Yukihide Takekawa -- Happiness (ハピネス)

It's been a year in which we've received a lot of sad news of famous musicians passing so it's rather nice when I hear good news...and so very close to home. I just found out that one of our former contributors on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", alina, got married today. I sent my congratulations over to her and wish her and her spouse all the best.

As a result, I was rather thinking about what I could do to pay tribute to the occasion.I went over to the Yahoo.jp search engine and punched in for any information on wedding-related kayo. Well, there was actually quite a lot of entries and was thinking about one postwar song but feeling that might be a bit old for alina (she was doing a lot of the 70s and 80s songs), I decided to tighten my search for the appropriate era.

Fortunately, I didn't have to look too far. I came across a lovely and mellow tune by Yukihide Takekawa (タケカワユキヒデ) who was the lead vocal of the folk-pop group Godiego (ゴダイゴ) back in the 1970s. I was surprised to find out that he had actually launched his solo career a year (1974) before his band got started.

His 6th single, "Happiness" was officially released in May 1979 with added English lyrics by Yoko Narahashi（奈良橋陽子）although apparently Takekawa and original lyricist Keisuke Yamakawa（山川啓介）had created the song back in 1975 as a track for his debut album, "Hashirisaru Roman"（走り去るロマン...Passing Pictures） with the Japanese title of "Bokura no Shiawase" (ぼくらのしあわせ...Our Happiness). I'm taking a guess here but I think this one that I've imported is the 1979 edition. And it starts off with a lovely piano before launching into a hopeful melody.

According to the J-Wiki article on "Happiness", although the lyrics contain a message about a couple progressing from the friend stage to walking down the aisle, Takekawa has stated that the song wasn't especially intended to be used for wedding receptions but as a tune telling listeners that they have yet to find true happiness so they have to get on the search. The 1979 edition, by the way, has the other Godiego members participating in the chorus so basically this can be a Godiego song but I will still give credit where it's due and say it is Takekawa's baby.

"Happiness" was also used as a jingle for a Suntory beer commercial in 1979 since of course beer can lead to happiness (at least until the hangover kicks in). Plus, copious amounts are often imbibed at wedding receptions on both sides of the Pacific.

As for that postwar song, I was impressed enough by it that I will talk about it tomorrow. But until then, all the best, alina!

RC Succession -- Transistor Radio (トランジスタ・ラジオ)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/twentyeight10/3395858709/?ytcheck=1
Thanks to Ash Dowie

A couple of my friends who are far more tech-savvy than I ever will be got together with me earlier this week for our seasonal dinners at our usual sports bar. One of the topics of conversation was about the horrible kerfuffle with Samsung's exploding Galaxy Note 7. We all agreed that despite Samsung's current woes that in all likelihood, Japan's electronics makers will not be able to capitalize on the Korean manufacturer's lapse since companies like Sony have all gone into their own quagmires long ago. I really haven't heard anything great from Sony since the PlayStation 1 and that grand invention was 20 years ago.

Even further back was the Sony Walkman. If you were into jogging in that day-glo fashion back then, the Walkman was one of those needed accessories to be seen while all your favourite songs could be heard at a touch of a button. Somewhere in my apartment, a blue Walkman is languishing somewhere as a technological relic of the 20th century. If my niece ever lays eyes on it, she would probably give a look with a message of "Oh...how very quaint". However, I would still be happy to play any of my old tapes on it as long as the internal machinery is still intact.

Maybe that's why I got so nostalgic listening to "Transistor Radio" by rock group RC Succession (RCサクセション). Led by the late colourful Kiyoshiro Imawano（忌野清志郎）, I saw these guys as this glam rock unit with a New Wave bent which would have had me avoid them when I was a teenager since that genre was a tad too extreme for me at the time.

I actually heard this being performed earlier this afternoon on NHK's "Nodo Jiman"（のど自慢）by a middle-aged guy from Fukuyama City in Hiroshima Prefecture, and although he got those "nice-try-but-no-cigar" 2 dings on the bells, I actually liked what he sang. So I decided to give RC Succession a try.

