Mariko Takahashi -- New York, New York

Well, Happy 4th of July to viewers from the States. I just hope that the folks down along the Eastern Seaboard are doing OK with Hurricane Arthur.

Thinking about what I could profile here on America's 238th birthday, I decided to go with Mariko Takahashi's （高橋真梨子）"New York, New York". Now, this song, despite the title, has nothing to do with the Kander & Ebbs classic which was immortalized by Frank Sinatra, but it is a track from Takahashi's 10th album, "Mellow Lips" which came out in September 1985. Takahashi herself took care of the lyrics while songwriter (and later singer) Kenjiro Sakiya （崎谷 健次郎）came up with the melody.

As a big fan, I have to say that "New York, New York" probably won't get into my Top 10 favourite Mariko Takahashi songs, but the singer and collaborator Sakiya made it clear that she has a personal love for The Big Apple (she would also write the lyrics for another of her songs, "My Heart New York City" a few years later). She obviously has a professional connection since she has performed at Carnegie Hall. The music has that feeling of giddy wonder of someone entering Manhattan for the first time and just gaping at the towering skyscrapers through the window of a taxi. And through one line of the refrain: "...surprise, afraid, enjoy...", she rather described my own feelings of visiting the city for the first time in the early 90s. Happily, my time was mostly the first and last words and very little of the second (the drug pusher offering us some of his stock one morning at the edge of Central Park, and the subway platforms fulfilled that second word).

Kyoko Endo -- Kokuhaku Telephone （告白テレフォン）

From the articles that nikala and I wrote on Kyoko Endo's（遠藤京子）songs and listening to both, and seeing her shining face in "Japanese City Pop", I was pretty interested in finding out more about her work in general, so when opportunity rose to get some more CDs, I decided to get her "Golden Best" collection. Taking a listen to the full album last night, there was a bit of a superficial resemblance to singer-songwriter Kingo Hamada （濱田金吾）in that Endo has cut a fairly wide swathe between City Pop and Swing Jazz. The critic writing about her third album, "Yume Miru Star" （夢見るスター...Dreamwatching Stars） in "Japanese City Pop" mentioned her "milky voice". I'd probably go with "creamy voice" here in Toronto (since I think the cholesterol problem is a bit more pronounced here), but in any case, it is a pretty distinct one that likes to tackle all sorts of musical hooks. Sometimes, I get hints of EPO and then in other songs, I hear Reimy（麗美）.

(cover version)

The first track in her "Golden Best" is "Kokuhaku Telephone" (Confession Call). Not surprisingly, it is her debut single from November 1981 written by Endo and composed by Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）. Hearing those first few notes, I initially thought that the singer started out as an aidoru (she was over 22 years old at the time which would have been practically ancient for a Japanese teenybopper singer) but then the song hits the ground to instantly change into something a bit closer to a fast-paced City Pop. However, Endo's lyrics focus solely on a woman's few minutes of trepidation prior to making that telephone call to confess her love to the lucky fellow. My own first few seconds of trepidation were quickly alleviated as "Kokuhaku Telephone" turned out to be this quirky and catchy pop tune of the 80s. And I was going to hear some more interesting stuff as the album went through its 77 minutes. The single itself also made it onto her debut album, "Operetta" from December 1981.

Duke Aces -- Osananajimi （おさななじみ）

(cover version)

I was talking with commenter Noelle Tham over the last couple of days regarding the same episode of NHK's "Kayo Concert" （歌謡コンサート）that we had seen. We were talking about Masatoshi Nakamura's （中村雅俊）appearance when he sang his debut song, "Fureai"（ふれあい）, but we also mentioned "Osananajimi" (Old Friends) by vocal group Duke Aces（デューク・エイセス）, and I thought after seeing the group's very jaunty performance that night, it was worth covering.

