Megumi Hayashibara -- Makenaide, Makenaide... (負けないで、負けないで…)

http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/nm7691580

I usually cover one of Megumi Hayashibara’s (林原めぐみ) early-to-mid 90s songs when I talk about her here on the blog, but today I decided to write about a song called “Makenaide, Makenaide...”, which she released as a single in September 2003.

When I started listening to Megumi, “Makenaide, Makenaide...” was a song I didn’t care too much, because of its predominant acoustic and light sound. I was a kid at the time, so I only liked to listen to Megumi’s edgy anime songs. However, this feeling changed after some years, and I soon learned to appretiate “Makenaide, Makenaide...” as a beautiful contribution to Megumi’s remarkable singing career.  Also, as the title suggests, it’s a song about being strong and not giving up, which is a somewhat regular theme in Megumi’s repertory.

“Makenaide, Makenaide...” was used as Megumi’s “Heartful Station” (林原めぐみのHeartful Station) radio show theme instead of “Nijiiro no Sneaker” (虹色のSneaker), which was being used as the theme since 1991, when the song was released as her debut major label single.

Here’s Megumi singing a small part of the song live. I just love how beautiful she is with this lip gloss (fanboy mode on).

(I'm sorry but the video has been taken down.)

The “Makenaide, Makenaide...” single reached #8 on the Oricon charts. The song was later included in Megumi’s 2007 album, “Plain”. Lyrics and music were composed by Midori Karashima (辛島美登里), while the arrangement was done by Tomoji Sogawa (十川知司).

Yuko Ogura -- Koi no Jumon wa Papapipupa (恋の呪文はパパピプパ)

NOTE: This is a stock article I wrote in the first days of 2015.

Yuko Ogura (小倉優子) was probably the first aidoru I “met” in 2015. As far as I know, she was a famous gravure aidoru with legendary status in the 00s that also ventured into singing at some point, with varied success.

The first song I heard from her is also the one I present here, a guilty pleasure called “Koi no Jumon wa Papapipupa”, which was the coupling song for the ending theme for the anime “School Rumble” (スクールランブル) in 2004.

A simple, yet effective, cute pop song, “Koi no Jumon ha Papapipupa” is a catchy tune that never overstays its presence with three minutes and around fifteen seconds of duration. Also, even while I was listening to Yuko’s “not so big discography”, I quickly learned that her songs were a mixture of cute aidoru pop with Shibuya-kei influences, which is something quite clear in “Koi no Jumon wa Papapipupa” thanks to Yasuharu Konishi (小西康陽), one of the founding members of Pizzicato Five.

As for Yuko Ogura, well..., she was a gravure aidoru, so we must not expect great things from her singing. The girl was cute, though.

“Koi no Jumon wa Papapipupa” was the b-side of Yuko’s “Onna no ko Otoko no ko” (オンナのコ♥オトコのコ) single, which was released in November 2004. This was her highest charting single, reaching #20 on the Oricon charts. Lyrics, music and arrangement were all done by Yasuharu Konishi.

Source: generasia.com

Aya Sugimoto -- Gorgeous (ゴージャス)

I don’t know, but I can pretty much guess Japan haven’t created any mainstream female singer more outrageous than Aya Sugimoto (杉本彩).

The girl was a very bad singer that came to light around 1988, a time when the old and cute aidoru aesthetic was starting to melt down in what we might call its last breath with acts such as Wink and Noriko Sakai (酒井法子), for example. Meanwhile, ambiguous types of aidoru singers, like the sexy Chisato Moritaka (森高千里) and the edgy Shizuka Kudo (工藤静香), were also emerging around the same time of Aya Sugimoto.

In fact, Aya has always been the more “in-your-face” of the bunch, as Chisato Moritaka, although flashy and sexy, never really meant to create controversy.

Aya started her career with “Boys”, a cover of busty singer Sabrina Salerno’s Italo Disco hit from 1987, which had some memorable scenes of the Italian beauty “accidentally” showing her big breats in a swimming pool. Of course, as this wasn’t something very likely to happen in Japan, Aya’s performance, even though rich in "breast bouncing", was very tame if compared to Sabrina’s more “explicit” video.

https://vimeo.com/13851833

After a somewhat tame start with “Boys”, Aya Sugimoto continued her career as a secondary class aidoru singer, and, in early 1990, she released what’s probably one of her most memorable hits, “B&S” (it was a moderate hit, but, for Aya Sugimoto’s standarts, it was a proper hit). Even though both “B&S” and the coupling song, “GIRL FRIEND”, are both great songs, what’s important for us here is how Aya’s image changed with this release.

