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.
A good evening to you. In addition to those late 80s solo aidoru songs that I have been perusing recently, I've kept up searching for some more songs in the urban contemporary genre by singers that I've yet to learn about.
So I've found one intriguing song performed by such a singer. Nami Hirai（平井菜水）is a singer-songwriter from Nagasaki who won the grand prize at the Fukuoka Music Festival Big Contest in 1983 and later attended the Masaaki Hirao Music School. She made her debut in 1990 with the single "Mezame"（めざめ...Waking）that became the ending theme for the long-running TV variety show "Shitteiru Tsumori?!"（知ってるつもり?!...Do You Really Know About It ?!）on NTV. In fact, her next two singles also fulfilled the same role for the next couple of years.
However, the subject of this article is actually the final track for her 1993 2nd album"Te no Hira no Tanpenshuu"（てのひらの短編集...A Collection of Short Stories in the Palm of Your Hand）, quite the atmospheric title. "Tayumanai Yoru ni" (On This Unending Night) caught my notice since it seems to straddle a few genres at once through its arrangement. It can be considered to be a pop ballad but there is something of the city-at-night feeling to it which could also place it in a latter-day City Pop setting. At the same time, I can envision even some enka singers such as Sayuri Ishikawa（石川さゆり）and Aya Shimazu（島津亜矢）tackling this one as well so perhaps it may even be a Mood Kayo tune in a way. Furthermore, that languid evening arrangement and Hirai's soft-and-slightly smoky delivery had me thinking about Ruiko Kurahashi's（倉橋ルイ子）numbers from the 1980s.
Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつ子）and her brother Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）were responsible for the creation of "Tayumanai Yoru ni", and the sibling team knows a thing or two about bringing together a nice lush ballad. As for Hirai, she released a total of 5 singles between 1990 and 1994, and 3 original albums. A Golden Best compilation came out in 2011. In 2002, she joined her alma mater of the Masaaki Hirao Music School as an instructor at the Fukuoka branch.
Good heavens! It's been a good long while since 80s aidoruSonoko Kawai（河合その子）has made her appearance on "Kayo Kyoku Plus"...a little over 4 years when I contributed the fleet-footed "Aoi Station"（青いスタスィオン）.
Well, time to rectify the situation. Plus, I'm still on that kick about searching for some of those "lost" aidoru tunes from the late 1980s. I managed to find one through Mamiko Takai's（高井麻巳子）"Yakusoku"（約束）. And going through Onyanko Club's（おニャン子クラブ）other members' solo efforts, I was able to find Kawai's"Aishuu no Carnaval" (Carnival of Sorrow).
This was Kawai's 6th single from February 1987. Written and composed by the same duo behind "Aoi Station", Yasushi Akimoto and Tsugutoshi Goto（秋元康・後藤次利）, "Aishuu no Carnaval" starts off sounding like a typical slow-paced ballad when it then takes off with a burst of speed and a distinct synthesizer sound that doesn't take its foot off the pedal. Rather like "Aoi Station", Kawai takes us listeners on a whirlwind tour somewhere exotic...perhaps not in France this time, mind you, but somewhere else in Europe perhaps.
The opening bars sparked off some memories so in all likelihood it was placed on some borrowed compilation tape or maybe it even got onto "Sounds of Japan" years ago. In any case, "Aishuu no Carnaval" peaked at No. 3 and was placed as a track on her 4th album"Rouge et Bleu" in July 1987.
Regular broadcasting returned to TV Japan somewhat over this past week after all of the New Year's hijinks. This meant that Tuesday night had the kayo show come back but it wasn't NHK's "Uta Kon"（うたコン）. Instead it was another edition of kayo legend Hiroshi Itsuki's（五木ひろし）"Itsuki-sensei o Utau! SHOW Gakko"（五木先生の 歌う！SHOW学校）, the program featuring a mix of tarento and enka singers in an old-fashioned elementary school setting with Itsuki as the amiable teacher. There was the usual humour and performances of the oldies, and there was one segment paying tribute to the late singer Haruo Oka（岡晴夫）who had his heyday in the 1940s and perhaps 1950s.
The most famous song by Oka in my estimation was his 1948 "Akogare no Hawaii Koro"（憧れのハワイ航路）and from hearing some of his other songs in the tribute on Itsuki's show, I had the impression that Oka was a crooner doing some very upbeat melodies during a time when Japan realized that it had to start all over again.
One song from the tribute was "Tokyo no Hanauri Musume" (Flower Girl of Tokyo) which was recorded two years before "Akogare no Hawaii Koro" in 1946. Actually, this particular song was the middle child of five songs in Oka's own "Flower Girl" series starting with "Shanghai no Hanauri Musume"（上海の花売娘...Flower Girl of Shanghai）in 1939. All of the "Flower Girl" songs were composed by Gento Uehara（上原げんと）with the Tokyo version's lyrics provided by Yutaka Kadota（門田ゆたか）under the alias of Shio Sasa（佐々詩生）. Not particularly sure how that pseudonym is pronounced since there are a number of readings for the first name so if anyone can correct or confirm my guess at it, please do so.
