Jun Togawa/Haruomi Hosono -- Yumemiru Yakusoku (夢見る約束)

I've been meaning to write about Jun Togawa (戸川純) for a while, but often dropped the idea since there is a lot written on her on the web in both Japanese and English thanks to the cult following she has acquired on both sides of the globe. But she is just so intriguing that I had to post something. Just listening to her songs from the 80's and early 90's you will get an idea that she's no ordinary singer. Yes, she was also one of my go-to artists when I was getting addicted to Japanese technopop and new wave in 2004, although I had no idea back then what she actually sang about (she is often associated with eroguro subculture). I was just so fascinated by how she could switch between parodic aidoru squeals and aggressive operatics within a single song. Plus, her PVs are a riot to watch. Some people compare her to Shiina Ringo, but I say her style belongs in a bizarre world of its own. And her life hasn't strayed too far from her ideas. I will bring you over to generasia to explain the rest.

Meanwhile, I chose to profile one of her more "normal" songs, "Yumemiru Yakusoku" (夢見る約束...Promised Dream), and by normal I mean there aren't any vocal acrobatics or disturbing lyrics she is usually known for. Instead, we have a haunting folksy melody accompanied by jittery techno synths as she sings about an innocent picnic with someone on a hillside. I could see Miharu Koshi (コシミハル) tackling this kind of song in the mid 80's, though Togawa's vocals give it a different vibe. Just my opinion, but there's something subtly sinister in her delivery. Perhaps the lyrics are ironic. The song appears on her album "Kyokuto Ian Shoka" (極東慰安唱歌...Far Eastern Comfort Songs) from March 1985, which she released under the collaborative project name Jun Togawa Unit (which also included Yoichiro Yoshikawa and Iio Yoshifumi). It peaked at 15th spot on Oricon weeklies.

Not surprisingly, "Yumemiru Yakusoku" is a cover of an obscure song by Haruomi Hosono (細野晴臣) (who has frequently collaborated with Miharu) which appeared as a bonus track on the limited edition of his 1982 album "Philharmony" (フィルハーモニー). His version is more chunky techno and while it's good technically, Togawa's is still the definitive one. You know, Hosono may be a musical genius but he's not exactly a singer per se...

Lastly, here's Togawa in action performing the song on TV. She definitely doesn't take herself seriously here. Just another day of media exposure.

Source: generasia

Daishiro Masuiyama -- Yuko no O-Mise （夕子のお店）

I was watching NHK's "Kayo Concert" tonight and the last person to perform was this tall and dignified middle-aged/elderly fellow in a tuxedo. I couldn't quite believe my ears when I heard through him and the host that he was a retired sumo wrestler but has been singing and releasing enka songs for 40 years. Usually when I think of singing rikishi, I usually get reminded of those Fuji-TV prime-time specials spotlighting sumo wrestlers and their families basically performing karaoke in front of millions.

But this is Daishiro Masuiyama（増井山大志郎）. And tonight he sang his latest single, "Yuko no O-Mise" (Yuko's Bar), which only got released last November. And he was darn good. I had never heard of him before tonight's telecast, but his song was filled to the brim with nostalgic enka/Mood Kayo flavour that took me to the old days of LPs and that TV Tokyo show, "Enka no Hanamichi".　I just had to mention him tonight.

In his other career as sumo wrestler, he made his debut into the dohyo in 1967 (initially under the name of Suiryu before taking on the name of Masuiyama) and has the record of being the oldest man to reach the 2nd-highest rank of ozeki in 1980. However, it wasn't too long before he decided to call it quits in early 1981.

However, several years before he finally clawed his way up the rankings, he had already started singing enka tunes from 1974 with "Sonna Yuko ni Horemashita"（そんな夕子にほれました...I Fell For That Yuko）. Yuko has become a bit of a long-running story for Masuiyama since the lass also pops up in his 1976 song "Dareka Yuko wo Shiranai ka"（誰か夕子を知らないか...Does Anyone Know Yuko?）before she comes back one more time in "Yuko no O-Mise"...perhaps the end of a decades-long love story.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a video with the actual singer performing the whole song, but I did find a pretty good karaoke performance. The song was composed by Tetsuya Gen（弦哲也）, who had created Sayuri Ishikawa's（石川さゆり） classic "Amagi Goe"（天城超え）, and written by Takashi Taka（たかたかし）. Within those lyrics, there is a mention of Monzen-Nakacho（門前仲町）. Well, I passed through that very neighbourhood everyday on the Tozai Line on my way to and from work, and it's a part of Tokyo's Shitamachi district with all of the old houses, bars and traditional restaurants. It's nice to know that Yuko was finally able to set up shop there.

