Momoe Yamaguchi -- Ima Mezameta Kodomo no You ni（いま目覚めた子供のように）/I Came From Yokosuka（I Came From 横須賀）

 

Happy Monday! Although Sunday was close-to-record-breaking warm at about 16 degrees C if windy, today is dreary and back to 0 degrees with some snow on the way. Yep, that's the weather story in predictably unpredictable Toronto.

About 10 days ago, I wrote on Disc 1 of "Yokohama Fantasy"（横浜幻想）, that double-CD compilation of Yokohama-themed kayo that I got recently. That first disc contained a couple of Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵）songs that I promised that I would cover in their own article, and that article is now here.

The first of those two songs happens to start off Disc 1, but "Ima Mezameta Kodomo no You ni" (Like a Child Whose Eyes Have Opened) was originally a track from Yamaguchi's 9th studio album "Yokosuka Story"（横須賀ストーリー）from August 1976. Written by Shinichi Ishihara（石原信一）, composed by Juichi Sase（佐瀬寿一）and arranged by Motoki Funayama（船山基紀）, this is a bright and vivacious number with some of that disco vibe. 

And true to the vivaciousness of the song, Momoe sings to a former lover (and perhaps teases him good-naturedly as well) that she's going to be OK after all without him and has turned a new leaf. She's also thrown away the high heels and the clothes that she wore during their relationship. Perhaps it's still a little too soon after the breakup though since one line in Ishihara's lyrics refers to all of those lovers in the café as being naïve so she's stuck a slice of lemon into her mouth. Although the lyrics don't do a heavy promotion of the port city through namedropping, the proof that it is indeed Yokohama comes from a reference to the Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery.

The album "Yokosuka Story" hit No. 3 on Oricon and ended up as the 43rd-ranked album of 1976. Of course, it also has the famous title track.

The second song "I Came From Yokosuka" originates from Momoe's 11th album "Momoe Hakusho"（百恵白書...The Momoe Report） which was a May 1977 release. This time, the songwriters are husband-and-wife songwriting duo composer Ryudo Uzaki（宇崎竜童）and lyricist Yoko Aki（阿木燿子）with Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）behind the arrangement which is somewhat reminiscent of the Bee Gees' "Staying Alive" in the level of guitar funk and disco. There's also some notable plinky honky-tonk piano which starts the proceedings. 

In terms of Aki's lyrics, they seem to be the opposite of those of "Ima Mezameta Kodomo no You ni". This time, Momoe is on the hunt for that specific guy taking the train all the way from her hometown of Yokosuka in Kanagawa Prefecture to Shinagawa in Tokyo (Yokohama's involvement seems to be more of a passing through thing this time, though). And true to the songs that Uzaki and Aki crafted for Yamaguchi in the latter half of her singing career, the lass isn't taking NO for an answer. She was definitely one headstrong 18-year-old. "Momoe Hakusho" peaked at No. 3.

Reminiscings of Youth: The Keio Plaza Hotel

 

I'm providing a special Reminiscings of Youth article tonight in that it doesn't revolve around any of the Western songs that I usually centre a ROY around. The target is actually a building!🏢

Earlier tonight, I was watching an NHK hour-long documentary on the stories behind the architecture of some of the buildings erected in Tokyo in the 1960s and 1970s. It wasn't too dense and academic since it was some entertainers who were leading the way including a comedian who had studied architecture at university before he decided to take that very different career path.

A number of buildings were featured including a few in West Shinjuku which is also known as the Skyscraper District. I used to walk through the area on a weekly basis since I did have one teaching gig in the area for several years, and I thought it was quite the marvel to put up so many hulking towers there considering how earthquake-prone Japan is. One of the buildings on that program was the Keio Plaza Hotel, accommodations where I stayed at for four nights and five days during the summer of 1989. It was the base for many many new recruits on the JET Programme as we had our orientation session there before getting shipped out to our respective prefectures.

What I learned on the program was that the Keio was the very first skyscraper to be erected in West Shinjuku which used to be the site of a huge water treatment facility. And from Wikipedia, I found out that it was the first high-rise hotel in Japan. Looking at a photo of the hotel when it was first put up in 1971, it stuck out like a sore thumb in the middle of nowhere so I could only imagine what the first guests were thinking when they arrived. Of course, since then, the Keio has been swamped by fellow skyscrapers including other hotels.

I'd assumed that the Keio Plaza was actually put up a decade later but the program set me straight, and I also discovered that it was given its distinctive Z-shape (looking at the roof from the sky) so that every room had a decent view. As I said off the top, I was able to stay there for the better part of a week during an especially torrid summer, and my biggest memories included having the view of the soon-to-be complete Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building which struck me as looking like a life-sized version of the SDF 1 from "Macross" and having a fellow JET teacher/free spirited hippie type take me barefoot outside to the nearest international phone booth while my sweat glands allowed me to become a human sprinkler in the notorious heat and humidity of a Tokyo summer.