Duke Aces was formed all the way back in 1955 as a quartet of two tenors, a baritone and a bass. The group has undergone a number of lineup changes for which baritone Michio Tani（谷 道夫） is currently the only Ace who has been with the group since the beginning. Duke Aces has been a name that I've heard a lot over the years and I have seen the quartet appear on a number of programs, and all that time, I'd placed them on the same podium as Mood Kayo groups such as The Cool Five and Mahina Stars because of the era and the fact that they were a group. However, according to the J-Wiki page for Duke Aces, the quartet has sided more with spirituals, jazz chorus and a 3-year series (1966-1969) called "Nihon no Uta" （にほんのうた...Songs of Japan） for which songwriters Rokusuke Ei （永六輔）and Taku Izumi（いずみたく） traveled to most of the prefectures in the country and created songs which best represented aspects of the individual provinces with the group expressing them in song.

However, "Osananajimi" was three years before that epic project. Written by Ei and composed by Hachidai Nakamura（中村八大）, the same tandem behind Kyu Sakamoto's （坂本九）legendary "Sukiyaki" song, in 1963, it was created for a segment on Japanese TV's very first variety program titled "Yume de Aimashou"（夢であいましょう...Let's Meet in Our Dreams）. Listening to "Osanajimi" the other night, it was definitely not something that would be labeled a Mood Kayo to be heard in a Shinjuku bar. In fact, I think it would be more fitting as a singalong tune for a group of folks hiking up and down somewhere in the Japanese Alps. And the older generations at least love a good singalong. It was also nice to hear every one of the Aces have their time in the limelight....as Noelle mentioned, Yoshitaka Makino's （槇野 義孝）bass was pretty amazing.

The above video is of the Duke Aces performing in 1973. Incredibly enough, next year will be the quartet's 60th anniversary in show business.

Oh, and as a bit of a P.S., here is some coverage of "Yume de Aimashou".

Miki Imai -- PRIDE

In my early years in Ichikawa, I recollect a Fuji-TV Thursday night romance drama that starred Narumi Yasuda （安田成美）and SMAP's resident goofy guy, Shingo Katori（香取慎吾）. Titled "Doc"（ドク）, the first scene had Yasuda playing a Japanese-language teacher traveling in Vietnam who wanted to cross a street, only to be wholly intimidated by the crazy traffic. Then, Katori as the titular Vietnamese character rather nonchalantly and suddenly came to her assistance and navigated a miraculous path across. Just as miraculously, the two crossed paths again in Tokyo when Doc decided to go up to Japan to learn the language at Yasuda's school. The drama debuted in December 1996 but it didn't take long for a lot of year-end and New Year's parties to have the resident cut-ups pretend to be Katori pretending to be a young man from Vietnam.

However, I think the more lasting legacy connected with "Doc" was its theme song. Miki Imai's （今井美樹）12th single, "Pride", was actually released some weeks before the premiere of the drama in November. And as written and composed by future hubby Tomoyasu Hotei（布袋寅泰）, it's a quietly joyful ballad about the pride of a woman as she is in love with that special somebody. According to the J-Wiki article on the song, the lyrics especially hit a soft spot with young women and karaoke fans which led the song to a No. 1 ranking on Oricon not just once but twice. It first got to the top spot a couple of weeks after its release, and then about a month later, it hit No. 1 again for 2 weeks straight just after "Doc" made its own debut. It ended up selling over 1.6 million copies and would become Imai's greatest hit up to now. To put the cherry on top of things, "Pride" became the 6th-ranked song for 1997.

The song has been covered by a number of other singers and the above video has Hotei himself giving his own piano version. And below is a cover by AKB48 member Misaki Iwasa（岩佐美咲）.

Anzen Chitai -- Aozora （青空）

Now that the hot, hot summer has finally arrived (especially when compared to the cold, cold winter we'd had here in Toronto), people can hit the beaches, start the BBQs and get those rays like there's no tomorrow. For me, I just want to be in that hammock strung between two palm trees by the shore with that soft breeze and clear blue sky.