Hiromi Iwasaki -- Kesshin （決心）

Being a huge Hiromi Iwasaki（岩崎宏美） fan, there is still a tendency of me to think that as the songstress went into the 1980s, she just became the go-to person for melancholy ending theme songs for suspense dramas. I wondered if she just ended up sitting by a rainy window and sighed deeply at the ennui of it all between single releases. Of course, that wasn't the case at all. I have a number of her albums from that decade, and she was perfectly capable of putting out some pretty cheery tunes as well.

One of them is "Kesshin" (Resolution) which was released in April 1985. Her 36th single is a spritely and sparkly uptempo with a touch of class as she sings about going off on that whirlwind romance with a guy she meets at a swanky party. Together they fling any pretensions into the night air and head off for the beach in his car. Keisuke Yamakawa（山川啓介）was responsible for the lyrics and Keiichi Oku（奥慶一） took care of the music here. Oku's melody makes me think that Iwasaki's little romantic fling took place along the Mediterranean or on the Aegean. It also reminds me of that time at the end of the 70s in Japanese music history when there was an influx of these kayo kyoku with a hint of foreign travel such as Saki Kubota's "Ihojin" or Judy Ongg's "Miserarete".

The song peaked at No. 15 on Oricon and was the 82nd-ranked song for 1985. And it did get her onto the Kohaku Utagassen for that year. It's also a track on her 15th album, "Diamant" which came out in June. Not surprisingly, the song was also used for a Camellia Diamonds commercial.

It's not a diamond commercial but hey, it's nice to see Hiromi-chan in an ad!

Minami Kuribayashi -- signs ~Sakutsuki Hitoyo~ (signs 〜朔月一夜〜)

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDQ2MDIxNjQw.html

NOTE: I couldn’t find the full video on YouTube, but if, somehow, the Youku link provided above fails, you can watch a part of the video on YouTube just clicking here.

As I told in the “Tsubasa wa Pleasure Line” (翼はPleasure Line) post I wrote last year, Minami Kuribayashi (栗林みな実) is one of my favorite singers. Sadly, I dislike a good portion of her songs. Maybe it’s a bit strange to consider a singer one of my favorites while the songs are not really of my taste. I confirm the strangeness, but trying to redeem myself, when Minami records a good song, it means it’s REALLY good. Most of the time she (or who else is responsible for these choices) chooses to record cute, lame and generic pop/rock synthy anime songs, but sometimes she delivers a great song, and “signs ~Sakutsuki Hitoyo~” is easily in this bunch.

With a dramatic and epic big chorus, “signs ~Sakutsuki Hitoyo~”, which was released as a single in August 2012, is a very strong ballad that showcases what I think is Minami Kuribayashi’s best vocals to date. Her falsettos in some parts of the choruses are just beautiful, and to think that she can also deliver this high quality performance during live concerts is something really great. As for the arrangement, what I like the most, besides the strings, of course, is the nice guitar solo during the bridge. As it follows some melodies used in the choruses, it’s a nice complement to the overall epic vibe of the song.

Finally, Minami Kuribayashi is gorgeous in the "signs ~Sakutsuki Hitoyo~" video (sorry, my everlasting crush on her didn't let me end the article without telling this).

"signs ~Sakutsuki Hitoyo~", which ended being the theme song for the “Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse” anime series, reached #20 on the Oricon charts. It was written and composed by Kato Yusuke (加藤裕介), while Narumitsugi Nagaoka (長岡成貢) was responsible for the arrangement.

Yasuyuki Okamura -- Viva Namida （ビバナミダ）

Well, my anime buddy and I have gotten 2014 started with a new rash of programs to check out. One of them that started just on January 5 this year is one of those literally and figuratively out-there shows called "Space Dandy". Starring an Elvis-pompadour-sporting Lothario who searches for rare examples of exobiology throughout the galaxy, he brings along a crew consisting of a long-suffering robot that looks like an evolved Hoover vacuum cleaner and a cat-like Betelgeusian. In terms of looks and tone, the first two episodes that I've seen strike me as being a mix between "Futurama" and "Lensman" from the 1980s.

