Rajie -- Natsu ~ Hachi-gatsu no Memoir（夏～8月のメモワール）

 

September has entered rather peacefully here. It's sunny and unlike several of the past days, it actually feels cooler and drier (although I've still got the fan going in my room). Knowing Toronto, in a few weeks, we may actually be hearing frost warnings at night. Sorry to my heat-loving fellow Torontonians...I don't mean to jinx anything.

Anyways, I was trying to see if there were any other September-themed kayo out there but I did discover this song by Rajie titled "Natsu ~ Hachi-gatsu no Memoir" (Summer ~ Memoirs of August) that seems to fit the bill whenever I write anything at "Kayo Kyoku Plus" on September 1st. It's fairly contemplative with the singer's breathy vocals and that languid piano. "Natsu" does feel like the summer has suddenly gone into hibernation again and it's just a matter of time before the leaves begin changing colour. Uploader purplesound was quite accurate when he describes it as a Dream Pop number. Maybe it's a little like Fashion Music as sung by folks like Ruiko Kurahashi（倉橋ルイ子）and Asami Kado（門あさ美）.

The song comes from Rajie's October 1984 album "Gogo no Relief"（午後のレリーフ...Afternoon Relief） with lyricist Machiko Ryu（竜真知子）and composer Takashi Sato（佐藤隆）working on it, and City Pop master Makoto Matsushita（松下誠）arranging everything. 

Crest Four Singers/Minako Yoshida -- Rum wa O-Suki?（ラムはお好き？）

 

Although among my friends, I'm most likely the most teetotaling member of the group, I have enjoyed the odd beer, sake and shochu both here and in Japan. I even have a soft spot in my heart for the sweeter liqueurs such as cassis, Kahlua and rum. That last one is something that I've had in cake and Coke along with my cocktails.🍹

Therefore, if anyone in Japan asks me something like "Rum wa o-suki?", I can nod my head to a certain reluctant degree...in moderation, of course. Speaking of which, I have this song by the jazz vocal group Crest Four Singers with the very same title. "Rum wa O-Suki?" (Do You Like Rum?) is the B-side to the quintet's 1979 single "Hey! Mister Smile".

I've already posted up one other song by Crest Four Singers, the Big Band-friendly "Sun Shade"（サン・シェイド）and I found out about that one through the YouTube channel, New J Channel. Lightning has apparently struck twice since I've just discovered "Rum wa O-Suki?" in the same fashion, so my thanks to the channel administrators. In any case, compared to that first Crest Four Singers song, "Rum wa O-Suki?" is definitely another tune made in the mold of The Manhattan Transfer, specifically in the delivery by the group, but the Big Band feeling has been taken down for this particular song and there's a bit more in the way of cute little contemporary bleeps and bloops of synthesizers accompanying the laidback melody, strangely enough.

Well, the reason behind this is that two of the songwriters happen to be straight from technopop pioneers Yellow Magic Orchestra. Yup, Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）and Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）helped arranged the latter's music, and another surprise is that J-R&B queen Minako Yoshida（吉田美奈子）provided the lyrics. I gather that because of the title, "Rum wa O-Suki?" may be a second cousin to another booze-themed title a little over a decade down the line, "Whiskey ga O-Suki deshou?" (ウィスキーが、お好きでしょ）, which is a torch song by enka singer Sayuri Ishikawa（石川さゆり）.

Going further down the rabbit hole, I've discovered that Crest Four Singers' version is actually a cover of the Yoshida original from her March 1976 album "Flapper". The same jazziness is there but without the synthpop aspect. Instead, the original has a taste of Hosono's Tin Pan Alley sound. I actually feel like that I am sitting in a Tiki bar as I listen to it, although I hope that Yoshida was able to get rid of that over-insistent bartender at the end.

Akiko Futaba -- Sayonara Rumba（さよならルンバ）

 

Over the past several weeks that the sports events of the Tokyo Olympics, the Paralympics and the annual high school baseball tournament at Koshien Stadium in between, there have been a lot of cancellations on the NHK schedule. That includes the kayo program "Uta Con"（うたコン）, and though I haven't exactly curled up into a traumatized fetal position because of its weeks-long disappearance from the television, I'm hoping that it will be returning fairly soon. It would be nice to get some of the old music back into my ears again.

Well, until that happens, there is always YouTube. And indeed, I did find an oldie but a goodie from November 1948. "Sayonara Rumba" (The Goodbye Rumba) was performed by Akiko Futaba（二葉あき子）as one of her string of hits in the immediate postwar period along with her cover of "Yoru no Platform"（夜のプラットホーム）.

Written by Ko Fujiura（藤浦洸）and composed by Takio Niki（仁木他喜雄）, "Sayonara Rumba" has that flavour of that swanky Latin nightclub in a snazzy area of Tokyo such as Ginza (although I'm not sure how ritzy the neighbourhood was in 1948 so relatively soon after the war). In addition, judging from Fujiura's lyrics about fondly but adamantly saying goodbye in some nighttime establishment after a torrid love affair, perhaps "Sayonara Rumba" can also be considered to be a predecessor of the typical Mood Kayo. Simply have that final dance on the floor before fading away in two directions.

Covers of "Sayonara Rumba" have been done over the years by singers such as Mitsuko Nakamura（中村美津子）and Machiko Watanabe（渡辺真知子）below.

