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.
Yup, I know that I put up a Toshiki Kadomatsu（角松敏生）article back on September 6th but I want to use this opportunity to inform all of you that a couple of people that I consider to be my friends and fellow City Pop enthusiasts and experts, Rocket Brown of "Come Along Radio" and Van Paugam of "Mayonaka Hour", got together the other day to exchange their thoughts on the genre through the latter's frequent podcast. There was also the theme of the works of Kadomatsu himself so if you're so inclined, why don't you have a listen to "EPISODE V: THE SOUL OF CITY POP"?
During the podcast, Rocket and Van were talking about the proper title to place upon Kadomatsu. Would he be the King of City Pop or the Prince of City Pop? I don't quite know, but perhaps I can add some of my own titles such as the Viscount of Vaporwave, the First Elder of Future Funk and the Master of Metropolitan Music.
Moving along, why don't we also partake in a bit of TK ourselves since it is City Pop Friday and the summer is gradually and inevitably closing up shop for another year. Here is "Summer Emotions" with words and music by the man himself, and it comes from his May 1984 compilation album"SUMMER TIME ROMANCE〜FROM KIKI". Just like that gorgeous photo on the album cover, there is something nicely sunset and calming about the track with the post-disco strings and the sax solo. It's too bad that it's so short at under three minutes, though; I would have thought that it would suffice as the final song for the album rather than Track 2, but there's no doubting the relaxation gotten from it.
I just kinda thought, "What the heck!". Let's get some September songs up here. For some reason, September-themed kayoseems to be the most frequent of all of the months, although I think May and August are up there as well. I'm also going to throw in a couple of my favourite American September tunes as well since the 21st is coming soon. Most of them have already been written about on the blog so I'm only going to provide commentary for just one song here.
The Ames Brothers -- September Song (1960s)
And this is the song..."September Song" which was originally a song introduced in 1938 in the Broadway musical "Knickerbocker Holiday", and from what I've heard of the various versions, it's usually arranged in a very soft and wistful style. However, the first version that I had heard was the one by The Ames Brothers via that LP collection of standards that my father got with his RCA Victor stereo back in the 1960s. The reason that I remember it so well is that this version is so jazzy and upbeat that it can only be made for cutting a rug in front of the jukebox. If anyone can inform me when exactly this version was recorded, I will be grateful.
I don't live in a postcard city like Rio de Janeiro, but
the town where I live, called Resende, is also quite charming... especially
when the nature helps. This photo was taken in 2012.
Earlier this year, I shared a selection of Japanese
songs that were inspired by Brazilian music genres here on Kayo Kyoku Plus called Marcos V.’s Special Selection: Love Letter to Brazil. It
wasn’t a new idea, as I’ve done a similar exercise at least once many years
ago, but I believe I’m more suitable to its challenges right now… basically
because I’ve been paying more attention to these crossovers recently. Also, considering
that there are a lot of Japanese pop songs composed and arranged like samba or
bossa nova (which is something quite surprising to me, honestly speaking), I
could probably build countless of these selections. Many of the songs are very
faithful to Brazilian rhythms and composing style, while another good chunk is
just vaguely inspired. I like both types, though, so I decided to post five
Japanese songs, plus a Brazilian one at the end, but in a very free manner,
without worrying so much about authenticity or things like that. I just happen
to like them, and they remind me of the rich musical heritage of my country…
even if, in this case, filtered by Japanese lens.
Megumi Hayashibara – Distance
It was not easy to choose this one among many other
Brazilian-inspired pop songs released by Megumi Hayashibara (林原めぐみ) since she began her singing career. Originally
released in 1991 as an image song to the OVA adaptation of Yuzo Takada’s (高田裕三) manga “3x3 EYES”, “Distance” is curious because it has
nothing to do with Brazil or Latin American, since its lyrics, if I’m not
mistaken, are closely related to the character Pai (パイ), voiced by Hayashibara, who alternates between a
sweet and innocent Tibetan girl and a powerful, ancient, three-eyed demon who
lives inside her (hence “3x3 EYES”). Anyway, the music is clearly samba-inspired,
just don’t ask me why, and I love Hayashibara’s raw vocals from her early days.
“Distance” was later rerecorded and included in her second album, “WHATEVER”,
released in 1992.
Chisato Moritaka – Modorenai
Natsu (戻れない夏)
Besides Pink Lady (ピンク・レディー) and The Beatles, I believe Chisato Moritaka (森高千里) is also a big fan of bossa nova/samba, since
she has recorded many Brazilian-inspired tunes through the years. “Modorenai
Natsu”, an early example of this trend in her discography, is probably the one
I listen to the most, mainly because it’s kind of relaxing and features a nice
arrangement filled with jazzy keyboards, a sometimes relentless cuíca and the
rich instrumental breakdown. It’s not one of Moritaka’s strongest vocal
performances, though, but her breezy vocals are also kind of charming.
