Hiroshi Kadokawa -- Yo Naki Dori (夜泣き鳥)

From the way Hiroshi Kadokawa (角川博) looks, I had never imagined such a smooth voice to ever come out of him. When I first laid eyes on the Enka singer - who's been active since the mid 70's - not too long ago, the impression I got was that this severe-looking guy who seems to have a slight frown had one of those husky, gritty voices and sang manly songs... kinda like Ikuzo Yoshi (吉幾三), but without the comedic element.

So I was wrong. And he does have a comedic streak - I saw a snippet of him singing one of Hibari Misora's (美空 ひばり) songs while cross dressing with heavy makeup.

'Yo Naki Dori' is the first song I heard from Kadokawa, and it's also his most recent single released on 21st May 2014. I would say that this is one of those Enka tunes that are easy on the ears for first time Enka-goers as Kadogawa's pleasant singing style is not too radical unlike some others, and the music (by Chiaki Oka (岡千秋)... hey, this guy's name rings a bell!) is quite pleasing to the ears.

If you've noticed, there is a bird mentioned in the title. At first glance it may seem a little weird since the lyrics  (done by Mami Takubo (田久保真見)) portray the typical Enka song: Drinking away at the izakaya - alone of course, while thinking about the one who got away. But according to Kadokawa on an episode of 'Nippon no Uta', the cries of the bird at night (basically, the title) gives you a feel of loneliness. So that's pretty much why Kadokawa says that he's a crying bird... at night... to represent the protagonist's loneliness.

'Yo Naki Dori' did pretty well on the Enka/Kayokyoku Oricon charts, although now I can't seem to check it again to make sure that I'm right. All I remember was that it was floating up and down for a couple of weeks in the Top 20 a couple of months ago.

enkado.net

The Works of Tetsuji Hayashi （林哲司）

The one definite benefit that I've gotten since starting "Kayo Kyoku Plus" back at the end of January 2012 is that I've been able to notice composers and lyricists a whole lot more. And to a certain extent, I've even been able to discern the styles of some of them.

For example, singer-songwriter Tetsuji Hayashi struck me as being the go-to guy to whip up at least two types of songs: the wistful summery ballad and the happy-go-disco pop song. The Shizuoka-born Hayashi was influenced by American pop music via his older brother, and debuted as a singer-songwriter in his early 20s in 1973 although he wasn't initially all that successful.

However, one of his early compositions was for aidoru Saori Minami（南沙織）. "Ai wa Meguriai kara"（愛はめぐり逢いから...Love Comes From Chance） which was her 21st single from November 1976. I listened to this ballad for the first time today and I could hear the beginnings of his mellow style which has that bit of Carpenters and early Olivia Newton-John. Fumiko Okada（岡田冨美子）was responsible for the lyrics. It peaked at No. 45 on Oricon and was also a track on Minami's BEST album, "Cynthia no Harmony"（シンシアのハーモニー...Cynthia's Harmony） from 1977. Moreover, the song became the theme tune for the TBS drama "Kekkon suru made"（結婚するまで...Until I Get Married）.

As for the happy-go-disco side, there's nothing better than Mariya Takeuchi's（竹内まりや）"September". As much as I love the legendary song of the same title by Earth, Wind & Fire, I also adore Takeuchi's cheerful romp on the sunny side of the street, and it is one of my early happy memories from my adventures into Japanese popular music. 

Just a few months after Takeuchi's release of "September", there was another Hayashi composition which would become one of the classics of City Pop, "Mayonaka no Door" （真夜中のドアー）. With Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）providing the lyrics, the late singer Miki Matsubara（松原みき）may have exerted a little too much vocal into the recording but every time I hear it, it still takes me back to the time when I was walking through the night time streets of Tokyo as a teenager back in 1981.

One of my very favourite songs from the 80s was also created by Hayashi. "Osaka Bay Blues" from 1982 put the capital 'W' onto wistful as Masaki Ueda（上田正樹）let his emotions seep into the words. The composer has been continuing to create songs well into the new century, but I think it was his time working with lyricist Chinfa Kan（康珍化）during this decade (including this song) that stamped his brand.

And whenever I think of the partnership of Hayashi and Kan, Omega Tribe always pops to mind. To be specific, I think about the incarnation of the band with Kiyotaka Sugiyama（杉山清貴）as the lead vocalist. The songwriters' "Summer Suspicion" from 1983 has just about planted itself in my brain as the theme song for the early Omega Tribe years. Because of the Sugiyama-Hayashi-Kan triumvirate, I'm always gonna imagine white sands and ultramarine sky whenever I hear their songs.