Although I only stayed there that one time in 1989, in the years since when I was actually living and working in the Tokyo area, I have used the Keio lobby as a meeting place for folks whenever we didn't want to meet up at the usually crowded JR Shinjuku Station, especially when our dinner venue was actually in West Shinjuku. 

Well, I guess since I used the Keio Plaza Hotel as a target for this special ROY, I figure that I will just have to give another one for the Tokyo Prince Hotel sometime down the line since that place has even more meaning to me. In any case, I will provide the songs at No. 8, 9 and 10 for August 1989 on the Oricon chart this time around.

8. Bakufu Slump -- Resort Lovers （リゾ・ラバ）

9. Princess Princess -- Diamonds

10. Yumi Matsutoya -- Anniversary

SPARKLING☆CHERRY -- Windy

 

At the end of January, I introduced this band SPARKLING☆CHERRY which has been around since 2014 with at least four albums to its credit. Into the Neo-City Pop, it's had a few veterans from the original City Pop era helping out including singer-songwriter Kingo Hamada（濱田金吾）as permanent resident guitarist and producer Toshikazu Kanazawa（金澤寿和） with Cherry as the vocalist-songwriter. Rocket Brown of "Come Along Radio" was good enough to recommend the band during a recent conversation, and coming across their charming "Windy Rain", it was not only enough for me to write about it but it got me to get the originating album "Windy" which was released in December 2021. However, it also helped that the band had also put up their own "tasting plate" video so that I could listen to tidbits of each track, and that video can be found at the bottom of the "Windy Rain" article on KKP.

The first track "Your Wind" is a nice way to start things especially on a spring day like today where the images from Cherry's lyrics spark a similarly meteorologically wonderful Sunday with a young couple in love enjoying the domestic life in their small but stylish apartment. With a combination of synths and guitars (one played by Hamada), "Your Wind" has that pleasant mellow groove which makes the song more of an AOR or a straight pop number rather than something from the City Pop realm. Cherry's vocals are on the breezy and slightly coquettish side of things and she reminded me a bit of Asako Toki（土岐麻子）.

Unfortunately, not all of the tracks are up in their full form but I could find this tune "Sora no Shita World"（空の下World...World Under the Sky）. It's a fascinating one for no less than the fact that the above video was uploaded all the way back in 2012, although I'd said above  that SPARKLING☆CHERRY's debut album didn't come out until 2014. Well, apparently, there had been a self-produced album released in November 2011 by the band called "Ippo" according to their website, and the original "Sora no Shita World" came from that. While I think the rearranged version in "Windy" is more in keeping with the overall elegant sound of the album, the 2011 original has got a feeling that ranges between the music of Misia and Bird. There's that light Latin vibe that I've often heard in the latter's music paired with Cherry's vocals which resembles that of the former, especially in the way that she trips the light fantastic with the lyrics.

Cherry sounds especially good here on "Sunao ni Naretara" (素直になれたら...If I Can Be Honest) in this late afternoon/early evening light and mellow song that has Hamada playing the electric guitar with special guest guitarist Makoto Matsushita（松下誠）, no newbie when it comes to the City Pop scene. There's also something in the underlying rhythm that sounds quite Tatsuro-esque. The lyrics are all about regretting not being able to express one's love; interestingly enough, that seemed to be the theme from the opening episode of Season 2 of "Star Trek: Picard". Not sure whether Sir Pat would be into City Pop, though.

That was all I have been able to find in terms of videos for the tracks right now. But I have to say that the last two tracks, "Line"（線）and "Answer" are definitely more in the pop realm rather than anything urban contemporary. Also, the band does a fine rendition of "Goodbye Transfer", a song by Hamada that was originally sung by Rajie for her October 1984 album "Gogo no Relief"（午後のレリーフ...Afternoon Relief）. But again, if you want to at least hear some samples, head over to the "Windy Rain" article and scroll down to the bottom to hear the "tasting plate" video that I mentioned above. I'm not sure whether SPARKLING☆CHERRY's "Windy" is a Neo-City Pop classic but the songs have been entertaining and soothing enough so that I'm interested in checking out their previous three albums since the genre special guests were plentiful back then as well.

Ulfuls -- Bakayaro（バカヤロー）

 

Ooh! Wow! It's truly been a long time since I've had Tortoise Matsumoto（トータス松本）and his Ulfuls（ウルフルズ）up on the blog; the last article up here was the hit "Banzai ~ Suki de Yokatta" （バンザイ 〜好きでよかった〜）that's become one of the go-to songs for celebrations of any sort, especially weddings. I saw the Osaka rock n' soul band late last year on television for the first time in quite a while and during the interview, one of their more recent tunes "Bakayaro"（Moron） was playing.

Wait a minute! "Bakayaro". My mind suddenly registered a not-so-old memory. I remembered that I did cover a few songs that had the singer scream out that Japanese epithet in anger and frustration (quite pliable in meaning depending on how it's translated), and those songs were Hideki Saijo's（西城秀樹）"Shiroi Kyokai"（白い教会）, Masahiko Kondo's（近藤真彦） "Blue Jeans Memory"（ブルー・ジーンズ・メモリー）, and Katsuhiko Miki's（美樹克彦）"Hana wa Osokatta"（花はおそかった）all the way back in 1967. When I wrote up Saijo's tune, I sardonically referred to it as the latest in my bakayaro series, and when I registered it onto Twitter, one of the Hideki fans retweeted it also as such with some humour.

