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.
About a week ago, I wrote about "Salvia no Hana"（サルビアの花）, a folk song that I first heard by Lili Iwabuchi（岩渕リリ）on "Good Times Diva Volume 2" but couldn't find any hint of her version on YouTube. Instead, I found a few others including the original songwriter behind the song who had done their covers.
However, curious as I was, I wanted to see if I could track down a Lili Iwabuchi tune on YouTube, and it didn't take too long at all. As I mentioned in the article for "Salvia no Hana", she didn't have a long career...just 4 singles and 1 album up to 1973.
Single No. 3 was "Tonari no Otoko no Ko" (The Boy Next Door) from October 1972. As was the case with her "Salvia no Hana", Iwabuchi has a nice bell-like voice against the sweet arrangement which makes me wonder why she didn't go past 1973 in terms of her time in showbiz. Mieko Arima（有馬三恵子）took care of the lyrics while Masahiko Aoi（葵まさひこ）of the chorus group Honey Knights（ハニー・ナイツ）composed the song.
There were two Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）record albums that always warmly greeted me whenever I entered the Chinatown record store Wah Yueh. One was "Train" (1985), which I later found out was the collection of Seiko songs penned by lyricist Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）and composer Karuho Kureta（呉田軽穂）, which had that cover of the Queen Aidoru giving that come-hither stare.
And then there was "Windy Shadow" from 1984 with Seiko-chan taking on a look that was far more Yoyogi Park teen from those days. The staring contest from the two albums eventually took their toll on me...I ended up buying both of them. That title from her 10th album has always struck me as being quite unintentionally humourous since "Windy Shadow" sounded like some sort of US military operation that would appear in a Tom Clancy novel.
I will have to be honest with you, though. "Windy Shadow" is not my favourite Seiko album by any stretch of the imagination, and that is because I got spoiled on the wonders of the aforementioned "Train" with Matsumoto and Kureta (aka Yumi Matsutoya) weaving so many wonderful tracks. Plus, there is the classic earlier "Kaze Tachinu"（風立ちぬ）from 1981 which stands as my favourite original Seiko album. Mind you, I surprisingly don't have a whole lot of albums by her; just the ones that I've mentioned along with "Citron" and then her BEST compilation. Must do something about that soon.
Once again, Matsumoto wrote all of the tracks on "Windy Shadow", but I guess at the time that I got the album, I wasn't quite ready for all of the different composers and their styles for the 10 tracks there and perhaps my bias has stayed with me since then. Mind you, my feelings for the album have improved somewhat since my first listenings. Furthermore, there is the fact that I've already written about two of the tracks that became singles, "Pink no Mozart"（ピンクのモーツァルト）and "Heart no Earring"（ハートのイアリング）.
Anyways, I start off with the first track "Manhattan de Breakfast"（マンハッタンでブレックファスト...Breakfast in Manhattan）which shouldn't be mistaken for "Breakfast in America" by famous band Supertramp at all (I only say this because every time I hear the song or see the title, that iconic Supertramp album cover gets into my head). Composed briskly by Masaaki Omura（大村雅朗）, lyricist Matsumoto creates a story that almost comes off as a romantic comedy starring Seiko as she wakes up in a Manhattan hotel or apartment next to a guy she can't quite remember due to some excessive imbibing of bourbon. Try explaining that to your ravenous fans!
The one song that got me thinking "Kind of a weird one here" was the second track "Bara to Pistol"（薔薇とピストル...Rose and Pistol）. Seiko this time takes off to the Wild West apparently to have a shootout with a rival over a guy; it would have been quite the music video created for this one. I think it was that mix of technopop and saxophone along with what I could understand of the lyrics at the time that had me thinking "Maybe, nah". I shouldn't be too harsh since it was Seiko-chan who composed this one.
Again, this is another track that hasn't exactly lit any dreams of earworms even now, but I wanted to mention it since "Soyokaze no Feint"（そよ風のフェイント...Breezy Feint）was composed by Akiko Yano（矢野顕子）. I mean, it's OK to listen to but there are many more fun songs in the Seiko discography.
"Dancing Cafe" has gained a bit more in my ears especially with that "Baby, baby, baby" refrain. Plus, I have to admit that in the original recording, that thrumming of the synthesizer has grown on me. Masamichi Sugi（杉真理）took care of the music here.
My last song here is the last song on "Windy Shadow", "Star". This is another number that has gotten better with me over time due to its ballad arrangement, and outside of the singles, it's the one track on the album that actually finally clicked with me. Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）was one master of the pop ballads during the 1980s so I wasn't surprised to hear that he was the one behind "Star".
"Windy Shadow" hit No. 1 on Oricon. It may not have become one of my more beloved albums but there are still some nice minor tracks.