However, what has also stood out for me is the theme song by Yasuyuki Okamura（岡村靖幸）. When I saw his name pop up on the opening credits as his funkalistic and sexy little tune was underway, a bell kept ringing in my memory until I looked up J-Wiki and found out that he has written a number of songs for other singers, most notably for Misato Watanabe（渡辺美里）. Okamura has also been releasing his own singles since 1986, and "Viva Namida" (Viva Tears) happens to be his 27th one which got out in October 2013.

As soon as I first heard the song, I knew that I would have to get the full version of it someday. That hasn't happened quite yet but maybe I'll start hitting Amazon in the next few weeks if "Viva Namida" further digs into my brain. The official video is at the very top with even Okamura himself getting into the anime act and you can enjoy the live version below.

PSY-S -- Keshiki （景色）

One of my favourite songs by the 80s technopop duo, PSY-S, happens to be "Keshiki" (Scene). It was never released as a single by the band, but I think in its subtle way, it has made me think about married life.

In any case, the above is the original version from PSY-S' first album, "Different View" from 1985. Since I have yet to get this album, I never heard this version before. It's a straight-ahead technopop piece with CHAKA jumping right into the vocals (both the words and music were provided by her partner, Masaya Matsuura/松浦雅也) about what seems to be the ideal life between husband and wife in that apartment or prefab house. However, as the song progresses, things get a little more sinister especially when she starts singing about hubby bleating out the daily chores in a robotic way in both English and Japanese. Trouble in paradise....or boredom?

http://www.pideo.net/video/youtube/9c86aa995bbe8aab/

A new and better version of "Keshiki" was released on PSY-S BEST album, "Two Hearts" in 1991. This is the version that I've been familiar with for years, and perhaps there is a bias from me since my ears have become more accustomed to this take. However, the melody is richer and more varied, and therefore better illustrates the crumbling of the ideal wedded bliss. Matsuura, through his synths, starts off with a classical-sounding riff...perhaps to have the listener imagine the wife seeing off her rushing husband at the door, before the music goes into this warm soft bossa style and then into a roller-coaster-like rise to the robotic delivery by CHAKA. And finally, the song seems to want to illustrate an entire world crumbling down through the dissonance that Matsuura throws in. The original sounds like a beta version in comparison. And although I love CHAKA's voice, I think having her la-la-la's in that 1985 take replaced by the warning synth in the 1991 version was an improvement.

I'm happy that "Keshiki" got its due in "Two Hearts" but perhaps it could have used a bit more representation. Then again, perhaps PSY-S didn't want to make too many couples in the audience too uncomfortable (heh, heh).

Ann Lewis -- Koi no Boogie-Woogie Train （恋のブギ・ウギ・トレイン）

(karaoke version)

Disco, baby, disco!! That's the feeling I get from listening to Ann Lewis'（アン・ルイス） "Koi no Boogie-Woogie Train"(Boogie-Woogie Love Train) and I guess the title pretty much says it all. Time to shed the inhibitions and get on the dance floor and party like it was 1979.

Lewis' 17th single comes in smack dab between the two musical personae that I had recognized the singer as: her initial appearance as the sweet innocent aidoru in the early 1970s and then her rock queen of the early 1980s....from Patsy Cline to Pat Benatar in about a decade. With "Koi no Boogie-Woogie Train", she's in disco queen mode, dancing to a beat that brings to mind a lot of the fun and excess (perhaps for a lot of you, the previous conjunction might actually be an "or") of partying in the big city at that time....Tokyo or New York..

Minako Yoshida/吉田美奈子 (lyrics) and Tatsuro Yamashita/山下達郎 (music) were behind the making of this example of disco kayo, and although I don't think it's quite on the same level as Yoshida's amazing "Town" that nikala talked about on her own Best 80s list, "Koi no Boogie-Woogie Train"is a fun bit of musical nostalgia.

While the original version was released on Xmas Day 1979, an English version of the song with lyrics by Chris Mosdell came out six months later as her 18th single. If there had been a Japanese version of the US dance show, "Soul Train", at the time, I think the producers would have known who to have turned to for its theme song.