Akira Kurosawa & Los Primos -- Koi no Ginza（恋の銀座）

 

I always keep forgetting the name of that building in Ginza with the warped appearance, but to make it official, it is known as the DeBeers Building. And yep, it looks like a structure after I've had too many DeBeers at the bar (har de har har).

Well, if it's Ginza that I'm talking about here, then the Mood Kayo group Akira Kurosawa & Los Primos（黒沢明とロス・プリモス）have to come into the picture. I swear that considering how many songs in their repertoire that they've sung about one of the Earth's most expensive patches of real estate, Kurosawa and the guys should have already received keys to the neighbourhood by the governor of Tokyo. "Kayo Kyoku Plus" has already had four Ginza-based kayo attributed to them: "Ame no Ginza"（雨の銀座）, "Tasogare no Ginza" (たそがれの銀座), "Ginza Blues"（銀座ブルース）, and "Itsumade mo Ginza"（いつまでも銀座）. They could at least get gift certificates to some of the stores on the main street such as Yamano Music, Ito-Ya or Mitsukoshi.

Enough ersatz griping from me, however. I'm now adding a fifth Ginza-based Mood Kayo by Los Primos, "Koi no Ginza" (Ginza In Love) which was released in January 1968, only two months after "Ame no Ginza" and a few months before "Tasogare no Ginza". Tetsuro Hoshino and Hiroyuki Nakagawa（星野哲郎・中川博之）were behind words and music respectively.

It's some classic Mood Kayo with the nightclub jazz atmosphere including the bluesy sax, the classy marimba and the somewhat mournful back chorus of Los Primos. The lyrics don't fail the genre format, either, as they relate the story of a couple who have to fight the battle of their irresistible trysting among the evening background of the bars, large and small. Love can be so tastefully and poignantly painful.

Makiko Takada -- Joy

 

For a song titled "Joy", the melody admittedly doesn't sound really all that joyful. It's quite melancholy, in fact. This was a track from singer-songwriter Makiko Takada's（高田真樹子）debut album "Makiko first" from 1974, and despite the sadness imbued into the melody (with the first words sung by Takada being "Sayonara, sayonara..."), it's still a lush and very 70s musical experience. Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）arranged everything and it does sound rather epic coming in through the headphones. 

Musician-songwriter Kentaro Haneda's（羽田健太郎）piano really makes an impression and he's ably assisted on "Joy" by folks like drummer Hidekazu "Ponta" Murakami（村上 “ポンタ” 秀一）on drums and Masayoshi Takanaka（高中正義）on guitar. I was getting all sorts of Carole King and Joni Mitchell vibes as I was listening to "Joy". There are a couple of other tracks that I've already covered from "Makiko first": "Watashi no Uta no Kokoro no Sekai"（私の歌の心の世界）and "Blues Singer".

Mikio Masuda & Mariko Hiraga -- Urban Night

 

Less than half an hour ago, this particular video which was uploaded back in 2017 managed to find itself onto the default YouTube page that shows up whenever I hit the platform. It happens to be fashion designer Tom Ford's six rules of style. Y'know...I do agree that every person should have a sharp black suit in the wardrobe for that special occasion; in my case, though, those special occasions haven't come to me for the past two decades. Still, it seems as if a lot of the comments have been about the hypnotic effect that Ford's voiceover has on them. Maybe Ford should have also provided a video on his own rules of voice technique.

But seeing that Tom Ford video made me search within my ever-growing backlog to find a song that would fit the atmosphere and ambience that video offered me. It took a while but I was able to track down a number that was suitably stylish, urban and urbane. This is "Urban Night" performed by the duet of jazz pianist and composer Mikio Masuda（益田幹夫）and jazz singer Mariko Hiraga（平賀真理子）. Coming from their 1984 album "Twilight" as the opening track, this is the type of tune that would have you and your significant other put on the good clothes and head out for a night out to a restaurant on the rooftop of some famous skyscraper downtown. Of course, by all means, please follow Ford's six rules (well, the one about dousing yourself in scent I don't quite agree with).

