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.
I found this just about a week ago while flipping through the YouTube pages with Kiyoshi Maekawa (前川清) in the search engine. Among the many live performances of Cool Five classics and some of his own recent solo efforts, I managed to come across the video for "Fiction no Youni" that played the song in its original state. It's actually quite uncommon to find such videos since most of them with Mae-Kiyo's older songs are usually just one of those karaoke covers, much to my ire.
Anyway, inferring from the song's name, I kinda guessed that it wouldn't be close to the genre he's most known for, Mood Kayo, let alone Enka. "Fiction no Youni" sounds so Pop-like and looks like a song title straight from the mind of Aska. Nevertheless, I assumed this would probably have a slow, relaxed pace with an air of mystery to it. So you could say I was more than surprised to hear synths (in a Mae-Kiyo song?!) and a brisk tune, very typical of songs from the early 80's. It still has that air of mystery to it though, especially since he starts off in a cool, quiet tone... actually it doesn't get as intense at the later parts either, unlike other songs... lookin' at you, "Soshite Kobe" (そして、神戸).
Composed by the late Daisuke Inoue (井上大輔) from the Group Sounds group, Jackey Yoshikawa and his Blue Comets - the one who played the flute or sax - I think this was one other single that made Maekawa eventually known for singing songs that lean more to the genre of Pop. It was written by Ichiko Takehana (竹花いち子).
He looked "derpy" yet somewhat cute in the 80's.
Urgh, but that hairdo...
About the better part of a year ago, I told you about this really mellow-sounding band with the whimsical name of Mother Goose and one of their songs "Boekifu ni Sarasarete"（貿易風にさらされて）. I really liked the summery sheen of it and the fact that it was given a blessing by one of the band's heroes, Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）made it pretty easy to include it in the blog. Furthermore, at the time I wrote it, Toronto was going through one of the worst winters in recent memory...I definitely wanted to bring something warmer to the proceedings on that day.
Well, guess what? We're just into the New Year of 2015 and once again as I'm writing this, Toronto is getting hit with another barrage of the white stuff, although this winter hasn't been nearly as bad as the one last year. Therefore, it's nice to find out that I could bring in the B-side to "Boekifu ni Sarasarete", "Marine Blue". Just as a reminder, this was part of Mother Goose's final single released in November 1977. And once more it was written by Mayumi Kaneda（金田真由美）and composed by Yumiko Kyoda（京田由美子）, both members of the band.
Whereas the A-side represented that pleasant windswept drive down the highway toward the seaside house, "Marine Blue" was the theme song for just rocking gently in that hammock behind the house. It's just a relaxing and laidback ballad to drink that Perrier to. I'm not sure how Mother Goose did on Oricon or any other of the metrics whereby a band's success can be measured but I wouldn't mind trying to get one of their two albums. Could be rather rare, though.
This is a dusky shot of Ito.
It's looking for a City Pop album to become
its cover.
I recall somewhat that Hikaru Utada's（宇多田ヒカル）5th single, "Wait and See ~ Risk" and the accompanying music video got a huge amount of hype up to its release. Not quite sure why since the period between it and her previous single, "Addicted to Love" wasn't all that different from the times between her other singles. Perhaps it may have been the fact that it was the first single of the singer-songwriter in 2000 or that the video was something special or the fact that it had been groomed by American producers extraordinaire, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis.
In any case, if my memory serves me correctly, the hype was such that I think the old news program on TV Asahi, "News Station" even had a "world premiere" of sorts of that video which I did catch. It featured a very svelte Utada (plus two clones) and a cool-as-AKIRA speeder scooting around the empty streets of Shibuya, Tokyo. I've actually been in an empty Shibuya around 3:30 a.m. one time after a massively long 6-hour session of karaoke. If it hadn't been for the sounds of hardy and hearty buskers in various spots on the streets toward Shibuya Station, I would have been rather freaked out.
In all honesty, "Wait and See" was an OK song but didn't have quite an impact on me as had "Automatic"or her later hit, "Travelin'". Still, the studio that was responsible for the the single, Toshiba EMI, was probably in Seventh Heaven as it shipped out over a million copies in preparation for the onslaught of ravenous Utada fans, and even when it was released in April 2000, it still had to take in a further 300,000 extra orders. I'm sure everyone waited and saw....and just marveled at the discs flying off the shelves.
