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.
Almost a couple of months ago, I wrote about the cheery opening theme to one of the more comically violent anime I've seen in recent memory, "Jashin-chan Dropkick"（邪神ちゃんドロップキック...Dropkick on my Devil!）.
Yes, folks! Quentin Tarentino and anime...discuss.
Anyways, along with that opening theme, there is always the just-as-cheery ending theme by Yutaro Miura（三浦祐太朗）"Home Sweet Home!" that comes across as half-anime ender and half-game music. Perhaps for all of the mayhem that Jashin-chan generates and attracts, the song may be pointing out that the half-girl/half-serpent actually likes being on Earth in Tokyo.
Written by Miura and composed by prolific anison writer Kenichi Maeyamada（前山田健一）, there's nothing here that makes "Home Sweet Home!" a classic but it's a nice enough ending theme which reflects a typically chaotic episode. The download-only single came out in July of this year.
Recently, I was asked by a commenter on how I was able to quickly peg a particular tune from the late 1970s as a Yuming-penned one. I simply answered that it was because of the 50s pop feeling imbued into the melody and I think the only other singer-songwriter who could do that, Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）, had just debuted herself.
When I heard the intro for Asami Kobayashi's（小林麻美）"Transit", I received that same inkling that this was another Yumi Matsutoya（松任谷由実）creation especially in the way that piano tinkled away. Well, actually, I was wrong in that Yuming（ユーミン）wasn't responsible for the music. She provided the lyrics. Meanwhile, it was Yosui Inoue（井上陽水）who composed "Transit", the B-side for her 9th single"Kanashimi no Spy"（哀しみのスパイ）from August 1984.
Compared to the suspenseful technopop of that A-side for which Yuming also provided lyrics while Koji Tamaki（玉置浩二）gave the music, "Transit" is a shorter and dreamier musical interlude with a bit of blues in there. Yuming's lyrics describe a woman who is in the middle of a stopover just making adjustments to the time and settling into that airport relaxation rhythm. Perhaps she's following that kayo trope of taking an international flight to get a breather after breaking up with a fellow.
I figure that the song was probably the final track on either Side A or Side B of her 4th album"Crytograph ~ Ai no Angou"（愛の暗号...Code of Love）which came out in the same month of the single. Well, I saw on Amazon that it was Track 5 out of the ten tracks, so I think my guess may actually win out here.
Tomoyasu Hotei's（布袋寅泰）18th single"Bambina" has a melody that has stuck with me all these years when I remember the guitarist's name. One fellow on YouTube put it thusly when he/she wrote that only Hotei himself can play that fiery guitar and sing out those rapid-fire lyrics written by Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）. However, I'm sure that hasn't prevented any of his fans from trying the song out at karaoke.
"Bambina" (Italian for baby girl) was released in April 1999, and it's Hotei style all the way on stage and in the music video. I was surprised to find out that the girl in "Bambina", model Niina Uchida（内田仁菜）, was perhaps all of thirteen years of age at the time, so along with that and the lyrics of the ardor for the titular girl, I couldn't help but feel that the director may have been partially inspired by "Lolita". To be honest, I was a tad creeped out especially when I saw Uchida in the suitcase.
Still the song is an energized tune of rockabilly fun and I'm sure that anytime it gets played at a Hotei concert, the joint will be jumping. "Bambina" went all the way up to No. 2 on Oricon and became the 70th-ranked single of 1999 as it went Platinum. Its first appearance on an album was for Hotei's "Greatest Hits 1990~1999" which came out in June of that year, reached No. 1 and ended up as the 21st-ranked album, becoming a million-seller.
Earlier this morning, NHK's "News at 9" was on and there was apparently a feature on singer-songwriter Ryo Aska（飛鳥涼）. I was having breakfast at the time so I didn't have a direct eye on the TV but when I was able to grab a view, I saw a middle-aged and introspective and probably a penitent man. I couldn't hear too clearly but I think he is trying to make another go at his career after his latest problem with drugs a few years earlier.
