Rimi Natsukawa/Masafumi Akikawa -- Asu to Iu Hi ga（あすという日が）

 

On Tuesday, I saw a couple of singers that I hadn't seen in quite a while on NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン）. There was singer Rimi Natsukawa（夏川りみ）known for "Nada Soso" (涙そうそう) and tenor Masafumi Akikawa（秋川雅史）who became famous for "Sen no Kaze ni Natte"（千の風になって）. The two of them along with Kazufumi Miyazawa（宮沢和史）of The BOOM sang a song of hope titled "Asu to Iu Hi ga" (The Day Known as Tomorrow), and considering that the last two entries tonight also involved songs of hope and optimism, I thought that I would finish things up tonight with this one.

The story behind "Asu to Iu Hi ga" started in 2006 when composer Satoshi Yagisawa（八木澤教司）and poet Sakurako Yamamoto（山本瓔子）created the song for an Osaka-based junior high school to perform at the 30th All Japan Chorus Education Study Group National Convention in Osaka itself. However, it took on special meaning in 2011 due to the Tohoku Earthquake on March 11th when the Fukushima Vocal Ensemble Competition that had been slated to be held on the following 19th was cancelled. One of the participating groups, Hachiken Junior High School, performed "Asu to Iu Hi ga" as a musical prayer for recovery.

Later that year, Natsukawa released a single version of "Asu to Iu Hi ga" on September 21st as this very gentle pop song backed by guitar, strings and piano. Depending on your feelings, you may want to have some tissue nearby.

On the same day, Akikawa also released his version of the song and my advice on Kleenex also holds here as well. His take has more of a classical orchestral arrangement. Not surprisingly, both him and Natsukawa appeared on the Kohaku Utagassen at the end of 2011 to perform a duet of "Asu to Iu Hi ga".

An officially recorded duet was a track on Akikawa's BEST compilation released in February 2014.

The Beatles -- All You Need Is Love

 

I've been referring to The Beatles on various articles within KKP basically since I started this whole thing in 2012, but it wasn't actually until late in 2020 that I finally featured a song by The Fab Four here via Reminiscings of Youth. That was for "Strawberry Fields Forever", an alternately sweet and dark concoction by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

However, my second Beatles ROY article is on "All You Need Is Love", a single by the band that was released in July 1967 and I can safely say that it is probably the very first Beatles song that I remember hearing as a toddler. There is something about that refrain "...all you need is love..." that caught onto the synapses in my tiny brain (trivia tip: it hasn't changed much in size since then) and has held on for the past 50+ years.

I probably did hear it all over the radio but I can say with certainty that I saw it performed on that psychedelic animated film starring John, Paul, George and Ringo, "Yellow Submarine". It's too bad that I can't find that scene on YouTube. As I said that refrain has stuck with me for decades, but over the years, I've also learned to appreciate how it wasn't just The Beatles but also the backing of an orchestra behind this British pop/rock band that helped make "All You Need Is Love" work and all of the shoutouts to various other songs including the French national anthem, "In The Mood" and even the earlier Beatles' hit "She Loves You". And then, I read which people were providing the backup vocals. And wouldn't one say that this is the ultimate singalong song?

Considering all of the No. 1's around the world's music charts that "All You Need Is Love" would garner, I guess that it was good luck that a kid who wasn't even two years old got to know this song so early.

In any case, what was getting released in July 1967? Although I picked them out of Showa Pops for that month, a couple of them have differing release months according to J-Wiki although you can check those out in their individual articles.

The Carnabeats -- Sukisa Sukisa Sukisa （好きさ好きさ好きさ）

The Tigers -- Seaside Bound （シーサイド・バウンド）

Yujiro Ishihara -- Shiawase wa Koko ni（倖せはここに）

Tatsuro Yamashita -- Love Celebration

 

Van Paugam sent out a tweet reminding all of us City Pop fans that February 4th is Tatsuro Yamashita's（山下達郎）birthday, and since it is indeed already the 4th in Japan, may we wish him a happy 69th birthday! And thanks to Van for the notice.

Some years ago, I wrote about City Pop/jazz singer Kimiko Kasai's（笠井紀美子）"Vibration" which was a track from her 1977 album "Tokyo Special", and I revealed that Tats provided the melody with the added information that it had the alternate title of "Love Celebration". 