Getting to No. 1 on Oricon was a foregone conclusion, and it eventually became the 3rd-ranked song of the year. In total, the song sold a little over 1.6 million copies. "Wait and See" would also become part of Utada's 2nd album, "Distance" which was released in March 2001 and became the top-selling album of the year.
No speeder bikes yet
but Shibuya is still plenty cool.
"Pearl Pierce", Yumi Matsutoya's（松任谷由実）13th original album from June 1982, was one of my targets of purchase when I went over to Japan this past October on the strength of what was basically the title track "Shinju no Pierce"（真珠のピアス）and that fascinating green cover. I could get it very easily at Yamano Music in Ginza.
According to J-Wiki, "Pearl Pierce" is apparently Yuming's favourite album (I would still go with "No Side" and "Love Wars" for my own favourite albums by her), and the overall theme is about the life of the female company (office lady -- OL) employee in the big city. As I've mentioned in one of the other articles involving Yuming, the veteran singer-songwriter has always enjoyed using her observations of women and their situations to incorporate them into her lyrics which might explain why she loves this album so much.
(not the original but a cover by Miki Imai)
The first track is "Yokoso Kagayaku Jikan e"（ようこそ輝く時間へ...Welcome to the Shining Time）which was supposed to have been inspired by a ride on the Sky Flower at Korakuen Amusement Park in central Tokyo. When I hear it though, I'm reminded of an expression that I used to hear from a few of my teaching colleagues back in rural Gunma which was "Neon ga yonderu"（ネオンが呼んでる）, and it was accompanied by a humourous gesture reminiscent of jazz hands. I guess the closest translation for the expression would be "The bright lights and big city are beckoning", and the song strikes me as somewhat of a lyrical invitation for the young to reap the benefits of a night painting the town red. Considering the decade, the temptation must have been mighty attractive for the ladies after work.
One other notable thing about Track 1 is that the opening slightly mesmerizing guitar riff sounds a lot like the one which starts off the title track from Quincy Jones'"The Dude".
"Lunchtime ga Owaru koro"（ランチタイムが終わる頃...Around the End of Lunchtime）has been reported to be 80s aidoruYoko Minamino's（南野陽子）favourite Yuming tune, and it also has a specific Tokyo setting, Hibiya Park. The OL in question is having lunch on a bench there, and the music is suitably quieter and more contemplative. Yuming picks up on some of the tropes of having that bento solo: heading into the crowded restaurant, preparing to hear that chime in the office building signalling the end of lunch and even lightly pounding those back muscles to get all warmed up again for the afternoon part of work at the desk.
"Focus"（フォーカス）is a mid-tempo groove fest about the employee getting all excited about that long-hoped-for first date with a guy she knew back in high school. She thought she'd lost sight of him once graduation happened but fate lent a helping hand in having them meet up again, and by the sound of the music, it looks like they may end up going to one of those skyscraper-top restaurants (Italian or French) with that lovely nighttime view.
(karaoke version)
One of the songs from Side B of the original LP, "DANG DANG" was one that I actually first heard on a BEST album, "Neue Musik". Like the rest of the tracks for "Pearl Pierce" though, this was never an official single. The title was always rather intriguing to me...kinda sounding like a repeated admonition from an old Western. However, in this song it's used as a steely mantra after a woman has just been rejected on the phone by a guy she has eyes for with the guy simply stating "You're not my type". The woman then vows to do her mightiest to get over the heartbreak and stay somehow in touch with the fellow...as long as the other woman doesn't know about it. I'd always wondered why Yuming really put the vocal emphasis on the title, and I guess it's her way of showing how determined the protagonist is in getting back on that saddle.
(cover version)
The one new track that really struck a chord with me was the 2nd-last track, "Shousoku"（消息...Contact）. It's as if Yuming was channeling her inner Carly Simon and/or David Foster with a ballad that just has the words "romantic" and "wistful" soaking into her words and music. The OL is on a platform when she sees that special someone she used to know or never got to know on the other side waiting for the next train. If it were the dead of winter, the sighs would be extra smoky.
Well, "Pearl Pierce" struck a chord with fans when it did come out. It hit No. 1 on the album charts and became the 9th-ranked album of the year, winning a Best Album prize along with efforts by Miyuki Nakajima（中島みゆき）and Southern All Stars（サザン・オール・スターズ）at the 1982 Japan Record Awards.
