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.
Since I got on the New York kick with Terumasa Hino's（日野皓正）"High Tide-Manhattan Ecstasy" for my last article, I've decided to showcase another musical love letter to The Big Apple by another Japanese jazz artist. I'd even bookmarked it earlier.
The reason is that at the time a few weeks ago, I was writing about "Lovin' Mighty Fire" from 1979, a feisty collaboration between Latin jazz musician Naoya Matsuoka（松岡直也）and R&B queen Minako Yoshida（吉田美奈子）. Then I discovered this video for the song "Touch The New York Pink" by Matsuoka which came out a few years later in October 1982 as the launching track on his album "Fall on the Avenue".
Indeed that is some love and mighty fire bursting out with the boppy bass followed by some jaunty romantic piano by Matsuoka. The first time I heard "Touch The New York Pink", I got those shivers going up and down my spine, always a good sign in my case as the artist rolled up and down smoothly with his keyboards and the accompanying percussion. There's Hino's adventurous funk n' jazz with "High Tide-Manhattan Ecstasy" and then there is the party atmosphere of Matsuoka's first track on "Fall on the Avenue". Can't dance worth an extinct Canadian penny anymore (if I ever did) but this song can probably effect miracles.
In the last couple of weeks, I've been watching the videos of one Erik Conover on YouTube who seems to absolutely delight in showing off the most luxurious of homes and apartments of New YorkCity. Obviously, I'm nowhere in the market to purchase even a dog's watering bowl in such abodes but admittedly I have been enjoying watching these on the same level as I watch with fascination societies on alien worlds like Vulcan.
And this goes back to when I was a university kid because back then I used to watch this series called "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" with Robin Leach from time to time. The title says it all. Leach visited these opulent homes of the wealthy celebrities such as Liberace. I never particularly envied or sought that way of life but I was curious about how these folks took in their form of comfort. To be frank, from watching the show, there was more jade in my eyes than there was in any of the baubles that adorned the interiors of those mansions.
I have given you all that preamble to present a marvelous track from jazz trumpeter's Terumasa Hino's（日野皓正）1979 "City Connection" album, "High Tide-Manhattan Ecstasy". If a theme song could be placed with one of Conover's ultra-luxurious showings, I would pick this one.
"High Tide-Manhattan Ecstasy" is a 7-minute journey which begins with a slow and sensuous trumpet passage by Hino. It seems to start off a morning for some Mickey Spillane-inspired detective with intact internal pithy dialogue before he steps out onto the tough sun-baked concrete of Manhattan on some sort of case. The funky beat then gradually washes in as Hino joins in on the jam. The detective starts his usual routine of shaking the trees by talking with his contacts in the lowest of low places as well as the highest of high places. Intimate 50s nightclub jazz gives way to streetwise funk n' fusion.
Finally, the last couple of minutes feature a true fusion of the jazz and funk as the detective somehow finishes the day, resolving or not resolving the case, by hitting his favourite hole-in-the-wall for a slug of the hard stuff (and not a slug of the hard lead) before schlepping it back to his apartment which is guaranteed not to be anything on Conover's love list. "High Tide-Manhattan Ecstasy" may be 7 minutes but it's a trip well worth taking, no matter which city where you are walking.
This is the second theme song for a TBS drama that I've written about today after Kumi Showji's（障子久美）"Ano Koro no Youni"（あの頃のように）. Whenever I think of Superfly, aka singer-songwriter Shiho Ochi（越智志帆）, I always remember that one student I had over a decade ago in my final school. I've mentioned her in past Superfly articles, but she had the appearance and soul of a free-living hippie, and indeed she's the one who first introduced me to Superfly.
That theme song was for "Edison no Haha"（エジソンの母...Edison's Mother）, a 2008 comedy-drama about an elementary school teacher who has one young man as a student who may be a genius on a par with the legendary Thomas Alva Edison.
Now I've heard "Ai wo Komete Hanataba wo" (Put Love in a Bouquet) before, and it's been treated as the breakthrough song and one of the most successful hits for Superfly. This was the 4th single released in February 2008 and the first single after the composer for the song, Koichi Tabo（多保孝一）, had left the partnership in 2007 although according to the Wikipedia article for Superfly, he still remains "...the group's composer and part-time lyricist". The article for the song itself mentions that Tabo in fact created the melody all the way back in 1997 when he was in his mid-teens and that "Ai wo Komete Hanataba wo" was performed at a number of venues even before Superfly made their official debut in 2006.
Tabo's original lyrics were replaced by ones by Ochi and SUPERCAR member Junji Ishiwatari（いしわたり淳治）for the sake of its use as the theme song for "Edison no Haha". This guitar pop-rock song is beautifully delivered by Ochi and has plenty of heart and hope with an arrangement that is not just contemporary but also brings back a certain 1970s pop nostalgia...perhaps some Janis Joplin? That student who had cottoned me onto Superfly was also a big fan of hers.
