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.
Yes, the sound of crickets and crows can be rather deafening, I know...
Now, to be exact, what I do have is the album "Mistress" by the pop duo Beers. It is in fact the only album that was ever released by the tandem of Megumi Saito（斉藤恵）and Yoko Takahashi（橋本ヨーコ）in 1983. And perhaps it is so obscure that even my bible of "Japanese City Pop" hasn't even bothered listing it...at least, in the first edition.
Thanks to YouTube, I was lucky to have come across Beers and was instantly charmed by the first track "Kowareta Wiper"（壊れたワイパー）and one other song to the extent that I decided to pick up "Mistress". And thanks to Tower Records, I was able to do so.
That one other song I mentioned in the previous paragraph is "Random ni"（ランダムに...At Random）which is Track 3 on "Mistress". Written by Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつこ）and composed by Daisuke Inoue（井上大輔）, it's a bit of radio-friendly morning drive disco that would probably have me get this urge to invest in one of those ancient listening boxes by SONY. It was between this and "Kowareta Wiper" as to what I would have first put onto the blog but ultimately I went with the latter. Still, "Random ni" is plenty fine music from the old days, and although I've put in that commuting theme, there's a part of the song that seems to soar softly into the sky. Makes me hope that those experimental flying cars finally become a reality.
But it's not all about the glitter ball here. Saito and Takahashi put their songwriting skills to use to make this soulful ballad "Ai no Kagi"（愛の鍵...Key of Love）that takes things further into the 1980s rather than the late 1970s of "Random ni". At the same time, I could recommend this song as another nice driving tune but for more of a nighttime spin on the highway close to midnight.
Heard of the Marlboro Man and that famous theme of "The Magnificent Seven"? Well, I don't know whether this track ever did help out in the commercials for another brand of cigarettes, but here is "Lucky Strike Man"（ラッキー･ストライク･マン）. Unlike the Western theme for the Marlboro dude, "Lucky Strike Man" has more of a laidback mix of reggae and pop or even New Wave. Inoue took care of the music once more but Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）provided the lyrics here.
This is another fine song as the second track, "Aoi Asa ~ Day Break Rain"（蒼い朝...Blue Morning） with Inoue on music and Rui Serizawa's（芹澤類）words gracing it. I like the AOR-ness of it all especially with the string section. In a way, it's rather timeless...I could really imagine it spanning the 70s and 80s as Saito and Takahashi give "Aoi Asa" more of the softly, softly approach.
I'm not sure how long the relationship lasted but this duo with the unusual name has provided me with some comfortable music. I can have repeated dai jokkii of this.🍺
Now that we've had iron-clad super heroes for a good decade now, I'm reminded of a Japanese superhero who had a similar name but didn't quite have the endurance as those Marvel guys.
This was Iron King, a moniker that Tony Stark most likely would have enjoyed to no end, who had his time on Japanese TV from 1972 to 1973. I know very little about him, especially when compared to the Ultraman and Kamen Rider franchises; in fact, I only found out about Iron King through the pages of a very thick manga compilation that my mother had bought me at the local Japanese food store.
For years, I had thought that the hero was actually named Ion King because of the way the katakana presented itself, and because I knew that the appliance iron was written as アイロン in that syllabary. But I guess to distinguish the hero from the appliance, アイアン was used for the former. And in katakana, ol' Shellhead is actually written as アイアンマン.
A couple of things that I learned today in preparation for this article were: 1) rather ironically, it was the adorably bumbling sidekick-y guy who actually henshin'd his way into Iron King instead of the conventional leading man. So if I were to bring in a Marvel movie universe analogy, it would be Paul Rudd's Scott Lang (Ant-Man) becoming the superhero with his good buddy, Chris Evans' Steve Rogers (Captain America) sans uniform, helping out where he could on the ground. 2) if I read this correctly, Iron King only had a minute to get the job done before he started petering out; basically only a third of the time that Ultraman had before exhaustion started kicking in. I'm not sure whether this was due to sponsors really wanting to squeeze commercials in at the end of the episode.
If he hasn't already been given the accolades, I think singer Masato Shimon（子門真人）should be getting some sort of award from the government for his contributions to music. He has sung a tune about a bean jam-filled dessert that still holds the record for being the No. 1 single in Oricon history, has given us one of the more beloved anime themes, and has also recorded another more famous tokusatsu hero theme song.
