Taeko Kawabe -- Midnight Tokyo（ミッドナイト東京）

One of the weird things about life in Tokyo was that despite all of the nighttime activities that can be partaken in one of the world's largest cities (with the music to back it up), the city tended to shut down surprisingly early at night. Well, to be more accurate, the public transit closed up shop shockingly early.

My buddies and I had to keep an eye on our watches after a night out even on a Friday or Saturday since the subways usually had their final trains running around midnight. And it was always quite the thing to do the mad Olympic dash with everybody else at Iidabashi Station between the Yurakucho and Tozai Lines since the very last train only went as far as Toyocho, far short of my home in Chiba Prefecture. The second-last train was my last train to my neck of the woods. Japan Railways was only slightly more lenient back in those days. I can only hope that the transportation has been given more leeway into the wee hours since my return to Toronto.

Well, all that prelude was to help introduce this song "Midnight Tokyo" as performed by Taeko Kawabe（川辺妙子）. Not too much available about this singer; in fact, what little I could find wasn't on J-Wiki but at the Showa Pops Wiki. Kawabe hails from Hokkaido Prefecture, and her debut single was this very song in July 1969.

On first hearing "Midnight Tokyo", I thought that it was a bit reminiscent of Ayumi Ishida's（いしだあゆみ）Mood Kayo classic "Blue Light Yokohama"（ブルーライト・ヨコハマ）with the horns and the silken vocals of Kawabe. As it turns out, this isn't really a coincidence since "Midnight Tokyo" is actually one of Kyohei Tsutsumi's（筒美京平）early works, and he was the same fellow who had composed "Blue Light Yokohama". Still, perhaps it's the singer's delivery or the arrangement but there is a certain innocence to the proceedings which also had me believing that the song could also be classified as a regular love kayo. Toshiko Ohinata（大日方俊子）wrote the words about a woman who wants to be with the man of her dreams at least one dance longer.

As for the midnight transit curfew in Tokyo, it doesn't really matter anymore. Now if I'm not at least relaxing at home by eleven o'clock, I probably wouldn't last too well the following morning, so I make sure to be home a lot earlier nowadays. So, next time I'm in the Big Sushi, I will be happily tucked into my hotel bed by the witching hour.

Strangely enough, I did find another "Midnight Tokyo".

Franchouchou -- Drive-in Tori（ドライブイン鳥）

One of my earliest gastronomical memories involved the family pickup of Kentucky Fried Chicken at the branch just across from the Don Jail here in Toronto (it's been used to film Tom Cruise's "Cocktail" and the cinematic version of "Chicago"). I was never sure about why the Colonel decided to set up shop across from a prison but perhaps it was to drive the prisoners insane over the smell of that oil and the 11 herbs and spices wafting through the bars. I also remember the commercials for KFC back then although the above video doesn't have the jingle that I used to hear.

Well, that memory once again came to the fore once I caught Episode 5 of this season's "Zombie Land Saga"（ゾンビランドサガ）. Part of the episode dealt with the zombie aidoru group Franchouchou（フランシュシュ）getting a deal to perform the jingle for a real-life chicken restaurant in Saga Prefecture called Drive-in Tori (Drive-in Bird). Sakura and the gang simply needed to do a tweak....namely, get the still-guttural Tae as played by Kotono Mitsuishi（三石琴乃）into the right frame of reference...and the commercial was a wrap, and the jingle has managed to burrow into my brain.

Drive-in Tori did indeed come up with the lyrics with Tsuyoshi Ishibashi's（石橋序佳）help in composing the cheerful music for its jingle, and about three years ago, the restaurant itself uploaded the commercial. Supposedly the original performers for "Drive-in Tori" were Riz☆Rie.

Less than a couple of weeks ago, one fellow from Gussie Channel decided to upload a video on his visit to Drive-in Tori for lunch. I wonder how much business has boomed since Episode 5 had gone to air, but I certainly wouldn't mind dropping by if I were in the Saga Prefecture neighbourhood. Chicken will always be my favourite form of protein.

And for one member of Franchouchou, this particular chicken may be her favourite form of protein. I will remember not to hit Drive-in Tori if she and her old gang ever decide to haunt the place again (no pun intended).

AB'S -- CIA

Gotta admit that this is one strange if cool animal by the amazing AB'S. The uploader for this video categorized it as "Comedy", and to be honest, there is a somewhat hilarious element in the lyrics by Gregory Starr. I mean, the refrain in "CIA" sounds almost like a schoolyard chant making fun of the two most famous intelligence agencies on the planet, although the rest of the words takes on a serious air of suspense.

And yet, Fujimal Yoshino（芳野藤丸）has produced one heavy-duty City Pop melody for this track on AB'S' 3rd album "AB'S-3" from 1985. It's car drive-friendly and good golly, that bass is killer along with the following guitar solo. An agent who's into this Japanese urban contemporary genre will probably want to have this in his/her collection as much as a good hand-held computer (apparently most CIA employees aren't issued guns). I would be willing to get the album just for "CIA" alone although the song also came out as a 12" single. And apparently, the song was also used on a Fuji tape cassette commercial (and not microdots).

