Mimi Hagiwara -- O-share na Douyoubi（おしゃれな土曜日）/Stand Up（スタンド・アップ）

 

Commenter James Noah and I had a bit of a talk on some of those female wrestlers in Japan who gained enough popularity that they also cut some records. I told him about Beauty Pair（ビューティ・ペア）and then he told me about Mimi Hagiwara（ミミ萩原）who began her wrestling career shortly after the above duo provided their pop music.

The future wrestler was born in 1956 as Taemi Hagiwara（萩原妙美）and is one-quarter Swiss. She actually spent the first fifteen years of her life growing up in Switzerland before coming to Tokyo. Her childhood nickname was Mimi so it also became her stage name when she debuted on television as a teenager in the tokusatsu series "Kamen Rider"（仮面ライダー）as one of the Rider Girls who appeared in several episodes.

Under that same name of Mimi, the trilingual (English, French and Japanese) young lady also made her debut in the recording debut with "O-share na Douyoubi" (A Stylish Saturday) as an aidoru. Released in October 1973, it was the typical 1970s uptempo tune about enjoying that precious weekend day with the boyfriend. Lyrics were by the prolific Kazumi Yasui（安井かずみ）with music by Masahiko Aoi（葵まさひこ）.

Mimi would also release four more singles up to 1975 and even one album. However, tiring of the stresses of being in show business and then hearing of the fame that Beauty Pair was enjoying in the late 1970s, she would expand her stage name to Mimi Hagiwara and leave the geinokai behind to enter the world of wrestling in 1978. According to her profile in J-Wiki, she had always enjoyed martial arts since she was a kid so perhaps this was one way to make a happier living.

It was as Mimi Hagiwara that she would make her debut as a singing wrestler as well with "Stand Up" coming out in July 1981. Written by Fumiko Okada（岡田冨美子）and composed by Daiko Nagato（長戸大幸）, the song has that certain Pat Benatar pop/rock vibe to it but Hagiwara's vocals still retain some high-pitched delicacy. Over the next few years, she would release three more singles. And then in the 21st century, Hagiwara has appeared in several musical productions.

Judy and Mary -- Brand New Wave Upper Ground

Good heavens! It's been exactly three years to the day that I put up my last Judy & Mary song. Must rectify. However, I do have to warn you that if you have some problems in viewing the gutting of fish, you might want to avoid watching the end of the music video below. Instead, enjoy the above photo of my sushi plate.🐟

Wow! It's really natsukashii hearing YUKI's voice once more after so long on "Brand New Wave Upper Ground", J&M's 18th single from February 2000. And YUKI really throws it (and herself) out there in this one especially (Ah-HOW! Ah-HOW!). My memory engrams did register hearing this one either through the countdown shows and watching the video on those same programs. Since I only got to see just excerpts of the band reveling about on their instruments, I'd assumed that the setting was one of the most chill underground lounges in the city when it was something else entirely.

Written by YUKI and composed/arranged by guitarist Takuya, "Brand New Wave Upper Ground" has that familiar Judy & Mary raucous rock sound that I've always knew them by back in my Ichikawa days. And man, I almost forgot how much of a rabid pixie YUKI is on stage and in videos. The single made it as high as No. 4 on Oricon and made it onto the band's first BEST compilation, "FRESH", from March that same year.

The song was also used to advertise another round of Pocari Sweat commercials back in the day.

s**t kingz -- Egao! feat. PES（えがお！）

 

For all those fhana fans, remember when I put up the article for "Aozora no Rhapsody" （青空のラプソディ）years ago, noting that that had been the first time that I ever fell for and wrote about an anison before even catching the first episode of "Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon"（小林さんちのメイドラゴン...Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid）?

Well, holy s**t and f**kin' yay! It's ha**ened again (oops, I guess I went a little overboard with the asterisks there). I had heard about this group called s**t kingz before but couldn't quite place them which is rather amazing considering that name. However, when I went to their Wiki bio, I found out that they had backed up singer-performer Daichi Miura（三浦大知）, formerly of the 90s song-and-dance group Folder, and they were the guys with him when he showed up on NHK's Kohaku Utagassen.

Now to set the record straight, s**t kingz isn't a singing group but a choreography quartet consisting of shoji, kazuki, NOPPO and Oguri, and I read on NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン）schedule that they were up tonight to perform "Egao!" (Smile!) featuring hip-hop unit RIP SLYME member PES. And seeing the short-and-sweet music video above, just like with "Aozora no Rhapsody", I've rather fallen for the song, whistle and all, before catching "Uta Con" tonight.

