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.
I was watching the concert video of Yellow Magic Orchestra at the Budokan around 1980, and of course, the guys played all of the favourites such as "Rydeen" and "Technopolis". YMO also had their cadre of musicians along to help them on their tour which included singer-songwriter Akiko Yano（矢野顕子）, synthesizer whiz Hideki Matsutake（松武秀樹）and the late guitarist Kenji Omura（大村憲司）.
Speaking of Omura, he got a chance to perform a solo during the Budokan concert and at first, I'd thought that he was singing a YMO tune that I had never heard before...which is pretty difficult nowadays. But as it turned out, it was actually Omura's own tune, "Maps", from his 1981 album"Haru ga Ippai"（春がいっぱい...Spring is Nearly Here）. Maybe he was trying it out in concert before recording it for the album.
Written by Chris Mosdell and composed by YMO drummer Yukihiro Takahashi（高橋幸宏）, "Maps" has got its share of synths in there, but I think that it's more of a New Wave tune that had me thinking of David Bowie at that time. There are also hints of The Fixx in there, too. I don't think that Omura is a particularly great singer, especially when it comes to concert performances, and in the above Budokan video, he sounded rather muddled. However, "Maps" makes for a nice little trip into nostalgia land with all of those spooky synths and spangly guitar work. Still, if push comes to shove, I will probably always go with Omura's fusion fare with his previous album in 1978, "Kenji Shock".
Oh, how I would have loved to have gotten one of those YMO shirts as you can see in the Budokan video, though. I did have an opportunity once, though, but I let it go. Just as well...considering how slim those guys were back then, that shirt on sale would have been screaming in horror at the prospect of trying to encompass my girth.😖
I caught this particular song during one of the episodes of NHK's "Nodo Jiman"（のど自慢）that had been doing a retrospective of the 2019 singers a few months ago just before the entire show was put on hiatus (although the website has announced that it will be returning in some form from August 23rd). Of course, it was an amateur performing it but it sounded so heartwarming that I wanted to know who the original singer was.
The song is "Home" by Osaka-born Yuusaku Kiyama（木山裕策）, and the singer's own story leading up to his debut single is just as heartwarming and also inspirational. In fact, it's somewhat reminiscent of Kei Ogura（小椋佳）in that he was working as a bank employee until he found his second calling as a singer-songwriter decades ago. Kiyama himself, according to this J-Wiki bio, is currently a section chief in an advertisement publishing company.
Back in 2004, he had been diagnosed with a malignant tumour on his thyroid gland which necessitated surgery, but with the risk of damage to the nerves attached to his vocal cords. Kiyama then resolved that if the surgery were a success and he were able to speak again, he would follow his dream of singing. The operation was indeed successful and the rehabilitation went so well that he could take up that dream. He even recorded his voice on a CD for his children.
A few years later in 2007, he entered an NTV audition program called "Uta Star!!"（歌スタ!!）to sing a couple of songs, Ken Hirai's（平井堅）hit "Hitomi wo Tojite"（瞳をとじて）and "Piano Man" by Billy Joel, a singer that he greatly admired. One of the judges on the show, musician and composer Kunio Tago（多胡邦夫）took notice of Kiyama and created the song "Home" for him to be performed on "Uta Star!!". Unfortunately, the first time wasn't a pass for the budding singer, and he started thinking about giving up on making a major debut, but with some coaxing from Tago, he tried a second time and passed.
Kiyama debuted in February 2008 with "Home", and several months later, he even got invited onto the Kohaku Utagassen. Since then, whenever he has time off from work, he has continued with his singing career and up to this year, he has released 3 singles, 4 albums and a mini-album.
I knew that Miho Morikawa（森川美穂）started out as a mid-1980saidoru before going into power pop although I'm not sure when the turning point was.
However, I'm pretty certain that the transition was complete by the launch of her 4th original album"1/2 Contrast" in June 1988. I've been listening to some of the album and it seems as if Morikawa partly opted for a party atmosphere in the tropics as a theme...kinda along the same lines of Akemi Ishii（石井明美）. Not a bad way to begin the purely pop phase.
The first track is "Splash Blue" and it sounds like Morikawa was enjoying a major cruise on the Love Boat. With a happily danceable (secretly anyways) Latin-tinged arrangement by Shingo Kobayashi（小林信吾）for Minoru Komorita's（小森田実）melody and Keiko Aso's（麻生圭子）lyrics, this is about as active a Resort Pop as I've ever heard, and Morikawa's vocals here are the ones that I was introduced to when I first heard the singer on her "Blue Water" in 1990. As for "1/2 Contrast", it peaked at No. 17 on Oricon.