“Modorenai Natsu” was included in the singer’s third full album “Mite” (見て), which was released in 1988.
Toshiki Kadomatsu – La Carnaval
Toshiki Kadomatsu (角松敏生) is probably best known for the City Pop sound he
explored through the 80s, but the man kept releasing quality stuff even after
the dawn of the Bubble Era, with 2010’s“La Carnaval”, from the album
“Citylights Dandy”, being a nice example. This time, though, there’s no obvious
urban City Pop quirks, as Kadomatsu uses his musical experience to create a song
full of Brazilian rhythms and swing. Just like Moritaka’s “Modorenai Natsu”
beforehand, Kadomatsu also engages in a jazzy piano solo here.
Aya Matsumoto – TOKYO Wagamama
Musume (TOKYOわがまま娘)
Easily one of the rarest Japanese singles I’ve ever
listened, Aya Matsumoto’s (松本彩)
“TOKYO Wagamama Musume” is as bouncy as a Japanese take on samba can be with
its nice percussion and that melodic short guitar solo in the instrumental
breakdown, even though, apparently, it has nothing to do with Brazil in its thematic.
Anyway, I really like the inclusion of cuíca (well, based on the examples above, it
seems like Japan loves to include those when doing a Brazilian-inspired song)
and samba whistle in the arrangement. Unfortunately, besides this single, which
was released in 1989, Aya Matsumoto just vanished from show business and never
released other songs.
A promotional song from the Tomato n’ Pine’s album “PS4U”, which was
released in 2012, “Odore Carnaval”, lyrically speaking, is a big mishmash of a
song, but in a good and fun way. It mentions lots of Latin American countries
(including Brazil, of course), cities and words related to their music genres,
contains the Italian expression “mi amore” and evokes a hot, sweaty and
tropical party… all of this behind a discofied Carnival-like sound. Everything
is very stereotypical here, combining lots of different things into an
amorphous Latin song, but I don’t have a problem with that at all, since it’s
so well done and cute. The original video (which I’ve found with English and
Portuguese subtitles on the link above) is also a treat, so let’s just ‘mawasu,
mawasu, mawasu, mawasu, mawasu’ with these girls forever and ever.
Gilberto Gil – Toda Menina
Baiana
To finish, here's a song by Gilberto Gil, one of Brazil’s
legendary singer-songwriters. This is a thrilling forró version (forró is a
music genre from Brazil's northeastern region) of “Toda Menina Baiana” (which
can be translated as “Every Bahian Girl” or “Every Girl from Bahia”), one of
his many hit songs, which was originally included in the album “Realce”, released in1979. I almost need to get
up and dance every time I listen to this song.
Welcome back to the weekly Reminiscings of Youth article. It was quite the time for me in terms of music back then. I got so much into Japanese music and also Western music with music videos, British New Wave and American R&B along with many other genres. To be honest, it was a wonder that I didn't end up draining my embryonic bank account but somehow I was able to keep on an even keel. Well, probably the guards who were my parents assisted in that.
The killer combination for me was New Wave/synthpop and music videos. I mean, there were folks like Thomas Dolby, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and Gary Numan, and for that matter, The Plastics in Japan and Spoons here in Canada. Music video was the wild frontier back then and it seemed like the New Wave guys were having a lot of creative fun with this particular canvas.
Another example was the British group Thompson Twins. Wikipedia has labeled them a pop group that first formed in 1977. They were initially seen as a New Wave band but then morphed into a more conventional pop unit in later years. Still, I think their October 1982 hit "Lies" is very much New Wave. Though I enjoy the song on its own merits, it was the music video that first hooked me. It just seemed to warn me that this is what would happen if a patient got a little too much anesthetic before surgery.
It wasn't the lies that got me...it was the syn-drums, the eerie synths and the loopy synth-bass that did. Yup, all that synthpop in one song, and it was a darn catchy melody by band members Tom Bailey, Alannah Currie and Joe Leeway. I'm just surprised that "Lies" only got as high as No. 67 on the UK chart and then No. 30 on the Billboard Singles chart in America. However, also according to the Wikipedia article on the song, it did hit No. 1 for a couple of weeks on the American dance chart early in 1983.
Normally, I would be putting up the Top Three Oricon singles for October 1982, but they've already been spoken for, thanks to another earlier ROY article for DeBarge's "All This Love" which came out that same month. Therefore, I'm going to go with Nos. 5, 6 and 7 instead.
Well, as they say, good things come to an end, and fans of "Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon"（小林さんちのメイドラゴン...Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid） will probably be going into major withdrawal early next week when the final episode of Season 2 gets shown. We've seen some more plot and character development and things such as the addition of at least a couple of more regular characters, Kobayashi gaining a new body part temporarily, Tohru and Elma perhaps finally making amends, and Kanna vs The Mafia.