"Tokyo no Hanauri Musume" is my first exposure to the "Flower Girl" series sung by Oka, and from the versions that I've heard on "SHOW Gakko" and YouTube, it's a hopeful ditty with the titular girl selling her flowers on the street which also seems to have its fair share of flora and by a jazz hall. There's even mention of American soldiers and the feeling is that of a general hustle and bustle in the big city now that the war is over. I even caught a whiff of a slow boogie in the melody as well.
Back in February 2014, almost 4 years ago, nikala gave some of us an introduction to singer-songwriter Mioko Yamaguchi（山口美央子）through her most successful album"Tsukihime"（月姫...Moonlight Princess） from March 1983. I had never heard of her before but was struck by not only her gentle yet catchy tunes but her striking appearance on the album cover. As nikala wrote it, the singer part of her career was regrettably short but she has gone on as a songwriter for a number of pop singers in the years since.
Last night, I encountered another track from that same album, and boy is it an earworm! In fact, among the three songs that I have now heard from "Tsukihime", Track 7 "Satemo Appare Yume Zakura"(Wow! Bravo, Dream Cherry Blossoms) is the most attractive song yet. It was also released as her 5th single in the same year.
As with the other two I've heard, the title track and "Koi wa Shunkan"（恋は春感）, "Satemo Appare Yume Zakura" is this intriguing technopop with traditional Japanese leanings but it also possesses this steady bouncy beat and the repeated "Ha, ha, ha..." that inexorably drills into the brain. nikala mentioned it as well in her article but there is this Akiko Yano（矢野顕子）vibe to "Satemo Appare Yume Zakura" especially in the technopop but I also think about Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）and her music at around the same time.
nikala also stated that the original LP only sold 5000 copies. I've tried looking for it and although none of her albums are available at my usual two sources of CD Japan and Tower Records, the record and perhaps the CD seem to be sold at some other private shops. After hearing "Satemo Appare Yume Zakura", I wouldn't mind getting my own copy somehow.
January 16 2018: Well, someone has been looking favourably upon me...and his name is Hideki Matsutake. I received a tweet through his Logic Store that the three original albums by Yamaguchi are now available on CD. So if you are interested, have a look! I'll provide the copy of the tweet below. And by the way, I just purchased "Tsukihime" there. We have reissued Mioko's three albums. Available in CD for the first time! https://mttk-logicstore.com/ This online store is curated by Hideki Matsutake who participated in Mioko's Albums as a synthesizer programmer.
After a long time, I got to see the rock band Elephant Kashimashi（エレファントカシマシ）again. First it was through their performance on the 68th edition of the Kohaku Utagassen and then this morning, I saw the Friday night broadcast of "News Watch 9" on NHK in which the co-anchor had an extended interview with the vocalist for the band, the iconoclastic Hiroji Miyamoto（宮本浩次）.
As I pointed out in my very first mention of the band when they did a cover of Yuming's（ユーミン）"Kageriyuku Heya"（翳りゆく部屋）, the lasting memory I had of Miyamoto was that he had a habit of just messing about with his hair. The comedic duo Downtown didn't fail to make hay out of that during Elephant Kashimashi's many appearances on "HEY! HEY! HEY! Music Champ". Miyamoto himself could have been become one of those ippin geinin, a comedian who becomes known for a particular shtick or catchphrase. He soon came across as quite a character.
I couldn't find this morning's particular interview but I did find a recent appearance by Miyamoto and company on the NHK morning show "Asaichi"（あさイチ）, and the lead singer comes across as this coiled spring with really active arms. My impression through the interview was that in the early days of Elephant Kashimashi in the 1980s, Miyamoto was even more intense and perhaps scary in that he yelled at the audience to sit still and listen and not scream and dance about. I also remember one scene where he cut down one audience member at the knees for daring to shout out something while on stage. Seeing those early performances, it seemed like any remaining punk essence from the UK all went into him.
He's mellowed out considerably since then and he comes across as quite humble although he is very expressive when he talks. It's like watching a Japanese Robin Williams in how restless he is. Another thing I got out of the interview was he and the band finally realized that it wasn't enough, in his words, to bludgeon the audience with the truth and that a more softly, softly approach was better. Still, seeing that coiled spring stance of his, I think that he can be pretty intimidating if crossed.
One of the goals for this blog has been to reminisce about the songs that I remember and find like-minded fans out there. Another goal that slowly bubbled up over time was unearthing songs that I had forgotten about in the folds of my brain, and it seems like a lot of those songs were made in the 1990s and perhaps into the early years of the 21st century.
Sure enough, when Elephant Kashimashi performed "Koyoi no Tsuki no You ni" (Like The Moon Tonight) on the Kohaku Utagassen, I internally went "Oh, right....I remember this song!". This was actually released in July 1997 as the band's 15th single, written and composed by Miyamoto. As you can hear, it's not a thrashing rock piece but more of a sweet ballad with Miyamoto's soaring vocals about getting back on one's own feet after going through a tough time.
