Minami Kuribayashi -- Tsubasa wa Pleasure Line (翼はPleasure Line)

I always thought that Minami Kuribayashi (栗林みな実) deserved to be a famous J-pop singer, but her status as a seiyuu/anisong singer is probably a negative factor for this to become reality as few singers of the genre are really chart breaking like Megumi Hayashibara (林原めぐみ) in the 90s and Nana Mizuki  (水樹奈々) nowadays.

I’m saying that because after listening to Kuribayashi’s songs and watching some of her live performances we can certainly say that the girl can sing. Overall, her discography is not always on point, with very similar arrangements and some not very memorable hooks, but a good portion of the songs, like “Tsubasa wa Pleasure Line” (翼はPleasure Line), is not part of that bunch. This particular song is one of Kuribayashi’s classics and it was the opening theme for the 2003-2004 anime “Chrno Crusade” (クロノクルセイド). I remember that after listening to it for the first time at my friend’s place back in 2006 I instantly became a fan of Minami Kuribayashi. Time passed by, but I never got tired of this song. It’s just THAT great to my ears.

The song as a whole is very energetic and Minami’s vocals are cute yet powerful when required (a very positive characteristic of her). As for the arrangement, the strings makes the song shine even more.

Minami Kuribayashi came to a big anime convention here in Brazil some years ago, but unfortunately I couldn’t attend the event. She sang “Tsubasa wa Pleasure Line” and other famous songs from her discography, which makes me regret until today for not being able to cheer and have fun at her concert. Luckily, I have a copy of her "1st Live Tour 2007 fantastic arrow" concert DVD with that great performance of “Tsubasa wa Pleasure Line” featured at the beginning of this post. And she was at the top of her beauty in this concert.

"Tsubasa wa Pleasure Line" is not only my favorite Minami Kuribayashi song, but one of my favourite songs of all times. As I said earlier, I never get tired of it.

“Tsubasa wa Pleasure Line” was released back in January 2004 as Kuribayashi’s fourth single. It reached #17 on the Oricon charts and sold 51,500 copies (source: Wikipedia), making it the third best selling single of her career. The song was later included in the 2006 album “passage” and the 2011 best of compilation “stories”. The lyrics were written by Hata Aki (畑亜貴), while the music and arrangement were made by Noriyasu Agematsu (上松範康), a founding member of the group of music composers Elements Garden.

Hiromi Iwasaki/Mako Ishino -- Watashi Tachi （私たち）

It's been a while since I put up my last Hiromi Iwasaki（岩崎宏美）posting, and a commenter for that last posting mentioned about this song, "Watashi Tachi"(Us). I refreshed my memory by playing the song on YouTube....and it was immediately familiar to me. However, I had to wonder a while where I had first heard it. Going through my discs of the singer, I realized it wasn't in there since my earliest CD of hers was from 1978. Actually, I first heard it on an old audio tape of her best hits that my Mom had gotten me back in 1985.

As I mentioned in my reply to my guest, hearing "Watashi Tachi" again was an evergreen pleasure. It was actually the B-side to her 2nd single, "Romance"（ロマンス）, released in July 1975, but I think it sounded wonderful enough to have earned its own place on the A-side. And as my commenter noted and as it has been pointed out in the J-Wiki article on "Romance", the production staff behind the single rather hemmed and hawed over which song would get that A-side, until they went with "Romance". However, according to Iwasaki herself, she also pushed for "Romance". The reason went something like this: a new aidoru back in those days often had to sing on the morning wide shows (news/entertainment programs), and the singer felt that belting out "Watashi Tachi" in the AM would have been more taxing; "Romance" was the easier choice for her.

"Watashi Tachi" was written and composed by Yu Aku and Kyohei Tsutsumi,（阿久悠・筒美京平） the same dynamic duo behind "Romance". And perhaps it was the Tsutsumi approach, but when I listened to "Watashi Tachi" again, I came to the realization that a number of Iwasaki's early uptempo songs reminded me of some of the disco hits that I used to hear as a kid, because of the trumpet-and-strings arrangement. As would be the case for a young teenager, the lyrics focus on a girl's ever-hopeful dream of getting that guy she's fallen head-over-heels for.

