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.
This is gotta be one of the catchier techno kayotunes that I've encountered so far.
"Motto Sunao ni..." (More Straightforward) was written and composed by singer-songwriter Takako Shirai（白井貴子） as a track for 80s aidoru Tomoyo Harada's（原田知世）November 1984 mini-album"Nadeshiko Junjou"（撫子純情...Girlish Innocence[?]）. My knowledge of Shirai's material is still quite limited but my current impression is that of someone who started out as a City Popper but then years later went into a more pop/rock mode. From another angle, listening to "Motto Sunao ni..." would have had me thinking of regular aidoru with a hint of AOR goodness.
But then, the arranger was none other than Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）who was still embracing the technopop within himself in the early 1980s. And so, the computer-y sounds that I would often associate with a Yellow Magic Orchestra tune are also in "Motto Sunao ni...". However, indeed it's still sweet Harada behind the mike, exhorting the need to take the reins, not hold back, and go for it where potential love is concerned. Among all of the bleeps and bloops, I particularly enjoy that techno basso profundo moan in the refrain. It's almost as if Lurch from "The Addams Family" was helping out in the recording.
Happy Monday! I've been in touch with some of my friends in Japan and although TyphoonFaxai has wreaked a good amount of destruction in the Kanto, luckily, none of them have been unduly affected.
Considering the name of the album here, this has no connotation with the typhoon but I have wanted to feature Jin Kirigaya's（桐ヶ谷仁）1981 2nd album, "Windy" for some time so I'm taking the opportunity today. Actually, I was able to get it as a 2-for-1 deal through a 2005 release of the singer-songwriter's "Complete Alfa Years" which brings together "Windy" and his first album"My Love For You" from 1979.
Kirigaya was responsible for all of the music while he split lyric-writing duties with Michio Yamagami（山上路夫）. Based on what I heard from the first track on "Windy", "Wind Surfing", I made my choice to grab "Complete Alfa Years" since at the time, the individual albums were too difficult or pricey to get. As well, Masaki Matsubara（松原正樹）and Masataka Matsutoya（松任谷正隆）also had their hands full here with the arrangement.
Let me start off with "Natsu ga Sugite"（夏がすぎて...Summer Passes）which is along the lines of an Off-Course（オフコース）ballad in terms of mood and sound. Perhaps there is an even deeper richness with the arrangement as if the story were taking place in Europe with the music reflecting the happy and sad times of one person's romantic recollections. Kirigaya's vocals even remind me of those of Off-Course's Yasuhiro Suzuki（鈴木康博）. "Natsu ga Sugite" was also Kirigaya's 4th single from July 1981.
That same sort of Off-Course feeling imbues "Tooi Hi no Tokimeki"（遠い日のときめき...Heartbeats for Distant Days）, his 3rd single from March 1981, another languid ballad with sad piano and shimmering strings that kaz-shin at blog "Music Avenue" has described as being rather kayo-esque. What especially clicks with me is the second delivery of the refrain which takes on a certain subtle layering effect.
"Saraba Ai no Hibi"（さらば愛の日々...Farewell to Days of Love） is a Yamagami and Kirigaya collaboration with that overseas Steely Dan sense of adventure, thanks to Matsubara handling the rhythm while Matsutoya took on the strings. The effect is that I can easily hear "Saraba" as both a City Pop tune as well as a Resort Pop song somewhere away from the metropolis. In fact, I immediately thought of Akira Terao's（寺尾聡）"Reflections" the first time I heard it. Nice sax solo by Jake H. Concepcion, as well.
The only other track from "Windy" that I could find via YouTube was "Hitori dake no Waltz"（ひとりだけのワルツ...Waltz for Only One） which once again had Yamagami providing lyrics, a song with that lilting waltz melody punctuated by some lay-it-on-the-line percussion and guitar as if there were storms on the horizon for this romance. Again, there is something rather metropolitan about this song but perhaps somewhere beyond Japanese shores.
Initially assuming that "Windy" would keep itself to a City Pop/AOR environment, I was surprised (and delighted) to hear that Kirigaya was more than happy to go further afield for his melodies. The album has been described as pop but it's not the type of pop that I would often see on the Oricon charts or on the TV music ranking shows. It definitely sounds more like an adult contemporary creation with the recommendation of a capital A for the adult and a couple of cocktails at the hotel-top lounge. Will be looking forward to writing about "My Love For You" later on.