And he sings the opening theme for this show under the simple title of "Iron King". Written by Mamoru Sasaki（佐々木守）and composed by Shunsuke Kikuchi（菊池俊輔）, who also provided the score for the series, the theme has all of the usual 1970s tokusatsu theme song tropes: staccato trumpets, gravitas-laden timpani, racing bass, and the triumphant vocals of Shimon. All of them come together to get those boys and girls glued in front of the sets for a half-hour of laughs and kicks.
I finally got through the first cour of the second season of "Hoozuki no Reitetsu"（鬼灯の冷徹...Hozuki's Coolheadedness） from late 2017 about the motley crew of folks toiling down in Hell as a monastic corporation of sorts. Earlier this year, I had written about the opening theme for that first cour "Dai! Jigo Jigo Bushi"（大！地獄地獄節）and mentioned that the show hadn't quite grabbed me. Well, part of it was that without the subtitles, it's a tad difficult for me to understand some of the more esoteric parts. Plus, I have to admit that the humour is far more droll than the craziness that I've come across in this summer's bunch of anime such as "Grand Blue" and "Gokudolls".
Still, by the time I got to the end of the first cour at Episode 13 where even the devils and other staffers enjoy a good year-end party, there was a certain level of comfort achieved in watching these characters interact like a nice sitcom family. Question marks will still flutter over my head at some of the discussions but I can still roll with the show. My anime buddy was kind enough to give me the second cour so I will start on that fairly soon.
It took me a while but the ending theme for that first cour of the second season has finally grown on me as well. I guess with the increase in comfort for the show, "Riverside Lovers ~ Naraku no Koi"(Love in Hell), there was a direct relationship with my affinity for this ballad which is quite different in tone from the down-home country-style of "Dai! Jigo Jigo Bushi".
There's almost a healing music vibe with Sumire Uesaka's（上坂すみれ）Kyoto-esque love song, completed with the familiar techno beats from the good folks at TECHNOBOYS PULCRAFT GREEN FUND. Perhaps this may be a trip to Hell, but it's certainly downright calming and relaxing going down the river.
Happy Labour Day! The first Monday of September is a national holiday in both Canada and the United States, and it has had mixed meanings for me. On the good side, it used to be the time when "The Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon" was on throughout the day, and being a sucker for the old Rat Pack/Hollywood entertainment when I was a kid, I enjoyed watched Jerry, Ed McMahon and some of the big stars come to sing and snark while raising money to combat the titular disease.
Of course, the other side signified the end of the summer holidays and back to school the next day. Not so much fun there, I'm afraid.
thevinylfactory.com
A few days ago, Johnny from Toothpaste Records based in London and Tokyo sent me a Twitter DM and asked me if I could take a listen to some of the tracks from Tentenko's（テンテンコ）vinyl album coming out on the label on September 21st. First off, I had to find out who Tentenko was.
Well, technically speaking, I had already heard about her. She was actually a member of the famous/infamous (depending on how you felt) aidoru group BiS from 2013-2014. Joana has already provided one article on one of their songs, "nerve", so you can take a gander at that. I've been rather curious about the original group so I will probably write about one of their songs before their disbandment in the middle of 2014 sometime in the near future.
It seems like some of the tracks at least have come out in Japan as singles or on other works by Tentenko who has become a singer and DJ since leaving BiS. One single on this new album is the perky and jovial "Good bye, Good Girl" which has probably had fans and myself somewhat swooning over the old-style techno kayo. According to the British-based J-Pop Go website, the song was inspired by an unsolved murder in Shibuyaaround 20 years ago, but looking at the video, things look quite cheery as Tentenko takes a walk through what I think is Shibuya on a regular night that would approximate one of my own nights if I were walking through the area. It's been given that techno kayo label and J-Pop Go has considered it a Showa Era tribute, but there is also something in the arrangements that had me thinking of the very early Heisei Era with Chisato Moritaka（森高千里）, although I realize that the vocals are quite different between Moritaka and Tentenko. The singer wrote the lyrics while papico came up with the music.
