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.
Happy Monday! Recently, I've come across some more of the works of singer Atsuko Nina（二名敦子）after hearing about her "Soldier Fish" song, and I found them eminently listenable and varied. As a result, I've decided to cover a couple of them in one article today.
The first song is "Communication" from her 1983 album"Play Room ~ Tawamure ~"（PLAY ROOM ～戯れ～...Fun）. The album represented a re-birth of the singer's career under this new stage name (her real name is Atsuko Iwai/岩井敦子), following her first start under the name Eri Hayakawa（早川英梨）in 1979.
Now, if "Communication" sounds awfully familiar, it is because that it is a cover of the Latin standard "One-Note Samba". Apparently, a number of tracks in "Play Room" are covers of famous Western tunes but under different titles. Unfortunately, I couldn't find out who provided the Japanese lyrics but I have to give Nina and the arranger for "Communication" some kudos for a slick and assured version, especially with that slightly City Pop feel to the proceedings.
In 1986, Nina released a single which sounds as sweet and bright and refreshing as a glass of orange juice in the morning. And sure enough, her "Orange Basket" was used for TV ads plugging Kirin Orange Juice.
Written by Shun Taguchi（田口俊）and composed by Kenjiro Sakiya（崎谷健次郎）, "Orange Basket" does come across as plucky and catchy (thanks to those synthesizers) as any commercial jingle should, but the full version couldn't help but include that cool soaring guitar solo. The single also got onto Nina's 5th album from September 1986, "him".
Last Thursday, just before I met up with my fellow translators for a meeting downtown, I decided to drop into BMV Books which is a local group of shops selling all sorts of books, DVDs and records/CDs. Since returning to Toronto from Japan, I've kept up the bookstore browsing.
Well, as I was in the basement looking at the LPs and CDs, I did manage to find this EP CD by Pizzicato Five titled "Nonstop to Tokyo", selling for just a little over $5 CDN. Not wanting to look at a gift horse in the mouth, I didn't hesitate and bought it. Plus, there is a bit of a personal connection since that is exactly the plane that I use to get to Japan...the Air Canada nonstop between Toronto and Tokyo.
The EP, released in July 1999 (peaked at No. 55 on Oricon), consists of 5 tracks including the title track. As would be expected from a P5 album, "Nonstop to Tokyo" has our congenial hosts, Maki Nomiya and Yasuharu Konishi（野宮真貴・小西康陽）, leading our flight with a light vocal delivery paired with some hip-swiveling groovalicious beats. I can only wish that those nonstop flights to Tokyo would be nearly as fun. Alas, perhaps some alcohol on the way would remedy things somewhat...
"Room Service" is a slightly less frenetic number that still retains that Shibuya-kei style. My imagination envisions those "Mad Men" executives sitting nonchalantly in a 60s space-age lounge knocking back those cocktails as this song is playing. Personally, I've never had room service in a hotel, preferring to get my meals somewhere out on the town. However, when I was in Japan in 2014, I did ask to have a massage in the room, and the masseuse did a very intense job on my shoulders and back. Amazing how far sinews can stretch!
I couldn't find "Bossa Nova 3003" but did find "Mademoiselle" which brings back the energy levels. The Divine Ms. Nomiya could be on the stage leading the way with her mike while a bunch of young ladies and gentlemen are shimmying vigorously all over the dance floor. I don't think I've used the term mademoiselle since Grade 12 French!
The last track is a radio edit of "Nonstop to Tokyo" but I couldn't find it on YouTube. However, I did find an interesting version of the song which was included on a P5 2001 album"Çà et là du Japon", since the vocalist here is not Nomiya but veteran singer and frequent informercial guest Shigeru Matsuzaki（松崎しげる）. Although the Wikipedia article for the album lists both Matsuzaki and former Sparks keyboardist Ron Mael as the vocalists, I can only hear the dulcet tones of "Captain" Matsuzaki on this version.
My anime buddy provided me with "Gundam Build Divers"（ガンダムビルドダイバーズ）recently, and to be honest, it hasn't really grabbed me, although he told me that it took until Episode 7 for things to really get going. I just finished Episode 3, and I'm already starting to think of letting this one go, but I will play it by ear.