I also vaguely remember that "Koyoi no Tsuki no You ni" was a theme song for a Fuji-TV drama, and indeed it fronted "Tsuki no Kagayaku Yoru dakara"（月の輝く夜だから...Because It's The Night of the Shining Moon） which was originally broadcast during the summer. At the time, I was starting to drift away from J-Dramas generally speaking and I wasn't a fan of the band so the song didn't especially hit me at the time although its hit status meant that I did hear parts of it often enough through a number of channels, literally and figuratively. As has been the case for a number of songs I've re-discovered over the past few years, my attitude has also mellowed for this song. It's not a type of song that I've heard in quite a long time.
According to J-Wiki, "Koyoi no Tsuki no You ni" is the band's biggest hit as it hit No. 8 on Oricon, going Triple Platinum and becoming the 81st-ranked single for 1997. The producer for "Tsuki no Kagayaku Yoru dakara" had asked Miyamoto to come up with a theme song for his project, and the singer did so by finding out about the synopsis of the drama. It was the band's first tie-up song with a drama and their very first Top 10 hit. The song also helped in raising Elephant Kashimashi's profile to the country.
A fellow by the name of TioPervs asked for a translation of the song for this article, "Waga Kokoro no Pinball" (Pinball of My Heart) so I decided to kill two birds with one stone, and provide my thoughts on this rumbling song of frustration and what I hope is an accurate translation. Let me know what you think.
"Waga Kokoro no Pinball" is a track on Eiichi Ohtaki's（大滝詠一）famous "A Long Vacation" album from 1981. Composed by Ohtaki and written by his old bandmate from Happy End, Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）, it's about that fellow lamenting that rejection from a woman he likes. As the title reflects, his heart simply seems to get banged off the bumpers of life and romance to inevitably head down to the bottom hole. Urgh! How many of us have been in that situation? Well, my hand is up.
The first few bars sound as if Ohtaki is heading into a guitar love ballad until things rev up into a melody that sounds oddly comical as if Charlie Brown is the one who's gonna get his heart stomped into pasta sauce by the Little Red-Haired Girl. Then the singer goes into his lament of love with a combination of growls and falsetto high notes as if he's weaving between "Oh, woe is me!" and "How dare you?!". Perhaps he's using the song to purge all that frustration.
Anyways, as requested:
A shy guy writes a love song And plays the cassette in a room of wind The audience is just you, there's no one else That's the TILT of love, it's a little too merry What's been screwed up is my dream My heart is sobbing When you streamed your fingers through your light hair "Uh...tonight I forgot to wash my hair..." That cold rejection from your gentle back That's the TILT of love...even if I forget When I remember, I smile wryly My heart is sobbing Even if the words "I love you" don't come to you You can't share your feelings alone You haven't forgiven anyone since then That's the TILT of love...suddenly You have even avoided meeting me My heart is sobbing
As for the third stanza immediately above, I had assumed that it was the rejected suitor as the subject but now I think it may be the target of his love getting some angry/sad accusations. In addition, that 「風の部屋」"room of wind" from the first stanza had me scratching my head. The original lyrics and their romaji equivalent can be found at this Vietnamese website:
But basically the poor fellow has gone to the mat for this lady even to the point of taping his own love song only to get the the most damning excuse from her. In any case, I think the guy really needs some loyal friends to take him to the nearest dining establishment for a good stiff drink and lots of comfort food. Then again, the guy might just be an annoying stalker.
I've categorized the early 1970s to be the time of Japanese folk and the beginning of that decade's aidoru boom and the early 1980s to be the period of YMO/techno kayo, the frilly-dressed aidoru and City Pop. When it comes to the early 1990s, I think about how popular Japanese music went from kayo kyoku to J-Pop with one aspect being the rising/sustained fame of several pop-oriented female singers and/or songwriters ranging from the mellow Miki Imai（今井美樹）to the perky Mariko Nagai（永井真理子）.
There was also the use of synthesizers back in those days which have struck a nostalgic chord (no pun intended) with me. And so I discovered this singer-songwriter by the name of Sachiko Kumagai（熊谷幸子）. Actually, the name does sound familiar but I wasn't able to glean any memory of her songs. However, this one here, her 2nd single, "Mirai wa Kimi no Mono" (The Future is Yours), is sticking with me just fine.
Released in August 1992, those synths playing what sounds like Bacharach rather said 1990s, and yep, it's one happy-go-lucky song on a rush. I was a bit surprised that it didn't seem to make any sort of impact when it was first released but then again, perhaps there were too many singers who were coming out with a similar sound back then. In any case, I enjoy Kumagai's chipper vocals, the cheerful melody and the electric guitar in there.
As for the singer herself, Kumagai was born in East London, South Africa but was raised in Yokohama. Her days of music began when she was just 3 years old when she took up learning classical piano. As well, she gained an interest in the shamisen and listened to Latin music. In high school, she began songwriting after being inspired by Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）. Her big hit as a singer-songwriter came in 1994 when she created and sang "Kaze to Kumo to Watashi"（風と雲と私...The Wind, The Clouds and Me） as the theme song for a Fuji-TV drama. I will probably take a look at that one later on.
