Ohsuke Kanoh -- Shutter Chance（シャッター・チャンス）

 

Maybe it's a bit odd that I put up a video from the raunchy anime "Seitokai Yakuindomo"（生徒会役員共）as the article thumbnail, but if you can bear with me, I can explain. The above video focuses on the extremely nosy head of the schools' newspaper club, Ranko Hata, who will not let go of any opportunity to get a camera shot of a compromising situation among the other characters in the show, although a lot of the times, they're able to stop her in time. Although the particular scene is not included in the above montage, I have heard her exclaim "Shutter Chance!" (the Japanese equivalent of the exclamation "Gotcha!" in photography) to signify that she's about to get that great photo.

Yep, and all that "Seitokai Yakuindomo" preamble ramble is for the fact that I wanted to introduce an actual song titled "Shutter Chance" by Ohsuke Kanoh（叶央介）. Who that, you say? Well, you might know his old group, the pop vocal quartet known as Circus（サーカス）which is famous for their 1978 hit "Mr. Summertime"（Mr.サマータイム）.

I found this song on Island Fantasia's YouTube channel, and for the past year and change, he has been contributing articles here on KKP under his nom du blog, HRLE92. According to him, "Shutter Chance" was originally on his 1988 solo album "Ocean" (although J-Wiki says that it was a 1986 release) which is a play on words for his nickname O-shan（おーしゃん）. But it's a well-placed title since "Shutter Chance" definitely has that summery beach weather sensation. In fact, it's one of those Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）tunes that actually isn't a Tatsuro Yamashita tune. Lyrics are by Erina Shima（島エリナ）and music is actually by Ken Harashima（原川健）; no Tats to be seen. Yet, the arrangement is so like Tats with that chorus, the bouncy bass and that sax solo.

One other piece of trivia that I found on Kanoh from the J-Wiki article for Circus is that his interest in music manifested because of a chance meeting with folk singer-songwriter Takuro Yoshida（吉田拓郎）when Kanoh was in junior high school. He took up the guitar soon after and went after the songs of Simon & Garfunkel and Group Sounds band The Tigers（ザ・タイガース）.

Hiromi Miyano -- Hitorigoto Serenade（ひとり言セレナーデ）

 

I wrote about 80s aidoru Hiromi Miyano（宮野比呂美）last summer when I introduced the B-side to her debut single "Yokohama Gigolo"（横浜ジゴロ）, "Ame no Suspicion"（雨のサスピション）from July 1985. As I mentioned there, her recording career was brief, only lasting two singles. 

Once again, I bring you another B-side from her 1986 2nd single,"Ao no Toki"（蒼の時刻...Blue Time）, "Hitorigoto Serenade" (Soliloquy Serenade). In comparison to the synthpop of "Ame no Suspicion", this B-side possesses more of the spicy and dramatic Latin flavour provided by Keiichi Oku（奥慶一）while Arisu Sato（佐藤ありす）is behind the lyrics. Also, I think Miyano here has given her delivery more of a flowing girlish wave, kinda like along the lines of Wink or an early-in-her-career higher-pitched Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）, although Oku's melody brings to mind some of Akemi Ishii's（石井明美）material at the time. Come to think of it, compared to the heavily made-up visage that was on the cover of her first single, Miyano looks more natural here.

In the near future, I will have to get onto those A-sides for Miyano. 😀 Maybe she wasn't the strongest singer but the B-sides, especially "Hitorigoto Serenade", haven't been too bad for me. I'm not really certain whether this would constitute a City Pop-tinged aidoru tune, but with that Latin in there, I think it could merit some feeling of the metropolis.

Hitomitoi -- Garasu no Summer Holiday（硝子のサマーホリデー）

 

I was actually saving this up for the arrival of the appropriate season several months down the line but I figure that being in February (aka the winter doldrums) and not having featured Neo-City Pop chanteuse Hitomitoi（一十三十一）in several months, perhaps it wouldn't hurt to have something summery today. Maybe it can bring in a bit of sun to part some of this seasonal drear.

"Garasu no Summer Holiday" (Glass Summer Holiday) is a track from Hitomitoi's December 2014 mini-album "Pacific High/Aleutian Low" (considering that release date, maybe the singer was also thinking the same thing about bringing in that bit of summer). Written and composed by her with a composer credit given as well to Tokyo DJ and music producer Grooveman Spot, it's got some crystalline keyboards, jangly guitar and even a soprano saxophone to keep the beat going. It sounds exactly how the photogenic Hitomitoi is basking on that lounge chair on the cover of the album. 

Anyways, I'm feeling quite toasty warm so I don't think that I'll quite need the cardigan now. Just hoping that the spring temperatures really do come soon.

Masahiro Taniguchi -- Wakakusa no Moeru koro（若草の萌える頃）

 

Welcome to another end of the business week. It's been balmy here in the Greater Toronto Area for the past few days and I don't think anyone is complaining although the streets are slightly slippery due to the thaw.

The other thing that's been slipping is my memory since the fellow that I am about to write about is someone that I'd thought was appearing on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" for the first time. However, I'm a tad embarrassed to admit that bassist/singer Masahiro Taniguchi（谷口雅洋）has had his debut on our humble blog since last August as a songwriter for MIO's "Mr. Monday Morning". In the article, I even made some reference to the song that is getting its just dues right here right now. Will need a Gibbs slap.