Hope you all had a good and restful Holidays. For me, it was the usual getting together with old friends and family for noshing inside and outside the home. For New Year's Day, I made it a point to steer clear of the Net and just stick to some reading and watching the polarizing "Cloud Atlas" before my brother's family came over for the special dinner of o-sechi and tons of fatty tuna sashimi.
But of course, it wouldn't be a J-Canuck New Year's without watching and videotaping the annual Kohaku Utagassen (No. 65 for 2014). Since my brother doesn't get TV Japan in his household, we played the tape on the old VCR (yep, we still have one), and it was telling how much of it we fast-forwarded through and where we stopped...which was the enka portions of the show. I would've been far more lenient but my parents and brother had control of the remote. Still, good to hear Shinichi Mori（森進一）, Sayuri Ishikawa（石川さゆり）and Hiroshi Itsuki（五木ひろし）doing their hits again.
The notable thing, though, was the BIG surprise of the broadcast. And it wasn't seeing Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）and Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）again (we had a few weeks' notice of the former, and a few days' notice of the latter), though it was great to do so. Nope, the shock was hearing the hosts announcing the appearance of Southern All Stars（サザンオールスターズ）coming onto the Kohakufor the first time in 31 years! There was an audible gasp from the audience....something that I had never heard before.
As I mentioned for the SAS article, "Chako no Kaigan no Monogatari"（チャコの海岸物語）, there was some history between Keisuke Kuwata（桑田佳祐）and NHK...bad-blooded history...that had Southern All Stars basically refusing to have anything more to do with the annual New Year's Eve special for years and years. However, apparently, there has been some thawing out of this NHK/Kuwata Cold War, and we got to see Southern All Stars perform again in concert. I mentioned on my Twitter account that Kuwata even looked quite gracious on stage. Perhaps, everything is good now.
But seeing Southern All Stars doing what they do best on stage at the Kohaku on New Year's Eve2014 had me reminiscing about New Year's Eve 1983 on the 34th Kohaku Utagassen. That was when the band had their last official appearance singing "Tokyo Shuffle". Now at the time, I had no idea about SAS' biggest hits such as "Katte ni Sinbad"（勝手にシンドバッド）or "Itoshi no Ellie"（いとしのエリー）, and so I only had their Kohaku performances of "Chako" and "Tokyo Shuffle" as my only knowledge of them. I just wondered if these guys were more of a novelty band than anything else.
And compared to their usual summery songs, "Tokyo Shuffle" was quite the different animal. As I saw Kuwata, Yuko Hara（原由子）and the rest of the gang come strutting out as if they had just come from the set of "Guys and Dolls", the lead guy looked like a mix of Legs Diamond and Ziggy Stardust while he channeled the Jazz Age. Kuwata was the one who wrote and composed their 19th single as a tribute to all things Early Showa with a shoutout to Benny Goodman and all those flappers dancing away at the speakeasy. It was released in early November 1983 so it was quite the thing that Southern All Stars got to appear on the Kohaku a little less than 2 months later. As it was, it wasn't all that big a hit for the band since it only peaked at No. 23. The single was also a track on the album, "Yuko Hara with Southern All Stars" (released on the same day as the single) as well as their 1989 BEST album, "Suika"（すいか...Watermelon）.
It may not have been the usual Southern All Stars song but "Tokyo Shuffle" still has that cheeky playfulness Kuwata is famous for.
As I've said before, 2014 had offered many good Enka songs. And I consider Eisaku Ohkawa's (大川栄策) "Abare Funa Uta" one of them. I'd heard of the guy via his breakthrough single "Sazanka no Yado" (さざんかの宿), which was rather mellow and elegant sounding despite the fact that the man himself looked so gruff. However, it never actually left a strong impression on me and it only allowed me to acknowledge the existance of this new (to me) Enka singer.
His newest single on the other hand (released on 27th August 2014) first caught my attention by being up and around the Top 10 in the weekly Enka-yo Oricon list. It apparently stayed on for a solid 10 weeks and the highest it got was 49th place on the regular charts. So since it seemed like it had a pretty good reputation, I thought I'd give it a listen.