Anyways, this isn't the first time that tarento and former 80s aidoruHiroko Moriguchi（森口博子）has appeared in "Kayo Kyoku Plus" with JTM introducing her in his grand article "JTM's 80s Playlist - J-Dorama/Anime/Movie Edition" from nearly 5 years ago (look for entry No. 6). That entry spoke about her debut single, "Mizu No Hoshi E Ai Wo Komete"（水の星へ愛をこめて）as a theme song for one of the many "Gundam" shows that have appeared over the decades.
I've also mentioned in a past article that my personal recollections about her exclusively talked about her status as an overall giggly comedic tarento and impersonator. Just before she made her big break in the 1980s, she received her training with The School Mates（スクールメイツ）, an entertainment group in which she often appeared on TV as a background dancer.
I'd had no idea until my anime buddy informed me that Moriguchi was known in anime circles as "The Gundam Oneesan" for her contributions to the franchise's anison.
Additionally, I had assumed that "Kido Senshi Gundam Formula 91"（機動戦士ガンダムF91...Mobile Suit Gundam F91）was another in a line of Gundam TV series, but actually, it turned out to be a movie released in March 1991.
Moriguchi was tasked to sing the theme song for the movie, "ETERNAL WIND~Hohoemi wa Hikaru Kaze no Naka~" (Smile in the Shining Wind). Written by singer-songwriter Yui Nishiwaki（西脇唯）and composed by Nishiwaki and Yoko Osatohara（緒里原洋子...I hope I've got the name right）, it's a pretty uplifting song with that taste of pop-rock from that period of time.
"ETERNAL WIND" was also Moriguchi's 9th single from February 1991 which has proven to be her most successful single thus far, peaking at No. 9, and finishing the year as the 47th-ranked song. Apparently, it was also used as the ending theme for the Sony Playstation 2 game "Kido Senshi Gundam Climax U.C."（機動戦士ガンダム クライマックスU.C.）released in March 2006.
Hey, why not leave things off with one of Moriguchi's most popular impressions...that of Shizuka Kudo（工藤静香）?
P.S. December 13, 2022: Enka and pop singer Kiyoshi Hiyama（氷川きよし）had his year-end television special earlier tonight before he takes an extended leave of absence from 2023. He revealed that he and Moriguchi had attended the same junior high school in Fukuoka, although the latter had graduated many years prior. As well, at his classmates' urging, he sang "ETERNAL WIND" in front of everyone and he stated that their warm reaction gave the impetus for him to go into singing as a career.
Yesterday, I was writing about all those wonderful pop songs from America and Canada on the radio back in the 70s and 80s that helped me slide right in when it came to the City Pop and J-AOR genres. Well, today, I'm going to finish up with a list that showed that turnabout was indeed fair play.
I had watched Yellow Magic Orchestra's amazing "Firecracker" music video on an episode of "Japanese Panorama" on the multicultural channel here in Toronto some time before I left for my 1981 summer trip to Japan, and then also heard the even greater "Rydeen". Also during and after the trip, I became aware of the examples of techno kayo on display.
Before that, back in junior high school, I listened to an album of computer music (circa 1969) at my library when LPs could be heard back then in such a place, and it was nothing but a series of bleeps and bloops in some sort of very rough arrangement. It was kinda like seeing bits of paper in a suspension of water and calling it a sheet. Perhaps the iconic theme from "Doctor Who" had been the only example of technologically-created pop music that I had known that could be heard as a proper song.
YMO changed all that. Although I wouldn't figure it out for years, I realized that the first album by Haruomi Hosono, Yukihiro Takahashi and Ryuichi Sakamoto（細野晴臣・高橋幸宏・坂本龍一）was translating some old genres of music via all of these synthesizers and other technology into something splendid. I've mentioned it in other articles of YMO and techno kayo before, but I was getting YMO on the brain. Basically, along with the fact that I was falling in love with kayo kyoku in general, my ears were also on the hunt for anything electronically and musically bleepy and bloopy.
This influence from Japan had a hand then in also shaping my interests in Western music which was finally blossoming. And the timing was perfect since it was also the time of New Wave. My list this time will be somewhat shorter, though.