Later in that year, Hayashi came up with another soaring Anri（杏里）classic, "Kanashimi ga Tomaranai"  （悲しみがとまらない）which seemed to time warp in from the late 70s. I think it was a foregone conclusion that Hayashi would pair up with one of the queens of summer kayo, and to this day, the words (again by Kan) "I can't stop the loneliness" and that amazing trumpet solo near the end still make the song a nostalgic great in my books.

Speaking about soaring classics, Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）also benefited from the Hayashi-Kan touch with "Kita Wing" from 1984. Considering what I've already put down on the song in its own article, I just wonder if Hayashi had ever wanted to be an adventure travel writer in another life. His ballads may encourage one to take a walk along the beach and sigh, but when he goes uptempo, it's time to get the swimming trunks and the water skis in gear.

As I said at the top, Tetsuji Hayashi is a singer-songwriter, so he has also released his own singles and albums over the decades. One of his own songs is "Touch Me" from his 4th album, "Nine Stories" (1986), and not surprisingly, he's quite the balladeer. Just judging from the above song, I could almost consider him to be the J-David Foster.

I had a chance to buy his second album from 1977 "Back Mirror" when I was at the Shibuya Tower Records last month, but let the opportunity slide. I'll see if I can get it sometime for Xmas, though. And certainly, I'll be taking a look at some of his many, many compositions for other singers as well. Hayashi has continued to make music up to the present day, but I'll always associate his best stuff with the late 70s and 80s.

KurikaMaki -- Kuma to Nadeshiko (クマトナデシコ)

It’s just very rewarding that after a tiring day I was able to discover a cool new aidoru song while watching a special edit with some performances of this year’s TOKYO IDOL FESTIVAL (that’s the show you need to keep an eye out for if you want to catch up with the newest aidoru acts). That’s how I felt after watching “Kuma to Nadeshiko” by ex-duo KurikaMaki (くりかまき). Now, they're a trio named AyumiKurikaMaki (あゆみくりかまき). And guess what? The name of the group is just composed of the girls first names, so nothing very fancy here.

“Kuma to Nadeshiko” was released in March 2014, and it’s just a fun Technopop song with a catchy chorus and lots of lively synths. Besides the main synth melody, I really like how they incorporated video game-like synths when the girls were aternatingly singing the verses.

The video is also very fun and entertaining for a fairly unknown aidoru unit. The two girls that were part of the unit at the time are wearing cute bear costumes (they even have one for summer and other for winter), which I discovered later it’s their gimmick (another gimmick is that they’re DJ unit). Also, the dancing parts are truly enjoyable, but one awkward thing caught my eyes... the scene where the girls have to lick the sword. First off, I interpretated they’re bears enjoying a good meal coming from the bamboo stick, but I soon realized they don’t seem like panda bears, which kind of invalidate this thesis. Well, I just think they could have been less racy here, huh?

“Kuma to Nadeshiko” reached #41 on the Oricon charts. Lyrics were written by kyon, while music was composed by y0c1e. As for the arrangement, APPAZY & U.M.E.D.Y were the responsibles.

Anri -- Last Love （ラスト ラブ）

I was listening to Anri's（杏里）"My Favorite Songs 2" which came out in December 1991. I actually purchased it some years after its release since I popped the disc into my dearly departed Onkyo in my Ichikawa apartment.

Just about all of the tracks on the disc were songs that I have heard many times before but I simply wanted to get a CD that had all of Anri's later hits in one neat package. I ended up snoozing through the second half of the session...wasn't being insulting here; I like Anri a lot but she has a number of relaxing songs and I was lying on my comfy sofa at the time.

Then, I just happened to come out of dreamtime when the final track, a song that I had yet to hear for the first time, started wafting from the speakers. And it was truly one of the nicest songs that I had the opportunity to wake up to. This wasn't the musical equivalent of a jolt of a mug of steaming coffee. Nope, this was the foodie-comforting aroma of bacon frying on the pan. It's rather interesting to describe a lovely Anri ballad this way, but hey, that's the way I call it.

This gentle slice of R&B first came out as her 27th single in November 1991 and as the theme song for the NTV drama, "Kekkon Shinai kamo shirenai Shokogun"（結婚しないかもしれない症候群...May-Not-Marry Syndrome）. Anri composed and wrote "Last Love", and listening to it, it sounds like it came from a page from the playbook of Toshiki Kadomatsu（角松敏生）, her old songsmith from the early 80s. The soft R&B and the mellow horns may have reminded the fans of those early years in the singer-songwriter's career. I don't think it ever came out as a track on an original album but it was on this BEST album and probably is on some of her other compilations. As a single, it peaked at No. 14.

