Tonosama Kings -- Meoto Kagami（夫婦鏡）

When I first read the title for this Tonosama Kings（殿さまキングス）hit, "Meoto Kagami" (A Mirror for a Couple), I wondered what it meant because I have had the feeling that the mirror has found itself in a number of kayo titles. So I did some digging. I remember from my university education that the Imperial Regalia of Japan included the mirror Yata no Kagami（八咫鏡）which may be enshrined in Ise Grand Shrine in Mie Prefecture. Supposedly, the Yata no Kagami could represent "wisdom" or "honesty".

So, perhaps that's where the significance of "Meoto Kagami" might come into play. Maybe it talks about the honesty between a couple...or the lack thereof. This enka ballad was the 5th single by the Tonosama Kings released in May 1974, and it followed up the group's megahit of "Namida no Misao"（なみだの操）from the previous year.

The karaoke video above, which also has the Kings singing the lyrics, shows the situation of a wife who is carrying out her last duties before leaving her husband for the last time. Perhaps she may have found out that the heel was philandering or he was simply paying more attention to his career than to her. The strange thing is that according to Kazuya Senke's（千家和也）lyrics, the wife seems to be intimating that it's all her fault for the breakup and that she no longer wants to be a burden on him.

Masao Saiki（彩木雅夫）was responsible for the unexpectedly jaunty melody, and both him and Senke were behind "Namida no Misao", most probably in the hopes that lightning would strike twice for Tonosama Kings. There was no need to worry. Although "Meoto Kagami" didn't become the No. 1 single of the year like its predecessor, it was still a No. 1 on the Oricon weeklies for almost a straight month and sold 1.5 million records. It ended up as the No. 6 single for 1974.

I didn't mention this in the article for "Namida no Misao", but Tonosama Kings struck me as this rather interesting quartet that had that look and sound of a typical Mood Kayo group but actually sang enka tunes. Mind you, the way they sang both "Namida no Misao" and "Meoto Kagami" could have had them straddle the line between the two kayo genres.

Misia -- Rhythm Reflection

"Rhythm Reflection" is the first full track on Misia's marvelous 3rd album "Marvelous" from April 2001. I've already devoted an article to the album and there are plenty of great tracks there. In fact, there are so many great tracks on "Marvelous" that I think "Rhythm Reflection" kinda pales in comparison.

It isn't a bad song by any means. After all, it was written by Misia herself and Sakoshin took care of the music. It's just that the mix of post-disco, R&B and maybe hip-pop hasn't really settled with me as well when compared to some of the other tracks such as "Sunny Day" and "Everything".

However, I remember the title and the music video. There's a lot of that "Matrix" dystopia in there mixed in with a wolfman and some yuru characters. Plus, Misia looks great, and somehow that futuristic environment works well with her.

Hideaki Tokunaga -- Natsu no Radio（夏のラジオ）

Hearing all those Hideaki Tokunaga（徳永英明）songs all these years, my impression of him has been as a lovelorn balladeer that could wring tears from a rock. The exception is the sunny "Yume wo Shinjite"（夢を信じて）which has been one of my touchstone songs representing my time in Gunma Prefecture.

So having said that, it was quite the surprise to hear his 2nd single "Natsu no Radio" (Summer Radio) from May 1986, since it's not only an uptempo number but it's also a tune that takes things into the City Pop realm, and perhaps even into J-Rock. In fact, listening to that downtown beat with the wailing guitar, it struck me as being rather Anzen Chitai（安全地帯）, except that it's Tokunaga's vocals in there instead of Koji Tamaki's（玉置浩二）voice.

However, there was nothing Anzen Chitai attached to "Natsu no Radio". Tokunaga came up with the dramatic music while Ginshiro Akiya（秋谷銀四郎）wrote the lyrics. If I'm not mistaken, the whole premise behind the song was a fateful event in the water one summer day with a song coming from the radio on a boat being the symbol of the encounter. Since then, apparently, there has been no follow-through.

Supposedly, "Natsu no Radio" didn't really register on the charts, which is too bad, since I think it resonates with me. Being his second single, I gather that the powers-that-be were trying different styles with the singer-songwriter but it looks like the urban contemporary stuff wasn't quite working with him. The song was included on Tokunaga's 2nd album "radio" which came out a few months after the single in August.

Chiko to Beagles -- Kaeri Michi wa Tookatta（帰り道は遠かった）

It's a nice lazy Wednesday evening out there, and I've just finished a translation batch so perhaps it's time to go back a while.

The group Pinky to Killers（ピンキーとキラーズ）may have started something in the music and style department back in the 1960s since I have encountered another kayo group from the same time period which looked quite similar. Chiko to Beagles (チコ と ビーグルス...Chiko & The Beagles) had some nattily-attired backup fellows surrounding a stylish lead female vocal singing similar jangling guitar pop.

There is no J-Wiki article for them but I could find another website that gave their biography. Starting off as a Tokyo rock band known as The Buffaloes before changing the name and recruiting Chizuko Sako*（硲千鶴子）from Osaka. Chiko to Beagles' debut single was "Kaeri Michi wa Tookatta" (The Road Home was Far) which came out in December 1968. Written by Yoshikazu Fujimoto（藤本義一）and composed by Hideo Okumura（奥村英夫）, it was a pretty good debut for the band as it peaked at No. 14.