One thing that I hadn't known about The Carpenters before I started this Reminiscings of Youth article tonight is that Richard and Karen didn't have their first TV special until 1976! I was close to eleven years of age by that point, and the reason that I am surprised is that in my increasingly hazy memories of my early childhood is that I'd assumed that the famous duo were having specials since the 1970s and their career began. They just seemed to be ubiquitous on television and radio with their easy listening songs such as "Sing", "We've Only Just Begun" and "Yesterday Once More".
I'm not sure how The Carpenters are remembered in their native United States or up here in Canada. The fact that I've barely heard anything about them on this side of the Pacific in decades is quite telling, though, since in Japan, they're adored as pop legends along the same lines as The Ventures and The Beatles. I basically had my reunion with Richard and Karen and their music thanks to my life in Japan.
A couple of their songs have become theme tunes verbatim for Japanese dramas, a lot of their tunes were part of commercials, and even a Fuji-TV nostalgic music show is now permanently intertwined with "Yesterday Once More". Plus, there's the fact that the longer one goes to karaoke with friends, the higher the chances that a Carpenters song will be sung.... that is from personal experience. I've even bought a couple of their BEST compilations.
I think the last Carpenters reference I saw on this side of the Pacific was a montage sequence on "The Simpsons" when Homer first set eyes on Marge. "(They Long to Be) Close to You" was probably meant as a humourous counterpoint but it ended up for me at least being surprisingly poignant and moving.
And I guess that's why out of the entire Carpenters discography, "Close to You" will be the song for me by Karen and Richard. Released in May 1970, I was surprised to discover that this Burt Bacharach and Hal David creation didn't get its first rodeo with The Carpenters. Actor Richard ("Dr. Kildare") Chamberlain, Dionne Warwick and Dusty Springfield all had their turns at it in the 1960s before The Carpenters recorded the definitive version of the ballad. I mean, perhaps I'm dating myself considerably more here but this would be an ideal (if a tad cornball) tune at the end of a prom. Mind you, "It's Been a Long, Long Time" might have taken over for about a year since "Avengers: Endgame" (that movie still packs a mighty Thor wallop).
So, what were the big hits during that time in Japan? Well, unfortunately, I couldn't track down any of the May 1970 Oricon hits so I'm once again going with certain award winners at that year's Japan Record Awards (its 12th, to be specific).
Best Performance Award: Hiroshi Uchiyamada and The Cool Five -- Uwasa no Onna
I've talked about this a number of times through the relevant articles over the life of this blog, but in the summer of 1982, it was my brother's turn to head to Japan for his own Japanese Language School graduation trip. When he returned, he brought back three 45" singles: Seiko Matsuda's（松田聖子）"Komugi Iro no Mermaid" (小麦色のマーメイド）, Hiromi Iwasaki's（岩崎宏美）"Madonna Tachi no Lullaby" (聖母たちのララバイ）and Masahiko Kondo's（近藤真彦）1981 "Blue Jeans Memory"（ブルー・ジーンズ・メモリー）.
They're all very cherished records and I've been able to write about all of the A-sides. However, the B-sides took a little while longer although I could get to Seiko-chan's"Madras Check no Koibito"（マドラス・チェックの恋人）easily enough. Iwasaki's "Akai Ito"（赤い糸）was a tough one and I had thought that it would never show itself on YouTube, but happily it finally did so a few months ago.
So that only left Matchy's B-side. Once again, I was wondering whether that would be another song whose existence would never see the light of YouTube day. But then, just a week ago, it miraculously appeared. Ladies and gentlemen and Matchy fans, allow me to introduce "Seishun Beach" (Teenage Beach).
As one commenter for the video put it, it's a song that not a lot of folks know or remember, so I can glean that maybe "Seishun Beach" never made it onto a BEST compilation or even a regular album by Kondo. However, it's a song that is short, sweet and fun for me. Compared to the hot motorcycle song powered by octane and testosterone that is "Blue Jeans Memory" by the legendary songwriting duo Takashi Matsumoto and Kyohei Tsutsumi（松本隆・筒美京平）, "Seishun Beach" is the chill fun-in-the-sun good-times song by Hisashi Suzuki（すずきひさし）and Koji Makaino（馬飼野浩二）.
