual dog on NHK Educational. I'll explain my Charo later in the profile.
Anyways, "Nerai Uchi" is another Yamamoto classic in which whenever I saw her perform it on Japanese TV, she could potentially out-hustle even the backup dancers. The aidoru singers of that day could probably only just stare and gawk at this whirling tower of power (her height was a pretty tall 168 cm). And then there was the famous line, "Ooh, la, la, ooh, la, la" which has stuck as her catchphrase since the release of the song in February 1973. I can just imagine that even in this day and age, the song still gets picked time and again at a karaoke box just to get everyone up and crazy.
"Nerai Uchi" was written by master lyricist Yu Aku（阿久悠）and composed by Shunichi Tokura（都倉俊一）. The meaning in the title was not lost; a number of baseball teams, including that of Aku's alma mater in Tokyo, have used it as a cheering-up song. Surprisingly, considering its fame over the decades, it peaked only as high as No. 14 after its initial release. Still, Yamamoto was brought onto the 1973 Kohaku Utagassen, and then once again in 1991, after "Nerai Uchi" experienced a resurgence in popularity after it had been used in an episode of the popular Sunday-night anime, "Chibi Maruko-chan" since the show was set in the 1970s. Thanks to that song and her other huge hit, "Dounimo Tomaranai"(どうにもとまらない....already profiled), Yamamoto is still shaking her still fine bon-bons some 40 years later.
Ahhh....yes, Charo. The famous Spanish guitarist/comedienne was another force of nature who always brought her brand of "cuchi-cuchi" onto various American shows in the late 60s and 70s, and was a frequent figure on my television back when I was a kid. I couldn't quite focus on her since she was moving around the stage like a nuclear ion. Case in point, you can take a look at the above video.
I probably should have given this profile about 3 weeks ago, but "Ichigatsu Tsuitachi"(January 1st) is probably the 2nd-most well-known song around the Japanese New Year, next to "Hotaru no Hikari", aka Auld Lang Syne (already profiled). It has the same ancient roots as the most famous New Year's song, but "Ichigatsu Tsuitachi" is definitely homegrown. Written by Takatomi Senge（千家尊福） and composed by Sanemichi Ue（上眞行） back in 1893, it was published by the Japanese Ministry of Education, and became a customary song to be sung in elementary school from the Meiji Era to just before the war.
The song for over the past half-century, though, has taken on a more pop cultural profile. Just as "Hotaru no Hikari" has become the song to end the Kohaku Utagassen on NHK on December 31, "Ichigatsu Tsuitachi" has been the theme song to launch the January 1 Fuji-TVNew Year's special,"Shinshun Kakushigei Taikai"(新春かくし芸大会....The New Year's Hidden Talent Competition). Like the Kohaku, the show has two teams of celebrities (TV personalities and actors) who compete against each other over a few hours in an attempt to wow a panel of other celebs in showing amazing abilities in areas that are not in their usual line of work. Basically, it's an annual presentation of seeing the stars out of their comfort zone.
I would probably say that it's a show that people can watch or not watch while they're carousing or noshing around the huge table laden with osechi ryori, sake and various types of marine protein.
I think I first saw this song being performed by Yoko Minamino（南野陽子）on an episode of "The Best Ten". I just went "Awwwwwwww!" on seeing this lass in a yellow sunhat and sundress sashaying across the stage.
Well, not perfectly sure about the meaning, but judging from the lyrics which deal with the usual pining over unrequited love in high school, I think "Toiki de Net"may mean "Net Him With A Sigh", perhaps the aidoru romantic version of the fisherman's "Caught Me A Marlin!".
In the latter half of the 80s, I was diversifying away from just listening to aidoru and other residents of the Top 10 lists, so I never became a hugely devoted fan of some of the young singing starlets during that time, but Minamino's 11th single has been a song that has stayed with me over time. Written by Jun Taguchi（田口俊）and composed by Toshihiko Shibaya（柴矢俊彦）, "Toiki de Net" is a sunny aidoru tune with that little splash of Latin flavour....a bit like an aidoru version of a Rum and Coke (real Coke, not the Diet one). The song was released in February 1988, so I gather that the song provided some nice summery-ness during that Winter.
"Toiki de Net" was Minamino's 6th of 8 straight No. 1 hits, and this one became the most successful hit of her career since her debut in 1985, selling 300,000 copies. It eventually became the 11th-ranked song of the year.
As for Nanno, she originally came from Hyogo Prefecture before moving up to Tokyo, where she attended the celeb-rich high school, Horikoshi High. Her grademates included fellow aidoru Minako Honda and Yukiko Okada. Of course, she has also seen success on TV as an actress, starring in the 80s as the second of the teenage yoyo-twirling super sleuths (after Yuki Saito) in the "Sukeban Deka"（スケバン刑事....Delinquent Girl Detective) franchise, although it's hard to imagine to either see Nanno or Saito shoplifting dust from a store. Currently, she's still appearing on the tube as a regular TV personality, and I just caught her on an NHK show learning how to make French pastries from a chef. Has barely aged a year.
1. Jiro Atsumi Yume Oi Zake
2. Judy Ongg Miserarete
3. Sachiko Kobayashi Omoide Zake
4. Masashi Sada Kanpaku Sengen
5. Masao Sen Kita Kuni no Haru
6. Godiego Gandhara
7. Hideki Saijo YMCA
8. Alice Champion
9. Mieko Makimura Michizure
10. Pink Lady Chameleon Army
I was rather shocked to realize that in nearly 1 year of operating this blog, I hadn't recognized either the top singles or the albums of 1979, despite the fact that I've profiled half of the list here already. Well, I'm gonna take care of half of that at least right now.