"Egao!" has been up for digital download under PES' discography since last month with Masaki Tomiyama, PES and s**t kingz handling the music and the last two providing the lyrics. I'm glad that the four fellows don't take themselves too seriously but are seriously having fun with the dancing, especially while wearing clothes that seem to have come from the Sears Fall Catalog, circa 1982.

My compliments on whoever chose the setting of that house and an open-air art class. The former appears to be a mansion that YouTuber Erik Conover would explore...and yup, I've subscribed to him. In any case, I'm looking forward to seeing s**t kingz later tonight.

Stardust Revue -- Ryuusei Monogatari（流星物語）

 

As I'm writing this, I'm also keeping an eye on the count board at CBC because there is a federal election on tonight, so I'm rather curious to know who will be continuing on or getting the new job as Prime Minister. Interestingly enough, there is that party election within the governing Liberal Democratic Party in Japan next week to find out who will be the next President of the LDP and therefore the next PM of that nation.

OK, let's get away from the political and head over to the more enjoyable sights and sounds of the band Stardust Revue（スターダストレビュー）. I can always depend on Kaname Nemoto（根本要）and company to provide some of that wonderfully upbeat and oft-funky pop. Case in point: we have "Ryuusei Monogatari" which I will translate as "Tale of a Shooting Star" as a slight pun.

A track from Stardust Revue's 6th album from July 1988 "RENDEZ-VOUS", "Ryuusei Monogatari" seems less about anything astronomical and more about the happily romantic as it sounds as if vocalist Nemoto is willing to take a lucky lady for a trip around the stars. The song was written by Nemoto and band percussionist Toshikatsu Hayashi（林紀勝）with keyboardist Yasuhiro Mitani（三谷泰弘）providing the synth-driven perky music. Although I've also categorized "Ryuusei Monogatari" as a City Pop tune since it has some of that urban feel, I'm wondering if it's more of some of that regular pop goodness.

"RENDEZ-VOUS" peaked at No. 17 on Oricon and later reissues of the album have also included a live version of "Ryuusei Monogatari" to wrap it all up.

Yasuko Agawa -- Skindo-Le-Le

 

Last week, I read Marcos V's "Special Selection: Love Letter to Brazil Part II" and enjoyed it very much since I've had a predilection for bossa nova and samba in my music since I was a kid and that includes the liberal infusion of the genres into kayo kyoku. The Japanese have also had a love affair with Brazilian music for decades according to what I've been remembering.

Jazz and City Pop singer Yasuko Agawa（阿川泰子）provided her own cover of "Skindo-Le-Le", originally by the band Viva Brasil, in her 1981 album "Sunglow". It's a steady-on rendition with the good dollops of samba and fusion, and it feels like something to be played one evening in a nightclub in Shinjuku or Roppongi.

It took some digging since Viva Brasil doesn't have a Wikipedia entry but I was able to track down the site "Bay Area Bands" and finally get some information on the band. I'd initially assumed that Viva Brasil was from Brazil but actually it was born in San Francisco thanks to musician Claudio Amaral who had come up from his country to the Bay Area in 1972. 

At the time, Amaral was more into the rock and pop scene and not so much into the music of Brazil since he hadn't seen it as anything special in his native land, but during that decade, he got to know the music environment and some of the local musicians. Even more importantly, he began to realize and appreciate the music from his own country. The various associations and gigs eventually led to the formation of Viva Brasil and a self-titled 1980 debut album which included "Skindo-Le-Le", their most famous number created by Amaral and Jay Wagner. Since then, Viva Brasil has been pioneering the Brazilian music scene and folding some of that into the jazz world within the San Francisco area.

From what I've seen on YouTube, "Skindo-Le-Le" has become a standard of the genre and has been covered by a number of other musical acts including Agawa, and here she is in concert performing the song. I have to admit that "Skindo-Le-Le" has gotten into my head and heart, and I almost can get up and dance but I will save your minds from that horrifying image. However, the whole thing about this classic is that I do remember one time in Japan when a group of us were at a karaoke box in Tokyo, and one of our number was a young Japanese-Brazilian woman. When one samba song got put up onto the speakers, she immediately stood up and went into a frenzied dance as if the spirit of Carnaval took hold of her. Very charming performance!