The penultimate episode which I caught a couple of days ago was fairly dramatic as I'd expected but early on, I did find out that Kobayashi was on an eternal search for the perfect massaging device due to her chronic lower back issues. Crazily enough, one of those devices popped up immediately in the above video, and it turned out to be the one that I got from Tokyu Hands back in 2014. And just like Kobayashi, I haven't used it much either. For one thing, it's ouch-y! Fortunately for one of us, though, there was a vibrating dragon tail that finally did the trick.
Anyways, I did say that good things do come to an end, didn't I? So perhaps this song here will probably be the last entry for the "Kobayashi-san" file for the next little while (hopefully, we won't have to wait another four years plus for Season 3). Not certain whether this will remain just that one-minute musical interlude or whether it will get the full three to four minute treatment, but the supremely upbeat song finished off Episode 3 of this season as the ending theme.
The song is titled "Ishukan Relationship" (Interspecies Relationship) as a slight nod of the head to the regular ending theme for Season 1, "Ishukan Communication"(イシュカン・コミュニケーション). Tohru was digging her horns of a dilemma into what could be a good hobby for her. Finally, she opted to become an aidoru fan...the aidoru being Miss Kobayashi herself. Before everyone knew it, the dragon maid amassed a whole plethora of Kobayashi paraphernalia and even the song "Ishukan Relationship" with the lyrics of "lick and kiss". Even the powerful Kanna and Ilulu couldn't hold up under the strain with the former making an emergency call to Miss Kobayashi at the office. Her rush home to see the insanity back at the apartment reminded me of the typical episode from "Bewitched" or "I Dream of Jeannie".
Was able to find the 3rd-episode ender with all of the tenderhearted scenes of Tohru and Kobayashi from the first season and the specials. Yuki Kuwahara（桑原由気）, Tohru's seiyuu, gives that supremely enthusiastic aidoru-like performance for the high-energy "Ishukan Relationship" in character. Ginnojo Hoshi（星銀乃丈）who composed the regular ending theme for Season 2, "Maid with Dragons"（めいど・うぃず・どらごんず︎❤︎）, was behind everything for "Ishukan Relationship".
It looks like the finale may be a pretty heartwarming one with at least some of the story taking place at the annual summer festival with presumably the entire cast of characters. Will there be some sort of cliffhanger, though? Anyways it was a happy sophomore outing with "Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon S" and we'll be waiting with bated breath for the third season.
Now if only we can get a second season of "Gekkan Shojo Nozaki-kun"（月刊少女野崎くん...Girls' Monthly Nozaki-kun）. Please?
As much as there are probably dozens of 70s and 80s aidoruthat I have had no idea about so far, I'm thinking that the same is most likely true for 90s pop singers. Case in point is one Hiroko Sohma（相馬裕子）, a singer-songwriter from Nagoya who was releasing singles within that decade but has been putting out albums up to 2009.
I managed to this one track from Sohma's 3rd album"Eien wo Sagashi ni"（永遠を探しに...In Search of Eternity） which was released in March 1993. "Watashi wo Tsukamaete" (Catch Me) is a solid pop song that actually wasn't created by her. Instead, it was Miyako Yoshimura（吉村みやこ）and Seishiro Kusunose（楠瀬誠志郎）behind words and music respectively. With Sohma's clear vocals, the strings, the twangy guitar, the whimsical trumpet and the overall upbeat arrangement, "Watashi wo Tsukamaete" feels like a hybrid of a late era Beatles song and early era Chika Ueda（上田知華）when she was with performing with Karyobin. Perhaps it can be said to be a 1990s version of that Fashion Music by Ueda, Ruiko Kurahashi（倉橋ルイ子）and Asami Kado（門あさ美）.
Sohma got her start in music in 1984 by becoming a vocalist in a band in junior high school. Half a decade later following her graduation from senior high, she began singing in live houses before releasing her debut album, "Wind Songs", in 1991. At the same time, she also acted as an on-air assistant for KBS Kyoto's radio program "Hyper Night"（はいぱぁナイト）. She ended up releasing 5 singles up to 1997 and then a total of 12 albums (including 2 BEST releases). In October 2017, Sohma apparently became the president of a chain of dining establishments that her partner had set up, according to her J-Wiki article.
Looks like "Kayo Kyoku Plus" viewers will be getting a double dose of Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）this week after Marcos V.'s splendid article on the thrilling "Melancholy Festa" (メランコリー・フェスタ) last night. And why not? Folks can compare that 1984 song when Akina was still an early 80s aidoruwith that higher-pitched voice to the tracks on her July 1989 album"Cruise" when her vocals were much lower and richer and she had long become that pop superstar in Japan.