Anyways, this is "Wakakusa no Moeru koro" (When Young Grass Sprouts) which is an odd title for what I think is a very pure City Pop song. The third track from his 1980 debut album "Communication"（コミュニケーション）, I don't know the botanical significance of the song but it is a classy hotel bar-friendly tune that was composed by Taniguchi, written by Keisuke Yamakawa（山川啓介）and arranged by Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）. Perhaps the botanicals are the herbs in his cocktail that he's sipping in the bar.

I love the Fender Rhodes, the silky strings, and Taniguchi's vocals which remind me of the voice of Junichi Inagaki（稲垣潤一）, another City Pop veteran (for that matter, I also get shades of Hideaki Tokunaga). Just like that setting that I mentioned in the previous paragraph, there is something nice and downtown classy about Hagita's arrangement. And before I forget, I would love to know who's helping with the backup chorus.

Some final trivia about Taniguchi is that he not only hails from Kyoto but he's been going by a different name over the years: Mamoru Taniguchi（谷口守）. Not sure if Mamoru is his real name or not but you can take a look at his website to check his credentials out. Also over the decades, along with MIO, he's provided tunes for Hiromi Go（郷ひろみ）, Kaori Momoi（桃井かおり）and Mariko Nagai（永井真理子）among other singers.

Lover Callots -- Lover Callots no Theme（ラバーキャロッツのテーマ）

 

Always keep searching in that underwater 90% of that J-Pop iceberg since you will come across some riches. 

I found one recently and it's called Lover Callots（ラバーキャロッツ）, a band that was centered around the core of vocalist TAMAc and bassist GURI. They had their run between 2002 and 2005, and according to their J-Wiki profile, they specialize in pop and jazz. The band released four singles and two albums.

From their November 2003 debut album "Oshare Quest"（おしゃれクエスト...A Stylish Quest） is the first instrumental track "Lover Callots no Theme" (The Theme for Lover Callots), and it may be short at a little over three minutes, but it really does give a fine introduction to the guys. Everyone gets their time in the sun to shine with some of their jazz instrumental improvisation but I also can't help but get some of that Shibuya-kei feeling in there, too. In addition, the way that it's recorded with the brief horsing around in the first several seconds and the yell of "We are Lover Callots!", it also sounds like the band was actually performing a live gig somewhere in some stylish club in Daikanyama or Shimo-Kitazawa.

The Cherries -- Tobe Tobe（翔べ翔べ）

 

Man, you Takarazuka Revue fans ought to love this scene. In the first few minutes, Takarazuka veterans Rumiko Koyanagi（小柳ルミ子）and Jun Anna（安奈淳）dance up a storm to the Japanese version of "The Way We Were". And this is happening on an NHK broadcast of an old music series called "Hana no Stage"（花のステージ...Stage of Flowers） which I can assume was an ancestor for the current "Uta Con"（うたコン）that is televised on Tuesday nights on the national network. It had its run under that title between January 1978 and April 1980 with hosts ranging from the aforementioned Koyanagi to rocker and songwriter Ryudo Uzaki（宇崎竜童）.

In addition, back in the day, "Hana no Stage" apparently had mascots in the form of a trio of young women: Yumi Suzuki（鈴木由美）, Kaoru "Kako" Komata/Furumata（古俣かおる）, and Misako "Misa" Watanabe（渡辺美佐子）, according to "Idol.ne.jp". They were collectively known as The Cherries（ザ・チェリーズ）and they released a total of 7 singles which even went far beyond the time of "Hana no Stage" into late 1981. 

Their debut single from April 1979 was "Tobe Tobe" (Fly, Fly) and it had the cachet of being written by Yu Aku（阿久悠）and composed by Takashi Miki（三木たかし）. With vocals reminiscent of those of popular 70s aidoru Candies（キャンディーズ）, there is also quite a bit of polish with "Tobe Tobe". Along with that aidoru tempo, I also get some Fashion Music and even a mild dollop of progressive rock in there.

England Dan & John Ford Coley -- I'd Really Love to See You Tonight

 

I never thought that this particular song would make it into a film but according to its Wikipedia entry, it actually got into a few movies including the 2013 comedy "Anchorman 2". Never saw that one although I did catch the first movie.

This week's ROY article deals with "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight", a soft rock classic from May 1976 that I used to hear over and over on AM radio when I was a teen. It was just too bad that I always had a tough time remembering who sang it because I guess at the time, I wasn't accustomed to hearing a country's name being included in a person's name but indeed the duo is England Dan & John Ford Coley.

The duo had been together for a decade between 1970 and 1980 with their share of singles and albums under their belt, but "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight" is the only one that I remember by them as this calming ballad about giving love a second chance. It's that piano and the strings that make it for me. The song made it to the top of the Adult Contemporary charts in both America and Canada, and though I've heard that covers have been done by no less than Barry Manilow and Ian McShane among others, it'll always be the original by England Dan & John Ford Coley that I come home to. Strangely enough, I found out that an earlier song "Simone" from 1972 became a No. 1 hit in Japan.

According to Showa Pops, these kayo classics were released in May 1976 although at least for one of them, it was more like April.

Minako Yoshida -- Yume de Aetara （夢で逢えたら）

Hi-Fi Set -- Tsumetai Ame （冷たい雨）

Mieko Nishijima -- Ikegami Sen （池上線）