The thing is, before “B&S” Aya had a sexy image, but one more natural and “girl next door”. However, starting with the release of “B&S”, and probably thanks to the success of the song, her image became quite raunchier, and that’s where our featured song, called “Gorgeous”, enters in scene.

“Gorgeous” was released as a single by Aya Sugimoto in early November 1990, and, alongside “Usagi” (うさぎ), a song which featured the girl wearing cheap bunny clothes, was one of the main standouts of the “Japanese Dream” album, released in late November 1990.

About the song itself, it’s an Eurodisco song that follows the same formula used by Aya since her debut with “Boys” a couple of years before. The song, with its bouncy sound, combined well with Aya’s choreography, and the outfit, which, by the way, strangely reminded me of one outfit Cher used in her “If I Could Turn Back Time” (1989) video, was obviously one of the main marketing strategies around her for this release.

In the end, “Gorgeous” is one of the highlights in Aya Sugimoto’s not very striking singing career. For me, she’s a very odd type of aidoru singer that, somehow, existed during aidoru’s dark days. And some people believe Namie Amuro (安室奈美恵) started the sexy trend... in all their innocence, they know little or nothing about Aya Sugimoto and other sexy ladies, such as Chisato Moritaka, Minako Tanaka (田中美奈子), Reiko Kato (かとうれいこ) and Akiho Sendo (千堂あきほ), to name a few.

Lyrics for “Gorgeous” were written by Saikure Go -???- (崔呉五), while music was composed by Akihiro Yoshimi (吉実明宏).

Seri Ishikawa/Reiko Kato -- Moonlight Surfer （ムーンライト・サーファー）

I think one of the reasons that the Japanese have been so much in love with Hawaii is surfing. There is nothing more that hints at the pure hedonistic pleasure of leisure than hanging ten on that surfboard on a big wave. And for folks who have often been perceived to approach the act of work like a military mission, hitting the surf must feel like to some as absolute joy.

"Moonlight Surfer" is a song that I've got a couple of copies of. I've got the original by Seri Ishikawa （石川セリ）but over the past Christmas as I was listening to one of my latest acquisitions in the form of "Moonlight Island" by Haruko Kuwana（桑名晴子）, there was a cover of Ishikawa's 8th single from 1979. However, the Kuwana version cannot be found anywhere on the Net but hearing it on the CD was enough for me to talk about the original.

The single may have come out in 1979 but it was originally the first track on Ishikawa's 3rd album, "Kimagure"（気まぐれ...Whimsy）which was released in June 1977. Written and composed by rock singer Haruo Nakamura（中村治雄）, it's about that girl tagging along with her guy who just has this thing for trying to catch that wave at night. There is that hint of 50s in the arrangements, although the tinkling piano intro had me first thinking whether it was Yuming behind the melody as was the case with "Asayake ga Kieru Mae ni"（朝焼けが消える前に）, but it soon became apparent that it musically described that trip down to the beach in that old DeSoto with the surfboards tied up on top.

Marcos V. covered pin-up model-turned-singer/actress/tarento Reiko Kato（かとうれいこ）for her song "Love Motion", and he mentioned about her Eurobeat tunes. Kato's cover of "Moonlight Surfer" had none of that influence, instead going for a slightly reggae beat when it was released as her 3rd single in October 1991. I never knew Kato as a singer since I primarily saw her as a regular on various variety shows on the telly, but she's got a pretty good voice, and especially with her cover here, she does have quite a bit of enthusiasm for the material.

Sorry, only daylight surfers here.

Seiko Matsuda -- Aisaretaino （愛されたいの）

I've wondered whether "Aisaretaino" (Wanna Be Loved) the song actually wanted to be loved itself. I couldn't find any videos of it on YouTube (at least, by the actual singer) and didn't read any notes about it on J-Wiki. And yet, it's one of my favourite songs by Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）.

Written by Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）and composed by Kazuo Zaitsu（財津和夫）of Tulip fame, "Aisaretaino" has that mix of fairly lush fantasy-type arrangement with something a bit more contemporary. Plus, it works perfectly with Seiko-chan's aching aidoru vocals of longing for that guy to either notice her or commit to something deeper. It's about as sweet a Seiko song that I've heard.

The song also seemed to go further and further back in time. I first heard it as a track on Seiko's "Snow Garden" (1987) , and then I came across it again on an earlier album, "Touch Me, Seiko" (1984). Finally, I found out that it was the B-side to her 11th single, "Nobara no Etude"（野ばらのエチュード）from October 1982. The arrangement did sound as if it were more from the early 80s than the late 80s since the singer had already gone for a more mainstream pop sound by that point. In any case, although it might not get quite the love that some of her other bigger hits have received over the decades, I'm still perfectly happy with it. Below is a nice karaoke version of it.