And I've always had the ideal theme song for that splendid setting. Anzen Chitai's （安全地帯）"Aozora" (Blue Sky) has been a song that has popped up occasionally on one of their BEST compilations, but it's not always a given. And that is too bad since I consider it as one of Koji Tamaki's （玉置浩二）most wonderfully delivered and wonderfully composed ballads. With Goro Matsui （松井五郎）behind the lyrics, the opening notes almost instantly illustrate that pastoral setting and then Tamaki gives out that long and deep "See...." like a very effective hypnotist. I can actually go to sleep listening to this one....and I mean that in the best way.

Perhaps one reason that "Aozora" doesn't pop up as much is that it had never been released as an official single and it was never part of the official Anzen Chitai studio album line. It was actually the first song on the official soundtrack for the 1986 mystery movie "Prussian Blue no Shozo" （プルシアンブルーの肖像...The Prussian Blue Portrait） which starred Tamaki himself in his first feature as a school janitor rendered mute due to a traumatic incident in his past. Of course, for all of us Anzen Chitai fans, there is the intense title track which became the band's 11th single from July 1986. And I like that one as well, but there is something about "Aozora" that just makes it one of the best ballads by Tamaki and company.

Masatoshi Nakamura -- Fureai （ふれあい）

It's been almost a couple of years since I put up Masatoshi Nakamura's （中村雅俊）17th single, "Koibito mo Nureru Machikado"（恋人も濡れる街角）, an urban ballad that I used to hear often at Kuri, my old Yorkville karaoke haunt. Then I was reminded tonight of another Nakamura kayo classic which was his debut single, "Fureai" (Contact) from July 1974. In fact, the song was released exactly 40 years ago today.

Nakamura was starring in an NTV school drama, "Warera Seishun!" （われら青春！...Our Salad Days）as a young high school English teacher. The drama already had theme songs set, but supposedly halfway through the 22-episode series, Nakamura's Okita-sensei sang this new song from the veranda of his apartment. And "Fureai" soon became the talk of the town, becoming a million seller and hitting No. 1 on Oricon. Written by Keisuke Yamakawa （山川啓介）and composed by Taku Izumi（いずみたく）, the song struck me as being reminiscent of one of those old European love songs from the 1960s; something along the lines of "Those Were The Days" by Mary Hopkin. And Nakamura's vocals are even now such that whenever he sings this one, people of a certain age are sure to be transported back to their old salad days.

The full version of the song is below.

Hikaru Nishida -- Kitto Ai ga Aru (きっと愛がある)

Hikaru Nishida’s (西田ひかる) “Kitto Ai ga Aru” is probably one of the catchiest songs out there, althought, in J-Pop's case, that’s probably a very dangerous and questionable statement. 

The cute Hikaru Nishida debuted during the late 80s, but she didn't succeeded into reaching the spotlight in an aidoru landscape dominated by strong acts such as Wink, Chisato Moritaka (森高千里), Miho Nakayama (中山美穂) and Shizuka Kudo (工藤静香), to name a few. In this case, while some of her songs were nice tries, like the melancholic eurobeat-inspired "Namida no PEARL MOON" (涙のPEARL MOON), she still had to wait until 1994 to release a proper hit.

Released in May 1994, at a time when kawaii aidoru singers like Hikaru herself were kind of struggling to make a positive impact on the charts, “Kitto Ai ga Aru” is a very happy-go-lucky straightforward pop song tha relies heavily on Hikaru’s decent vocals (she was good for a 90s aidoru singer) and the chorus catchiness. Well, even though I’m far from being a Hikaru Nishida fan, I sometimes find myself humming to the whole “aru aru-ru-ru ai ga aru kanari kakujitsu, aru aru-ru-ru ai ga aru kitto daijoubu” lines (あるある・る・る　愛がある　かなり確実 あるある・る・る　愛がある　きっとだいじょうぶ). In the end, "Kitto Ai ga Aru" is an irresitible aidoru moment from the mid-90s!

Apparently, “Kitto Ai ga Aru” was Hikaru Nishida’s highest charting single on the Oricon charts, reaching #12. Lyrics were written by Miyuki Nakajima (中島みゆき) while music was composed by Noriyuki Asakura (朝倉紀幸).