The next thing that drew me closer to "Abare Funa Uta" during the listen was its rollicking and fairly manly tune, especially with the electric guitar revving away and the thumping drums. I have no clue what the song is about... I'm guessing it has something to do with boats, or probably some sea-shanty-like thing since "Funa uta" means "Boat song". Ohkawa also goes, "Ha su choi choi!" after the chorus, which sounds like something a sailor would yell out while on the high seas trawling for some fish. (Update from 4/1/15, courtesy of J-Canuck) Turns out the song's about a guy who'd rather spend his time out at sea rather than staying dry on land. Not a landlubber huh?
"Abare Funa Uta" had its lyrics done by Osamu Yoshioka (吉岡治) and was composed by the late Shousuke Ichikawa (市川昭介).
Seriously, scarves seemed to be "in" at that point in time.
Even Ichiro Toba wore one in "Shigure tabi"!
But dang, Ohkawa looks pretty cool in this picture.
Last night I finally had the chance to view the annual Kohaku Uta Gassen for the very first time. Although I sat through a mind-numbing 4 hours of musical acts with most of them being those I usually couldn't be bothered with, only waiting for a specific few to come on, I must at least say that the performers all seemed to give it their all.
What impressed me the most was Kouhei Fukuda's (福田こうへい) rendition of "Tokyo gorin ondo" (東京五輪音頭), with the petite guy in a white kimono up on a platform with dancers dressed in the Olympic colours prancing around below, as he warbled away in a way that made me think it was the late Haruo Minami (三波春夫) singing it! And then the acts I had been waiting very, very patiently for: Hiroshi Itsuki (五木ひろし) singing his breakthrough hit "Yokohama Tasogare" (よこはま・たそがれ) in memory of lyricist, Yoko Yamaguchi (山口洋子). A while later came Sayuri Ishikawa's (石川さゆり) "Amagi goe" (天城越え) which has been sung for the 9th time as of now. It was amazing, amazingly dramatic, and grand. Kiyoshi Hikawa's chirpy "Choitto kimagure wataridori" (ちょいときまぐれ渡り鳥) didn't hurt either.
Anyway, speaking of Ishikawa and Itsuki, I had encountered a couple of videos (3, to be exact) with the pair doing an energetic medley of hit songs from the 70's. It was quite a while ago since I had found it, so most songs they sung were like Greek to me on the first listen. I did, however, find a couple of the tunes enjoyable. Some examples include Feifei Ouyang's (欧陽菲菲) "Ame no midosuji" (雨の御堂筋), sibling duo Karyudo's (狩人) "Azusa ni go" (あずさ２号), and the song for today, Koji Taira's (平浩二) "Bus Stop".
During the medley, the original singers of the songs were not mentioned, so I had no idea who the original singer of "Bus Stop" was. And of course, being lazy, I hadn't actually bothered to look it up even though I had tried to make a mental note on that. It was only until the "Mood Kayo Special" on Kayo Concert just a couple of months back did I finally see and listen to the original by Taira, who was decked out in a sparkly, silver, sequined top that made him look disco ball. That also made him stand out from the other more regularly dressed Mood Kayo All Stars.
Weird yet amusing wardrobe choice aside, with his smooth vocals he delivered "Bus Stop" well. After a somewhat dramatic start, the score, along with Taira's voice continues rather gently, which slowly gets more and more intense as it builds up to the chorus. This was composed by Masahiko Aoi (葵まさひこ), and the lyrics were written by Kazuya Senke (千家和也). Apparently the "bus stop" that's being featured here in the song is supposed to be the bus terminal at the Shibuya train station's east exit.
Not surprisingly, "Bus Stop" became Taira's biggest hit, peaking at 11th in 1972 and selling around 800 000 copies. This hit came 3 years after his debut in 1969. Taira coincidentally hails from the same city in the same prefecture as Kiyoshi Maekawa (前川清), that being Sasebo, Nagasaki and the 2 were classmates in Primary and Secondary school (Elementary, Middle).
Here's the video of that Ishikawa-Itsuki medley where I first heard of "Bus Stop". It's the last one they sang in the video, but you can enjoy the other classics first.
And if you want to see a rare moment of Itsuki shaking his behind to Pink Lady's "Pepper Keibu" (ペッパー・警部) with Ishikawa, you can take a look at part 2.
blogs.yahoo.co.jp
Ah yes, and have a great new year ahead you guys (readers and bloggers alike)... ... Huh, I just realised that this is my first article of the year.
