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.
It was quite the time at the end of the century for Japanese popular music. Things were starting to break out in bona fide R&B. Misia and bird were making an impression with their soulful voices and then later on came some of these hip-hop/rap units such as Bennie K and Diggy Mo'. And within the mix, there was m-flo. J-Pop, meet m-flo (sorry...couldn't help it).
Most of my entries on the J-R&B unit have dealt with their "m-flo loves..." projects. However, the one song that has kept playing over and over again in my memory has been their 2nd single from December 1998. The video for "been so long" may have had Taku, Verbal and Lisa strutting around like some hybrid of the Beastie Boys and hip-hoppers from Edmonton but what they were singing sounded like some good old-fashioned soul from a decade or so back. I think it was Lisa's sweet vocals and that underlying keyboard which could have been inspired by "Just the Two of Us" by Grover Washington Jr. that had my attention. In any case, it's one of my favourite songs from that early J-R&B era.
Surprisingly, the single itself didn't seem to chart but m-flo's debut album from February 2000"Planet Shining" which had "been so long" peaked at No. 6 and went Double Platinum. The DJ Hasebe remix version on the 1999"the tripod e.p." got as high as No. 9 on the charts.
Part II of my "Memories of My Standout Singers" series has me thinking about all of the Japanese singers that I first discovered via episodes of the radio program "Sounds of Japan" that aired on Toronto's CHIN-FM during the 1970s and 1980s. I recollect that my parents had it on when I was still not too keyed into kayo kyoku as an elementary school student but once I finally caught the kayo bug after the trip to Japan in 1981, I was far more focused on the program to the extent that I started taping episodes on cheap Canadian Tire Mastercraft audio tapes, as you can see above.
A couple of observations that I have about this list of singers: 1) Unlike my list from Part 1, the singers I fell for on "Sounds of Japan" were obviously not seen but simply heard. There were no sights of young kids prancing about in frilly dresses or striped shirts & blue jeans and I would have no idea about how any of these singing ladies and gentlemen looked like for several years. For example, I wouldn't know the appearance of Kazumasa Oda（小田和正）from Off Course until I saw him on TV while I was in Japan on the JET Programme in 1989! It was the pure music I fell in love with.
2) Thanks to "Sounds of Japan", I could encounter a musical world in Japan that didn't necessarily include aidoru or enka singers. Wonderful pop that didn't sound like anything from either of those genres and yet didn't sound like anything I knew in the West entered and enchanted my ears. Plenty of audio gold was to be mined over the years.
My list is a bit longer than the one for 1981. Initially, I had intended to just keep to the six entries but, heck, I just couldn't help myself.
1. Mariya Takeuchi （竹内まりや）
Couldn't tell whether this was Mariya or Mario singing "September". I just couldn't tell because of that lower register. Still, this was the song that hooked me into Ms. Takeuchi's brand of non-aidoru but peppy pop. It had that bit of disco but I don't think I had ever heard of anything like this in the West.
2. Iruka（イルカ）
The warm and crumply voice of Iruka singing "Ame no Monogatari"（雨の物語）was the one that convinced me that there was a world beyond the usual guests on "The Top 10" or "The Best 10". The electric guitar, the shimmering strings and of course that voice of hers did the trick for me.
3. Junko Yagami（八神純子）
Iruka's voice was warmly crumply but Junko Yagami's（八神純子）was a sonic boom. Her huge hit "Mizuiro no Ame"（みずいろの雨）followed immediately after "Ame no Monogatari" and added to my impression that there was some fine pop music to be had in Japan. I would later learn that she was one of my guides into New Music and City Pop.
4. Off Course (オフコース)
Unfortunately, the above video isn't of the original version of "Aki no Kehai"（秋の気配）but it was that original version (actually, it is now) that first attracted me to the charms of this folk-turned-pop band. As I said at the top, I didn't see what these guys actually looked like until many years later and by then, Off Course had already broken up with the leader well on his way to carve a very successful solo career.