However, that ended up being the only hit for Chiko to Beagles and after four more singles and no albums leading into 1970, the band officially called it quits in the spring of 1973. Along with Sako, there were Takahiro Tomioka（富岡隆広）on bass, Toshio Yoshida（吉田俊夫）on drums, George Hori（ジョージ堀）who was also a vocalist, Kenji Tsuchiya（土屋健二）on guitar, and Atsushi Suzuki*（鈴木篤）on keyboards. Before the disbanding, there would be two more replacements of members.

One thing I have been wondering about is whether the folks behind the Group Sounds of the 1960s ever considered bands such as Pinky & Killers and Chiko to Beagles with their female vocalists as GS groups. My impression is that they didn't, although according to J-Wiki, there were female Group Sounds bands which included Pinky Chicks and Angel Sisters. I will have to search for them then.

*For a couple of the band members, the kanji for the names can be read a number of ways, so it is indeed possible that I have written them down incorrectly. If anyone out there knows the proper reading, please let me know.

Hiroshima -- One Wish

Me and radio during the middle of my university years in the 1980s? There are three songs that have stood out since that decade. One was Anita Baker's "Sweet Love". I didn't know anything about the music sub-genre term Quiet Storm back then, but there was just that urban contemporary sophistication in Ms. Baker's magnum opus that could put a tuxedo onto an elephant and make him worthy for a date on the town. I remember the opening episode of Season 3 of "Moonlighting" simply because "Sweet Love" made an appearance at the end.

The second song was Level 42's "Something About You" which was a totally different animal that still managed to burrow and wind around my cerebral cortex (yeah, "Star Trek II" reference here). I think it was the slip of technopop and that goodly amount of funk in there. It would have made for an excellent theme song for a strange but amenable sitcom. Both of these tunes were such earworms that I always wished that they would show up on the radio every time I had it on.

Now, technically speaking, the third song doesn't really qualify for "Kayo Kyoku Plus" since it was actually performed by an Asian-American band back in 1986. But heck, blogger's prerogative. Hiroshima's "One Wish" is another number that contrasts with both "Sweet Love" and "Something About You". Still, it stuck in my brain again and again, thanks to that dreamy soundscape created by leader Dan Kuramoto. It's almost like an aural version of taking a walk through a merged city of Los Angeles and Tokyo...without the "Blade Runner" dreariness. Enough with the dystopia and more of the utopia.

According to Wikipedia, "One Wish" has also been categorized as being synthpop but even with the syn-drums and other aspects of technology in there, I still treat it as one laidback AOR tune. I found out that it did fairly well on Billboard by hitting No. 20 on the Adult Contemporary chart and No. 24 on the Smooth Jazz chart. I also discovered that Paul Hardcastle ("19") did his own remix version of "One Wish".

Ahh...radio in the 1980s. Those were good times.

Kumi Showji -- Because It's Love

A little over a year ago, I wrote about Kumi Showji's（障子久美）sparkling "city plot" from her 4th album "Because It's Love". Well, after putting the article onto the blog, I told myself that I ought to buy the album myself. Indeed, that's what I did, and "Because It's Love" is now in my hands.

Released in 1992, the singer-songwriter from Shiga Prefecture took care of words and music for all of the tracks, including "city plot", and it's a wonder that she didn't get a higher profile on the charts and other media.

But before I get into venting mode, I will just deftly go into the album itself starting with the first track "Ame no Machi kara"（雨の街から...From The Rainy Streets）, a rich and smooth R&B ballad that sounds like it came more from the 1980s (the sax helps). From listening to this opening track, I felt that I did make a good purchase.

"my only angel" is another love ballad that strikes me in the nostalgia nerves. It was used as the theme song for the TBS documentary program "Sekai no Kekkon Shiki"（世界の結婚式...The World's Wedding Ceremonies）that seems to have been kicked around through multiple networks under different titles between 1968 and 2002.

"you were my love" is a standout for me since it reminds me so much of the Quiet Storm sector of 80s R&B. The nighttime jazziness and soul in here would probably have Anita Baker nodding in approval. My kudos to George Duke for his piano solo.

There are a few uptempo tracks on "Because It's Love", but I have to say that Showji's mid-tempo and slow songs are my favourites here and that includes the final track "Saigo no Onegai"（最後のお願い...A Final Request）. The age of Misia and bird wouldn't be around for another several years, but there were already some mighty fine R&B songstresses out there including Minako Yoshida（吉田美奈子）, and I would place Showji among them.

Hiromi Iwasaki -- ROSE

I've taken a look at the J-Wiki article for Hiromi Iwasaki's（岩崎宏美）"Wish" album which came out in August 1980, and although it's been categorized as aidoru kayo, I think when Iwasaki's hair became those long and flowing locks and she became a fan of nail polish, the aidoru part of her career was retired to be replaced with some great pop works.

Yup, I am indeed looking at the cover of "Wish", and one of the tracks from the album certainly doesn't sound aidoru. "ROSE" is imbued with the Japanese meaning of "moody" and images of contemplative drinkers in expensive hotel bars come to mind rather than bouncy teenyboppers. It was around this time that she was showing more of that urban contemporary side to her and I was more than happy.

"ROSE" was written by Rei Nakanishi（なかにし礼）and composed by Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）with arrangements handled by Tsugutoshi Goto（後藤次利）. "Wish" peaked at No. 14 on Oricon. Love the trumpet solo and Hiromi's enticing vocals.