Well, that "Love Celebration", as it turns out, was more than just an alternate title. It was actually Yamashita's alternate take on the original melody with James Ragan's new English lyrics replacing Kazumi Yasui's（安井かずみ）original Japanese ones in "Vibration". This "Love Celebration" would inhabit Tats' December 1978 3rd studio album "Go Ahead!" as the first full track after the 48-second overture which starts things off.

There's also more story behind "Love Celebration" thanks to the liner notes in "Go Ahead!" via the J-Wiki article on the album. Back in the spring of 1978, Yamashita had planned to have this song and one other included in a release for singer Linda Carriere which was being produced by Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）, but unfortunately for whatever reason, Carriere couldn't quite hit the heights with either of them, so her recordings were left as demo takes. Seeing that as a waste, Yamashita then decided to use "Love Celebration" for "Go Ahead!".

I don't know whether I am the only one who has this opinion, but I think that there is quite a difference in feeling and sound between "Vibration" and "Love Celebration". Kasai's "Vibration" has that steamy and sultry sensation while Tats' "Love Celebration" is one fist-pumping up-with-life sprint down the road. To be honest, if I hadn't been told of the connection, I wouldn't have noticed that the songs have the same main root. 

One other thing I found out about "Love Celebration" from those liner notes is that Yamashita planned to incorporate a tone of 1970s Chicago R&B while at the same time, bassist Akihiro Tanaka（田中章弘）and drummer Yutaka Uehara（上原裕）as part of the rhythm section brought in more of a Miami feeling. What I've just stated is something that makes me wish that I was a musicologist or a music historian since I can only provide the information without any particular knowledgeable insight. So I will leave this for my fellow City Pop fans including Van Paugam and Rocket Brown to digest that rather long first sentence of this paragraph and give us any further opinions. In any case, this is another feather in Tats' cap, so much so that I figure that the cap might evolve into a real bird.

You can also try out another track from "Go Ahead!", "Let's Dance Baby".

Also as a final PS, Rocket himself has created his own Top 10 Tatsuro Yamashita song list so have a gander right here.

Mako Shibuki -- Lemon ni Sayonara（レモンにさよなら）

 

There is that saying "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade". Well, according to this chipper song, the lass frankly just kissed off those lemons and walked away.

Perhaps that is also what this particular singer by the name of Mako Shibuki（志吹麻湖）did as well after releasing her one-and-only single in January 1973, "Lemon ni Sayonara" (Goodbye to Lemons). There is nothing of her at all at J-Wiki and barely anything at "Idol.ne.jp" except for the fact that her real name could be Akemi Uezu（上江洲明美）* of Okinawa and that she was born in 1956. Lyricist Natsu Kotani（小谷夏）and composer Kunihiko Suzuki（鈴木邦彦）were behind the song.

Though I couldn't find any concrete proof that Shibuki had been groomed as an aidoru singer, the facts that she is listed at "Idol.ne.jp" and she is tackling "Lemon ni Sayonara" with a high nasal not-too-bad voice along an arrangement that basically demands a butterfly net cheerfully chasing Lepidoptera in a summery field pretty much bear out my opinion. Also, that opening riff reminds me a lot of "Georgy Girl" by The Seekers. In any case, I think that Shibuki could have released a few more singles but she was probably one of the many teenage idols to go in and out of the revolving door of the entertainment industry, never to be heard from again.

*Once again, we've got a lot of readings for the kanji representing this family name but I'll stick with Uezu for now, until I'm corrected.

Rabi Nakayama -- Hane ga nai（羽根がない）

As I've done so before, I've often referred to Wednesday as Hump Day, far away from last weekend but not close enough to this weekend, so it's not exactly the happiest day in terms of the work week. However, taking into consideration the observation that the dreaded snowstorm that I'd been expecting to invade the Greater Toronto Area has yet to appear, I'm not feeling too bad right now. I am knocking really hard on my wooden desk, though.

Still, in matching the day, here is something a little more maudlin called "Hane ga nai" (No Wings) by the late singer-songwriter Rabi Nakayama（中山ラビ）. I introduced her on the blog late last year through her 1980 single "Komatta Onna"（困った女）and she was once called the female Bob Dylan of Japan.

"Hane ga nai" shares track space with "Komatta Onna" on her October 1980 album "Aeba Saiko"（会えば最高...It'd Be Great If We Met）, and like the single, although I'm not sure if it really comes across as a City Pop tune, it's still a cool and bluesy New Music song. Nakayama both wrote and composed "Hane ga nai", and although I couldn't track down its lyrics, it strikes me as being somewhat of a woe-is-me ballad about a woman who can't quite get out of her doldrums and perhaps she's drowning those sorrows in copious drink in some hidey-hole in Shinjuku. I wouldn't be surprised if the weather outside that bar is dreary and wet.