And so here is "Transistor Radio" above which has Imawano bopping about in his light cosmetics and rock wear. Plus, there is that early 80s New Wave-y music but then I see a couple of soprano saxophones playing in the backing band, and I thought that this was certainly not a usual sight for a rock concert. Imawano and some fellow under the moniker of G1,238,471 were responsible for the creation of the cheerful "Transistor Radio" about a teenager skipping school and smoking out his lungs while listening to those great songs from the States and abroad. Yup, good times were had.

The one thing I will always remember about Imawano along with his spiky hair and war paint on his face is his strangulated vocals. Love them or not, they will always identify him. "Transistor Radio" was RC Succession's 11th single from October 1980 and was also a track on the band's special album "EPLP" from June 1981 which peaked at No. 22 on Oricon.

Shigeko Orii -- Kimi no Na wa （君の名は）

OK, first off... this article isn't about the anime "Kimi no Na wa"（君の名は。...Your Name） from this year that has been apparently getting some acclaim. I'm talking about the romantic drama from decades back that had originally been broadcast as a radio drama all the way back in 1952.

As you have probably guessed, I'm not a huge drama watcher although I did have my moments in the 1990s starting with "Tokyo Love Story"（東京ラブストーリー）. However, even I knew about this famous drama titled "Kimi no Na wa" (What's Your Name?) that had its origins on NHK Radio and then was adapted into a movie, a TV drama and even a stage play over the decades.

There's a far more polished article on the drama itself along with similar examples of the weepy sure-chigai (two ships passing in the night...the classic analogy for a romance never meant to be) sub-genre from "The Japan Times", but I can provide the brief synopsis here. A woman, Mariko Ujiie（氏家真知子）, and a man, Haruki Atomiya（後宮春樹）, try to find refuge during the night of the Tokyo Air Raid and spend a brief time together ultimately ending up on the Sukiyabashi Bridge in Ginza. They have to part but promise each other that they will meet again on the same bridge in 6 months' time. Of course, that doesn't come to pass and they don't even give each other their names (D'oh!). In the interim, Mariko and Haruki have to overcome their own surrounding trials and tribulations.

Being a buff of the ancient age of Hollywood, "Kimi no Na wa" reminded me most of "An Affair to Remember" (1957) with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr although the structure of this movie was flipped...not to say that this flick was connected with "Kimi no Na wa" in any way. I'm sure that the final scene for "An Affair to Remember" had the viewers pulling out the hankies, though.

Although the radio broadcast had another singer performing the theme song, it sounds as if "Kimi no Na wa" became famous from the singer performing it for the movie version from 1953 and then recording it onto vinyl, Shigeko Orii（織井茂子）. Orii was born in 1926 in Tokyo's Meguro Ward and became a singer of children's songs while in her teens. Coming under the tutelage of composer Nosho Omura（大村能章）, she graduated into the world of kayo kyoku under the stage name of Yoshiko Miyako（都能子）debuting in 1947 at King Records. However with no hits during that time, the singer decided to start over again in 1949, this time under her real name at Columbia.

In 1953, with her rendition of "Kimi no Na wa", Orii's ship didn't pass her by, it came into port for her. The mournful theme song written by Kazuo Kikuta（菊田一夫）and composed by Yuuji Koseki（古関裕而）struck a national chord and sold anything between 1.1 million to 2 million records. A number of Orii's succeeding singles didn't quite get the same amount of business but still sold very successfully.

Orii would also appear on NHK's Kohaku Utagassen 6 times between 1953 and 1989, each time when the Kohaku was staged at a different place including its current venue of NHK Hall in Shibuya. Two of those times, her first and final appearances, had her singing "Kimi no Na wa".

Orii would continue to work right up until her passing at the age of 70 in 1996. She even ran a nightclub in Tokyo for many years until the Bubble burst.

Akira Fuse -- Kimi ni Ai ni Yuku yo (君に会いに行くよ)

Fuse looks better in those glasses.

(J: Unfortunately, that video has been taken down and I could

only find a cover version.)

Well I'll be darned! It felt like it was never going to happen but I think my interest in Akira Fuse (布施明) has been revived.

I very much enjoyed Fuse's booming vocals when I came across the evergreen (or should I say red?) "Kimi wa Bara yorimo Utsukushii" (君は薔薇よりも美しい) quite some time ago. At that point, because of his voice, I felt that this guy could potentially become one of my favourite singers. Disappointingly it never really came to pass as many of his successful works didn't appeal to me, and my "Akira Fuse Playlist" in my phone had just one measly song to its name. However, with the help of "Uta Kon", "Kimi ni Ai ni Yuku yo" (Fuse's most recent single at this point in time) has been added to the list.