(4:12)

Anri/Ami Ozaki -- Namida wo Umi ni Kaeshitai（涙を海に返したい）

Here I was wondering what I was going to do for the final day of August 2021 when good ol' Van Paugam informed all of us via Twitter that Anri（杏里）just celebrated her 60th birthday today. So, definitely a very happy kanreki to her; not sure if she wore anything red but Ms. Eiko Kawashima（川島 栄子）would look fine in any colour anyways.

Anri was all of seventeen when she released her third single, "Namida wo Umi ni Kaeshitai" (I Want to Return My Tears to the Ocean) in April 1979. Just like her debut single, the iconic "Olivia wo Kikinagara"（オリビアを聴きながら）the previous year, singer-songwriter Ami Ozaki（尾崎亜美）was responsible for words and music for this melancholy song about loss and heartbreak. There is a touch of disco in there, but seeing that it's a very early song in Anri's discography, it doesn't sound like the usual summery City Pop tune that she's long been known for, and for that reason, it can be an interesting song to come across.

The arrangement was handled by Shigeru Suzuki（鈴木茂）, formerly of the rock band Happy End. I don't see any Oricon ranking for "Namida wo Umi ni Kaeshitai" on its J-Wiki article so perhaps it didn't even quite make the Top 100 (and even "Olivia wo Kikinagara" only got up as high as No. 65 in its initial release). In fact, the single didn't make its album debut until Anri's 5th BEST compilation, "MY FAVOURITE SONGS"  which was released in July 1988.

To be honest, though, I have to say that I enjoy Ozaki's cover of "Namida wo Umi ni Kaeshitai" even more than the Anri original. First appearing on her second album of self-covers, "POINTS-2" from March 1986, the tempo is a little more appropriately slower for a sad ballad and the arrangement by Shingo Kobayashi（小林信吾）is lusher. The music seems to act like that box of chocolates that any broken heart needs to help recover.

LÄ-PPISCH -- Magic Blue Case

 

One of my favourite movies of all time is "Ronin" (1998), which was one of director John Frankenheimer's final movies. A great spy caper movie starring Robert DeNiro, Jean Reno and Natascha McElhone, the plot and the characters all revolve around one little suitcase. What's in it? Who knows and who cares? It is the perfect illustration of that cinematic device known as the MacGuffin, and it was a fun two hours watching everyone stalk and kill each other over it.

For some reason, that was the movie that came to my mind as I listened to LÄ-PPISCH's September 1990 4th single, "Magic Blue Case". Written and composed by vocalist Kyoichi Sugimoto（杉本恭一）, the plot here revolves around a guy who finds a mysterious blue case one day, brings it home and finds himself rich beyond his means, only to find out that there is a fine print of sorts that doesn't bode well for the possessor. At the same time then, the song then reminds me of the tale of young Taro Urashima who brings home that forbidden box from his long time at the Dragon Palace, opens it and ends up older than the hills.

Speaking about the fine print, I should have read a bit more carefully about LÄ-PPISCH since all this time, I'd treated the band merely as a ska group, a la their light and nimble "Payapaya" （パヤパヤ）. However, according to their J-Wiki file, they actually have a much more varied resume as they have performed rock, alternative, New Wave, and funk. Listening to "Magic Blue Case", I get much more in the way of INXS than Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra.

Hitomi Ozaki -- Soushunki（早春期）

 

Ah, once again I bring you one of those many 80s aidoru that quickly came and went while getting those five minutes of fame. Additionally and as is often the case, there's very little information to be found out regarding this young lass.

Hitomi Ozaki（尾崎仁美）was born in 1969 and had an aidoru career lasting a little over two years according to what her page on "Idol.ne.jp" says. Her debut single from February 1986 was "Soushunki" which I believe means "Early Spring", so I can assume that the lyrics by Haruki Tango（丹古晴己）are talking about heartfelt falling heads-over-heels in love. The melody that hints at some of that haunting romantic uncertainty is by Kyoko Kosaka（小坂恭子）with arrangement by Eiji Kawamura（川村栄二）.

What strikes me about Ozaki though are those high-pitched clear-as-a-bell vocals that make her sound even younger than those sixteen years that she was registering when "Soushunki" was released. I don't know as of yet about her remaining four singles going into early 1988 but I think that with this inaugural song, she actually had a promising beginning. Then again, perhaps she didn't really stand out significantly enough from the rest of the aidoru crowd.

Keizo Nakanishi -- Precious Love

 

Good heavens, it's been a while since I've written about singer-songwriter Keizo Nakanishi（中西圭三）so I'm glad that I could find another song by him on YouTube. His heyday was in the 1990s and I think that he was up there with The King of Love Songs Masayuki Suzuki（鈴木雅之）himself when it came to Japanese soul singers. One thing about Nakanishi is that he often also added a touch of Motown to his creations.

This particular song, "Precious Love", finishes up his third original album "Steps" from March 1993, but I first heard it as part of a mix tape that my cousin had sent me decades ago. With lyrics by prolific Masao Urino（売野政男）, music by Nakanishi and arrangement by Takao Konishi（小西貴雄）, "Precious Love" is another quintessential Keizo tune with the percolating beats, the upbeat melody and of course the singer's soulful tones. Along with those beats, I think another highlight is the sax solo; I can be an absolute sucker for them.

"Steps" was a No. 1 hit for Nakanishi and the album also contains another supremely catchy track, "Ticket to Paradise".