Another track is "Nantonaku Abunai"（なんとなくあぶない...Somewhat Dangerous）which was written and composed by Shintaro Sakamoto（坂本慎太郎）. There is something rather "Twilight Zone" about it as Tentenko sings about seeing her own self and her own self then inviting to follow her. Trying not to consider the Mobius Strip possibilities of the situation, "Nantonaku Abunai" has a children's song-like quality with its rhythm and there is that fortified mellowness, thanks to that twangy guitar. The music video itself would probably have ended up on the old "City Limits" midnight show of odd videos. The only dangerous aspect in there would have involved a cranky guy yelling out of his house window about what the singer and her fellow dancers were doing out in the alley late at night.
The site Light In The Attic mentioned that "Hokago Sympathy"（放課後シンパシー...After School Sympathy）was rather reminiscent of Devo, and remembering the craziness of that American band, I was rather interested in what Tentenko had to offer there. And yep, the guys from Akron, Ohio would probably want to shake the singer's hand. Mind you, they would also have to shake D.N.A. INSTRUMENTAL's hand (the singer provided the words) since he was the one behind the music that not only strikes me as being Devo-ish but seems to have a bit of ska in there as well. Heck, even some of the images in the video were screaming "Late 1970s music video!" Plus, isn't that William S. Burroughs doing a "cameo" of sorts?
Although it's only an excerpt here, at 1:15 of this video, there is another song on the album which is a cover of 70s aidoru Ikue Sakakibara's（榊原郁恵）"Robot". Nice and groovy and I hope that the full version of the song can get up on YouTube somehow. There is something about this cover that would make it the ideal insert song for some of the scenes in Steven Spielberg's "Minority Report" or "I, Robot" with Will Smith.
I still have yet to listen to the whole album but I'm enjoying what I've been hearing so far. I don't think Tentenko is considered to be an aidoru as a solo artist anymore but it's been interesting to find out through Marcos and Joana's articles here about these eclectic underground aidorus and what they have been able to accomplish.
If Johnny and Toothpaste Records have anything to add here, please feel free.
When I was really starting to get into music as a teenager in the early 1980s on both sides of the Pacific, I realized that listening to synthesizers and syn-drums was fascinating for me. I've mentioned in past articles that I had Yellow Magic Orchestra on the brain for a time since their brand of technopop was like aural tonic. So that also translated into my like for the New Wave acts including The Human League, Gary Numan, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark and also The Spoons from my area.
I've also realized that I still retained my love for the jazzy standards of my childhood through folks like Rosemary Clooney, Bing Crosby and Nat King Cole. Therefore, perhaps you can appreciate my interest when I first heard the melding of jazz and technopop through Taco's "Puttin' On The Ritz" in 1983. I never thought about a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup combination of warm and woodsy jazz and icy cool technopop, and yet there it was.
Decades later, in my last year in Japan as a resident, I heard the same "Puttin' On The Ritz" get the same sort of technological treatment while I was browsing through the Shinjuku Station branch of Tower Records. Cafe Des Belugas was the cool cat who concocted this more danceable version of the classic via Fred Astaire's take in a form that has been called Electro Jazz. It was enough that I bought the compilation album that was being advertised through the song. The only thing was that Des Belugas's "Puttin' On The Ritz" was by far the best track on the album.
From YouTube
A few weeks ago, I wrote an article on singer-musician Kazuhiro Nishimatsu（西松一博）since I enjoyed his City Poppy"My Last Lady" from his 1981 debut album"Good Times". I then received contact from commenter Matt K. telling me about his second album "Bouekifu Monogatari" (Trade Wind Story) from 1985. Matt was quite enamored with it and to be honest, I did find quite a bit more information (or at least more good feelings) on "Bouekifu Monogatari" online than I did for "Good Times". So my interest was piqued. Certainly, the cover of the album itself is worthy of mention.
All that prelude up above about the 1980s melding of jazz and technopop was because of what I've heard from "Bouekifu Monogatari". Nishimatsu does away with the mellow West Coast sound and goes for more of a tropical exotica feeling here.
Beginning with a synthesized rippling prologue, Nishimatsu launches into a near-falsetto with "A Night of Blue Roses", an original number that sounds like it was created and performed from a 1920s-style cabaret on Mars. It's almost as if Haruomi Hosono's（細野晴臣）Tin Pan Alley and Yellow Magic Orchestra merged for a time.