Sung first during the new single section at the last leg of "Uta Kon" a couple of weeks ago, "Kimi ni Ai ni Yuku yo" definitely wasn't like the rest of the line-up. The modern rock-themed melody had quite a Western sound, and the wonderful wailing of the electric guitar and easygoing pace felt refreshing after a barrage of enka/Mood Kayo. Together with Fuse's casual black suit and guitar, it had me thinking of American rock band, Eagles and their MV for "Busy Being Fabulous". Needless to say, I fell in love with this Fuse ballad immediately.

Musician and film maker Ippei Onoe (尾上一平), who had collaborated with Fuse on a few occasions, was responsible for creating "Kimi ni Ai ni Yuku yo". The lyrics seem to be about be our protagonist's journey to meet his lover - it seems to highlight his desire to see her as soon as possible. The song was released a couple of months ago on 7th September 2016.

Yup, I just got the single! Thank goodness I delayed my planned CD purchases so I could add this one into the lot. The music sounds amazing and is richer in the recorded version, but Fuse's delivery there feels like he took a gentler, more restrained approach as compared to the live versions.

Fuse is giving a bit of that Johnny Depp vibe from this photo, but the look suits him well - the chinstrap beard especially - and the guitar really ties things together. Speaking of electric guitars, Fuse got his first one at the age of 15.

Mr. Children -- [es] ~Theme of es~

I've compared Mr. Children to The Beatles, and if someone asked me for an example, I wouldn't have to go much farther than this song "[es] ~Theme of es~", the band's 8th single from May 1995.

When I listened to the CD single for the first time, I thought that Kazutoshi Sakurai（桜井和寿）and crew were trying to emulate something from The Beatles' more introspective period, post-"Sgt. Pepper's". And although the songs are completely different, I couldn't help but also get reminded of Billy Joel's "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant".

Whatever the inspiration, "[es]" definitely has sweep. Starting with Sakurai and a simple guitar melody in balladeer mode, the song slowly goes into a crescendo as more of the band and an orchestra come in to provide an epic conclusion. The song was used as the theme song for a documentary on Mr. Children so at the time, I hadn't been sure whether Sakurai had wanted to create a ballad to document the history of the band. I was certainly curious as to what the "es" was all about.

I found out from J-Wiki and Wikipedia that the title was the German word for the psychological term "id", that part of a human's personality providing the basic primal drives. And from what I could understand of Sakurai's lyrics, the singer wants to strip himself of all of the fame and accolades and just reveal his true self to the one he loves, to reach true joy. I found a full translation of the song at an English fansite for the band so you can peruse the lyrics there to get that meaning.

The melody has that feeling of a condensed journey so I'm hoping that Sakurai was able to find his rainbow at the end of it. As I mentioned, the lead vocalist was responsible for words and music while producer Takeshi Kobayashi（小林武史）arranged it. "[es]" stayed at No. 1 for a couple of weeks and was the 12th-ranked single for 1995. The song is also included on Mr. Children's 6th album, "Bolero" from March 1997 which also hit No. 1 and was the 2nd-ranked album of the year. In the history of the Oricon charts, it is currently the 14th-ranked album all-time breaking through the 3-million barrier.

Yoko Oginome -- 246 Connexion (246コネクション)

Yup, I've mentioned it a number of times in past Yoko Oginome（荻野目洋子）articles and finally here it is. "246 Connexion" is Yoko-chan's 7th album from July 1987. And after borrowing it from a friend initially, I decided to get my own copy and bought it at Wah Yueh one day. It was my go-to tape (or one of them anyways), especially during those university all-nighters when I needed to stay awake will I typed out my essays on my old Brother typewriter. Green tea also helped.

I've already written about a couple of the tracks on the album in previous articles: "Sayonara no Kajitsutachi"（さよならの果実たち）and "Wangan Taiyozoku"（湾岸太陽族）. Except for that latter track which was composed by Minoru Yamazaki（山崎稔）, the others were created by Masao Urino（売野雅勇）on lyrics and Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）on music.