Therefore, when I heard Ulfuls' "Bakayaro", I felt that I've met the fourth in the series and it just so happens to be the title of the song itself. Actually, "Bakayaro" is a track on the band's 14th original album, "Jinsei"（人生...Life）, released in May 2017. It's slightly quieter and more relaxing as an Ulfuls tune which was created by Matsumoto and fellow member John B.（ジョンB）, but the venom and frustration in the lyrics are very loud and clear as Tortoise screams out in very earthy language about the stupidity of having dreams and believing in destiny when the personal problems are here and now without anyone to help out. However in the end, he admits that life is all anyone has (for that limited period of time) and one just has to walk the walk alone (nice animal analogy in the video, by the way) to wherever it leads. I can imagine that this probably has been a karaoke tonic for all of the working folks out there in Japan.

"Jinsei" hit No. 12 on the album charts. Also, have a look at the brief article on the album by Arama Japan.

Oricon Top 10 Singles for January 1980

 

1. Saki Kubota                         Ihojin

2. Crystal King                        Dai Tokai

3. Hirofumi Banba                  Sachiko

4. Hiroshi Itsuki                      Omae to Futari

5. Off-Course                          Sayonara

6. Kenkichi Muraki                 Oyaji to Umi

7. Sachiko Kobayashi              Omoide Zake

8. Toshi Ito to Happy & Blue  Yoseba Ii noni

9. Hideki Saijo                         Kanashiki Yuujou

10. Alice                                  Shuushifu

Kyoto Jazz Massive with Vanessa Freeman -- The Brightness Of These Days

 

For the last several months, I've been enjoying the shortened version of the NHK World anime "Maiko-san chi no Makanai-san"（舞妓さんちのまかないさん...Kiyo in Kyoto: From the Maiko House） based on the 2016 manga; apparently, we're getting bits and pieces of the original episodes but even then, those 10 minutes each Friday afternoon have been very soothing. There's that sumptuous combination of the demanding development of the maiko along with the home-cooked goodness of the dishes with everything set in the lovely setting of Kyoto.

From what I've seen of the episodes, I don't think that the main characters of Kiyo and Sumire can have much of a nightlife in the ancient capital; Kiyo is too busy thinking about what to cook for everybody the next day while Sumire has her training and entertaining duties (for one episode, the latter was freaking out about even entering a konbini). However, I gather that somewhere in Kyoto, there is some sort of nightclubbing quarter.

And therefore, I segue into the jazz and electronic project of Kyoto Jazz Massive featuring Shuya and Yoshihiro Okino（沖野修也・沖野好洋）. I've already mentioned them in past articles for Shinichi Osawa (大沢伸一...aka Mondo Grosso) and Makoto, but KJM finally gets their first solo article here on KKP with the second track of their first bona fide studio album "Spirit of the Sun" (September 2002).

I'm still kinda hazy on what this Crossover Jazz is all about but from what I've read about it on Wikipedia, it's jazz with all sorts of other musical genres coming in (maybe it's a "Multiverse of Madness" sort of thing). That second track, by the way, is "The Brightness Of These Days" with Vanessa Freeman providing some sultry vocals. The backing music by the Okino brothers is jazz oomphed up with some beats and grooviness. It's not quite enough to get folks up and dancing but they can enjoy their cocktails and chill + sway at their dimly-lit tables in the club.

Would also love to give my compliments to whoever came up with the album cover for "Spirit of the Sun" with the silhouette of Kyoto Tower in front of the setting sun.

Masaki Ueda & South To South -- Mukade no Kinzo（むかでの錦三）

 

Getting to know singer-songwriter Masaki Ueda（上田正樹）for the first time through his 80s material such as his "Osaka Bay Blues", I had only seen him as a smooth City Pop balladeer with that characteristic raspy and bluesy voice. But because of our work on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I've been finding out more of his early times in the 1970s.

Case in point: he got a band together which made its debut at the One Step Festival in Fukushima Prefecture in August 1974, according to J-Wiki. Known as Masaki Ueda & South To South, they released an album in December 1975 titled "Kono Atsui Tamashii wo Tsutaetain'ya"（この熱い魂を伝えたいんや...Lemme Tell Ya About My Passionate Soul）. It's quite the appearance of Ueda in the shaggy long hair and denim outfit after getting used to his cool 80s history teacher look.

Anyways, one of the tracks on "Kono Atsui Tamashii wo Tsutaetain'ya" is "Mukade no Kinzo" (Kinzo the Centipede) in which Ueda sings about himself as the titular Kinzo, a strutting Kansai gangster who's living the life that he wants without any problems with the world as his oyster. He was responsible for words and music behind this bluesy funk fest which sounds as if it had received some inspiration from some of Stevie Wonder's works back in the day. That very recognizable raspy voice of Ueda is right there as well.