5. Higurashi（日暮し）
(cover version by YO-EN)
This group may not have hit the huge heights of Anzen Chitai（安全地帯）or Off Course but their "Aki no Tobira"（秋の扉）still remains the reason why I became a devoted follower of "Sounds of Japan". I was always looking forward to hear that next wonderful uptempo song or ballad in any new episode since this song hit my ears...and it literally took me decades to finally track down the title and name of the band.
6. Yumi Matsutoya（松任谷由実）
Yep, it was the radio program that first introduced me to Yumi Matsutoya via "Dandelion". I wasn't instantly hooked although "Dandelion" was a pretty enough ballad but her songs were regular entries on the show, so it wasn't too long before I became a fan and then started purchasing her many CDs.
7. Mariko Takahashi （高橋真梨子）
Actually, "for you..." wasn't the first song by chanteuse Mariko Takahashi（高橋真梨子） that I had heard on "Sounds of Japan". It was actually the second one but regrettably the first one has yet to grace a YouTube video. In either case, her vocals and the arrangement of her songs simply struck me as being incredible.
8. Mieko Nishijima（西島三重子）
Nishijima was also another one of those underrated singers that seemed to have a regular home on the radio show thanks to the hosts which meant that I could hear a fair number of her songs. I still have a soft spot for "Hoshi Meguri"（星めぐり）which is half-summer ballad and half-lullaby. The audio on the tape was extremely scratchy for this particular episode but I still loved listening to this song.
I recalled from my tribute to the works of Rokusuke Ei（永六輔）the other day about how much he had loved radio to the very end of his life...probably both as a listener as well as a broadcaster. Up to this point, I have only had the one role but even as a listener, but I still cherish those Saturday nights taping and hearing all that great music on "Sounds of Japan".
Over the weekend, I finally managed to get my final year report off my back. Well, fine, it's only a full draft and I can't completely wash my hands off this nightmare spawn of a project on clown fish breeding yet, but I did feel a huge sense of relief and accomplishment as the last sentence was typed. And I think Kiyoshi Maekawa's (前川清) "Kanashimi no Owari ni" can sum up this ordeal quite nicely.
While I had "Kanashimi no Owari ni" in my Mae-Kiyo playlist ever since I got my first Mae-Kiyo album, I admit that, for a long time until now, I wasn't able to appreciate it fully. I listened to it a couple of times on days where I felt more adventurous - it was indeed a nice song music-wise - but that was about it. It was only recently when I began paying attention to the lyrics, brought to you by Shizuka Ijuin (伊集院静). From what I understand, our main character is going through a real rough patch in his life as he tries to come to terms of not having the love of his life by his side, and he can't wait for his sadness to end. Don't worry, guy, I can't wait for my project to end too. But the good thing for us both - or minimally me - is that the light can be seen at the end of the tunnel.
Moving on, composing the tune was Mae-Kiyo's frequent collaborator, Takashi Tsushimi (都志見隆). The song starts of soft and forlorn with just the strings and piano, combined with the kayo singer's delicate delivery. That part seems to show the character in his rough patch. Then things pick up at the chorus and the intense vocals I know Mae-Kiyo for come back, and that's where the character sees hope that his sadness will come to an end and that he will be able to smile again.
"Kanashimi no Owari ni" was released on 9th May 2012 and the highest it got on the Oricon charts was 77th place.
P.S. I do have one more item regarding my trip to Japan that I'd like to talk about, but I'm going to hold that one off for a while until I have more time. I'm going to try my hand at one of those "The Works Of..." articles J-Canuck has been doing.
I'm gonna end up sounding like that ol' K-Tel record guy on TV but do you remember this oldie? Yep, this is "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini" and it was one of those really ancient bubblegum pop novelty tunes from June 1960 that I would hear only on those K-Tel commercials and episodes of "Happy Days". That title line is the only line that I remember but I finally found out who recorded this. It was by a fellow named Brian Hyland and the record hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts in the USA and did very well in other countries as well. The song with the very descriptive title was created by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss.
