Tatsuro Yamashita -- Parade （パレード）

I was listening to Disc 1 of Tatsuro Yamashita's（山下達郎）"OPUS 〜ALL TIME BEST 1975-2012〜" earlier this afternoon. Gotta say that even one disc of his is enough to uplift the spirit...right from his starting days of New Music going into his years of City Pop. I'm also happy to say that there is still a number of songs by him to explore for the blog.

https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm39873492

One such song is "Parade". Now I actually introduced the song many months ago back in 2015 through EPO's cover of it in her well-regarded 1982 album "Goodies". I did say there that I would talk about Tats' original "soon" but of course, me being me, promises are often forgotten and I did the same here. Well, as I have always said, better late than never.

"Parade" was originally a track on the album "NIAGARA TRIANGLE Vol.1" from March 1976. The album involved having Yamashita collaborate with fellow singer-songwriters Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）and Ginji Ito（伊藤銀次）to get some songs together on the same LP. They were also helped out by Tats' buddy from his old band Sugar Babe, Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）, Minako Yoshida（吉田美奈子）and two-thirds of the future Yellow Magic Orchestra, Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）and Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）among some other big lights in New Music.

As for "Parade", whereas the track on that 2012 BEST compilation cuts to the chase, apparently the original version is book-ended by a rolling piano intro and some sort of background music at the end. Perhaps Yamashita wanted "Parade" to feel as if the song suddenly burst in like a real impromptu parade down the main street, capturing everyone's attention for those few minutes. I can also say it's like a melodic sunny day with that nice dollop of 70s soul put in there to support his joyous vocals (I always envision colourful balloons floating into the sky as I hear him).

Considering that I've often featured Yamashita's late 70s/early 80s City Pop work, "Parade" is an interesting example of some happy-go-lucky New Music without too much of that feeling of being in the big city. However, it is darn summery which has been another characteristic of his discography.

(Sorry the Ponkikies video has been taken down.

This is the original by Tats.)

As someone who used to catch the Fuji-TV morning kids' program "Ponkikies"（ポンキッキーズ）after waking up, the above video is natsukashii. It was the custom of the program to provide a happy musical ending to each episode and I did remember this thing about a group of talented girls bopping about with brolleys while a song was playing. I just didn't know at the time that it was Tats and "Parade".

For some reason, "Parade" was even released as a single (his 26th) in January 1994, perhaps in favourable response to the "Ponkikies" ending. It did modestly well by peaking at No. 29. As for "NIAGARA TRIANGLE Vol.1", it also reached as high as No. 29 as an LP.

Chisato Moritaka -- HEY VODKA

I wasn't going to disembark the Harmony of the Seas without having at least one order filled by the robot bartenders Bio and Nic at the Bionic Bar. And so a little over halfway during my voyage, I decided to have a seat at the bar and made my order via a Samsung tablet with the help of the bonny Russian manager of the premises. I went with the classic rum and coke. I would have ordered something a bit more ambitious so that one of the robots would have gotten a workout with the shaker but alas, I couldn't recognize too many of the cocktails listed.

The rum and coke came out very well, though. In fact, it worked so well that it took me a few seconds to sign my name for my purchases later that night. Furthermore, the wonderful thing is that I don't need to tip a robot...just a squeeze of oil now and then, probably.

My anecdote is just the thing to introduce another whimsical Chisato Moritaka（森高千里）song. This time, it's "HEY VODKA" to add onto her other alcohol-themed tunes, "Gin Gin Jingle Bell"（ジン・ジン・ジングル・ベル）and "Kibun Sokai"（気分爽快）. Just like those two, "HEY VODKA" was also a campaign song for a booze ad; in this case, it was for Suntory's Ice Vodka.

Moritaka's tribute to the Russian liquor (at least, the self-cover version above) may well as be the sister to "Gin Gin Jingle Bell" since it has that similar Latin Lounge music vibe. The singer-songwriter also provided the melody while Doushee Uozuka（ドーシー魚塚）gave the lyrics about how wonderful vodka is as one of the ultimate mixers. I had almost forgotten about this one until I heard it again; yup, I now remember catching it on TV way back when.

Like "Gin Gin Jingle Bell", "HEY VODKA" was also a track on Moritaka's 11th album, "TAIYO" from July 1996. The above video is for an updated version, and may I say that the lass was still looking pretty fine although she no longer wore those techno-aidoru duds.

