I've been a fan of Japanese popular music for 40 years, and have managed to collect a lot of material during that time. So I decided I wanted to talk about Showa Era music with like-minded fans. My particular era is the 70s and 80s (thus the "kayo kyoku"). The plus part includes a number of songs and artists from the last 30 years and also the early kayo. So, let's talk about New Music, aidoru, City Pop and enka.
Credits
I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.
Yesterday, I put up that list of mine regarding late summer-to-autumn Japanese pop songs. If I'd known about this one that I am about to talk about, I would have included it there, too.
Singer-songwriter Naoko Gushima（具島直子）isn't someone that I get a chance to write about a lot, but over the years, I've gained more appreciation for her stylish approach to pop with some soul thrown in. I wouldn't consider her "Ku-gatsu no Umi" (September Sea) to be Neo-City Pop or even really R&B, but there's something undeniably urban and cool about it. Written and composed by the singer, the gravitas-laden piano and the bluesy guitar set the tone for a song whose image to me through the lyrics is of a lady walking barefoot along the beach wondering whether love will strike again. Another image is of an amiable Friday night dinner for a couple in their favourite neighbourhood restaurant of class and style.
"Ku-gatsu no Umi" was a new song added to Gushima's first BEST compilation, "Magic Wave", from April 2009.
There wasn't much that I missed out on in terms of gastronomic delights during my days in Japan, but one thing that I did miss out on to my regret is Afternoon Tea. Wait, J-Canuck...you will say...Traditional Afternoon Tea is a British thing, ain't it? Yeah, it is, but with a lot of Japanese more than happy to grab onto foreign culinary customs, there are those folks who have cottoned onto the British tea, those dainty cucumber sandwiches, and the scones with the clotted cream and jam.
Of course, I'm into my meatier sandwiches but I can go with the cucumber variety, and I will always enjoy scones with cream...oh, and the tea, too.☕ It's just that I also wanted to experience the atmosphere that goes with the tea. There have been hotels in Tokyo that offer Afternoon Tea and my closest bet was a tea room near one of my schools which I frequented often, pretty much weekly. Unfortunately, the other dishes there were so good that I simply couldn't give those up.
In any case, all that preamble ramble was there to introduce "Oshare Tea Time" (Stylish Tea Time), a track from singer-songwriter Seiko Tomizawa's（富沢聖子）1983 release"Melody Palette". Tomizawa already has a couple of articles on KKP for her anison work, but this release seems to be on her straight pop stuff. I do love the cover whose iconography seems to be hearkening back to 60s pop album aesthetics and from far away, Tomizawa even resembles aidoru Yu Hayami（早見優）.
Tomizawa wrote and composed "Oshare Tea Time" with Jun Sato（佐藤準）providing an arrangement with a tropical summer twist. There's perhaps a hint of sophisticated City Pop in the intro and whispering throughout the song, but I've still thrown in the general pop category in Labels. I don't quite know who's backing her up in the vocals department. From what I've seen at Discogs, "Melody Palette" is either a maxi-single (the playing speed is 45 rpm rather than the usual 33 1/3 rpm for LPs) or a mini-album since it just has a total of six tracks on the two sides.
Up to now, I've contributed two articles to singer-songwriter and radio personality Yoko Shibata（柴田容子）, one for her languid "Mr. Lonesome" and then the peppy "Umaku Ikanakutemo" (うまくいかなくても), the latter being written up back in 2016.
So, we're talking about almost six years later, and happily I was able to find this new and different song by Shibata titled "Heartbreak House". A nice bluesy shuffle that gives off a pleasant metropolitan vibe, this was a track on her lone February 1978 album"Tomarigi" (とまり木...Perch) which was also the name of her third and final single to date. It was written and composed by the singer, and for some reason, it does give me that image of what life was probably like in the concrete jungle of Tokyo back in those late 1970s.
In the previous two articles, I've mentioned Junko Yagami（八神純子）alongside Shibata. Well, it turns out that both singers hail from Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture. Some more biographical information includes the fact that Shibata graduated from Nanzan University in her hometown with a degree in foreign languages. She also passed the 1973 Yamaha Vocal Auditions along with Mayo Shouno（庄野真代）and Masako Kanou（叶正子）, one-quarter of the vocal group Circus（サーカス）.
Lyricist and composer Kazuya Amikura（網倉一也）already has a fair number of articles on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" in the back office, so to speak. He's written and composed for many singers such as Hiromi Go（郷ひろみ）, Hiromi Ohta（太田裕美）and Ruiko Kurahashi（倉橋ルイ子）. However, I've never had a chance to hear him at the mike...in the front office.