Matt first introduced me to the dreamy spacy ballad via a commercial for Kawasaki Steel which featured the designs of Syd Mead. I think that it was an inspired meeting of music and images.
Track 3 is pronounced (I believe) "Sanmon Bunshi no Koi ~ Penny A Liner"（三文文士の恋～ペニー ア ライナー...Love of a Hack Writer）. I don't really have a clue about that last English part there. However, it's Nishimatsu doing his old-style crooning, and I think the ballad fits even more into this space-age cabaret aesthetic. I can even imagine the singer cradling one of those ancient and huge microphones in his hands like a lover while he's singing it. If I'm not mistaken, I think there was even an interlude with some of that old softshoe.
One more track that I'll feature here is the final track "Old Moon" which is an instrumental. It could be inviting humans and robots up onto the dance floor for one more fling before the clock strikes midnight, Martian Standard Time.
Perhaps I've taken things into the wrong direction with "Bouekifu Monogatari" by stating that it's a rather spacy album. But with that crystal synthesizer in there, I couldn't really help it. And it's a fascinating release because of the mix of the genres. If I can get my hands on a copy of the album, I would be more than happy to do a follow-up article for the other tracks. Thanks again, Matt K! March 10, 2020: Matt K himself has given his own review of the album!
Man, that sample jellyfish photo from the computer has sure come in handy today.
I had lunch with my good friend, Shard, and we ended up at the newest branch of the Santouka ramen franchise in The Annex. As usual, we had some good talk on music, the life of Anthony Bourdain and sci-fi from decades past. He was kind enough to pass me some books of the genre such as William Gibson's works including "Neuromancer". We even talked about "Logan's Run", the novel and its movie adaptation. For those who may not know about the story behind this particular book, it's about a so-called utopian society on Earth centuries from now...the only catch being that people are no longer allowed to exist beyond the age of 21 (in the movie with Michael York and Jenny Agutter, the age is 30). Shard posited that the 1967 story was inspired by the perception back in those days that adults were no longer to be trusted.
Well, coincidentally, I was thinking about doing this song since it is September 1st today. I also mention the word "coincidentally" since the source album for this Moonriders'（ムーンライダーズ）song is titled "Don't Trust Over Thirty" (November 1986). Not sure if any of the songwriters had seen or read "Logan's Run".
Anyways "Ku-gatsu no Umi wa Kurage no Umi" is translated as "The September Sea is the Jellyfish Sea". It kinda sounds like a rather Beatles-ish tune or perhaps it could be ELO. Maybe the melody by Moonriders' keyboardist Toru Okada（岡田徹）has that rather twangy and loopy feel since it was meant to emulate the movements of jellyfish?
The lyrics by Kenzo Saeki（サエキけんぞう）also have a certain loopy quality about it...perhaps rather late 60s in inspiration; I'm thinking of "MacArthur's Park" or "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". I think they refer to a fellow's perception of someone he likes as a person he knows nothing about but can feel everything about and as someone he has always been searching for but cannot see. However, as the lyrics go on, the song may simply be about a visitor's love for jellyfish at the nearest aquarium. A bit of a joke, but perhaps this could be Moonriders' equivalent of The Beatles'"Octopus's Garden"?
This is the first article about Nishino Kana 西野カナ. I’ll tell you how I found out about her later but today let’s focus on her little cute song called Torisetsu トリセツ.
Nishino was born in 1989 in Matsusaka 松坂. Wiki says she always interested in living overseas, and so she spent her 5th grade in Guam and she also spent 1 year in Los Angeles during her first year in high school.
Nishino debuted in 2008. Wiki doesn’t provide a lot of details but apparently she went for an audition and later signed with SME records, a subsidiary of Sony Music. Although she doesn’t compose her music, she pens the lyrics of most of her songs, despite having zero experience prior to her debut.