Yep, I believe that my YMO on the brain started with the above two songs, specifically the intros for both the classic "The Message" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'". Those intros were used for background using for a radio ad midway "Sounds of Japan" broadcasts and during public service announcements for "Japanese Panorama" respectively. I naively got excited that these were actually YMO products. It would be some time before I finally got to hear the entirety of either song and enjoy them both (I do have my "Thriller" album). When I look upon that realization now, I feel like slapping myself silly with a Casio portable keyboard.
However, YMO on the brain also did get me to discover some great songs in their entirety right from the get-go.
Man, did this song get the heavy airplay! And it was worth it...those booming synths and New Wave-y cosmetics. A waitress in a cocktail bar? This was a musical mystery that I was more than willing to explore over and over.
When the first music video shows came onto TV, such as the local "Toronto Rocks" on CITY-TV, Depeche Mode was one band which became about as regular as the aunt coming over for dinner. My favourite song by Martin Gore and the gang is "Strangelove", but I did hear some of their earlier stuff such as "People Are People". Nope, their technopop was nothing like YMO's technopop but it was great to hear on the radio and on the dance floor.
But it wasn't all about the British coming. Canada (specifically, Burlington, Ontario) had its own Spoons. There were a number of hits by this New Wave band that I enjoyed such as "Romantic Traffic" and "Tell No Lies", but when it comes to representing this band, I will always remember "Nova Heart". It's beautiful and haunting, and bassist Sandy Horne will never age in my eyes.
Listening to "West End Girls" on "The Top 6 at 6" on CFTR 680 while in the car has remained one of my distinct memories of the 1980s. And even up to the present day, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe have been the gifts that keep on giving. The intro to "West End Girls" is one of the truly classic openings to a song that I've heard. It sounds like the beginning to an especially cool super spy novel.
Naked Eyes - Always Something There To Remind Me (1983)
The crazy thing about "Always Something There To Remind Me" was that I used to hear...and enjoy the original instrumental version by Burt Bacharach and Hal David on radio all the time. Then this UK duo Naked Eyes came up with this synthpop cover including an epic crash of synthesizers heralding a Most Important Example of Pomp and Circumstance, and now I can only be reminded of Naked Eyes' version.
There are a few more that I can mention but I will keep it to this short list.
Going back to Yellow Magic Orchestra and the techno kayo...of course, what I heard in Japan back in 1981 and what I heard in Canada in the years since are very different, but YMO and their brand of synthesizer music opened the door to a new and bop-worthy way of aural enjoyment that didn't have any borders. I will always be grateful for that.
First full day of Autumn 2018, and although it's not exactly warm out there (14 degrees C at last count), it's gorgeously sunny and a nice walk will be enough to have folks work up a bit of a sweat.
Some months ago, I found this wonderful ballad, "Love Light" (1978) by kotoist and keyboardist, Yutaka Yokokura（横倉裕）, which brought back all of the loveliness of some of my favourite music from the late 70s into the early 80s.
Now, here is another great track from Yokokura from his "Yutaka" album of 1988. Apparently, it's actually him singing "Warm & Sunny Sunday Morning" alongside Pauline Wilson. It's a nice combination of bossa nova and smooth jazz and his koto to go with that brunch of Eggs Benedict and a cup of coffee. "Love Light" the album might be one of those hard-to-find purchases, but here's hoping that "Yutaka" will be a bit more easier for me.
P.S. This has nothing to do whatsoever with the song, but last night, JTM and I were having a chat and he told me about this fellow who has a blog which seems to be a twin of mine. Actually, I only use "twin" because his Blogger layout is identical to mine. His topic is Japanese words, slang and other expressions, and if you're interested in picking up some of the lingo, you can check out "Japanese Word of the Day".
With some of the more insane anime that have come out this summer, it's hard to believe that earlier this year, my anime buddy and I had been watching something as gently humourous as "Karakai Jozu no Takagi-san"（からかい上手の高木さん...Skilled Teaser Takagi-san）. Frankly I wouldn't mind if something similar came out in the soon-to-arrive fall season.
