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.
For those who have encountered some of my statements on drinking within the articles here and there, I think you'll already know that I've had a certain sweet tooth for the sweeter cocktails. The Brown Cow is my go-to cocktail but at various bars here and in Japan, I've also enjoyed the sugar-filled delights of a Creamsicle and an Irish Coffee. There are also the bartenders' own creations such as this libation called the Cherry Blossom that I drank at Kintaro (as shown above), one of the newer izakaya in downtown Toronto, back last year during the Holidays.
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It appears that the good folks in the J-fusion group Parachute have also enjoyed their own mixological concoctions, and indeed the star-laden lineup including Yoshihiko Ando（安藤芳彦）, Izumi Kobayashi（小林泉美） and Masaki Matsubara（松原正樹） all get in their own favourites through the song "Cocktail Night". Cocktails such as the Tequila Sunrise, the Vodka Collins and the Blue Hawaii all get their due in this light and frothy tune written and composed by keyboardist Ando.
"Cocktail Night" was included in Parachute's 1981 album"HAERE MAI", and there is something quite Margaritaville in the shaker here. Although I have yet to set foot in any drinking establishment since this pandemic began, I'm hoping that I will get my old cocktail in a bar again in the not-too-distant future. Have a listen to their "Hercules" as well.
Ah yes...that depiction of the number "1999" reminds me so much of a sci-fi show that I used to watch as a kid.
Yes, for a lot of us, it was "Space:1999" with the late Martin Landau and Barbara Bain. Considering how some of the science was portrayed in the episodes (such as the Moon breaking out of orbit), it's perhaps more seen as science-fantasy rather than science-fiction or science-fact, but I still can't deny the coolness of the Eagles and that theme song from Season 1...the one with the progressive rock goodness in the middle of the epic orchestra.
Now, we obviously never got ourselves a base on the Moon by 1999 although we are happy that we still have it securely in orbit around Earth but "Space:1999" has provided me with much nostalgia. I think the same goes for me and former students when it comes to this song that was actually released in July 1999.
The name Hysteric Blue automatically brings up some memories of the 1990s (near the tail-end, mind you) and their big hit, "Naze..." (Why....?). This song's video was a regular resident on the music countdown shows, and I recall that it used to be a popular one to be performed on that old Saturday-night celebrity karaoke hour "Yoru mo Hippare"（夜もヒッパレ）on NTV.
Released in July 1999 as their 4th single, "Naze..." was a song that seemed to brush upon a love that has yet to be but the figures involved are just chomping at the bit. Listening to it again after so long brought out those "Oh, man. I remember this one!" feelings, and the nostalgia didn't only come from the tune itself but also from the old band configuration of one female lead vocalist and two side men, just like Dreams Come True and Every Little Thing.
Hysteric Blue consisted of female vocalist Tama, drummer Takuya（たくや）and guitarist/leader Naoki（ナオキ）, all from Osaka. Couldn't find out how the name of the band came about, but according to their J-Wikifile, Naoki discovered Tama and Takuya busking away at Osaka Castle Park in the summer of 1997. They soon banded together to form Hysteric Blue after which they sent out demo tapes, one which caught the interest of music producer/musician Masahide Sakuma（佐久間正英）who also occasionally pitched in as a support bassist. Almost a year later in June 1998, the band signed with Sony Records with their first major single being released a few months later.
"Naze..." peaked at No. 2 on Oricon and the song was used as the theme for a TBS drama "P.S. Genki desu, Shunpei"（P.S. 元気です、俊平...P.S. I'm Fine, Shunpei） starring one of the Kinki Kids. It ended up as the 35th single of 1999 and is a track on Hysteric Blue's 2nd album, "Wallaby" from February 2000 which got as high as No. 3 and became the 65th-ranked album of the year. The band did get onto the Kohaku Utagassen in 1999 but it wasn't to perform "Naze..." but another trademark tune from their discography "Haru~Spring"（春〜spring〜）, their 2nd single.