And last night, I was surprised to find out on "Uta Con"（うたコン）that the Japanese had covered this one as well with their own lyrics. Titled slightly shorter as "Bikini Style no Ojosan" (The Bikini-Styled Young Miss), translator/lyricist Tokiko Iwatani（岩谷時子）provided the Japanese words to this song covered by the band Danny Iida and the Paradise Kings (ダニー飯田とパラダイス・キング) in October 1960.
Since the record was released in the pre-Oricon era, its measure of success was through the journal "Music Life" via its section on the songs that were selling the most in Tokyo. "Bikini Style no Ojosan" ranked 2nd in December 1960, just behind the No. 1"Kanashiki Rokujuu Sai"（悲しき六十才...Sad at 60）which just happened to be another hit by the Kings. A month later, "Bikini Style no Ojosan" finally hit the top spot.
The main vocalist for the song was the late Susumu Ishikawa（石川進）. As for the band itself, it started its history in 1955 when it was known as Danny Iida and the Paradise Harmony and mostly centered on Hawaiian music. The band took on its current name the following year and made its switch to rock n' roll in 1958. It also built on its reputation as a band that established the genre Yakushi Pops（訳詞ポップス）or Translated Pop and at around that time, a lot of the Japanese popular music consisted of Japanese-language covers of some of the big hits in the USA and the UK. What is also notable about the band is that it has had a lot of members come and go over the decades, but early on, the Kings had also included singers Hiroshi Mizuhara（水原弘）and even Kyu Sakamoto（坂本九）for a while. Danny Iida, by the way, was the band member on the steel guitar.
Although Mariko Takahashi's（高橋真梨子）7th single, "Yoake no Lullaby" translates as "Dawn Lullaby", it still feels like something to be listened to in the evening hours. I got to hear this again while I put on that ancient concert tape by Ms. Takahashi called "More 5th Love Affair" which I got as a souvenir from Mom after she and Dad had returned from their long overdue trip to Japan back in the mid-1980s.
It's awfully hard to find original Mariko material online outside of the usual YouTube videos of her singing "Gomen ne"（ごめんね…）and "For You", so I'm even happy to get cover versions of her other songs. And "Yoake no Lullaby" is an interesting and pleasant ballad that probably not a lot of folks other than her really die-hard fans know about. It's a bluesy jazz tune that only someone with sultry and smoky vocals can handle convincingly (my compliments to the person who sang this cover) but it also has that hint of reggae in there. Quite a pleasant fusion song.
"Yoake no Lullaby" was written by Machiko Ryu（竜真知子）and composed by Takahashi's husband, Henry Hirose（ヘンリー広瀬）. The single was released in November 1981. It was also the first track on her 5th album from October the same year, "Lovendow".
My anime buddy and I had our regular phone chat last night during which I told him that during last week's episode of "Uta Kon"（うたコン）, seiyuu/singer Nana Mizuki（水樹奈々）had appeared in a summer yukata to perform this old kayo that I heard for the first time titled "Tsuki ga Tottemo Aoi Kara" (Since the Moon is So Blue). I knew that she was trained to sing enka but after all the years of hearing her in anime and viewing those performances of her on the Kohaku Utagassen in rock princess mode, it was still refreshing to see Mizuki do an old-style song. And she got quite the appreciative applause from the audience. She's been popping up on the NHK broadcasts a fair bit so I'm wondering if she is thinking of making the transition to enka and general kayo kyoku...maybe not, her fans probably still want her in those platform boots and black lacy dresses rockin' out on the stage.
But going to the original singer for the jaunty "Tsuki ga Tottemo Aoi Kara", this was Tsuzuko Sugawara（菅原都々子）. The song was first released in 1955 and was treated as a musical catalyst for change where the singer was concerned. Born in 1927 in Aomori Prefecture, Sugawara made her debut in 1937 when she only about 10 years old and gained the reputation as the Queen of Elegies for singing rather melancholy ballads. Her father, Akira Mutsu（陸奥明）, was a singer for the Asakusa Opera who later became a composer. Mutsu decided to send his daughter into a new direction and composed "Tsuki ga Tottemo Aoi Kara" as this happy-go-lucky couple in love taking the long way round to get home while admiring the moon. Minoru Shimizu（清水みのる）provided the happy words.