I first wrote about "Cruise" almost exactly 9 years ago as one of the early articles on KKP in which I spoke about four of the tracks, and since I already wrote about the circumstances surrounding the July 1989 album's release, you can read about them in the original article. As I may have indicated there, "Cruise" was quite the contemplative and melancholy album with the singer herself seemingly appearing as a beautiful but fragile flower. Crazy as it sounds, I actually neglected to add how it did on the charts: No. 1 on Oricon and the No. 31 album of the year.
Strangely enough, it had been my intent to post this one up on her birthday back on July 13th instead of "Refrain"（リ・フ・レ・イ・ン）, but I gather that I fell under the charms of that B-side to her "Kita Wing"（北ウィング）hit. But allow me to make amends now with the remaining six tracks on "Cruise" after doing four of them in the original article.
When I first heard "Cruise" after purchasing it during my orientation session on the JET Programme in Tokyo, it was akin to having a particularly rich buffet; I hadn't been too fond of her immediately preceding albums but "Cruise" was something that angled a little differently but still there was a lot to digest at great leisure. Track 2, for example, is "Akai Mystery"（赤い不思議...Red Mystery）, a song characterized by Akina's distant and haunting vocals, a just-as-haunting synthesizer, and what sounds like a murmuring bassoon. "Akai Mystery" was written and composed by singer-songwriter Akiko Kosaka（小坂明子）and arranged by Kazuo Shiina（椎名和夫）, and it could have made for the ideal theme song for one of those frequent weekly TV suspense-mystery shows in Japan as doubts are seeping through the cracks of a relationship.
For a song titled "Ranbi"（乱火...Raging Fire）, it actually comes across as a quietly tragic tune thanks to the music and arrangement by Kisaburo Suzuki（鈴木キサブロー）and Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二） respectively. I'm not sure if I've read into Akira Ohtsu's（大津あきら）lyrics correctly but the story rendered here almost feels like some sort of sadomasochism as a woman relentlessly goes through periods of tenderness and despair like the regular tides at the Bay of Fundy.
"Standing in Blue" is a jazzy and relatively upbeat song on "Cruise" that also has some hints of the old exotic kayo of the late 1970s. Written by SHOW, composed by Osny Melo and arranged by Satoshi Nakamura（中村哲）, the song is about someone realizing that a remembrance of an old romance has also become a revelation that they have been able to move onto better pastures since the breakup. I'd like to add there is that torch song feeling, too.
"Kaze wa Sora no Kanata"（風は空の彼方...The Wind is Behind the Sky） is a wistful ballad about hoping to see a loved one sometime again in the future, although I don't know whether that person has physically gone away a long distance or has simply left this mortal coil. It's one of the lovelier tracks on "Cruise" with lyrics by Qumico Fucci, music by Nick Wood and arrangement by Akira Nishihara（西平彰）. "Kaze wa Sora no Kanata" strikes me as being somewhat baroque and there is even something that is faintly Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）there due to the piano work.
I think "SINGER" is something that I can identify as City Pop with its rhythms including a hint of Sade-like jazz. Nakamori goes even sultrier here as if she's having that slow dance with the solo saxophone itself. As was the case with "Standing In Blue", Osny Melo, SHOW and Nakamura are behind this penultimate track for "Cruise" as the singer acts the role as the seductress behind the mike, forever enticing the listener into her realm.
In keeping with my impression of the album, the final track is the appropriately sad "Ame ga Futteta..."（雨が降ってた…It Was Raining...）, a lush and lovely ballad that has me thinking of songs from 1960s French movies such as "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" with Michel LeGrand as the composer. However, the lyricist and composer here are Yuuho Iwasato and Chika Ueda（岩里祐穂・上田知華）respectively with Kei Wakakusa（若草恵）as the arranger. Iwasato and Ueda were a duo who were coming up with some of Miki Imai's（今井美樹）songs at around the same time. Through the former's lyrics, we get to discover that there is a woman remembering the time when she was just standing in the rain, probably in aghast shock, realizing that the affair was indeed over.
I recall that when I finished up the original "Cruise" article back in September 2012 that this particular album was one that I had no trepidation in picking up unlike some of her immediately preceding releases. Still, partially because of force of habit and partially because of what had happened to Akina several days before its release, it still took a fair amount of time for me to get accustomed to the overall theme and the songs themselves. However, I have come to appreciate the various tracks over the years, and I think that it's a major accomplishment to have so many different lyricists, composers and arrangers contributing their abilities to "Cruise", and yet the album feels like it has a certain united theme of wistful and perhaps wiser sadness. Whether or not "Cruise" is now treated as one of Nakamori's classics, I don't know but for me, I believe that it's definitely one album that has stood out not just in her own discography but among all of the albums that I've had on my shelves.