Well, it's looking dreary outside here too but not too snowy. Let's hope that it stays that way for the next little while.

Yujiro Ishihara -- Sabita Knife（錆びたナイフ）

 

Somewhere out there, Yujiro Ishihara（石原裕次郎）is welcoming his older brother, Shintaro, and proposing a drink together with Tetsuya Watari（渡哲也）.

When I woke up this morning, I found out that Shintaro Ishihara（石原慎太郎）, author and former governor of Tokyo (1999-2012), had passed away at the age of 89. He was indeed the guy in charge of the area where I worked for most of my second go-around as an English teacher, and it was interesting realizing that he acted like a taciturn and often cranky Showa Era father during the Heisei Era. To be honest, I wasn't a fan of his opinions on history and people outside of Japan, but feel free to take a look at his Wikipedia article from the link above.

But that's all I'll say here. In any case, let me segue to his younger brother, Yujiro Ishihara. I'm going back to his early years when he was the young tough guy, an archetype of the people that he and his police squads used to pursue in the 70s and 80s when he was Da Chief in shows like "Taiyo ni Hoero"（太陽にほえろ）.

"Sabita Knife" (Rusty Knife) was a 1958 movie that Ishihara starred in, and it's been described in its own Wikipedia article as a Japanese film noir in which he plays an ex-con out for revenge against the gang responsible for the rape and subsequent suicide of his girlfriend. There's one scene above shown in the montage which he had a hungry face of hate and glee, something that I'd never seen before as an expression since I have been so accustomed to his older face of wisdom and calm in character as a chief of detectives.

The theme song by Ishihara, also known as "Sabita Knife" was apparently released a bit earlier in August 1957, so it's possible that the movie was produced around this song. Written by Shiro Hagiwara（萩原四朗）and composed by Kenroku Uehara（上原賢六）, "Sabita Knife" has that familiar combination of muted horns and mournful saxophones with the crooning voice of The Tough Guy, and I guess that sound might be the go-to arrangement for these songs fit for Japanese film noir: that tough march which seems to have a perpetual hangdog expression as the protagonist goes through an arduous ordeal in the search for justice or vengeance.

The song comes in at No. 7 within Ishihara's top-selling singles according to J-Wiki's list as it sold 1.75 million records.

Haruomi Hosono -- Peking Duck（北京ダック）

 

As Larry mentioned in his Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）article last night, indeed it is Chinese New Year, so I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. Sorry that my photo of the tiger above didn't come out too well. I have a number of friends who have been celebrating over the past couple of days.

The timing couldn't have better since last night, I decided to go on a small shopping spree and get some CDs which includes the compilation album "Yokohama Fantasy"（横浜幻想）, a 2004 collection of Yokohama-themed kayo. It even has its own J-Wiki article and there I found a song having to do with one of the most famous neighbourhoods in one of Japan's premier port cities, Chinatown.

Now, nikala first wrote about Haruomi Hosono's（細野晴臣）3rd single "Peking Duck" when she contributed her article on Tin Pan Alley's "Yellow Magic Carnival". I just wanted to add some of my own notes to this April 1976 song by Harry who wrote, composed and arranged this playful ditty about a couple in love perhaps taking a walk through the rainy neon-filled streets of Chinatown, an area that I've also had a number of opportunities to visit. The music and arrangement has that mix of 1940s nightclub and 1970s contemporary style.

I also discovered a request through Reddit's translator community to give "Peking Duck" a go but there was also some confusion about what Hosono was trying to say, which I think was in a more metaphoric sense when it came to that duck. Hopefully, there wasn't a real duck attempting to flee a blaze in the area which would make the song considerably more tragic than the cheerful music. Instead, that fire could have been more representative of the regular hullaballoo in Chinatown, although perhaps that poor duck was indeed real as it jumped into the young lady's bosom to escape the cleaver.

The top video has the album version from Hosono's 2nd studio album "Tropical Dandy"（トロピカル・ダンディー）that came out in June 1975 (it hit No. 50 on Oricon). Meanwhile, the later single cut from 1976 above has even more of the Latin jazz orchestra flavour with former Happy End bandmate Shigeru Suzuki（鈴木茂）on the electric guitar, Hiroshi Sato（佐藤博）on the piano and clavinet, and Motoya Hamaguchi（浜口茂外也）on percussion.