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.
I didn't set out to write about an entire Charan-Po-Rantan（チャラン・ポ・ランタン）album, especially when I have yet to buy anything by sisters Momo and Koharu Matsunaga（松永もも・松永小春）. Through one commenter's tip a few years back, I first listened to them and found their brand of accordion pop and jazz refreshing in an era of aidoru-dominated pop on the Oricon charts.
It's just that I discovered this cover of "Koi to Machine Gun"（恋とマシンガン）originally by Shibuya-kei duo Flipper's Guitar and found it perfect for Charan-Po-Rantan, only to find out that the video is an abbreviated version. Kinda too bad since it looks like the Matsunaga sisters were having some fun going through the trendier areas of Tokyo.
"Koi to Machine Gun" is a track from their special September 2016 album"Karimono Kyousou"(Concerto of Borrowed Things), a release of covers of English and Japanese songs. Since the video for "Koi to Machine Gun" was so short, I felt that I needed to compensate with at least one more of their singles. However, I realized that it was part of this album and then saw that there were other tracks up on YouTube, so I decided that I would feature some of those entries.
For example, "Shangri-La" originally by techno group Denki Groove（電気グルーヴ）. Not a bad cover all things considered but I think "Koi to Machine Gun" is still in the lead. The video for "Shangri-La" is even shorter. However, we get to see the Shibuya for old folks, Sugamo.
(Sorry but the video has been taken down.)
Then, there is the sisters' cover of "Saudade"（サウダージ）by Pornograffiti which is here in its full glory and which I think fits the bill better in terms of transition. It's too bad, though, that none of their covers of English-language tunes are up since personally I would love to hear their version of The Buggles'"Video Killed The Radio Star".
Ahhh...Anzen Chitai's（安全地帯）1986 "V" album...the opportunity to hear the band spread out in various ways musically. Let's see, going away from their early moody sound, Koji Tamaki（玉置浩二） and company tried themselves out with jazz, blues and AOR/fusion and perhaps a couple of other genres to great success.
Then, with "Parade ga Yatte Kuru" (A Parade is Coming), Anzen Chitai embraced some child-like fun. Lyricist Goro Matsui（松井五郎）and composer Tamaki created this one (as they did for almost every track on the epic album) to sound as if a parade truly was coming down the main street. If you ever wondered how Tamaki would look like as the Pied Piper of Hamelin, well, this is the song for you. He could pretty much march his delirious fans outside the arena with "Parade ga Yatte Kuru". And I think the song could have become a nice addition to the long list of tunes featured on NHK's children's music vignette "Minna no Uta"（みんなのうた）.
Well, whaddaya know? He is marching on the stage here with the concert rendition. It's got a bit more oomph and less whimsy with those horns but it's still the amazing Tamaki and his voice. Within the large number of tracks on "V", "Parade ga Yatte Kuru" really does stand out as a happy purely pop song.
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.