My guest also mentioned that although "Watashi Tachi" had been a favourite of the fans at her concerts, Iwasaki decided to retire the song from the arenas for almost 3 decades. This is a video of her performing the song in concert...probably sometime in the 80s judging by the length of her hair, so I gather that it hadn't been time quite yet at that point. I got a kick watching Iwasaki kicking it up a notch here since my image of her on the stage or on TV has always been of a solemn stillness as she sang her later hits such as "Sumire Iro no Namida"（すみれ色の涙）and "Madonna Tachi no Lullaby"（マドンナたちのララバイ）. I think with all of the songs I've mentioned by her, you may as well just hit her name in the Labels section.

Mako Ishino（石野真子）was an aidoru I used to know just through her pictures in some of the kids' magazines that I had bought (or more accurately, my parents bought) at the Japanese food store, Furuya, in Chinatown. I remember her for her rather snaggle-toothed smile, or yaeba（八重歯）. Back in those days, having a grin that only an orthodontist would love here was one of the greatest features that an aidoru could have since it was seen as a major charm point. In fact, when Ishino debuted in 1978, she was labeled as the aidoru with "the million-dollar smile", and having slightly droopy eyes also helped enhance her popularity.

Ishino's years as an aidoru were just from 1978 to 1981. However, sometime during that period, she did a cover of "Watashi Tachi"; the arrangements were pretty much identical to the ones for the Iwasaki original. It was never released as an official single and although I looked around the Net, I couldn't find out when and on which album it was released.

As with a lot of former aidoru, Ishino soon made that transition to acting, commercials and appearances as a tarento on TV.

Hatsumi Shibata/Takao Kisugi -- My Luxury Night （マイ・ラグジュアリー・ナイト）

The perfect kayo kyoku to finish off a night of sophisticated carousing and Ginza-hopping, shall we say? Although much of the music of the 1970s that was being depicted on TV and in the record stores consisted of enka and ear-friendly aidoru music, there was also an undercurrent of jazz, bossa nova and other genres providing that attraction of an aural tour of exotic foreign lands. Keiko Maruyama（丸山圭子）, Yumi Arai（荒井由実） and Saki Kubota（久保田早紀） were just some of the more prominent singers, but there was also Hatsumi Shibata（しばたはつみ）.

The Tokyo-born Shibata was born into a musical family with a pianist father and a vocalist mother, and also had a celebrity connection as well....her second cousin was former aidoru-turned-TV personality Iyo Matsumoto（松本伊代）. At the age of 15, she started her career by singing commercial jingles for such companies as RENOWN and the Maruzen Petroleum Company (now known as Cosmo Oil), but her official debut as a singer under her 3rd stage name of Hatsumi Shibata wouldn't be until 1974 when she sang "Aikagi"(合鍵....Master Key).

But her big hit was her 7th single, "My Luxury Night", released in July 1977, written and composed by Etsuko and Takao Kisugi（来生えつこ・たかお）. It was arranged as a jazz lullaby, and the lyrics hint at a person walking the streets of the big city at the midnight hour, so drunk in love that other folks could probably see the valentines fluttering over him/her. Considering the title, I'm assuming the lovestruck fellow was ambling around Ginza. It's a song that could be used to hint at the sleepy but satisfied patrons in an expensive nightclub that it was time to call it a night.

The song finished the year ranked 77th and the success of "My Luxury Night" was Shibata's invitation to the Kohaku Utagassen. She released a total of 18 singles with her final one in 1985. Sadly, Shibata passed away at the age of 57 in 2010.

Kisugi sang a cover version of the song that he had composed for Shibata in 1979 as the Side-B for his 7th single, "Anata Dake Good Night"(あなただけGood Night...A Good Night To You). Although it has a slightly different arrangement, it still keeps that jazz lullaby feeling. And Kisugi's crooning vocals were perfect for "My Luxury Night". This was actually the first time I had heard the song, thanks to the fact that it was included in one of his BEST albums.

My idea of a luxury night? Lots of sleep....which I will engage in now.

A Sunday night in Ginza

Eri Hiramatsu -- Heya to Y-Shatsu to Watashi （部屋とＹシャツと私）

This is one of the sweetest songs I have ever heard by any Japanese singer. I used to hear "Heya to Y-Shatsu to Watashi"(The Room, Your Shirts and Me) a fair amount at the karaoke boxes both here and back in Japan, and I can imagine the fiancee pulling this out for her future hubby. I've got a few of Eri Hiramatsu's（平松愛理） CDs on the shelves, and this is probably her most representative song. But I just found out that Hiramatsu had created it in response to an old Masashi Sada（さだまさし）classic, "Kanpaku Sengen", .a new husband's laying down of the law in his house to his wife.