Jokyo（上京）...heading up to the capital, namely Tokyo. I don't think it has quite the feelings now that it had some 40~70 years ago (Bullet Trains and planes decreased the feeling of distance and time, and then later on, things such as Skype). Back then, it was all about young people, even teenagers, going to Tokyo from all parts of the nation to find work and start making a life of their own while helping to get Japan onto its feet again. All sorts of wistful scenes come to mind: getting onto the trains, mothers waving tearfully to their now-independent children, arriving at Ueno Station, and perhaps looking wide-eyed at their new urban surroundings.
Although jokyo is more of a within-Japan thing, I can understand the feeling as well. In my case, it wasn't so much a train ride of hundreds of kilometres to Ueno Station, though; it was more a plane ride of thousands of kilometres to Narita Airport, shortly after (barely) graduating from University of Toronto. It was quite the thing to enter Tokyo on that steamy summer day in July 1989 on a limousine bus with the hustle and bustle of Shinjuku all around us as we approached the Keio Plaza Hotel.
Tonight's theme on "Uta Kon"（うたコン）was, as you guessed it, jokyo. It's a topic that was so beloved in kayo kyoku that I'm surprised that the expression jokyo kayo wasn't really coined in the language. Of course, the big representative of that little corner of old Showa Era pop music is "Ahh, Ueno Eki"（あゝ上野駅）by Hachiro Izawa（井沢八郎）, and indeed that song was performed.
However, I also encountered another song that perked my memory engrams due to the familiarity of its melody although I wasn't able to peg the singer or the title until both were revealed to me tonight. Veteran enka singer Masao Sen（千昌夫）released his 24th single in March 1976, "Yuuyake Gumo" (Clouds in the Afterglow), an encouraging song of keeping at the new life in Tokyo and not heading back home until you succeed. Hiroshi Yokoi and Noboru Ichidai（横井弘・一代のぼる）took care of words and music respectively. Hearing Sen sing out "Kaere~nai~"（帰れない...I can't go home）in that anthemic way is one of the aural memories I have of kayo kyoku in general.
Sen released a new version of "Yuuyake Gumo" in May 1983 as his 35th single although I don't think the arrangement was all that different from the 1976 original. The singer performed this song for the first time on NHK's Kohaku Utagassen in 1983 during his 11th appearance on the New Year's Eve program.
Hope the week is going well so far for you folks. Had a good time with "Kayo Kyoku Plus" collaborator Larry Chan this morning since he was back in town for a visit. We decided to try out the newest ramen restaurant in the north of Toronto called Konjiki. The place's signature dish is clam broth ramen. I did have it before with the anime buddy and although I liked it enough, I wanted to try the tonkotsu since that is always going to be my favourite when it comes to the famous Japanese dish. Happy to say that it was very good. Ramen was indeed a good choice since although we are now well into April, we actually got hit with some wet fluffy snow in the afternoon! Yes, I know spring officially arrived a few weeks ago.
Just as comforting as that bowl of ramen for lunch is this City Pop song by singer-songwriter Kentaro Shimizu（清水健太郎）titled "Ryogiri no Camel" (Camel Cigarettes). This was a track from his 1977 first album"Shimizu Kentaro First"（清水健太郎 ファースト）, and that silly pose on the cover of the album aside, I enjoy this song since it has that languid sunset guitar and Fender Rhodes piano, tropes of 1970s City Pop, leading the way along with some mellow horns.
At first, I hadn't been quite sure about what the title was about. What did a camel have to do with a guy simply enjoying city life with his girlfriend as he goes to his favourite cafe filled with easy listening jazz? Then I found out that it wasn't the actual animal but the famous brand of cigarettes. Basically, "Ryogiri no Camel" could have made for a fine jingle for a commercial.
Shimizu did write and compose the song with Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）arranging it. This would be my second song by him to get featured on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" with his most famous tune being "Shitsuren Resutoran"（失恋レストラン）that I introduced way back in the first year of the blog.
It's been almost a year since I wrote up my last Ego-Wrappin' article so it was good that I listened to their BEST compilation, "Best Wrappin' 1996-2008" to remind me of some of the good stuff that Yoshie Nakano and Masaki Mori（中納良恵・森雅樹）have created.
I listened to Disc 2 labeled "Setsuna Ban"（セツナ盤）which I've taken to be their more soulful and softer side. And so I came across this lovely ballad called "a love song" which was originally on their 2nd mini-album of 5 songs cleverly called "Swing For Joy" from November 1999. Good heavens...is it almost 20 years?!
With words by Yoshie Nakano and music by both Nakano and Masaki Mori, Ego-Wrappin' was backed up here by 9-piece ska band Determinations to produce this really nice mellow ballad. One of the great things about Ego-Wrappin' is that it's not all about swing jazz from a century ago with this duo from Osaka. They can also turn it up a notch in other genres such as ska. As for Determinations, their run on the stage lasted from 1990 to 2004.