"246 Connexion" is the ultimate Yoko Oginome album for fans since virtually all of the tracks except the final one reflects that high energy beat that the singer had always been known for. Track 1, "246 Planet Girls"（246プラネット・ガールズ）starts things off thusly with an intro that reminds me of Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out For A Hero". This is why I got the album and why I turned to my tape past midnight. The opening song about all sorts of girls having a wild time in the big city gave me that boost equivalent to a bottle of Yunker.

In fact, I would say that the entire album seems to have been devoted for a hedonistic night out in the city or the highways. It's a pity that I couldn't find many of the tracks represented on YouTube but here is "Babylon A Go Go"（バビロン A GO GO） which also has that bit of Eurobeat, a bit of Latin and a desire on my part about how Yoko would have danced to his one on stage. I'm not sure whether Urino and Tsutsumi had based the song on a particular disco in Tokyo but I would have gone with either the Lexington Queen or Julianas.

To be honest, this song "Shonen no Saigo no Natsu"（少年の最後の夏...A Boy's Last Summer） annoyed the heck out of me. At the time, I was just starting to become aware that Japanese pop composers didn't hesitate to take riffs from Western songs and use them for their own creations. But when Tsutsumi lifted the intro from Level 42's "Lessons In Love" (one of my favourite 80s tunes) for this song, I actually wanted to slap the guy silly for pilfering. It doesn't annoy me as much anymore since frankly time has blunted down those overly sharp edges of righteousness, and the actual refrain is something worthy of hearing again and again.

What I hadn't realized was that "Shonen no Saigo no Natsu" was the ending theme for the cinema version of an OVA series called "Baribari Densetsu"（バリバリ伝説...Baribari Legend） that had come out in August 1987. The anime about street-racing motorcycles and their riders also had Oginome starring as the girlfriend of one of the main characters.

"Wangan Taiyozoku (Version II)" is a version of Oginome's 7th single that has an extra layer of horns for fortified oomph and pleasure for her fans. If "246 Planet Girls" launched things, then this one was the uptempo song that was the 2nd-last track before the relatively ballad-like song to finish things off.

For the first time in over 25 years, I played my old tape on the stereo...fearful that it would crunch it up as it did my Hiroko Yakushimaru tape a few weeks ago. However it seems like cleaning the capstan and heads, and then making sure "246 Connexion" was rewound tight without any slack seems to have earned it survival. Sure, the music is now more higher-pitched and Yoko's voice is now approaching that of Minnie Mouse on my copy but, hey, the good times still roll. As I said, I've basically gotten over my annoyance over "Shonen no Saigo no Natsu", but those backup vocals sound pretty dated.

The album peaked at No. 2 on Oricon.

Sayuri Ishikawa -- Kakurenbo (かくれんぼ)

Well, these are some pretty rare videos so I'm hoping that the powers-that-be will allow them to stay on for at least a little while.

For those who are Sayuri Ishikawa（石川さゆり）fans, you will know that she had initially been groomed to debut as an aidoru in 1973 by Columbia Records with her catchphrase being "The Columbia Princess". This was her debut single "Kakurenbo" (Hide and Seek) which was released in March of that year. The song was about a woman reminiscing about the titular game back in her hometown when she had hoped that she would be found out by the IT boy on whom she had a major crush.

She was all of 15 when she released "Kakurenbo" and although she may have been branded as an aidoru back then, the song itself sounds quite enka perhaps due to the arrangement and her vocals. With lyrics by Michio Yamagami（山上路夫）and music by Kosho Inomata（猪俣公章）, there was some serious musical backup for the teen Ishikawa, but according to the J-Wiki article on the singer, she struggled to gain fame especially since at the time, the girls of the Hana-no-Chuusan Trio（花の中三トリオ）...namely Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵）, Masako Mori（森昌子）and Junko Sakurada（桜田淳子）were making huge inroads with their own aidoru careers. Perhaps there was some confusion among the public at large as to how Ishikawa was to be categorized: was she an aidoru or a very young enka singer?

With that catchphrase for her and "Kakurenbo", I guess that there was that hope that people would be attracted by that countryside innocence, although I think there were many aidoru who probably fit that description. It would take almost 4 years and 14 more singles before Ishikawa had that breakthrough with one of enka's great standards "Tsugaru Kaikyo Fuyu Geshiki"（津軽海峡・冬景色）. After that, she never needed to look back.