I can imagine those opening notes on the piano bringing an applause of recognition whenever the song is played. It's been stated in the article on "Ai wo Komete Hanataba wo" that the song was a new beginning for the now solo member of Superfly, Ochi, and indeed it became a successful restart for her. Although going no higher than No. 13 on Oricon, it did break into the Top 10 on the Billboard Japan Top 100 chart (No. 7) and Billboard Adult Contemporary Airplay chart (No. 9). Moreover, the song was a darling for the cellphones in terms of ringtone downloads as it broke the Million barrier, and it went Triple Platinum and Double Platinum (on J-Wiki) for full-length cellphone downloads and PC downloads respectively (although according to Wikipedia, the PC downloads "only" merited a Platinum). Superfly also got its 2nd of 4 invitations to perform "Ai wo Komete Hanataba wo" on the 2017 edition of NHK's Kohaku Utagassen.
The song also got onto Superfly's self-titled debut album which came out in May 2008 and hit No. 1 as well as end up as the 22nd-ranked release of the year. It shares CD space with "Vancouver" and "Hi-Five".
Moving from an old abode to a new one can be frankly distressing. You've been comfortable in your old place for years and years but then it's time to move onto a new home in a completely different neighbourhood or city. There's that feeling of sadness mixed in with that feeling of anticipation of moving into the new apartment or house and how you can shape it into something that is your own.
That was certainly the case for my family when we moved from the inner city where I'd spent the first 11 years of my life to where we've been out in the 'burbs for the past few decades. Since then, I've been through that a few times with my moves to Japan and then coming back home from Japan for good at the end of 2011. Also, I have a friend of mine in Tokyo who recently moved into a new home not too far away by car from his old place so I'm paying tribute to him and his family through this article tonight.
The reason that I'm waxing philosophical about moving is that the topic of this KKP article was the theme song for a 1991 TBS drama titled "Sore demo Ie wo Kaimashita"（それでも家を買いました...I Still Bought The House） which dealt with a young married couple suddenly having to make the move from Kobe to Kanagawa Prefecture due to work demands. I didn't read the entire synopsis at J-Wiki, but I did see the phrase "Bubble Era" so I can imagine that the show may have gone into how many folks were plunking down their down payments for those lovely houses and condos only for things to go topsy-turvy with the collapse of the high-flying bubble.
Singer-songwriter Kumi Showji（障子久美）was responsible for words and music and performance of the theme song "Ano Koro no Youni" (Just Like The Old Days). So far, I've highlighted her R&B/City Pop stuff, but with her 2nd single here released in May 1991, "Ano Koro no Youni" is mostly straight pop with the arrangement portraying a mix of melancholy and hope...just like how a move probably feels like. There's a bit of soulful piano/synth played away near the end, though.
This is the second instance today where a singer's namesake(s) currently has more fame than the singer himself/herself. Earlier today, I wrote about singer-songwriter Takuya Takahashi（高橋拓也）who seems to be far more obscure than his professional sports namesakes.
Well, let me introduce you to singer Kaoru Aizawa（相沢薫）. At least, I would if there were anything that I could say about her. At the site "90s City Pop Record Book", there is a July 18th 2014 entry in which the author admits that there is basically bupkiss on this Aizawa, although on J-Wiki, there is an article about a female free announcer with the same name but no mention about any music career. Therefore, I can assume that that Aizawa isn't the Aizawa that I'm looking at here.
In any case, according to "90s City Pop Record Book", singer Aizawa released just one album titled "Mou Ichido Koi wo Shiyou"（もう一度恋をしよう...Let's Fall In Love Again） in 1989. Within this album, there is the second track titled "Kiss wo Suru no ni~Koi Shiteru no ni" which is actually a cover of the 1981 single by Chaka Khan, "What Cha' Gonna Do for Me". The crazy thing is that this particular tune already has representation on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" via Chikuzen Sato's（佐藤竹善）own cover under that original English title for the first of his "Cornerstones" releases in 1995.
Happily, it's usually a fun thing to compare cover versions, and the Aizawa and Sato takes are no exception. When I first heard Sato's "What Cha' Gonna Do for Me" on "Cornerstones", there was quite a bit more funk in there, but Aizawa's "Kiss wo Suru no ni~Koi Shiteru no ni" is far more into the late 80s City Pop with the sophisticated pop essence. There's much more downtown caviar and champagne, and those sharp horns introduce us to the good life and take us home by limousine at the end, although the song itself is about a minute shorter than Sato's cover. Also, another surprising piece of trivia but the fellow who provided the Japanese lyrics for the Aizawa cover is none other than Kenji Ozawa（小沢健二）who I just wrote about last weekend.
The author at "90s City Pop Record Book" also stated that when he was browsing about, he found a copy of the album for the low, low price of 500 yen! It's probably gone haiban since then and with all of the newfound interest in City Pop in the last few years, if there are any copies left going around on the auctions, then the price is probably a whole lot higher. In fact, there is one copy of it at a Yahoo auction, and the starting bid is for 30,000 yen! That price is not gonna do anything for me.