Hello, it's been quite a while, hasn't it? How has summer (or winter, depending on your hemisphere) been? I somewhat managed to dodge most of the worst of Japan's monstrous summer by escaping to Singapore for a couple of weeks last month, but I did get a taste of it prior. I never thought I'd say this, but I don't think I'll ever complain about the heat and humidity in my home country for a while.
Anyway, I have survived my first term in university and have just begun the second last Monday. Perhaps it's a combination of post-holiday blues and the foreboding amount of assignments, but I feel like I've fallen down the stairs. Face first. Well, in spite of the rough time readjusting, one thing was able to clear that storm on Saturday: My very first karaoke recital.
To give some background information on whatever I know, karaoke recitals that feature enka seem to be quite a major thing in Japan, particularly amongst the elderly, as you can probably tell by the genre. There are those on a larger scale that are professionally organized and host moderately to really popular enka stars and renowned songwriters. These would probably include the competitive category as well, where the acts are judged and scored, and there will be winners. Then there are those small scale ones held in little towns here and there, often organized by a local karaoke joint. Usually, these ones are just simply for the folks to have some fun, and everyone goes home a winner. The one I participated in was the latter, simply because it was my karaoke haunt that held it, and Shiro Jiisanstrongly encouraged me to take part three months prior. I had doubts about my ability, but when the senior you thought was calm yells at you excitedly to join in, you know you have to.
The recital was the 10th installment of the annual "Happi Uta no Saiten", "Happi" being the name of the karaoke joint, and was held at the nearby Nishi-Kawagoe Bunka Kaikan. The event hall wasn't as big as I had feared, though the idea of having about a third of it it filled, in other words way more than what I'm used to, was rather intimidating, especially when they were all going to be looking at me. The regulars I had gotten to know, all veterans at this, most even in charge of the event itself, reassured that it'd be fine. Sure. And they were fussing over what I should wear for my time in the spotlight, which brings me to my next point.
Seems like no matter the scale, participants would still go all out in the way of dressing, contrary to what I had believed. The women would be in loud, frilly or sequin-embellished gowns, or in kimonos, and be decked out in full makeup and possibly wigs. The men would be in flashy suits or kimonos as well. The effort put in truly astounds me. It made my "costumes", comprising of shirts and black jeans, pale in comparison. I did firmly turn down an offer for one of the aforementioned types of dresses. I may have ventured deep into the world of enka, but I have my reservations when it comes to its... fashion sense.
Finally coming down to my song choice. I was due to sing three songs, which was actually one more than the usual - I'll get to that in a bit. There were some changes here and there from the time I began my deliberating in June, but here are my final picks.
The advice I received were: choose something that would knock the audience's socks off, and something jolly. Thinking of the former, I was very close to choosing Hachiro Kasuga's (春日八郎) "Akai Lamp no Shuressha" (赤いランプの終列車), but consultation with my mom led me to Haruo Oka's (岡晴夫)"Akogare no Hawaii Koro" instead. I agreed with her rationale of it being relatively simple while still being able to stun the crowd, but what made me seal the deal was the sentimental value. Considering it was the very first ryukoka I had laid my ears upon nearly a decade ago, I felt that it deserved to be the first tune I sing at my very first karaoke recital.
To get into the Hawaiian spirit, I wore a red Hawaiian shirt over a white T-shirt and had the straw hat Mom wore during her university days upon my head. I jellied when singing, but it turned out OK - better than the rehearsal, at least. I think.
A Kiyoshi Hikawa (氷川きよし) song wasn't on my mind at all in my decision-making. Considering my age, it would be of no surprise should I choose one of his works. However, the folks advised me to change my initial Mood Kayo selection to something more exciting. To what, I did not know, until I tried out Hikawa's "Tora" one day. That was when they unanimously agreed that "Tora" should replace "Shianbashi Blues" (思案橋ブルース). I didn't mind as it felt manageable, and, in hindsight, the words were exactly why I should do it. Besides it being somewhat gender neutral, the proclamation of being the young white tiger before the aged was most fitting. Plus, standing up to adversity without complaint is something particularly resonant in me for this school term.