To wrap up, I managed to track down the original commercial for that Ice Vodka.

Junko Ohashi -- Telephone Number

The above photo is of one of the soaring skyscrapers in the Roppongi Hills area, Mori Tower. Roppongi Hills made quite an impression when it was finally opened to the public over a decade ago in 2003. It made quite the contrast with the old main strip of seediness in Roppongi. Along with the modern towers, there were stylish restaurants and cafes, a huge cineplex and a revamped TV Asahi headquarters among other facilities. Plus, once the Yuletide comes around (which would be right after midnight November 1st), Roppongi Hills becomes quite the magnet for the Xmas seekers with the illumination and all. The only thing I regret not seeing there anymore is the old WAVE CD shop

I visited the complex a number of times during my time in Tokyo. There were all the movies I caught at the cineplex (including "Revenge of the Sith" in 2005 at the VIP theatre; if I'm gonna watch a bad "Star Wars" movie, I might as well drink down my fair share of alcohol while doing so). Also, I usually met a student at the 4th floor café on Monday mornings.

Roppongi Hills added some new trim to the old neighbourhood, and after that, Tokyo Midtown, another trendy commercial complex got its debut not too far away from the main Roppongi intersection in 2007.

Well, if I'm going to talk about one of my old urban haunts, I ought to place a nice City Pop song in here. And so here is Junko Ohashi's（大橋純子）"Telephone Number" from her BEST album of July 1984, "Magical". With a firm but not too loud "AWOOOOO", Ohashi gives another lovely reason in song why the city can be so enticing. The song was originally on her August 1981 album "Tea For Tears".

Ohashi's husband, Ken Sato（佐藤健）, provided the music to walk the streets by and Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）took care of the lyrics. Tokyo can be quite magical in itself but then again with "Magical" showing the sunset skyline of Manhattan, any large city can show its good side with the right type of music.

Shikao Suga -- Ogon no Tsuki （黄金の月）

Shikao Suga（スガシカオ）is a singer-songwriter whom I've often considered to be somewhat of a mysterious ghost-like figure. Part of the reason is that I haven't actively pursued his works, and by the same token, I don't think he has ever shown all that much need to be loved by Oricon although his singles have made their way up to various positions on the singles and albums charts. Plus, his music which I can describe as mellow guitar pop along with his slightly raspy vocals are fairly low key in an appealing way. But again, as being someone who is not particularly a fan of his, I've just seen him come and go over the years. Of course, he was also the fellow who came up with "Yozora no Mukou"（夜空ノムコウ）, one of SMAP's biggest hits.

A few weeks ago, Suga showed up on an episode of "Uta Kon"（うたコン）to perform this number, "Ogon no Tsuki" (Golden Moon). This was his 2nd single released in May 1997, and although it got no higher than No. 72 on Oricon, I enjoyed the performance on the NHK broadcast. And then I saw the video above and appreciated it even more. It reminded me why whenever I did see a Suga performance, I was always quite happy for the experience although the song didn't stay in my head like any earworm. However, I am wondering about investing in one of his BEST collections.

There have been a few concert performances of "Ogon no Tsuki" but I have to admit that I prefer the original recording. It's just straight-ahead pop with no unnecessary frills and no vocal/instrumental acrobatics. However, I can understand why fans would love to hear it from him live. Apparently, the song was also used in the 2005 Fuji-TV anime "Hachimitsu to Clover"（ハチミツとクローバー...Honey And Clover）, a show that Suga contributed a number of his tunes.

The single was also a track on his 2nd album from September 1997, "Clover" which peaked at No. 10.

Being someone who has a passing interest in the derivation of Japanese names, I was rather drawn to that name Shikao. It is his actual first name with the kanji appearing as「止戈男」. According to the J-Wiki article for him, it means "the man who stops wars". I also found out that the singer is quite the fan of UFOs...no idea whether he was ever a Pink Lady fan. However, that same article noted that his music has been influenced by the band Flying Kids (and yup, they're represented here, too) and is given a good injection of soul and funk.

Ichimaru -- Tenryu Kudareba （天竜下れば）

Referring to the most recent episode of "Uta Kon"（うたコン）, the theme for last night was water, and I think the old kayo liked to pay tribute to Japan's fair share of waterways ranging from rivers to oceans.