It's been almost 6 months since I put up the last of the multiple ending themes for the show, the gimmick being that they were covers of hit J-Pop songs performed by the seiyuu portraying the titular Takagi-san, Rie Takahashi（高橋李依）. Back in March, just when "Takagi-san" finished its run, I wrote about the adorable final theme, a cover of Every Little Thing's"Deatta Koro no you ni"（出逢った頃のように）.
Well, today I'm going back to the beginning. For the first couple of episodes and the OVA, the ending theme was the cover of Ikimonogatari's（いきものがかり）"Kimagure Romantic" (Capricious Romantic), a cheerful rendition by Takahashi whose lyrics seem to fit perfectly with the overall story arc of "Takagi-san": for Takagi to get young and crabby Nishikata to like her. If I had been the school counselor, I probably would have advised the girl to stop teasing the poor lad, but then there would have been no purpose for the story to air.
In any case, it was definitely one ultra-happy way to end the show.
The original Ikimonogatari version was the band's 12th single from December 2008, and it's no less cheerful and upbeat. Written and composed by Ikimonogatari guitarist Yoshiki Mizuno（水野良樹）, "Kimagure Romantic" is certainly a crowd pleaser as well, judging by the audience response. I haven't been a huge follower of the band but this particular song has struck me as being the most upbeat tune that I've heard so far as voiced by Kiyoe Yoshioka（吉岡聖恵）.
"Kimagure Romantic" went Double Platinum and peaked at No. 4 on Oricon. The song was also a track on Ikimonogatari's 3rd major studio album"My song, Your song" which came out on Xmas Eve in the same year. It hit No. 1 for 2 weeks and was the 14th-ranked album for 2009.
Autumn doesn't officially arrive in these parts until 9:54 pm tonight, but it feels like the weather wasn't going to wait around. It was actually quite cool and pleasant after my walk this morning. Y'know, summer is good and all that, but that time between September and December (well, more like November in Toronto) will always be my favourite.
Moving on, I've been thinking about doing this article for about the past week, so I'm happy that I've got this weekend to put it into reality. This is going to be a different Author's Picks since no Japanese songs will be directly placed here although I will be making references to past tunes that I've written on the blog.
In terms of the various genres in Japanese music, enka has been the one genre that can be said to be truly homegrown. However, New Music has been about musicians taking on the American pop stylings and making original songs with Japanese lyrics, while Mood Kayo has all those Latin and jazz influences, and even aidoru music has incorporated things like disco and 50s flavourings.
On a personal level, though, the genres that I've loved in Japanese music have been City Pop and J-AOR so names such as Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）, Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）, EPO and Yasuhiro Abe（安部恭弘）have often been bandied about. The thing is, though, City Pop and J-AOR were words that I hadn't even known about until about a decade ago although I have been listening to the music for far longer. So, the question for me was how did I get to splash so happily (and this from a guy who doesn't like to swim) in this particular musical sea?
Well, perhaps part of the explanation is the fact that I used to listen to the radio quite a lot as a kid, especially in my high school and university years. I did listen to my goodly sum of 80s dance music on Friday and Saturday nights, but on a daily basis, I was just listening to plain ol' pop radio on the AM and FM stations. And a lot of those stations included pretty easy listening places such CKFM and CHFI on the former, and CKEY on the latter.
The following includes songs that I used to listen to over and over on the radio in the age before I even invested in my first pop record and far before the age of CDs and downloads. You might say that they became the soundtrack of my early life and even the template for how I got into City Pop and the Japanese version of AOR. Furthermore, I'm pretty sure that the artists representing those genres were probably very inspired by these folks in the United States and Canada.
To this day, I can't listen to one of Vannelli's best without remembering that creamy pink (yes, seriously) SONY radio my family used to have on the dining room table. Musically for me, it's all about that keyboard arrangement (Fender Rhodes, I believe) which can have me swooning for my childhood again in the 1970s. That Fender Rhodes became a beloved part of many a City Pop/J-AORtune later on.