Torisetsu in Japanese is shorthand for Tori Atsukai Setsumei Sho 取扱説明書. It means instruction manual or user manual. It’s released in 2015 and reached #6 on Oricon. I knew about the song when it’s first released. I think many people, especially men, in Japan were offended. I found the lyrics cute and was laughing hard when I first read it. Basically, Nishino tells men how they should treat women (or is it really just her?) when they’re in a love relationship, and wrote an “instruction manual” in the form of a song. It’s like Sada Masashi’s さだ まさし famous Kanpaku Sengen 関白宣言, only the role is reversed. I can imagine why it can stir up controversy among Japanese men, or even women. Here’s my English translation of the “manual”. Feel free to point out any inaccuracies : )
Thank you for choosing Kana
Please take your time and read through this instruction manual before using it
You should always use the product appropriately and treat her with care
This is a special edition and there is no refund or exchange
Thanks for your understanding
Kana may suddenly become moody
No answer will be given even if you ask
Nevertheless, she will become angry if you choose to leave her alone
Sorry
In such situation, don’t despair
Engage and stay with her till the end
You should regularly praise her to ensure longevity of the product
For example, her beautiful nails or any other tiny changes in her appearance
Please pay close attention to such
However, for things like weight gain or any other unnecessary matters, you’re advised to pretend you didn’t notice
When the product gets a little old and you’re thinking of switching to a new one
Please remember the joy and excitement when you guys first found each other
Thank you and from now on please treat her well
Despite all the product’s shortcomings, please smile and forgive her
Alway value her
Lifetime warranty included
Unexpectedly send her even just one flower will get her thrilled
Especially on an ordinary day, send her small presents and it’ll be extra effective
Good taste is crucial
Nevertheless, however short, however clumsy
A love letter is most appreciated
When Kana cries
Softly wipe away her tears
Hold her tight in your arms
Remember, only you the product owner can fix her
Thank you and from now on please treat her well
Despite all the product’s shortcomings, please smile and nod for acknowledgement
Always value her
Lifetime warranty included
Occasionally bring her with you on a vacation
Treat her to a nice dinner on various anniversaries
Don’t say it’s not in your character
Act like a gentleman and escort her
With your broadest heart and deepest love
Accept the product as a whole package
Thank you and from now on please treat her well
Despite all the product’s shortcomings, please smile and forgive her
Alway value her
Lifetime warranty included
Interesting enough, there’s a boys group called HFU that responded to Nishino’s song with a man’s version of the instruction manual. Here’s the MV and I think they’re pretty cool.
Here’s my English translation of the man’s instruction manual:)
Thank you for choosing me
Please read this instruction manual carefully before you use this product
If you’ve been faithfully staying by my side, I will protect you for the rest of my life
No refund or exchange is permitted though
Understand?
By default he is set to maximum “magnanimity” mode
Trust is foremost
For example, when he goes drinking with friends
Learn how not to worry and give him maximum freedom
“Manly” mode is automatically on when he is in front of others
It is his desire to show strong character
If he seems to be always bragging in front of his buddies
Just take a step back and let it go
On the other hand, he might suddenly turn into a little sheep when only you two are together
“Too bad, is he broken?”, you may think
This is the time when he opens his heart to you
He has entered a privileged state that only you can see
If his “mood-meter” needle goes over the top
You might even get a surprise present
If he seems to be fed up with you....
I mean...there’re no other options
Just in case that happens
He doesn’t mean to leave you
Thank you and from now on let’s be nice to each other
Despite who I am you’ve always been by my side
In that case, let me take care of you for the rest of my life
That’s my lifetime warranty
Unexpectedly, he can be jealous at the tiniest thing
But he hates acting sissy
So, he tends to hide all his wounds and troubles
When he obviously talks less than usual
Or when his attitude seems cold
He may have his “act tough” switch on
To confirm that’s the case, try ask him, “Are you being sulky?”
If his answer is “No“, I’m afraid he’s probably lying
Thank you and from now on let’s be nice to each other
For who I am I already can’t live without you
Of course I’ll take care of you for the rest of my life
That’s my lifetime warranty
When watching TV, he’s fine with you adoring how cool and handsome Oguri Shun is
But if you were to go all the way and say, “I want to get married”
He’d think you’re ridiculous
There’s no reason to get married
“Besides me, who else can be your husband?”
Thank you and from now on let’s be nice to each other
Despite who I am you’ve always been by my side
In that case, let me take care of you for the rest of my life