Misia -- Namida no Present（涙のプレゼント）

 Too bad about the breakup but some really fine music.

Groovy and cool are the words that I would use to describe "Namida no Present" (A Present of Tears), a track on Misia's 12th single, "Kokoro Hitotsu"（心ひとつ...One Heart） which saw the light of day in August 2003. With the singer providing lyrics and Shiro Sagisu（鷺巣詩郎）behind music and arrangement, as can be guessed from the title, it's the story of the end of a romance at some café, all tied up in a bow with a final present from the guy. I definitely do not want to be the wait staff servicing that table. Really awkward.

However as I said right off the top, that is some really nice melody by Sagisu flowing through my ears. There is elegance, soul, an urbane tone, a steady rhythm and even a touch of humour at the beginning as if "Namida no Present" were the theme song for a Tokyo-based rom-com that begins with the tabletop breakup that needed to be done to launch the plot. Misia's songs have been used as theme songs before but there's no sign that this particular one was used in that manner.

As for "Kokoro Hitotsu", it peaked at No. 7 on Oricon and earned a Gold standing. According to J-Wiki, the single was recorded in London. Hopefully, the breakup was done over high tea. I do love those scones with the clotted cream.😁

Modern Choki Chokies -- Hakata no Hito（博多の女）

 

The first time that I had ever seen or heard of the Modern Choki Chokies（モダンチョキチョキズ）was through the above commercial where vocalist Mari Hamada（濱田マリ）, and she's not to be confused with pop-rock singer Mari Hamada（浜田麻理）, tasted some potato chips called Jungle and did a cute little spin. I later found out that the impish little Hamada belonged to this group called the Modern Choki Chokies which had the size and energy of the epic Kome Kome Club（米米ＣＬＵＢ）but perhaps were even more bohemian in approach.

According to J-Wiki, their initial run spanned between 1989 and 1997, although they've apparently gotten together again in the last couple of years. I'd actually written about them briefly back in 2013 when I found out that their debut single in 1992 was a cover of the theme song for the anime "Obake no Q-Taro"（オバケのＱ太郎）.

When I was writing up about the Saburo Kitajima（北島三郎）kayo "Hakata no Hito" (Woman of Hakata) earlier this afternoon, I discovered that the Modern Choki Chokies had their own "Hakata no Hito" but instead of it being a cover of the 1967 enka/Mood Kayo tune, it was totally the band's own creation with the same title. That title is the only common denominator since ModaChoki (their nickname) came up with a snazzy, jazzy and funky ditty that not only sounds like something out of the K2C playbook but also has that feel of a "Lupin III"（ルパン三世）soundtrack, thanks to the work of Masamichi Ohmachi（大町昌路）and the band's bassist, Hiroshi Uchikado（内門洋）.

The lyrics were created by band member Tomoki Yoshimura（吉村智樹）who's been listed as one of ModaChoki's "brains" on J-Wiki, so take that however you will. His "Hakata no Hito" doesn't refer to an old flame in Fukuoka as is the case in Kitajima's song but it actually refers to a brand of manjuu (饅頭...sweet bean buns) with that name. Apparently, the protagonist had received a box of Hakata no Hito as a souvenir from a friend who went to that area, and frankly found it no different from any other manjuu. It lacks imagination, originality and identity. Well, if he doesn't want the stuff, I'd be happy to take it off his hands.

Hamada is definitely helping out in the vocals but I'm not sure who the male vocalist is since there were at least a couple of guys who are listed as singers in ModaChoki. The main takeaway here is that for a song about a disappointed manjuu eater (even Egypt isn't safe), "Hakata no Hito" really whips up the musical entertainment index and I couldn't help but feel that there is also a Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra element with that funky brass and even something of the old kayo.

"Hakata no Hito" was a track on the Modern Choki Chokies' 2nd album "Bongengan Bangara Bingen no Densetsu"（ボンゲンガンバンガラビンゲンの伝説...The Legend of Bongengan Bangara Bingen） from June 1993.

Hamada has since become a tarento, actress and narrator so she became quite familiar to me on the telly. In fact, her distinctive kittenish voice was often heard through the five-minute program on TV Asahi, "Ashita Mañana"（あしたまにあ〜な）in which she gave a summary on the next day's programming. The title basically brings together the Japanese and Spanish words for "tomorrow" and is a slight pun on the Spanish "hasta mañana". Hamada was the narrator for the show for around 7 years between 1998 and 2005.