Mutsu's instincts were spot-on. The song became a huge hit for Sugawara as it sold over a million records. One commenter, Danny Zetel, for Noelle Tham's article on "Seishun Cycling"（青春サイクリング）asked if there were other songs which were just as jolly from the old days. Well, if Danny is reading this, I can definitely recommend this one.
According to the J-Wiki article on the singer, Sugawara has been known for her truly distinct vibrato. I think Nana Mizuki did a fine job with that vibrato during her cover of "Tsuki ga Tottemo Aoi Kara" which would explain all of the accolades.
One other piece of trivia about Sugawara is that she appeared on the first NHK Kohaku Utagassen in 1951 when it was broadcast on radio. In fact, she was the very first singer to perform that night of January 3rd making her the inaugural performer in the nearly 67-year history of the special.
Other singers have also covered the song as well such as Masako Mori（森昌子）, Kaori Mizumori（水森かおり）and Hibari Misora（美空ひばり）.
Japan has already entered Wednesday July 13th 2016 so this is as good a time as any to wish Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）a happy 51st birthday. I hope she is doing well wherever she is on the planet. Of course, if she is still endeavoring to provide music to her fans, then power to her. However at this point, as an old fan of hers, I will just settle for the good wish that she is staying healthy since she seemed so frail when she has made those rare appearances on TV.
I've been asked by a few people who know that I was the big fan of hers when she made that transition from popular aidoru to pop superstar during the 1980s why I wasn't too cognizant about her works since the 1990s. Well, in all honesty, I frankly didn't hear from her all that much since that big comeback in 1990 with "Dear Friend", and that included the time after my arrival back in Japan at the end of 1994. She did release singles and albums but the buzz for them was far lower than during her 80s heyday, and of course, there were a lot of new hit singers and bands hitting the mass media at the time including all those under the Tetsuya Komuro（小室哲哉）umbrella. Plus, what I did hear from her struck me as being a little too maudlin for my tastes, compared to some of the dynamic hits that she'd had the decade before.
However, there was one ballad that stood out for me, and that was released near the end of the century. "Kisei ~ Never Forget" (Homecoming) was Akina's 35th single from February 1998, and it was the theme song for an NTV drama titled "Tsumetai Tsuki"（冷たい月...A Cold Moon） that she co-starred with former aidoru-turned-actress Hiromi Nagasaku（永作博美）from Ribbon which had a 2-month run between January and March of that year. It was Akina's first drama in several years since her starring role in "Sugao no Mama de"（素顔のままで...Just the Way You Are） in 1992 as a young lady from the wrong side of the tracks aspiring to become a dancer, and the show was compared to the movie "Beaches" with Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey.
"Tsumetai Tsuki" was also, at the very least, inspired by another Hollywood flick called "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle" which I did catch at the theatre with friends, not long after I had returned from the JET Programme. I also saw the pilot episode for "Tsumetai Tsuki" and just wondered whether Rebecca DeMornay had given Akina-chan some hints for her character who is definitely a whole lot more unhinged in this show. Definitely the opening credits were notable for having the protagonist and antagonist playing dead in all sorts of scenes. Looks like the tone was set right then and there.
And man, "Kisei" was a song that reflected the mystery and sinister intent of the series. What got me to buy the ballad was the keyboard intro and those shimmering strings which seemed to hint at a gothic horror. Then there were Akina's vocals which really hit the lower registers and had that truly haunting quality. She may have been channeling her doomed character from "Tsumetai Tsuki" after all was said and done as a ghostly cautionary tale, warning all those who would follow in her footsteps of vengeance.
"Kisei" was written and composed by singer-songwriter Yasuhiro Suzu（鈴康寛）while atsuko also co-wrote the lyrics. It did fairly well on Oricon, getting as high as No. 19 and was also a track on Akina's 18th album, "Spoon" which came out in June 1998, peaking at No. 17.