Well, that changes today since I discovered his 1981 album"Scene". Amikura may be officially listed on J-Wiki as a lyricist and composer but he did put out two albums and four singles for himself between 1978 and 1981. From "Scene", I give you the first track "Chance" which is a nice blend of West Coast AOR and good ol' rock and roll. Amikura wrote and composed the song which also served as his fourth and final single to date. Some of that arrangement and Amikura's vocals also lean things a bit into the country rock realm.
Along with the fact that I discovered those nine-tenths underwater parts of the iceberg when it comes to City Pop among other genres, I've also learned that there are plenty of American AORartists that I've never heard about. Amikura's"Chance" is one example of a type of AOR that I've probably heard through some of those Stateside singers but I can't put a finger on who he might be emulating here. By chance (no pun intended), if any of you might know something, let me know.
Just to finish up by giving some biographical information, Amikura was born in Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture, and his interest in music began when he was a high school freshman and discovered the delights of folk singer Takuro Yoshida（吉田拓郎）. Once he got into Tokyo's Chuo University, he joined a folk song circle in 1978 and that's when he debuted with his single "Good-bye Yokosuka" （Good-bye 横須賀）with Ichizo Seo（瀬尾一三）helping out on arrangement.
Yes, Virginia....there was a Bruce Willis who had hair and a lot of jokes cracking out of him.
Indeed, decades before all of those action films where he's played deadly serious military officers and cops on the big screen, Willis used to play a wisecracking detective from New Jersey transplanted to Los Angeles on television for a few years in the 1980s. "Moonlighting" on ABC was a show that I first heard about from my brother during my university age; at the time, I was watching some episodes of "Remington Steele" on NBC, that other detective show (which I'll have to write about as well some time) with a distinctly different tone, and the star from that series went onto his own fame and fortune as an action star.
Although I did watch an episode of "Miami Vice" where he had played a monstrous gangster before he got his star-making role on "Moonlighting", Willis will always be detective David Addison even over his role of John McClane from the "Die Hard" franchise. I didn't much like the really mean fights between David and his partner-in-crimefighting, former model Maddie Hayes (played by Cybill Shepherd), but the ongoing banter of irritation between the two was fun to watch due to their very different personalities. Of course, I also adored the Blue Moon Detective Agency's receptionist, Agnes DiPesto (Allyce Beasley) and her iambic pentameter patter.
But I have to remember that this is the weekly Reminiscings of Youth article and not Reminiscings of "Moonlighting". That shouldn't be difficult, though, since after all, the theme song was by the one-and-only Al Jarreau. The opening credits with Jarreau's smooth-as-satin vocals and the smooth soulful melody by the singer and Lee Holdridge obviously weren't the only thing that brought me over to the series but they sure made it very inviting with those lovely scenes of LA. "Moonlighting" was both downtown and uptown, and I'm not surprised that YouTube commenters have been waxing and mooning over the 1980s on listening to it again.
Strangely enough, the actual single of "Moonlighting" with Al Jarreau wasn't released until 1987, so we basically had to rely on reruns of episodes to get our fix of the song. I was so happy when this got onto the radio, and I think a lot of listeners were, too, since it managed to reach No. 23 on America's Billboard and No. 38 on Canada's RPM, and No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary charts in both countries. The late Jarreau has had a lot of memorable songs on his plate, and I've already included his "Breakin' Away" as a ROY tune, but "Moonlighting" is probably the next song after that one that I've always cherished.
Although that single came out in 1987, we were hearing the theme since the show began in March 1985 so we'll go for that date in terms of what was hitting the top ranks of Oricon back then. Incidentally, the March debut for the show is an interesting one. Usually new and continuing seasons of programs begin in the fall in the United States, but I gather that "Moonlighting" was initially put in as a mid-season replacement for a show that had gotten cancelled, and I know that the first season was a trial run of only six episodes. But the half-dozen did the trick.
In recent months, I've been aware that Willis has been having some medical issues so that he will have to probably end his long career. I hope that he can overcome them and have a successful recovery.
About an hour ago, I completed an article describing what NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン）had put out as their seasonally transitional songs, namely from summer to fall. I figured that today being September 1st, it was quite timely. I'd also wanted to include some of my own tunes but noting that Labels would get a little cranky at me, I opted to split it into two parts with this article taking care of my own picks.