The name Ichimaru（市丸）popped up again last night on the NHK program. Some months ago, I wrote an article about this interesting synthesis of shamisen and swing music called "Shamisen Boogie-Woogie"（三味線ブギウギ）that had originally been sung by the geisha-singer when she was entranced by American jazz in the postwar era.

Well, the song that was performed last night was one of her earlier hits, "Tenryu Kudareba" (Going Down The Tenryu River). Released in 1933, this song is pure enka in which Ichimaru pays tribute to this flowing waterway that passes through Nagano, Aichi and Shizuoka Prefectures. It may have had some special meaning to the singer since she was born in Nagano.

One of the other reasons that I decided to put this song up was that I recently spoke with my old university buddy who, along with her daughter, has been practicing Japanese dance for many years. She informed me that some of her friends in dancing have actually been taking a look at this blog, presumably for some of the enka songs that could be performed through odori. And I think "Tenryu Kudareba" may fit into that category. So if any of you see this, thank you for your patronage and please give Laura a shoutout. I'll be seeing her in a couple of weeks anyways to catch "Wonder Woman" with her family.

"Tenryu Kudareba" was written by Mikihiko Nagata（長田幹彦）and composed by Shinpei Nakayama（中山晋平）.

Kaori Kozai -- Wasurebana （わすれ花）

I've usually found my favourite enka tunes way back in the past but from time to time, I find some nice examples of the genre being developed in the last few years.

Of course, NHK's "Uta Kon"（うたコン）is my prime source for the new enka, and tonight was no different. Kaori Kozai（香西かおり）brought her latest single from this year (April 2017) onto the stage, and I have to admit that I fell in love with that French accordion which gives the song a feeling of a nice waltz. "Wasurebana" is Kozai singing about remembering a romance that has now ended so of course, the tender and wistful memories come flowing forth.

Written by Makoto Kitajo（喜多條忠）and composed by Tetsuya Gen（弦哲也）, I had initially assumed that wasurebana referred to "forget-me-nots" but according to my usual online dictionaries, those flowers have different names in Japanese. Therefore I guess I will translate the title as Flowers To Forget. However, I don't think Kozai's heroine particularly wants to forget the good times just yet. And certainly with that lovely accordion in there, I really don't want to forget this little gem, either. Incidentally, the single has been released to commemorate the singer's 30th anniversary in the music industry.

(karaoke version)

Yubisaki Nohaku -- Nanigashi （なにがし）

One of the best (and most beautiful) (and most badass!) all-female bands in the world who play passionate, quirky prog-rock. Fans of Tricot are sure to fall in love.

This was the quotation describing this band Yubisaki Nohaku（指先ノハク）in the May edition of "Bento Box", the local free magazine on Japanese restaurants (and other aspects of Japanese culture) in Toronto. Once a year, a page is set aside to focus on Next Music from Tokyo (NMFT) which is a tour spearheaded by Steven Tanaka (also from Toronto), a great lover of the underground music scene in Japan. In fact, he has been so passionate about it that he launched a cross-Canada tour introducing some of the more interesting underground bands 10 years ago.

Yubisaki Nohaku was one of the bands that joined the tour this year (May 19-24), and it started its life almost a decade back, initially under the name of Raditz in 2008 before the name change three years later. The four members of the band are vocalist Kana Shimizu（清水加奈）, guitarist Junko Kimura（木村順子）, bassist Ikuko Miyakoshi（宮腰侑子）and drummer Yumiko Takeuchi（竹内裕美子）.

I like their 4th single from February 2015, "Nanigashi" (Mr. So-and-so) that was created by Miyakoshi which seems to be a mild indictment on the lack of conversational clarity among friends. The music video actually makes that clear with the band members goofing it up in a beauty salon as two of them futilely attempt to describe what kind of hair style they want to their frustrated stylists. According to their profile, Yubisaki Nohaku are fans of Ringo Shiina（椎名林檎）and I think there is a bit of her feeling in "Nanigashi".

The single also made its way to Yubisaki Nohaku's 1st mini-album "Sakana"（肴...The Appetizer）which came out in August 2015. There's not a whole bunch of English-language information on the band although I found this webpage. As for Tanaka's work for NMFT, you can take a look here.