In total, Hysteric Blue released 14 singles and 5 albums during their time between 1998 and 2004. However, in March 2004, Naoki was arrested on several counts of sexual assault and was subsequently imprisoned until 2018. As a result, Tama and Takuya announced on their website that the band would break up. Afterwards, the two of them joined another band Screaming Frogs, but in 2011, they would form their own duo, Sabão, which lasted until 2018.
About four years ago, I put up an article regarding Keiko Mizukoshi's （水越けいこ）"Tokyo ga Suki" (I Love Tokyo) from 1979, one of those prime examples of Fashion Music. The song had that European resort feeling of lounging on that chaise longue while being fed a bunch of grapes.
Well, I didn't know it at the time but Miyuki Kosaka（小坂みゆき）had covered the song as her 15th single in May 1983. Following the general pattern of sad bitterness over possibly being dumped by a cad in Tokyo, Kosaka's cover still has enough of a different arrangement to make the song quite interesting.
In comparison to the original by Mizukoshi, this newer version takes things a bit more closer to home...or I should say, closer to my old stomping grounds of Japan's biggest city, so there is that slight feeling of City Pop. And yet, at the same time, there is also a sensation of a kayo-esque arrangement in there, too, although I wouldn't quite put it in the same class as Mood Kayo. The other thing is that when the chorus sang the title in the Mizukoshi original, there was a sense of "Ach, c'est la vie! Allons-y!" with the lass sloughing off the melancholy like an old coat, whereas in the Kosaka cover, the woman there hasn't quite reached the point of moving on just yet and she's still in the rainy café in Omotesando or some other tony establishment.
As with Mizukoshi and Kosaka, I love my Tokyo, too. And right now, things are looking pretty grim over there with the higher rates of infection from COVID-19. I've been checking with a few friends in the past couple of days; it looks like they're hanging in there and luckily, they're still safe and healthy.
We're halfway through the summer and things have been slightly cooler over the past few days although the high temperatures and humidity are forecast to return by this weekend. In fact, it felt downright brisk this morning as I went to the supermarket for the weekly grocery shopping.
I've picked out this track, "Natsu nan desu"(Hey, It's Summer) from Happy End's（はっぴいえんど）"Kazemachi Roman"（風街ろまん...Wind City Romance） because it is seasonally appropriate and Rocket Brown was surprised to discover that I had never heard of it before (I have yet to get my copy of "Kazemachi Roman"). Moreover, I recollect an article on another track on the 1971 album, "Kaze wo Atsumete"（風をあつめて）in which I stated that a fellow translator friend was a big fan of the band. He contacted me last week to see if we could all get together for that bowl of ramen (haven't had non-instant ramen in a season) now that we are in Stage 3 of the re-opening of the economy. Unfortunately, in an abundance of caution, I had to let him know that I wanted to wait a few weeks to see how the infection rates go since I'm by far the youngest in my household and so I can't really take any chances. But yep, I would like to go out for a bite someday soon.
Getting back to "Natsu nan desu", I was listening to the song as I was typing down that above paragraph, and it's very conducive to calm and relaxing musing. Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）is behind both the mike and the melody. His voice is quite the comfortable leather here and it's been a revelation about his time in the 1970s whether it be with Happy End or Tin Pan Alley since I first got to know him as one-third of Yellow Magic Orchestra, and he really didn't do too much singing in that group. It's quite the hammock-friendly song.
Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）was responsible for the lyrics, and for those who don't know his role in Happy End, he's on the drums as you can see in the video above. Of course, there are also Shigeru Suzuki（鈴木茂）and the late Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）on guitar. "Natsu nan desu" was also the B-side to "Hana Ichi Monme" (花いちもんめ), also a track on "Kazemachi Roman".
Over a year ago, I introduced a fellow by the name of Kenichi Fujimoto（藤本健一）with his "Asa no Wakare"（朝の別れ）, a very Doobie Brothers-esque pop song with a nice bounce to it. I'm not sure if this had ever been a single release, but it does launch his one and only "Aperitif" album from 1986.