As I've mentioned in past articles, it's always interesting to see and hear longstanding music acts when they first debuted since comparisons can be made between the sound that I'm accustomed to hearing from a singer or band and the sound that had been generated at the very beginning of the career; a prototype version, you might say. Chage & Aska（チャゲ&飛鳥）are no different. For years, I've known Shuuji Shibata（柴田秀之）and Ryo Aska as these simultaneously singing epic balladeers who can sing the heck out of a love song and an uptempo pop number with the force of a cannon.
I've finally been able to listen to their debut single"Hitorizaki" (Blossoming Alone) which came out in August 1979. Their heartfelt voices were already there but they were paired with this contemplative 1970s folk sound. Then, there was their first nationwide appearance to sing this very number on Fuji-TV's"Yoru no Hit Studio" (which I believe is represented in the above video). I found out in the J-Wiki article for "Hitorizaki" that Chage & Aska had been called up urgently by the show's producers when the originally scheduled Takuro Yoshida（吉田拓郎）had to cancel suddenly. There wasn't even time to change the set which had been built to fit Yoshida's appearance.
No matter. Looking at the above introductory performance to Japanese fans, it was obvious that Chage & Aska made the most out of their golden opportunity. But man, would you look how cute they looked back then? No cool suit (and coiffed short hairstyle) for Aska and no hat or sunglasses for Chage! They looked like a pair of busking university kids. Ahhh....those humble beginnings.
Aska wrote and composed "Hitorizaki" whose lyrics deal with a woman encouraging a now-former beau to buck up and get on with his life without her. But with that delivery, I think the song can be used as a song of encouragement in general. The song didn't too badly for a debut, peaking at No. 24, but it became a longtime occupier of Oricon by hanging around in the Top 100 for 31 weeks. The song also made it onto the duo's debut album "Kazemai"（風舞...Wind Dance） from April 1980 which made it all the way up to No. 11. The above video has Chage & Aska coming back onto "Yoru no Hit Studio"（夜のヒットスタジオ）some years later (nope, it's been taken down), it looks like, and in the appearance and sound that I've been familiar with all this time.
Indeed, I still remember that Tom Hanks sketch on "Saturday Night Live" where he portrayed the bizarre David S. Pumpkins and improbably immortalized himself as a live-action version of a 2018 meme (namely Markiplier E). His status as a character icon may be guaranteed alongside Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones and Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt.
Yes, realizing that Halloween went away a couple of weeks ago, I still ended up listening to a part of the Halloween 2018 episode on Japan Top 10 today, and discovered Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's（きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ）song "Crazy Party Night ~ Pumpkin no Gyakushuu". It's been translated as "Pumpkin's Counterattack" on Wikipedia and "The Pumpkin Strikes Back" for one YouTube video, but if I had to choose between the two, I would have to opt for that second choice.
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's 11th single from September 2015, I should have figured out that the singer would do a Halloween-themed tune like "Crazy Party Night" since she's got the flair for cosplay, and what better holiday is there for cosplayers than on October 31st? The song was written and composed by Yasutaka Nakata（中田ヤスタカ）, and it is chock-filled with the flavour of a Disneyland spectacle and a Danny Elfman score.
Looking at the video, yep, to quote the lyrics from the original "The Addams Family" TV theme song, they're creepy and they're kooky, mysterious and spooky, they're altogether ooky...but at the same time, the strange characters don't look like bad sorts at all (well, maybe with the exception of that guy in the rocking chair). They wanna party like anyone else. I wonder if they would do private Halloween parties. "Crazy Party Night" peaked at No. 12 on Oricon.
Another happy discovery on YouTube, this was the first ending theme for a TV Asahi Japanese cop program with a difference called "The Hangman"（ザ・ハングマン）which had a good long run from 1980~1987. It is interesting since anyone who wants to become a member of this elite force basically has to die...or at least give the impression that he/she passed away.