For those enka fans, 1979 must bring back some wistful memories considering how strong the genre still was in the rankings (Atsumi, Kobayashi, Sen and Makimura) As I've mentioned in the profiles for Godiego, the band had a banner year since no less than 5 of their tunes made it into the Top 100 of Oricon, and of course, for kayo kyoku fans, who can forget the epic "Miserarete" by Judy Ongg? Fling those wings, I say! And although, Pink Lady wasn't quite the steamrolling force they were in previous years, it still managed to get one hit into the Top 10....although I can't quite recollect how "Chameleon Army" quite goes.
From my trip to Japan in 1981, I brought home an audio tape of Yellow Magic Orchestra's very first album (already profiled), but my relatives in Osaka were also kind enough to give me a gift in the form of another tape of general kayo kyoku for my parents. On it were a few Yujiro Ishihara（石原裕次郎） songs such as "Brandy Glass" and a couple of hits by Mizue Takada（高田みづえ）.....all three of those have been profiled. To be honest, I listened to that tape as much as I did to the YMO tape.
One of the other songs that I got attracted to was this one by Akiko Nakamura（中村晃子）, "Sasayaki no Kubikazari"(Whispering Necklace). She debuted in 1965 at the age of 17, and from listening to some of her earlier tunes such as "Niji Iro no Mizuumi"（虹色の湖...Rainbow-Coloured Lake) and "Garasu no Shiro"（ガラスの城....Glass Castle）, she performed a lot of shimmy-shammy uptempo stuff kinda along the lines of Linda Yamamoto（山本リンダ）.
However, this song, released in January 1981, is a heart-on-your-sleeve dramatic ballad of the Mood Kayo variety...something to listen to while you're drowning your sorrows in drink at that bar. Written by director/screenwriter Yoichiro Fukuda（福田陽一郎） and composed by Takashi Miki（三木たかし） (who had created melodies for singers as varied as Sayuri Ishikawa and Yoshie Kashiwabara), "Sasayaki" reminds me a bit of that old chestnut "Those Were The Days" from the late 60s in that it has that "la la la" type of European singalong-friendly melody. At the time, I hadn't realized that I could be so into something this sentimental, especially in the New Wave 1980s, but of course that year was one of so many revelations in kayo kyoku. I ended up listening to this song a lot for some months, especially at night. And I like to think that although this is the only Nakamura song that I know well, it was one of the stepping stones for my 30-year trek into this genre.
And for those who have forgotten the song or who have never heard of it, here is Mary Hopkin with "Those Were The Days".
In the months before I left for Japan in the early 90s, I'd heard bits and pieces from some of my anime-loving buddies about this song. As far as I recollect, my friends loved their anime and computer games but were not too much into the music. However, that seemed to have changed when they spoke about "Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie", and its theme song.
I'm not sure what the circumstances were but one night, either my anime friends were having a small presentation of some of their favourite programs or the Japanese drama-viewing segment of the Japanese-Canadian Students Association was having their regular Wednesday-evening meeting at the International Student Centre at the University of Toronto. I stepped into the room and saw a Japanese music video playing in which some fetching young lady was dancing and singing in front of a set of curtains that made it look like she was performing on the set of "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson".
Two decades later, Ryoko Shinohara（篠原涼子） is now a firm fixture on Japanese TV but solely as a dramatic actress and commercial pitchwoman. She was recently the tough-as-nails detective on "Unfair" and had a recurring role in that other police show franchise, "Odoru Dai Sosasen"（踊る大捜査線....Bayside Shakedown）. However, back in the early 90s, she had been just out of the girl dance-pop group, Tokyo Performance Doll, and making her foray into the solo business. She hit pay dirt with her 4th single,"Itoshisa to Setsunasa to Kokorozuyosa to"(With Yearning and Misery and Reassurance) when it was released in July 1994. It was made for that "Street Fighter" movie, but I think it just took on a life of its own outside of the anison field.
By the way, the above video is Shinohara plugging the "Street Fighter II" game. As I said, "Itoshisa to Setsunasa to Kokorozuyosa to"became a monster hit in J-Pop in general. It hit the top spot on Oricon, and was the 3rd-ranked song of 1994 with only Mr. Children and Kohmi Hirose（広瀬香美） topping her. In fact, Shinohara and her most successful hit ultimately topped the 2 million mark in sales, becoming the very first female solo singer to do so. The song also earned a Japan Record Award and an invitation for the ex-TPD member to appear on that year's Kohaku Utagassen for the first time. Considering where she is now, it seems an eternity ago when she was a commercially successful pop star.
For those who are very familiar with J-Pop of the 90s, the song has that distinctive Tetsuya Komuro（小室哲哉） techno touch which would become the representative pop sound for several years in that decade. The single was also a track on Shinohara's 2nd album, "Lady Generation", released in August 1995. It would also hit No. 1 and be the 45th-ranked album of that year.
Strangely enough, in my early years in Japan in the 90s, although I knew Shinohara's success as a singer and would know her later career as a full-time thespian, I first saw her mostly as one of the zany sketch players in "Downtown's Gottsu 'A' Kanji"（ごっつええ感じ....Downtown's Feelin' Good), the wildly popular Sunday night Fuji-TV comedy show of the wildly popular Osaka manzai duo, Downtown. Far from the sexy figure on that music video, Shinohara usually played the (victimized) straightwoman or a cutesy-cutesy character.