When I first read the J-Wiki article on "Kanpaku Sengen" and came across the paragraph that a number of singers had come up with "answer songs" to one of Sada's most famous tunes, I first thought "Uh-oh....he probably got quite the tongue-lashing" despite the half-joking way it was delivered. But then I came across Hiramatsu's trademark song in that list. As I said, I have listened to "Heya to Y-Shatsu to Watashi" a number of times and didn't get anything defiant from it.

And it isn't. Instead, although I don't know about some of the other songs, Hiramatsu's response is adorably understanding. If Sada had been the imperious husband, and Hiramatsu the wife, then after listening patiently to the "Sengen", Hiramatsu would have answered sweetly, "I understand, dear, but....." According to the lyrics, she would allow 3 straight nights of her husband coming home roaring drunk but half-jokingly warns him that she knows when he lies and that if he ever cheats on her, he should be careful about what might go into his soup at dinnertime. All she asks is some nice clothes from time to time, and she'll keep the titular items in proper order. I can imagine Sada's husband character going "Uh....well, OK then..." It's also interesting that near the end of the song, Hiramatsu also refers to the inevitable eternal parting just like "Kanpaku Sengen" did. It's almost as if the two songs were mutual vows.

The official music video for the song is also one of those examples of "Awwwww...." Probably at the right moment, it could easily elicit that lump in the throat, and at this time, there are no less than 3 samples of that video uploaded onto YouTube. The song itself was released in March 1992, peaked at No. 4 and became the 17th-ranked song of the year on Oricon. It also earned Hiramatsu a Japan Record Award for lyrics. It was also a track on her 3rd album, "My Dear", that had actually been released all the way back in December 1990. Interestingly enough, the song was her 8th single; "Kanpaku Sengen" was Sada's 8th single.

Masashi Sada -- Kanpaku Sengen （関白宣言）

Listening to this song and reading about the history behind it reminded me of the current social phenomenon in Japan known as soshoku danshi （草食男子） or "herbivore men". In recent years, there has been some hand-wringing that a sizable number of the young generation of men have become passive, dispassionate and totally uninterested in women. Well, decades ago, singer Masashi Sada（さだまさし） frequented a Kyoto snakku, and over there, he became well acquainted with the proprietress whom she called "Mother" since she was close in age to his real mother. One night, Mother openly lamented the fact that Japanese men were no darn good and because of that, Japanese women were ending up the same way. She felt that society needed a good whupping, and Sada was the one to do it; she asked him to write up a song to give the contemporary Japanese man a needed swift kick in the keester. And this was back in the 70s....very much in the Showa Era!

And sure enough, Sada did what Mother had said and created "Kanpaku Sengen", his 8th single. That second word is easy enough to translate as "declaration", but looking up that first word brought up the definitions of "Imperial advisor to the Emperor" and "premiership". But considering the general tone of what the title was meant to convey, and the lyrics, I think I'll probably go with "Declaration of Law". Released in July 1979, it's a slightly tongue-in-cheek sung manifesto of a new husband's rules of his castle to his wife. Hubby's standard operating procedures are for the wife to always be up before he is, create good meals, and look pretty among other demands in the first few verses. However, the song seems to progress through the entire timeline of a full marriage and near the end, Sada's voice gets a bit more quivery as he thanks his wife for helping in a good life and asking (begging?) her to not die before he does. Throughout the song, his imperious demands are softened by the unimperious-sounding Sada and his gentle guitar. Also, the not-so-serious nature of the declaration is further impressed upon through the cover with the usually unassuming singer posing humorously in a tux while holding a glass of wine.

"Kanpaku Sengen"has become a Sada standard and it's a song that I've heard from time to time on various programs although I hadn't been aware of the meaning until recently. But I did notice that whenever he performed the song, there was a bit of a twinkle in his eye. The song hit the No. 1 spot on Oricon and became the 4th-ranked song of 1979, selling almost a million records (actually take a look at the Comments below for changes to that statistic). It also earned Sada a Japan Record Award Gold Prize, and a movie based on the song was even filmed some months afterwards. And I wouldn't be surprised if it did and perhaps still does pop up on the wedding party playlist sometimes. Even within the music world, a number of singers have come up with tunes in response to "Kanpaku Sengen", such as Eri Hiramatsu's（平松愛理） "Heya to Y-Shatsu to Watashi".

As for Mother's reaction after listening to the song? "You're still too easy on 'em!"