I've tried to read through the J-Wikiarticle on "The Hangman", and it seems to be a mix of a typically shibui Japanese cop show, the Arnold Schwarzenegger flick "Eraser", the 80s TV version of "The Equalizer" with the late Edward Woodward, and perhaps even "Charlie's Angels" (there is a recurring mystery man at the top of these hangmen). My assumption is that the members provide their own special brand of justice to criminals who would otherwise be out of reach of the usual long arm of the law. One line in the J-Wiki article has described the show as an updated version of the "Hissatsu"（必殺）series of jidaigeki shows which feature assassins with their own particular sets of skills.
Anyways, I first cottoned onto "The Hangman" when I discovered the ending theme for the first season of the show in 1980. Titled "A-re-ka-ra" (Since Then), it's sung by Osakan singer-songwriter Hirosuke（ヒロスケ）, or Hirosuke Fumita（文田博資）, who was most active in the 1980s. The nocturnal City Pop is overflowing here although I can pick up a sense of 1960s Henry Mancinijazz in there as well. My exposure to "The Hangman" has just been limited to the top video but perhaps there is a bit of classy style combined with the street grittiness in the show as a reflection of the song. The characters could hang out in a non-descript hole-in-a-wall while listening to "A-re-ka-ra". Mind you, when I hear it, I think about heading over to a Renoir cafe in Tokyo.
Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）...the one Japanese composer who can be identified with a song and folks would go "HE MADE THAT?!". A few days ago, I had just written about one of his early creations in the late 1960s for Taeko Kawabe（川辺妙子）, and "Midnight Tokyo"（ミッドナイト東京）reflected those times.
Well, listening to his special 50th anniversary 2-CD collection recently, I came across a number of surprises, and the subject of this article is another one.
All I can say is that Tsutsumi must have really liked his disco time (incidentally, disco never died; it merely moved to Japan and became an English teacher) since I can still recollect his handling of TOKIO's "Ambitious Japan" in 2003. Almost a decade earlier, even, he collaborated with happy popster Kenji Ozawa（小沢健二）to create "Tsuyoi Kimochi - Tsuyoi Ai". It translates literally as "Strong Feelings/Strong Love", but the official English title is "Metropolitan Love Affair".
After Shibuya-kei darlings Flipper's Guitar split up, the biggest song that I remember by Ozawa has been his mellow and jazzy "Otona ni Nareba"（大人になれば）. Little did I know that he had indulged in his disco suit a few years earlier. Cue the mirror ball and do the Hustle! Ozawa took care of the lyrics while Tsutsumi provided the nostalgic dance music of the 1970s and the image of riding at supersonic speed on that Soul Train.
Ozawa's 7th single was released in February 1995, and to rather illustrate that Japan❤disco relationship, it went all the way to No. 4 on Oricon and went Platinum. In fact, it is his 2nd-most successful single next to his previous single "Corolla II ni Notte"（カローラIIにのって...Get On The Corolla II）. By the end of the year, "Tsuyoi Kimochi - Tsuyoi Ai" was the 92nd-ranked song on the charts. The song was also placed on his BEST compilation album, "Setsuna"（刹那...Moment）from December 2003 which peaked at No. 29.
I remember Marcos V. talking about Dempagumi.inc（でんぱ組.inc）back in 2014 and introducing the hypersonic genre of denpa music through them. Well, their May 2012 double-A side 4th single included their cheerful technopop cover of "Tsuyoi Kimochi - Tsuyoi Ai", and I think like their "Sakura Apparition"（サクラあっぱれーしょん）, it's perhaps a more restrained outing (at least until the last number of seconds in the shortened music video above) of their warp speed performances judging from some of their other videos.
The single did fairly well as it went up to No. 37 on the charts, and this version was arranged by Kenichi Maeyamada（前山田健一）.