Now for those KKP readers with eagle eyes and elephant memories, I did write up "J-Canuck's September Songs" almost a year ago, and yep along with the fact that those tunes all have the month included in their titles, they do have that feeling of fall as well. So I am not including any of those but feel free to check those out. Regardless, there are a few other songs off the top of my head that strike me as showing a change in the seasons, although I know that there are probably many more out there with that theme in mind.
That amazing "Whoooooo" at the beginning may as well lift me off my feet toward the door to autumn as described in the title. As I mentioned in the original article, folk/New Music group Higurashi's（日暮し）"Aki no Tobira" was a long-sought tune since I had no idea of the title or the group when I first heard a very badly recorded version of it off of "Sounds of Japan" decades ago. The whole song can actually induce me to inhale deeply for a relaxing breath of fresh air.
Another "Sounds of Japan" treat from years back, this song can also induce an ASMR response from its opening notes. "Aki no Kehai" also served as my introduction to the laidback sounds of Off-Course（オフコース） and I've never looked back. Although the lyrics are sad, the music feels like a gentle sweep of the arm leading me from summer to autumn.
Provided that the above video stays up, that thumbnail photo of an Eizin Suzuki illustration is the perfect shot of what "Natsu no Claxon" means to me. Maybe the only thing that could better it is more of a sunset sky signifying the end of the summer season. As with the above two selections, the background chorus just adds to the wistfulness of it all.
To be honest, until recently, I hadn't thought about "Seasons of Change" as a tune to mark the transition from summer to fall. However, Sing Like Talking is a great band, they make great music, and "Seasons of Change" just from the title alone kinda sparked off all sorts of alerts in my head when I was thinking of this particular list. It is quite a bit more dramatic than the above three, to be sure. Very TOTO and early Supertramp, perhaps.
If you have any particular choices of your own, please let me know.👍
Yes, believe it or not, we are in September. It's still too early to speak of fall though since not only is it officially three weeks away, the weather will be getting steamy here as we enter the weekend. Yet, NHK's "Uta Con" opted to use the theme of transitioning from the hot and torrid summer to the calmer and cooler autumn for its return to the airwaves after being away for most of August.
I thought there were some nice picks by the "Uta Con" people, and at first, I thought about combining their picks with my own picks of those transitioning songs from late summer into early fall, but the amount would have become unwieldy for Labels at the very least. Therefore, I'll just put up the five that were featured on Tuesday night. Also, since this was "Uta Con" picking them and not any of us on KKP, this won't be an Author's Picks article per se, although I will put up my own list in the next article.
I was most grateful for Leon Niihama（新浜レオン）and Fuyumi Sakamoto（坂本冬美）for performing this chestnut on NHK, since I very rarely hear it anywhere else. And yet, Toi et Moi's"Dare mo Inai Umi" would have been one of my own choices for my own list of moving between the seasons. I realize that it is a cover by late chanson singer Yasuko Ouki（大木康子）, but I think that this version by Emiko Shiratori and Sumio Akutagawa（白鳥英美子・芥川澄夫）is the definitive one for me.
"Juu-nana Sai" was actually given its tribute by some of the old videotape footage of Saori Minami（南沙織）, but it's always nice to hear her sing this one. After over fifty years, it still sounds pretty fresh to me. I hadn't been aware that it was a trans-seasonal kayo but perhaps pining for love can be considered to be a summer-to-fall thing in the music industry.
It was also nice to hear this one get its due a couple of nights ago, especially with the footage of Circus（サーカス）appearing on the Kohaku Utagassen for their first of two times. A nice touch of jazzy class can be had by listeners while enjoying that glass of Aperol Spritz on the Riviera.
Yup, Martin（鈴木雅之）was the first batter up on "Uta Con" so he performed "Glass Goshi ni Kieta Natsu", his debut single as a solo artist. At the time when I was simply not listening to the lyrics or paying attention to the title all that much, I wouldn't have pegged this as a late summer tune, but of course, looking at those words now, I realize that it is one of the most suitable songs for the seasonal transition as a man realizes that someone he cares about is now going off on a different path.
Actor/singer Kohei Matsushita（松下洸平）performed Tatsuro Yamashita's（山下達郎）paean to the end of summer, and yeah, I figured that this would be a sure fire pick for any such list. It feels just like what a move from August to September would feel like. It's time to head back home to hit the books or work the computer but wow what a nice musical way to finish off the hot season.
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