As I mentioned in my first article for Masuda on KKP, he's a hard fellow to find information on, but Hiraga's profile doesn't even seem to exist in the pages that I could find aside from the fact that she is a jazz singer. I actually had to find even that smidgen of data on a Japanese site dedicated to session guitarists. By the way, the lyrics were provided by Tommy Snyder from the band Godiego（ゴダイゴ）.

Now if you'll excuse me, Mr. Ford's voice is compelling me to purchase a tuxedo for no reason.

Haruo Minami/Hiroshi Itsuki -- Yuki no Wataridori（雪の渡り鳥）

 

Noelle Tham wrote up the original article on Haruo Minami's（三波春夫）grand "Yuki no Wataridori" but after having listened to Hiroshi Itsuki's（五木ひろし）fine cover of the song recently, I thought that I would also give my two (officially non-existent) Canadian pennies as a follow-up. Moreover, it's now been over 20 years since the beatific presence of Minami left the stage and this mortal coil (July 19, 1923~April 14, 2001), and I have to face the fact that I still miss him whenever New Year's Eve and the annual Kohaku Utagassen appear.

"Yuki no Wataridori" was one of Minami's earliest songs recorded for sale back in 1957 and the other information on the songwriting can be found in Noelle's article. She also talked about what the title is all about and I can say that it can be literally translated as "Migratory Birds in the Snow" but folks might interpret that title as something belonging to a "National Geographic" feature. Wataridori can also colloquially refer to those warriors of the past who can never stay in one place for too long for various reasons such as emotional pain or personal safety. Basically, I think it's all about the masterless samurai or ronin who have to trudge their way throughout all of the seasons including the harsh winter, and what better scene to show the hard life of a ronin than one in which he has to somehow navigate through biting winds and knee-deep snow?

Perhaps what I can add to the narrative that Noelle started is the gusto that Minami added to the vocals for "Yuki no Wataridori" and the proud arrangement that always accompanies the melody by Akira Mutsu (陸奥明). It may seem a bit counter-intuitive to have something sounding this proud for the story of a warrior who has to fight enemies meteorological and human but this isn't anything new for enka and it just goes to show how the display of suffering by one person to reach a goal is apparently greatly appraised by the Japanese. Then, I'd say that it's not surprising that Minami got to perform "Yuki no Wataridori" twice in his many appearances on NHK's Kohaku Utagassen, the first time being his very first time on the program back in 1958 and then in 1979 for his 22nd appearance.

Noelle also mentioned that Hiroshi Itsuki among other enka singers did a cover of "Yuki no Wataridori", and of course has performed it on TV and elsewhere as I stated up above, but his CD version was released in June 2001 according to Tower Records Japan. Itsuki's version doesn't have quite the power that Minami brought to it, but his fans have probably not balked at his take on this tribute to the warrior. 

pas de chat -- Nijuu-ni-ban-me no Kuchibeni（22番目の口紅）

 

Yesterday, I wrote up an article on Miho Fujiwara's（藤原美穂）"California Crisis"（カリフォルニア・クライシス）and mentioned in passing about another group (to add to Chocolate Lips and PAZZ) that she formed later in the 1990s. Well, I guess that I couldn't really wait that long to talk about that one either.

I've still yet to listen to the whole album "pas de chat 2 ~ Deux" from October 1994. However, after hearing the funk during her time with Chocolate Lips in the early 1980s and then the AOR of PAZZ's one and only "Bananafish" from 1987, I'm gathering that Fujiwara and her partner, composer Masahito Nakano（中野雅仁）, in the duo of pas de chat wanted to bring R&B and AOR together during their time. And sure enough, the Japanese-language site "90s City Pop Record Book" mentions that pas de chat was indeed an R&B/AOR unit, although the focus there was on their debut album "pas de chat" in 1993. Incidentally, pas de chat refers to a basic ballet step that translates into "cat step".

As I'm writing this, I'm gotten as far as Track 3 of "Deux" and it seems like the album has incorporated the above two genres as well as some sophisti-pop (the album cover hints at that), Latin and just generally upbeat pop. My thanks, by the way, to KKP's HRLE92, aka Island Fantasia on YouTube, for putting this album up for our hungry ears. However, my target for today is the first track, "Nijuu-ni-ban-me no Kuchibeni" (Lipstick No. 22). It's got that sparkly 90s City Pop and a rhythm that suggests New Jack Swing while Fujiwara's lithe and nimble vocals lead the way. I especially like her scatting in the chorus.