Just kinda too bad that it's still pretty cold out there. Wouldn't mind listening to this in warmer, properly spring weather in an al fresco setting.
Happy Monday! It's been less than 24 hours since I put up the article for Disc 1 of Rajie's"All Time Selection" from 2018, but since I was able to get all my work done today, I now have oodles of time to write about Disc 2 now.
Disc 2 includes selected tracks from d) Mahiru no Hodou (真昼の舗道...1980) e) Acoustic Moon (1981) f) Gogo no Relief (午後のレリーフ...1984) g) Espresso (エスプレッソ...1985), and yeah, I'm keeping the order that I had from last night's Disc 1 article so that's why it's starting from d).
Unlike in Disc 1, you won't be finding any links under here and only a few lettered tracks since neither nikala nor I have talked about Rajie's material beyond nikala's article for "Mahiru no Hodou". However, this gives me a chance to find out more about the songs that she performed for those last three albums.
The lineup for the second disc then.
1. Last Scene（ラスト・シーン）(d) 2. Itsuwari no Hitomi（偽りの瞳）(d) 3. Radio to Futari（ラジオと二人）(d) 4. Yojirean Twist（ヨジレアン・ツイスト）(d) 5. ROSY BLUE 6. Black Moon（ブラック・ムーン） 7. Bara no Glass（薔薇のグラス） 8. Do you wanna dance 9. Memory Through (Tsuisou)（メモリー・スルー (追想)） 10. Ce Soir（セソワ） 11. Goodbye Transfer（グッド・バイ トランスファー） 12. Ruriiro no Koibito-tachi（瑠璃色の恋人達） 13. Double Moon（ダブルムーン） 14. MAMAMIYA ~ Uchuu kara no Okurimono（宇宙からの贈物） 15. Espresso 16. Misshitsu（密室） 17. Yumeiro Densetsu（夢色伝説） 18. Hikari to Kage（光と影） Tracks 1~4 are d), 5~9 are e), 10~14 are f) and 15~18 are g). For those first four tracks, originally from "Mahiru no Hodou", you can just click the link in the second paragraph to find out more about them.
Since "Mahiru no Hodou" is already well represented, shall we begin with Rajie's 5th album"Acoustic Moon"? Above is "ROSY BLUE", a happy-go-lucky number that weaves between down-home and classy. Written by Keisuke Yamakawa（山川啓介）and composed by Masamichi Sugi（杉真理）, it might be telling a tale of a woman teasing a new beau over his past while tripping the light fantastic. Despite the songwriters involved, I couldn't but feel that there was a feeling of Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）infused into this song. "ROSY BLUE" was also the B-side to Rajie's 8th single"Do you wanna dance" from 1982.
Speaking of that A-side, here is "Do you wanna dance" which is another rather split-personality song which has a doo-wop refrain sandwiched in slices of what sounds like French jazz of the 1960s. Rajie is playing into this quite well with her flirty vocalization. Shigesato Itoi（糸井重里）and NOBODY took care of words and music respectively.
"Black Moon" from "Acoustic Moon" has Rajie seemingly channeling some Junko Yagami（八神純子）and Hi-Fi Set（ハイ・ファイ・セット）from the 1970s. Etsuko Kisugi and Yoshitaka Minami（来生えつこ・南佳孝）have teamed up to create this tribute to some classy City Pop with European undertones. No fusion of genres here....just some pleasant music that I would enjoy having some steak and alcohol with at The New York Grill in Shinjuku. "Black Moon" was also her 7th single from 1981.
Going into Rajie's 1984"Gogo no Relief" (Afternoon Relief), "Goodbye Transfer" is a pretty atmospheric piece straddling between 1980s City Pop and the sophisticated pop coming in the latter part of the decade. Kingo Hamada（浜田金吾）was responsible for the moody music and Kazuko Kobayashi（小林和子）took care of the lyrics which talk about a woman getting ready to take off from a fogbound airport to leave her romantic woes behind.
"Double Moon" is a another heady song with some bossa nova. Lyricist Rui Serizawa（芹沢類）and composer Akira Nishimoto（西本明）created this one.
"Espresso" is Rajie's final original album and the title track is a smooth and light technopop number by Serizawa again and Yuji Karaki（唐木祐史）. For some reason, I'm quite attracted to these cabaret-type songs done with synths.
Then on the same album, there is "Misshitsu" (Secret Room), a sultry song in which a woman and her paramour have a little tryst in an elevator while heading up to the 15th floor. I gather that back then, apartment or hotel elevators weren't all that fast. The same fellows behind "Double Moon" in the previous album also took care of this technopop tune which is about as different as Rajie could get when compared to her earliest City Pop entries. Again, I have yet to get "Espresso" the album but my feeling is that it could be similar to "Quatre" from 1979 which also had Rajie going for a more synthesized sound.