My outfit here was a white collarless shirt over grey and white striped T-shirt. I think it was the powerful score and the context, but the confidence it lent me (albeit temporarily) made strutting back on to the stage and staring down the growing crowd feel absolutely incredible. "Sing loud and proud. You're the tiger, after all," were my old pal's words. I tried, but I still couldn't help jellying up a bit, and for some reason, particularly during the most critical part of self-declaration. It felt awesome nonetheless.
This number by Hisao Ito (伊藤久男) and Akiko Futaba (二葉あき子) was the first actual duet I sang with a male counterpart. And what began as an impromptu duet between me and Shiro Jiisan became quite the attraction at Happi. It then caught the attention of an under-the-radar enka singer Yoko Ai (藍ようこ), who was to be the recital's guest star, when she came a visiting a month-ish prior to the event. I presume it was mostly due to her ravings that the mama-san and Shiro-san eventually decided that the duet should be included despite the both of us already meeting the two song quota. Seemed like word traveled down the Kasumigaseki-Matoba grapevine real quick, because gramps was happily telling me that one of the highly anticipated acts was, well, us. I suppose many were curious to see the grandpa-grandkid-like duo sing an ancient and obscure tune. Great for my ego, not great for my anxiety.
Because Shiro-san was to wear a yukata, I had to too. I'd never worn one before, so the mama-san, who'd so kindly picked one out for me, helped me put it on. I don't know how people wear these things! The belt was an absolute killer; one can hardly breathe or bend over. I liked the purple on black colour scheme though. Anyway, appearing alongside my Brojiisan (yep, my pun idiocy has reached new lows) allowed for a great deal of fear to be expunged. I guess that's why I was able to pull it off better than the other two in spite of worrying for it the most.
Overall, I had a great time taking part in this recital. It wouldn't be far-fetched to say that I've always wanted to take part in something like this, but I didn't think it would be feasible. It started as fantasy, but then enka came into the picture and fantasy morphed into fun romps at karaoke bars, and now, well, here I am. Hmm, how things snowballed down this path fascinates me. I wonder what comes next.
P.S. While I received wonderful encouragement from the familiar regulars, Shiro Jiisan, or should I say, Mr Yamagishi, really went above and beyond. Even though he too had lots of event duties that had him constantly going around and about, he always made sure to show up by my side just before I hit the stage and watch from the sidelines till I was done.
Imagine Ichiro Toba (鳥羽一郎) singing this, and you got Mr Yamagishi.
As per tradition, Jiisan served as the Top Batter for the recital's two segments. He did Oka's "Seishun Paradise" (青春のパラダイス) to kick start the show, then followed up with Akira Fuse's (布施明) rendition of "My Way". He often wears the direst expression when singing (anything), but when he noticed me grinning at him stupidly from the second row of seats in this second segment, I could've sworn that for a split second, that scowl ever so slightly turned upside down.
In the course of the five-ish months (in counting) I've known him for, he slowly went from your typical stony showa era fellow to affectionate marshmallow. I think it's because, aside from music, I've been bothering him with random stuff like my test scores from Japanese class and bromide collection. He does reciprocate in ways such as attempting to understand smartphone technology, and trying to further expand his one trip's worth of knowledge on Singapore.
He is indeed not my actual grandfather, but he's the closest to one I've ever had and always yearned for in a very long time.
You shouldn't look at your list. Go with a song that represents how you feel here and now, that way you'll be able to sing it well and with all your heart.
We're just finishing Day 4 of the annual Toronto International Film Festival. On Thursday, a few of us went down to King St. where the main venue is just to soak in the atmosphere. There has already been a side story generated by the TIFF festivities.
Of course, the lineup of stars coming up to TIFF is set up and announced way in advance and one of the celebs was Tom Hanks who came to town to promote the biopic "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood". Well, a local coffeehouse called Grinder Coffee, which had Ryan Gosling come by last year for a cuppa jo, decided to extend the invitation to Hanks, and nice guy that he is, the former Bosom Buddy and Forrest Gump actually showed up just after the place had closed up on Friday night. And yep, he did get his coffee.