Shin Rizumu -- Music Life

Found this singer-songwriter who has struck me as the Second Coming of Senri Oe（大江千里）with his happy-go-lucky pop sense. Plus, he looks good in a bow tie, and as a Whovian, I think bow ties are indeed cool.

Singer-songwriter Shin Rizumu（シンリズム）debuted in early 2015 and his second single here is "Music Life" from November of that year, with its fun old/new arrangement bringing in all sorts of good vibes. I simply like the beat and those horns mixed in there.

The lad hails from the city of Kobe and so far has released 4 singles up to 2016 and 2 albums, according to the biography on his website, he's quite the multi-instrumentalist, being able to play guitar, bass, keyboards, synths, drums and trombone. In his development as an artist, he's absorbed a lot of influences from New Wave, indies, roots rock, soul, funk and pop.

Satomi Tezuka -- Bobby ni Kataomoi（ボビーに片想い）

"I think the amateurishness fits this song perfectly."

This comment that I saw under the video for "Bobby ni Kataomoi" (Having a Crush on Bobby) by actress/aidoru Satomi Tezuka（手塚理美）is a good one, and most likely fits many an aidoru tune. Teenage love expressed by Japanese teenagers in a giddy way? Yup, a prime example is here. Nope, the singing isn't on Hiromi Iwasaki's（岩崎宏美）level at all but that's fine here since it's the story of a callow young girl's expression of one-way love in her own voice, something that a lot of listeners can relate to.

Moreover, the theory of not-so-great singers being elevated by some great songwriters can come into play here. "Bobby ni Kataomoi" was written by Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）and composed by Yumi Matsutoya（松任谷由実）, and as soon as I heard the melody through the arrangement by Ichizo Seo（瀬尾一三）, I could peg it as a Yuming-penned number. There is that New Music flavour of the 1950s/1960s teenage idol pop with images of young Satomi surrounded by pink hearts while she savors a photo of this fellow Bobby in her bedroom.

"Bobby ni Kataomoi" was the second of two singles by Tezuka, released in April 1979. Only one album was released by her in 1976, "Juu-go-sai no Shouzou"（15才の肖像...Portrait of a 15-Year-Old）. Although her aidoru career fizzled away quickly, she has had a much longer career as an actress, including a role in one of the more famous trendy dramas of the 1980s, "Danjo Shichi-nin Aki Monogatari"（男女7人秋物語...The Autumn Story of 7 Men and Women）. 

Her B-side is "Killer Angel" which can be found right here.

Shigeru Suzuki -- On The Coast

My friends and I waited about 20 minutes outside in some below-zero weather with a stiff wind to get our bowls of ramen today. It was indeed worth it.

I gather that as a counter-response to my early wintry experience this morning, my mind went to this summery number by guitarist-composer Shigeru Suzuki（鈴木茂）, "On The Coast". A track from his 6th album "White Heat" from 1979, it's loaded with some musical talent including Suzuki on the guitar. There is Akiko Yano（矢野顕子）on keyboards which provide this scintillating sound at points reminiscent of falling water or pouring Perrier, Tsugutoshi Goto（後藤次利）on bass, and Yukihiro Takahashi（高橋幸宏）on drums. Plus, I'm assuming that it is Suzuki providing half of the vocals with Sarita Escobar（サリータ・エスコバール）which I hope is the proper spelling since I'm just going from the katakana.

Refreshing as that aforementioned Perrier, "On The Coast" is that cordial musical invitation to lying down on the beach as a happy couple and catching some rays. For a bit more of the man's solo stuff, you can also listen to his "Lady Pink Panther".

Jigoku no Sata All-Stars -- Haikei, Jigoku yori（拝啓、地獄より）

I've been going through the 2nd cour of the 2nd season of the anime "Hoozuki no Reitetsu"（鬼灯の冷徹...Hozuki's Coolheadedness）(2018), the slice-of-life comedy that takes place in Hell. It still hasn't struck me as one of my all-time favourites, as I mentioned in the article for the opening theme of the 1st cour, but at least, it's made for some more comfortable viewing.

Recently, there have been warnings about the dangers of contracting hookworms when walking on those tropical beaches barefoot. Well, one episode from this latest cour of "Hoozuki no Reitetsu" illustrated that caveat abundantly clear. Simply said...simply DON'T.

I couldn't find any video for the opening credits for the 2nd cour, but I was able to track down the full version of the opening theme song, "Haikei, Jigoku yori" (Greetings From Hell) performed by the main cast as the Jigoku no Sata All-Stars（地獄の沙汰オールスターズ）. Like the opener for the 1st cour in 2017, it's pretty catchy but most of it is done in an enka style this time compared to the country-style hoedown of "Dai! Jigo Jigo Bushi"（大！地獄地獄節）, although there is a semi-reprise of sorts from that song, along with a Vaudevillian "Coming Home" type of finish.

"Haikei, Jigoku yori" was created by the same folks behind "Dai! Jigo Jigo Bushi", Jun "JxJx" Saito（サイトウ "JxJx" ジュン）and Gokusotsu Ongaku Renmei（獄卒音楽連盟...Devils Music Alliance）. The premise behind the song seems to take on the feeling after a night of engorging eating and drinking during a typical enkai....something that I'd had personal experience with for many years. Yup, all of the emotions of satisfaction, shame and debauchery rolled up into one large ball.