And that is what makes this BEST compilation interesting since Rajie didn't settle on one particular sound during those years between 1977 and 1985. She continued to evolve so it's been fun listening and comparing the songs.
Considering that she may not be all that well known anymore, I was not only surprised to find out last month that there was indeed a Rajie BEST album but that it had been released only in February of this year. Not that I'm complaining at all. I think of Atsuko Souma（相馬淳子）as one of the hidden unsung gems of the classic City Pop era, and now that I've got this compilation, I can get to know some of the other songs that I've yet to discover outside of the albums that I've already gotten by her, "Heart to Heart" (1977) and "Quatre" (1979).
The 2-disc set of "Rajie All Time Selection" doesn't have Rajie's best songs scattered all over the place or categorized into some arcane order. It just starts from her early years on Disc 1 and goes to her final album in 1985 "Espresso" by the end of Disc 2.
First off, let me introduce her albums: a) Heart to Heart b) Love Heart (1978) c) Quatre d) Mahiru no Hodou (真昼の舗道...1980) e) Acoustic Moon (1981) f) Gogo no Relief (午後のレリーフ...1984) g) Espresso (エスプレッソ)
As I said at the top, I've got a) and c) while nikala who gave her opinions on "Mahiru no Hodou" has d).
Now here is the lineup for the first disc of "Rajie All Time Selection": 1. Hold Me Tight 2. It's Me...It's You (a) 3. Ai wa Tabun（愛はたぶん） 4. The Tokyo Taste 5. Suteki na Feeling（素敵なフィーリング）(a) 6. Kibun wo Dashite Mou Ichido（気分を出してもう一度） 7. Heart to Heart 8. Kaze ni Yosete（風によせて） 9. Cool Down（クール・ダウン） 10. Love Heart（ラヴ・ハート） 11. Fuyu no Shouzou（冬の肖像） 12. Last Chance（ラスト・チャンス） 13. Just in the Rain（ジャスト・イン・ザ・レイン） 14. Quatre（キャトル）(c) 15. Tokidoki Mahou（ときどき魔法）(c) 16. Watashi wa Suteki（わたしはすてき） 17. Kaze no Michi（風の道）
Tracks 1~7 are a), 8~13 are b), 14~17 are c). Also, if the particular track above is linked, it has its own article, and if a track is lettered, it means that the album article features that song.
"Ai wa Tabun" (Love is Probably) is one of the songs from "Heart to Heart" that hasn't been covered at all so allow me to rectify this. It's quite the breezy pop tune by Keisuke Yamakawa and Nobuyuki Takahashi（山川啓介・高橋信之）, and that is probably because it was used as the campaign song for the Nissan Skyline back then. Nice for a drive. Incidentally, "Ai wa Tabun" was also the B-side to Rajie's debut single of "Hold Me Tight".
I never got to the title track for the album "Heart to Heart" so I have a chance to write about it here. Very pleasant song thanks to Rajie's vocals and creamy arrangement by Tsugutoshi Goto（後藤次利）with all of the instruments on languid mode. Yukihiro Takahashi and Chris Mosdell（高橋幸宏・クリス・モズデル）took care of the lyrics while Takahashi created the melody. I could drink a glass of wine to this.
Have yet to get "Love Heart" so I'm glad that I've got the opportunity here to talk about at least some of the tracks represented on this BEST disc. If the tracks there all sound like "Cool Down", then I can be enticed to invest in that one as well. As the title hints, it's the relaxing mid-tempo to bring a person down from a hard or overly exciting day. Yoshitaka Minami（南佳孝）, who duets with Rajie here once again, composed the music with Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつこ）providing the words. "Cool Down" is a bit of a sangria of a song with some bluesiness, AOR and a hint of Latin.
Yeah, I think I will get that "Love Heart" now, especially when "Last Chance" sounds so good. Takahashi took care of words and music and he knows how to weave a cool City Pop number along with co-creating those technopop hits as one part of the Yellow Magic Orchestra. Speaking of YMO, Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）was on the electric piano and rumbling bass synthesizer. For those listeners who have only heard of The Professor through his later solo works and his Oscar-winning soundtrack for "The Last Emperor", I would be happy to introduce "Last Chance" to show some of his cool funky chops.
My last paragraph here will be devoted to "Fuyu no Shouzou" (Winter Portrait) with Goto providing a melody that initially, at least, reminded me of something Eagles-ish or perhaps something poppy from the West Coast. Rajie's vocals are especially soaring in this power ballad. Machiko Ryu（竜真知子）wrote the words.
I will see about getting an article on Disc 2 sometime in the next 24 hours.