Let us now eventually segue. Remember that Tom Hanks flick, "Cast Away" where he played a fellow who got stranded on an island for a few years, fended for himself, and created a friend from a basketball?
Now, just imagine an anime where in place of Hanks and Wilson, it's actually four high school girls as the only survivors of a plane crash on a deserted island. That is the premise of "Sounan desu ka?"（ソウナンですか？...Are You Lost?）, one of the summer shows that my buddy and I have been watching. It's one of the shorter shows (about 10 minutes) but it's been packing some interesting educational stuff along the lines of "Danberu Nan-Kiro Moteru?"（ダンベル何キロ持てる?）, but instead of staying healthy and muscular, the lessons in "Sounan desu ka?" are staying healthy and alive. In other words, survival is the key here, and some of the lessons can be pretty harsh but necessary. Fortunately, de facto leader and survival expert Homare Onishima（鬼島ほまれ）was stranded along with her three classmates to keep everyone intact and cheerful with the stoicism and smarts of Mr. Spock and the can-do nature of Chief Engineer Scott.
Seemingly to reassure the viewers that "Sounan desu ka?" will not turn out to be a horror survival anime, the opening credits are absolutely high on good cheer with the four girls even singing the theme song as if it were a musical.
"Koko wa Doko" (Where is This?) is by the four seiyuu: very busy M・A・O as Homare, Hiyori Kano（河野ひより）as the athletic Asuka Suzumori（鈴森明日香）, Kiyono Yasuno（安野希世乃）as the bespectacled Mutsu Amatani（天谷睦）, and Azumi Waki（和氣あず未）as the slightly spoiled Shion Kujo（九条紫音）under the group name of Ahomushi（あほむし...Dumb Bugs）. Written by Shoko Fujibayashi（藤林聖子）and composed by Sairenji!（サイレンジ！）, it didn't have quite the same impact that the opening themes for "Joshi Kōsei no Mudazukai"（女子高生の無駄づかい）, in which M・A・O has a smaller role, and aforementioned "Danberu Nan-Kiro Moteru?" had on me when they first debuted, but the happy-happy-joy-joy feeling of "Koko wa Doko" has finally won me over.
I have been able to find a full version of the ending theme "Ikiru" (To Live) solely by Yasuno, and it's also another happy tune that I thought was worth mentioning. Naoki Nishi（西直紀）and Tomoya Kawasaki（川崎智哉）were responsible for this semi-march. Noelle has already written about one anison that she has also contributed to.
What struck me about Miyako Shinohara's（篠原美也子）"Hitori" (Alone) was how much it reflected a combination of two totally different singers.
"Hitori" was released in April 1993 as her debut single, and right from that marvelous electric guitar intro of uncertainty, it has a certain richness or gravitas of a woman slowly coming to grips with the end of a long romantic relationship. The balladry that Shinohara presents here has that vocal quality which reminds me both of pixie-ish pop singer Mariko Nagai（永井真理子）of the early 90s and the storytelling pace of Miyuki Nakajima（中島みゆき）. The whole song in general has that feeling of ballads that I used to hear by The Eagles back in the 1970s
Hailing from Tokyo, Shinohara released 10 singles in the 1990s and a total of 16 albums up to 2018.
First off, I hope folks in Japan are doing OK as Typhoon Faxai starts scouring the Pacific coast including the Tokyo area. I was talking with my student last night and it may be somewhat iffy whether he will be able to head into work early in the morning. Looking at the live stream cameras for the city, the rain is coming down hard but the high winds haven't quite started to invade the Kanto yet.
Secondly, I gotta give my compliments to my good friend Jerry of Come Along Radio for leading me to this fellow Tyrone Hashimoto. We were having a nice talk earlier this morning about the various City Pop artists when he mentioned his latest acquisition on vinyl, Yellow Magic Orchestra's debut album from 1978, and specifically the track "Simoon", the technopop ode to 40s and 50s tropical nightclub fare via Mos Eisley.