Makaino also arranged "Seishun Beach" and it sounds like he was watching a lot of "Beach Blanket Bingo" with Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon before the songwriter started on this project. I can imagine the kids down on Shonan twisting in the sand to this one. However, according to the J-Wiki article for "Blue Jeans Memory","Seishun Beach" was used for a Konica Camera commercial featuring Matchy.
Well, I'm happy to have finally covered the A-sides and B-sides for this trifecta. Twist again! 👍
Found out about Chie Sawa（沢チエ）through one of the "Light Mellow" discs but it was for another song. However, I did find this even better tune performed by her on YouTube.
(4:40)
There's very little written about the Kobe-born Sawa that I could find anywhere since she also doesn't have any representation on J-Wiki. But I could discover on this slow-uploading site that her bass-playing uncle introduced her to the music path, and at the age of 20, while she was performing in hotel lounges and nightclubs in Osaka, she was scouted by the president of the Ozawa Music Office, an entertainment agency that is currently based in Tokyo. Then according to the "Showa Pop Encyclopedia", she made her debut in August 1971 with the Japanese-language cover of Michel Fugain's"Balade en Bugatti"under the title of "Koi no Bugatti"（恋のブガッティ...Bugatti of Love）.
Her first LP was released in July 1974, "Ni-juu-san Sai" (23 Years Old). I gotta say that the title track is pretty kakkoii with that languid piano and guitar intro that reminds me a fair bit of Al Stewart, and Sawa's vocals have that resonant clarity reminiscent of Misato Watanabe（渡辺美里）. "Ni-juu-san Sai" is cool as menthol all throughout with its urban beat and the addition of a rock guitar in the instrumental bridge. As was the case with "Koi no Bugatti", lyricist Kazumi Yasumi（安井かずみ）provided the lyrics while music and arrangement were handled by Makoto Yano（矢野誠）.
According to the discography that has been listed on "Showa Pop Encyclopedia", beyond the album "Ni-juu-san Sai",Sawa only released one more record, a fourth single but under her real name of Chie Kunigita（国木田チエ）in 1976. Another Fugain song, "Une Belle Histoire" from 1972, was given its own Japanese cover by vocal group Circus under the title of "Mr. Summertime".
As much as I talk about the 10/90 ratio of the City Pop iceberg, I think there is also a similar thing with the 1980s aidoruiceberg. For every Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）, Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）and any A-lister aidoru, there is probably a dozen unknown teenyboppers that never float to the cream of the crop. In some cases, there is a good reason for that, but sometimes I believe that for some of them, things simply didn't luck out despite having a decent voice.
One of the latter variety is Yumi Yano（矢野有美）. Born in Kagawa Prefecture but raised in Tokyo, she was once discovered by a talent scout when she was in Grade 6, but her parents understandably refused to let their daughter go into show business. However in 1981 when she was in her final year of junior high school, the same scout made another approach and this time, Mom and Dad relented. It looks like young Yano began with some modeling gigs for magazines.
Later that year, she and six other teenage girls were selected to become the aidoru group Shower（シャワー）as part of an ad campaign for an after-shower perfume by Shiseido which generated two singles in the first half of 1982. But then a few years later in 1985, Yano went solo and ended up releasing three singles plus a 12" single and one album.
That one album was called "Glass no Border"（ガラスの国境...Glass Border） released in September 1985. I've been enjoying the opening track and Yano's final single (released in July), "Natsu e no Tegami" (A Letter for Summer) which was written by Osamu Takahashi（高橋修）and composed by PSY-S member Masaya Matsuura（松浦雅也）. Knowing Matsuura's work with PSY-S from that year, I'm not surprised with the light and bubbly synthpop in "Natsu e no Tegami", and the synths used here bring in a lot of nostalgic feelings. Yano herself doesn't have an incredible voice but it's definitely a steady-on aidoru delivery (at least in the recording booth), and I have to say that looking at the cover for "Glass no Border", that hairdo of hers back then makes her look like Akina Nakamori.
According to her J-Wiki profile, in 1986 Yano went over to California to study while still in the middle of her aidoru career. However, a shotgun wedding situation occurred which necessitated early retirement from the geinokai...at least from the aidoru part of it. Returning back to Japan with her son, Yano joined up with a modeling agency and was working as a model into the early 1990s at least.