When I was looking for some further information on the singer-songwriter, I also found out that Fujimoto had come out with a ballad single composed by him that would be used by children's apparel shop, Miki House (a place that an old friend used to work at), for its campaign song. Also the second track on "Aperitif", "Memories" struck me initially as being surprisingly mature considering that it was a Miki House jingle.
Then, I saw the ad which used "Memories" and it shows a bunch of kids in their Miki House clothing on some sort of desert island adventure. Frankly, I'm not sure if I should be feeling poignant or slightly discomfited at the sight of elementary school-aged children potentially being stranded on the island. But perhaps with the help of Akira Ohtsu's（大津あきら）lyrics and Fujimoto's crooning reassurances, the song and the commercial were meant to bring back those memories of a past dalliance with the sea (still...😟).
Commenter Dio notified me in the comments for "Asa no Wakare" that some kind soul has put up a video of the entire album on YouTube. Hopefully, it'll stay up for a good long time. If I have a chance, I wouldn't mind getting my own copy of the album...if it's still available.
It's always a good thing when I hear a song for the first time and a riff in it sticks in your head for all of dinner and dessert later on in the evening.
The song this time around is orange pekoe's 7th single"Song Bird" from May 2004, and the earworm phrase is vocalist Tomoko Nakajima's（ナガシマトモコ）little scat in the refrain. Everything surrounding that phrase is also quite golden, too. Nakajima provided the vocals while her partner Kazuma Fujimoto（藤本一馬）came up with the peppy melody filled with Nakajima, wire-brush drumming and jazzy guitar-strumming. It's the type of song that's good when some nasty weather comes along, and that is indeed what happened an hour or so ago when even my city of Toronto had a tornado watch for a while. Brings some needed sunshine through the clouds.
"Song Bird" only got as high as No. 72 which I think is a bit of a shame for a casual jazz bird like myself, but the album which also contains the song, "Poetic Ore ~ Invisible Beautiful Realism"（ポエティック・オー）did hit No. 10 after its release in July of that year. Wouldn't mind some of that jazz/pop sound coming to the fore in mainstream Japanese pop music. For some of that Big Band feeling, try out orange pekoe's"Gokurakucho ~ Bird of Paradise"（極楽鳥）.
I don't know very much about the city of Tsukuba in Ibaraki Prefecture which isn't too far away from Tokyo, especially thanks to the Tsukuba Express starting from Akihabara Station. An old friend who lived in another city in the prefecture once took me through the city when I went there to visit but that was pretty much it. The University of Tsukuba is one of the more prestigious national institutions of higher learning in the country, but the only thing that has really stuck out for me concerning the city is the fact that it did have a World Expo there in 1985.
And now, I guess I can even add that there is now an enka tune that has somewhat of a connection with the place. A couple of weeks ago on "Uta Con"（うたコン）, Kouhei Fukuda（福田こうへい）appeared to sing his latest single, "Tsukuba no Kantaro" (Kantaro of Tsukuba). Written by novelist Kouichi Matsuoka（松岡弘一）and composed by Hideo Mizumori（水森英夫）, it's the story of a vagabond gambler from the old days traveling not so much through the city but what was once called the Tsukuba region in southwestern Ibaraki.
Fukuda himself describes his June 2020 single above as a matatabi（股旅）enka which talks of the wandering life of a gambler. I hadn't been aware of such a sub-genre but from what I'm hearing, it seems to paint a fairly grand and carefree picture of the fellow through the proud horns and other instruments, and it seems to place the gambler on the same level of a heroic samurai. However, from listening to various enka tunes and watching some of the historical epics on Japanese TV, there's a certain romanticism that has been bestowed upon these lone wolf travelers on the open road, as if most people in the past and present have to be tied down to their lot in life and work.
Maybe "Tsukuba no Kantaro" and other similarly-themed enka are the Japanese equivalent of the country music classic "The Gambler" by the late Kenny Rogers, although with "Tsukuba no Kantaro", it's more about the journey than the actual sage tactics engaged in the game.