Jerry let me know that the vocoder-enhanced crooner in "Simoon" was singer-songwriter Shunichi Hashimoto（橋本俊一）which was the stage name for Shunichi Suzuki（鈴木俊一）from Tochigi Prefecture, according to his J-Wiki profile. He's been in the music business since 1971 and has been contributing his vocals onto records since that YMO gig and providing plenty of songs for commercials since 1982. In 1983, Hashimoto changed his nom de guerre from Shunichi to Tyrone（タイロン橋本）and has continued to release albums right up to 2018.
His second album under Tyrone Hashimoto is "Moments of Love" from 1988 and I found this track "Livin' Inside My Love" which is, for the most part, a smooth-as-silk tune that takes things wholly to the American side of urban contemporary rather than the Japanese genre of City Pop...the same direction that Junko Yagami（八神純子）was taking at around the same time. Hashimoto has that earnest delivery which reminds me of another singer that I discovered a few years earlier, Junk Fujiyama（ジャンクフジヤマ）. I think the only thing that clumps up the silk a bit is when he tries out some of those vocal acrobatics near the end and doesn't quite stick the landing. Sorry if I'm acting like the Russian judge here. Still, I want to learn more about the vocoder-less Hashimoto through "Moments of Love" along with some of his other releases over the years.
Oh, my brother and I always got a kick out of the opening for the venerable detective series "Ironside" (1967). Of course, it wasn't because poor Chief of Detectives Robert T. Ironside got shot and ended up paralyzed. Instead, we enjoyed the "WHEE, WOO, WHEE, WOO" of the opening theme before the orchestra came blazing in. According to Wikipedia, the song was the first theme to use a synthesizer, and I would later find out that it was all created by the master Quincy Jones.
Now, I knew that early in Japanese TV's history, there was a tradition of importing a lot of the American TV series to be either dubbed or subtitled, and since the 1950s and 1960s, Japanese-language cover versions of popular US and UK tunes were recorded and sold. The tradition was also extended for at least one movie, "The Godfather" for which the late Kiyohiko Ozaki（尾崎紀世彦）was provided lyrics to sing the famous theme.
Although I don't have any extensive knowledge on the subject, I think that when some of these old shows such as "Ironside" were brought over, there was a trend for the Japanese side to take that original theme song and then have Japanese lyrics added for recording by the appropriate singer. I remember that was indeed the case for the first-season progressive rock theme song for the Gerry Andersen sci-fi series "Space: 1999". Guess what? That was also the case for the theme for "Ironside".
With some rearrangement by composer Yasuo Higuchi/安田南 (unfortunately taking out the "WHEE, WOO, WHEE, WOO", but putting in some other synthesizer spookiness) and lyrics by Akira Ito（伊藤アキラ）, "Oni Keibu Ironside"（鬼警部アイアンサイド）was released as the debut single in 1973 of jazz chanteuse Minami Yasuda（安田南）. As Yasuda gives her haunting rendition of how tough life in the city is, Higuchi gives his slightly shorter but still funky tribute to the original Jones theme.
Well, I'm coming back to finish this article after my 2-hour lesson, and I ended up whistling the "WHEE, WOO, WHEE, WOO" during break time. That's how much of an earworm "Ironside" has been.
As for Ms. Yasuda, she was born and raised in Sapporo and started her singing career sometime in the early 1960s with her style having been described as being very distinct and free-spirited which gained her a lot of popularity in the 1970s. And her four albums and two singles were all from that decade. I did find a track from her 3rd album"Some Feeling" from 1977 which had Naoya Matsuoka（松岡直也）on piano and Kenji Omura（大村憲司）on guitar along with the rest of the band. Both of them have entries on the blog as well. Titled "Oh My Lidia", The singer and composer Yukihide Takekawa（タケカワユキヒデ） created the song and the track sounds more soulful than jazzy. Yasuda has that delivery which made me think of a mix of chanson and Rickie Lee Jones scatting.
According to her J-Wiki bio, she had already retired by the 1990s although "Some Feeling" finally got a CD release in 2004. Apparently in a couple of interviews in the past decade, it was found out that Yasuda had already passed away some time before 2009 although any other information has not been forthcoming.
September 9 2019: Daemonskald has once again come to the rescue with some added information about the origins of "Oh My Lidia" that you can see below in the comments.