For the longest time, I had assumed that the late Nicolette Larson was Canadian instead of being born in Montana and raised all over America. I think the reason was this song and her beautiful soft vocals. Larson also sang the cool downtown "Lotta Love" which I also enjoyed on radio, but I will always have a softer spot for "The French Waltz". Perhaps this song was part of the key that finally got me to appreciate Taeko Ohnuki's（大貫妙子）late 70s and early 80s music.
Sticking with Ohnuki, I had read somewhere in J-Wiki that one of my favourite Japanese singers was inspired by the great Joni Mitchell, and when I think of Mitchell, I always think of "Help Me". Listening to this 1974 single, I could see and hear how Ohnuki's sound developed during her time with Sugar Babe and then her first couple of albums as a solo performer.
I first heard "Peg" as part of a TV commercial for adult education in Buffalo, New York in which some ballet dancers were doing pirouettes (yes, I do remember the darndest things, don't I?). I thought it was nice but it wouldn't be years later that I really started appreciating this Steely Dan classic from their 1977 album"Aja" that I finally purchased earlier this year. There is a YouTube video where Donald Fagen and the late Walter Becker talk about how all of these elements came together to form "Peg"...just goes to show how hard it is to achieve anywhere near perfection. It's often the case that whenever I hear an electric guitar riff or a certain arrangement on a City Pop song, I hear a bit of Steely Dan, and that includes the genre's darling, "Plastic Love".
There is that whimsical and plucky keyboard play on "What A Fool Believes" that has also become a go-to part to put into a number of City Pop/AOR tunes. And this song certainly stamped itself into my consciousness since I heard it tons of time not only that pink SONY but also on the car radio. Basically, that keyboard riff should have been copyrighted by The Doobie Brothers by now.
Hey, it's the right month. And "September" is one of my favourite uptempo tunes, period while Earth, Wind & Fire remains one of the more beloved bands in Japan. Whenever this came on the radio, I didn't hesitate...I dropped everything (pens, texts, notes, etc.) and dialed up the volume. Moreover, with that bass and horn section, I could imagine a number of Japanese singers in City Pop thinking "Yeah, I think we need to have some of that EW&F arrangement in there". Geez, I miss Maurice White.
And I also miss Al Jarreau, too. He had that golden voice and managed to inject that ray of sunlight from the radio even if it were -18 degrees and snowy outside. "Breakin' Away" is only one example of that Jarreau sound with Jay Graydon's production, and I think some of that sound influenced singers across the Pacific including Yumi Matsutoya（松任谷由実）and Takeuchi at around the same time.
Chicago -- Hard Habit to Break (1984) TOTO -- Rosanna (1983)
I've put Chicago and TOTO together since members from both bands have actually helped out singers in Japan including Takeuchi. Also, one of my favourite bands in the country, Sing Like Talking, has taken on that fusion sound from both of them. Although I had heard of their names for years as a kid, it wasn't until the early 1980s that I finally noticed their work and started listening.
The Manhattan Transfer has frequently been referred to as a jazz vocal group, and of course, that they are. However, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, they often dabbled in the fusion and pop genres as well, and arguably, their most famous example is the celebratory "Spice of Life" from their "Bodies and Souls" album. This was also another popular song to play on the radio back then, and I think that this was the theme tune for all that was champagne-and-caviar about living life large in the big city. The late 1980s had their champagne-and-caviar tunes in City Pop with one of my favourite examples being Junko Ohashi's（大橋純子）"Nemurenai Diamond"(眠れないダイアモンド）. For me, it was this song that got me to buy my first album by the group which was indeed "Bodies and Souls".
Perhaps a lot of folks may remember Kenny Loggins for "Danger Zone" in "Top Gun" or even the title track from the first version of "Footloose". Ahhh...in my case, I will always refer folks to his "Heart to Heart" from a few years earlier. It's my favourite AOR tune of all, and I always imagine being in a Cessna soaring over the Grand Canyon when I hear this, and the beauty of it is that I don't have to be in a real Cessna perhaps on the verge of throwing up!
Before I finish up this long list, I also have to make reference to "Ai no Corrida" by Chaz Jankel and then further popularized by the amazing Quincy Jones, but it already has its own article. The next day, I will follow up with a far shorter list of what YMOand techno kayo influenced me to listen and enjoy in the 1980s.