Meiko Nakahara -- Kimi Tachi Kiwi Papaya Mango da ne （君たちキウイ・パパヤ・マンゴだね。）

There have been a few entries on Meiko Nakahara（中原めいこ）already covering her songs in City Pop and anime. But the one I know her best for is this fun and jazzy number whose title just sparks off memories of all those old novelty songs such as "How Much Is That Doggy In The Window?" and "Good Morning, Mr. Echo". I'm not sure how many rum-soaked maraschino cherries she had downed while she was writing (with Yukinojo Mori/森雪之丞) and composing "Kimi Tachi Kiwi Papaya Mango da ne"(You're All Kiwis, Papayas and Mangoes, Aren't You?), but she and it must have charmed the collective socks off of everybody. It's not too often that someone in the 1980s can pull off singing a song about finding love and tropical fruits with a jazz band (maybe Weird Al Yankovic).

But then again, at around the same time, a Big Band song called "A Night in New York" by Elbow Bones and Racketeers stormed up the charts, so hey, a good enough jazz tune could work miracles even in that decade. In any case, "Kimi Tachi" was released as her 6th single in April 1984, and rose as high as No. 7. It finished the year as the 50th-ranked song. Incidentally, Hiroshi Shinkawa（新川博）was behind the snazzy arrangement.

Nope, not any of the fruits mentioned in the title
but it was the closest tropical fruit I could find.

dip in the pool -- KM 93.11

I first came across this band when I was leafing through one of my Eye-Ai magazines back in the early 90s, and arrived at the page for what J-Pop was available via mail order. This very album, "KM 93.11"was being advertised and frankly I don't remember much about what I read about it, but all I do remember is that the band was somewhat eclectic in sound. I was intrigued but there were a lot of other choices I had ahead of these guys, so I never took that chance on them.

Leap forward almost 20 years. I was rustling through the outside bins of old and used CDs in front of (the late) Recomints 1 in Nakano Broadway, and I found an old copy of "KM 93.11" along with a few other CDs by dip in the pool. Being just 100 yen, my investment risk was far less than it was back in 1992, so I decided to pick this up for perusal, and later on, I would also buy an earlier album, "Aurorae"(1991). Glad to say I made quite the sonic profit.

dip in the pool -- KM 93.11

There is relatively little information about dip in the pool, but there is the Wikipedia entry, they have a Facebook page, and there is a 7-year-old page written by Nicholas D. Kent that gives his insights on the duo's discography. For the record, dip in the pool (not sure if they got the name from the short story by Roald Dahl) is model/actress/singer Miyako Koda（甲田益也子） and keyboardist/songwriter Tatsuji Kimura（木村達司）.

The two apparently started things off in 1983 and released their first album, "Dip in the Pool" in 1986 (in the UK, it's titled "Silence"). As Kent mentioned on his page, the duo performed a brand of "...an extremely refined kind of pop." From what little I have heard via this album, "Aurorae" and any videos on YouTube, I could say that their music is something like dream pop; Miki Nakatani's（中谷美紀） "Cure" comes to mind. And perhaps dip in the pool is more ethereal than PSY-S, perhaps somewhere around Mimori Yusa（遊佐未森）.

As for "KM 93.11", their 6th album released in 1993, it's a bit of a concept album in that Koda weaves in and out and between the songs as a somewhat spacey DJ for the fictional radio station that the title represents. I'm guessing that compared to their earlier material, the songs here are a bit more on the conventionally pop side of things, ranging out into the world's music, perhaps in keeping with the radio theme. The remarkable thing that stands out for me is Koda's voice. I've often talked about some female kayo kyoku voices having that "whiskey-and-cigarettes"sound. Well, Koda's vocals and her DJ voice strike me as being warm honey from a particularly rare flower. I had never heard a voice like hers before. Not to say that she sounds British, but her delivery seems rather plummy.

The first song is the techno "A Breath From The Queen of Snow".

The next song, "Sebone no Youna Kumo"（背骨のような雲...Clouds Like A Spine) is a languid relaxing song with a hint of bossa nova while the following tune is the jaunty "Niji no Shirushi"（虹のしるし....Mark of a Rainbow）. Compared to the earlier "Aurorae", dip in the pool were more willing to stretch their fingers into the other genres of pop music.

I also enjoy the first music track, the jazzy "Diana".

It took me a couple of decades to finally realize the cool sounds of dip in the pool, but now that I have, I'm gonna continue on the hunt for not only their increasingly rare works but also for some of the other under-the-radar singers out there. If there are any other dip in the pool fans out there, give me a shout and feel free to provide any insights.