Hideki Saijo -- Hageshii koi (激しい恋)

Watching Hideki Saijo (西城秀樹) dance along to his 9th single, "Hageshii koi", just makes me wonder who was the one who choreographed it. I mean, I've seen some peculiar moves by other Aidoru acts but this one with Saijo lifting a leg and setting it back down with his arms out while doing so is pretty bizarre.

Strange dance moves aside, this was possibly the song that made me more accepting of the dance-worthy music from the high-octane world of Aidoru. Well, Aidoru from the 70's to the 80's to be more specific. It's a fun little tune to listen to with its quick pace and the synths blasting away in sync with Saijo's dancing.

I had listened to the full version of "Hageshii koi" through the video above after encountering it on a music show online - for the life of me, I can't remember the name... Really want to revisit it too! - and since that clip seems like it was taken from a performance during the 80's, Saijo's voice was already more of a man's than that of an adolescent boy, so it was easier on the ears in comparison to the original - sung/released in 1974 when he was only 19. The original score also had some funny, cartoonish sound effects similar to that of someone slipping on a banana peel... Constantly. Now I wonder what musician Koji Mukaino (馬飼野康二) was thinking when he added that into the music! The lyrics were written by the late Kazumi Yasui (安井かずみ).

"Hageshii koi" peaked at 2nd place on the Oricon weeklies and eventually settled at 8th for the year. It also won Saijo the... I think it translates to "Most popular" award at the 7th Japan Cable Awards. This award category was one of the many that have been removed, only lasting for 4 years, from '70 to '74. So in that respect, Saijo got the last one.

amazon.co.jp

Yukari Ito/Sachiko Nishida/Mariya Takeuchi -- Boy Hunt （ボーイ・ハント）

My memories of 1970s television was often punctuated by those commercials for K-Tel Records. Usually, it was a compilation record of the latest disco hits, but the one oldies star that got her own special album by the good folks at K-Tel was none other than Connie Francis. So I got to hear excerpts from her hits like "Stupid Cupid" and "Who's Sorry Now", but the one big tour de force number was "Where The Boys Are", the absolute paean to pining for that guy. The original writers for the song were Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield, and they made it the theme for heartfelt sighs.

Since the song was released back in 1961, there have been a number of cover versions by folks such as LeAnn Rimes and Tracey Ullman. And that was the case as well in Japan. In fact, back in the postwar years before Group Sounds and New Music, a lot of the non-enka singing pop singers were given to performing Japanese-language covers of the Western hits from the USA and the UK. 

With the somewhat saucier title of "Boy Hunt", one singer who covered it was Sachiko Nishida（西田佐知子）. Listening to her version, I imagine her performing it as the finale of a night in a small smoke-filled bar instead of on the beach where I think Francis would be singing her magnum opus. I wasn't able to find out when Nishida's cover was released but knowing how quickly a hit American song could get covered in Japan, I wouldn't be surprised if it had been released in the same year, and considering that the original came out in January, there would have been plenty of time to get the Japanese take out by springtime. I found the Nishida cover on her 2007 5-disc BEST album, "Nishida Sachiko Kayo Dai Zenshu"（西田佐知子歌謡大全集...Sachiko Nishida's Great Kayo Collection）.

Yukari Ito（伊東ゆかり）may just be the Queen of Covers. I bought a double-CD album of her BEST material when I was back in Japan with one disc of original tunes while the other disc had all of her cover versions of non-Japanese stuff. According to one site, her take on the Connie Francis classic was released in 1971 but I'm not sure if that was a re-release. Considering that she debuted in 1958, I would have thought that the powers-that-be would have had her singing the song not too long after the original had come out. In any case, among the kayo kyoku singers who have done their version of "Boy Hunt", Ito is the definitive example.

However, if there were someone else who would be perfect for "Where The Boys Are", that someone would be Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）. Starting out her career back in the late 1970s with original songs done to melodies that seemed to have been woven out of the various incarnations of American pop over 3 decades, performing "Boy Hunt" was pretty much inevitable for her. And her take is absolutely luscious...she would be that girl in the poodle skirt looking out her bedroom window into the moon. I heard her cover through the last BEST compilation I got from her, "Expressions" from 2008, although it was originally on "Longtime Favorites", her album of covers from 2003.

Actually, this whole article was inspired by yet another cover version by the girl group Go-Bangs. But unfortunately, I couldn't find their take anywhere on the Net, although it was the coupling song to their biggest hit, "Ai ni Kite I Need You"（あいにきて I Need You） from 1989.

Down at Ito (no connection with Yukari)