Unfortunately, I don't know whether pas de chat went beyond their two albums or whether they even released singles. But judging from what I've heard so far, I wouldn't mind investing some yen into either or both of the albums. The fellow on "90s City Pop Record Book" did remark at the end of the article that the first album has been found for less than 280 yen, so scour those sites and if you're in Japan right now, scour those bargain bins.

Masaaki Sakai -- Namida kara Ashita e（涙から明日へ）

 

Masaaki Sakai（堺正章）has become quite the entertainment legend on television. He's been the veteran silver fox through his many variety show appearances, drama roles and as a recording artist, first with the Group Sounds band, The Spiders, and then as a soloist. One show that I always remember him for is "Chuubo desu yo!"（チューボーですよ!...Saturday Night Chubaw!）, the late-night cooking variety program on TBS that went on for over 20 years.

But he was once a young and lanky actor and to actually see him on the long-running series "Jikan desu yo"（時間ですよ...It's Time）, the TBS family drama centered around a sento, as a long-haired hippie type is to realize how long Sakai has been around. Sakai was one of the main cast members as he played Ken Miyazaki（宮崎健）, a university ronin who was also working at the Matsu-no-Yu（松の湯）bathhouse. In the second season in 1971, aidoru Mari Amachi（天地真理）came onto the show as young Mari（マリ）who lived next door and was studying at a dressmaking school. Of course, Ken goes cuckoo over her.

One of the many insert songs that was used in "Jikan desu yo" was actually Sakai's third single from September 1971, "Namida kara Ashita e" (From Tears to Tomorrow), a whimsical and folksy kayo with a slight country lilt. Mitsuhiko Kuze（久世光彦）, the novelist who would also pen the lyrics for the aforementioned Amachi's 1972 trademark tune, "Hitori Janaino" (ひとりじゃないの）under the pseudonym Natsu Kotani（小谷夏）, did the same for "Namida kara Ashita e" while Takeo Yamashita（山下毅雄）composed the music. The song is about pressing forward and upward despite any of the usual setbacks that are now part of the past.

"Namida kara Ashita e" is another reminder to me about how strong a singer Sakai actually is; he does pop up from time to time on other variety and music programs to sing one of his old hits.

Seiko Matsuda -- Precious Heart

 

At the beginning of the 1980s, Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）was making her first strides to become the Queen Aidoru of the early 1980s. By the end of that decade, though, after getting married and having a daughter and then coming back onto the music scene, she was also blurring the line between teenybopper singer and pop star.

Personally, I'm always going to have a sweet spot for the early Seiko and her hits such as "Akai Sweet Pea" (赤いスイートピー）and "Aoi Sangoshou"（青い珊瑚礁）. Having said that, though, I'm also going to be curious about some of those songs that she released in the late 1980s and beyond. Case in point: her 27th single "Precious Heart" which was released in November 1989. By that time, I was comfortably within my JET life in Gunma Prefecture but I don't remember much about any television hoopla surrounding the single. I think that I probably remarked something along the lines of "Oh, that's Seiko. She's still putting out music, I see...".

But I do remember this commercial that was using "Precious Heart" as the campaign song. I would have thought that something as cheerful and dynamic as this particular single had been the theme tune for one of the dramas of the time. Actually, though, it was promoting Subaru's Rex ai which I guess is pretty nice music for a car. Plus, the ad has that more mature visage of Seiko.

"Precious Heart" also had that touch of happy pop/rock so when I read that Kaori Okui（奥居香）, lead vocalist of the really popular band Princess Princess（プリンセスプリンセス）, had come up with the music for Matsuda's own lyrics, I did go "Ah, naruhodo". The song does have that PuriPuri vibe. It also garnered a No. 2 ranking on the Oricon weeklies as it was placed on Seiko-chan's 16th original album, "Precious Moment", from December 1989. It peaked at No. 6 on the Oricon album chart.