During my visit to Tokyo last month, I was able to go to my old
apartment near Minami-Gyotoku Station on a rainy day. It's the one on the 3rd floor and I
noticed it looked papered up. I guess after living there for
17 years, the real estate company must have
retired it. Some good memories there!

LÄ-PPISCH -- Payapaya （パヤパヤ）

(short version)

Well, when it comes to J-Ska, it isn't necessarily only Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra. Back in the Gunma days, I used to see this Toyota commercial which featured this bouncy tune and in the corner was the name LÄ-PPISCH. I didn't even know how to pronounce this name, let alone know anything else about this ska group.

As it is, it sounds like repisshu according to the katakana（レピッシュ）name. The group was formed all the way back in 1983 but didn't make its major debut until September 1987, and it was with this same bouncy tune that I heard as a campaign song for the Toyota Starlet as the decade turned. "Payapaya". Vocalist and trumpeter MAGUMI wrote the lyrics exhorting all listeners to bop about and party as if it were 1999. Guitarist Kyoichi Sugimoto（杉本恭一）came up with the fun beat....love the intro trumpets, by the way.

The current lineup for LÄ-PPISCH is MAGUMI, Sugimoto and bassist TATSU. Up to this date, the group has released 14 singles and 12 studio albums.

And the above is the commercial where I first heard "Payapaya". I hope no one was injured.

Hiroshi Uchiyamada & The Cool Five/Kiyoshi Maekawa -- Tokyo Sabaku (東京砂漠)

One could say it was like a desert here in Singapore last month, you know almost if you take away the sweltering humidity that made things worse. Sure it was October, but frankly it doesn't really make a difference down here... well, the weather should have gotten cooler... should.

I digress. Moving on, having desert in its name, the Hiroshi Uchiyamada & Cool Five (内山田洋とクール・ファイブ) hit from 1976 'Tokyo Sabaku' (Tokyo desert) pretty much sticks to the title in terms of its music. Brought to you by the former and late leader of the Mood Kayo group, Hiroshi Uchiyamada, it has quite the stereotypical Arabian twist to it. It starts off somewhat slow with Kiyoshi Maekawa (前川清) singing each word with a certain gentleness and emphasis before it all builds up to the intense chorus.

In terms of its lyrics, written by Ou Yoshida (吉田旺), I was quite surprised to find out that 'Tokyo Sabaku' is a love song! Well, I never thought it was because of the music... ... The desert part is a metaphor of course, you're not going to be able to find mounds of sand in the middle of the most populated city in Japan any time soon. It kinda represents the city being cold and heartless, including its people and yet this fellow loves it. Why? Because she is there. Quite a heartwarming song if you know what it's about. I managed to find the translation on 'lyricstranslate.com', you can take a look at it here.

'Tokyo Sabaku' is one of the Cool Five's hits, peaking at 19th place on the Oricon charts. Out of the Cool Five's 11 appearances on the Kohaku, the song was sung once in 1976. Then Mae-Kiyo himself sang the song solo 3 times in his 18 appearances... well the 3rd time in 2008 was with the remaining 4 fellows from the group. So in total, 4 times. It was also the commercial jingle for this company by the name of 'DIA KENSETSU' (ダイア建設株式会社), as well as in a recent 'Calpis Oasis' commercial (some drink thing).

As I've just mentioned, Maekawa does sing this song solo quite often, just like tonight on Kayo Concert... yes, I was more than happy to see the guy on TV again.

And here's the 'Calpis Oasis' commercial from 2013... I would say its bizarre - look, you can see a camel on 2 legs there holding a bottle of the drink - but frankly, I think it just has that usual dosage of weirdness in Japanese commercials. But that cute Mae-Kiyo grin at the end though... ... What? Did I say cute? What I meant to say was... ... Eh, I got nothing...

"Sexy".

                                                                            www.nicovideo.jp

Fantastic Plastic Machine -- Never Ever

I just remembered this happy bouncy instrumental piece by Fantastic Plastic Machine since this was one of the accompanying songs with his 4th single, "Why Not?" from 2002. Again like the main single, "Never Ever" doesn't really sound like Shibuya-kei per se but it's more of a technopoppy (emphasis on poppy) fling through a sunny park. I wouldn't be surprised if it has been used over the years as a montage piece of music on a variety show or even on a drama.

This version has some vocals in it, although I don't think they are really necessary.