Seeing that I provided Chaka Khan's original for comparison in the Sato article, I will do the same here for Aizawa. Here is a 2014 cover of "What Cha' Gonna Do for Me" from "Separate Oceans" with Ned Doheny, who had created the song along with Hamish Stuart.
When it comes to the Masa Takagi（高木麻早）file, I've been swinging back-and-forth like a hammock in a light breeze between her 1970s folk music and some of her more urban contemporary offerings in the 1980s. For example, last month I went over Takagi's country-and-western "Omoide ga Ohsugite"（想い出が多すぎて）.
This time, I'm swinging back to the future to 1983 and her album "Pick Me Up". I've already covered one track in this AOR part of Takagi's discography, "Anata ni Say Goodbye" (あなたにSay Good bye), and now I have another track, "Shuumatsu no Gogo" (Weekend Afternoon). As with "Anata ni Say Goodbye", "Shuumatsu no Gogo" was also written by Takagi and composed by Yasuhiro Kido（木戸やすひろ）.
As has been the case with a number of folk singers in Japan, Takagi makes a good transition into the City Pop/AOR fields. "Shuumatsu no Gogo" indeed has that mellow arrangement with the guitar (and at points, I felt like the music was paying tribute to her folk days) and synths, and the entire song suggests that feel-at-ease summer weekend afternoon in the apartment overlooking the city streets below. Again, "Pick Me Up" might be one of those rarities that may need looking through the odd online auction but it can make for a fine addition to one's Japanese City Pop/AOR collection.
Found another one of those obscure artists in City Pop land recently. In contemporary times, the name Tatsuya Takahashi（高橋拓也）may ring a bell with sports fans since according to J-Wiki, one person with that moniker is a rugby player while another fellow with the same name right down to the kanji is a soccer player.
However, the Tatsuya Takahashi for "Kayo Kyoku Plus" purposes is a singer-songwriter in the City Pop/AOR genres, I believe. I managed to find a brief biography on the fellow on a pretty threadbare site. Apparently, he was born in Kanagawa Prefecture in 1954. Graduating from Toyo University in Tokyo, Takahashi joined a band, LOU, in 1975, and at a national folk music festival where musicians Hiroshi Kamayatsu（かまやつひろし）and Kazuo Zaitsu（財津和夫）were judging, the band was able to win the grand prize. About a year, the band came out with an album "LOU" which was produced by Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）. As a solo singer, Takahashi debuted in 1979 with a single "Kanashimi no Festa"（哀しみのフェスタ...Melancholy Festa） and an album "Feel So Cool".
Then came his second album"Fantastic Love In Wonderland" in 1980. I was fortunate to come across the A-side of this release thanks to the uploader Kitaefu C Team no Blog（きたへふCチームのブログ）some weeks ago. The first track is "Coast-Line", written and composed by Takahashi, which is, as its title would suggest, a car stereo-friendly tune for that drive down the shore. With a slight whisper in his voice, which sounds like a fairly less nasal version of Hiromi Go's（郷ひろみ）vocals, he does make summer all the more inviting.
At 4:20 is "Natural Life" which was composed by Takahashi but written by Yumi Morita（森田由美）. It has more of that City Pop beat with a bit of West Coast AOR, and I swear that light rasp in his voice here makes him sound more like a proto Hideaki Tokunaga（徳永英明）perhaps at a lower octave. Then at 8:19, Morita and Takahashi team up once more for "Ni-dome no Summer Story"（2度目のSUMMER STORY...The Second Summer Story） which kinda threw me for a loop at first since I'd thought that the jokers in the recording studio decided to ratchet up Takahashi's voice before I realized that it was a duet between him and a female singer who I couldn't track down. "Ni-dome no Summer Story" has an old-timey jazzy circus sort of feeling to it, rather reminiscent of some of Shinji Harada's（原田真二）works.
"Shadow on the Wall" at 12:09 by Morita and Takahashi takes things back to a City Pop with a cool stomping beat as the singer takes on a more crooning tone. The wailing guitar of the genre is welcomed back here and it gets my compliments, and especially with the added background chorus in the second verse, I get some Makoto Matsushita and Fujimal Yoshino（松下誠・芳野藤丸）vibes. Of course, there is also a sax solo and the whole exercise begs one to hit the pavement amid the skyscrapers of Tokyo.
Finally, Track 5 to complete Side A is "Akiya-Sunset" at 16:11 which begins with what sounds like a gentle surf hitting the sands. This final song which was taken care of entirely by Takahashi is not surprisingly a very relaxing and classy AOR tune with a touch of Latin which demands that titular sunset and a few drinks on an ocean-facing balcony.
Well, thanks Takuya (and Kitaefu C Team no Blog)! You sold me on "Fantastic Love In Wonderland" and I would love to get my own copy if it even exists on CD.
The YouTube channel also provides Side B right here but I'll leave that for a future date. According to one other miniscule page, Takahashi released another single in 1979 called "Secret Season" which was apparently arranged by Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）. Plus at Hip Tank Records, you can also see the cover of that first single by Takahashi, "Kanashimi no Festa" with the smiling visage of the singer himself.
