Harry Belafonte/Michiko Hamamura -- Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)

 

I was sorry to hear that singer-activist Harry Belafonte had passed away earlier today at the age of 96. His name and face were familiar to me when I was a child since I remember him appearing on a number of variety shows on American television. For that matter, he also used to show up on a number of those K-Tel record compilations. 

The legendary Belafonte has had a long discography but of course, I will always know him for "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)". I didn't know the song's origins as a Jamaican folk song which possibly go all the way back to the beginnings of the 20th century with it being covered by various artists over the years. However, it will always be the Belafonte cover that I know best when it was released in 1956 (it premiered several years before my time so it's not a ROY article).

"Day-O" had already reached immortal status by the late 1980s but it incurred further pop culture legend status when it was used in "Beetlejuice" in 1988. The Halloween-themed classic was filled with hilarious scenes so it says something when much of the cast was induced to sing and dance to Belafonte's trademark song to become the standout scene of the movie. Catherine O'Hara can make everyone laugh (and has shown to be an adept dancer as well on "SCTV") but I was stunned to see famed television interviewer Dick Cavett in on the joke, too.

All the way back in the 1950s and 1960s, it was common for Japanese singers to cover the hits from the West, and so was the case with "Day-O". Known as "Banana Boat" in Japan, it was released in March 1957 as sung by 19-year-old Michiko Hamamura（浜村美智子）from Kagoshima Prefecture as her debut single. The Belafonte version had lyrics written by Lord Burgess and William Attaway, but the one for Hamamura who sang it in both Japanese and English had the Japanese portion provided by Seiichi Ida（井田誠一）. Although other versions of the song were released at around the same time, the Hamamura cover was the one that had the most success by selling around 300,000 copies; she would appear on the Kohaku Utagassen that year to perform it. She even became known as either "The Banana Boat Girl" or "The Calypso Girl" because of "Day-O", although in her J-Wiki file, she admitted at one point that she really wasn't into calypso but was more of a jazz fan.

Hibari Misora（美空ひばり）also contributed her vocals to the song at least once. My condolences to Belafonte's family, friends and fans.

Akari Nanawo -- Kien Romance（奇縁ロマンス）

 

Well, anime's Spring 2023 season has gotten underway, and of course, my anime buddy has kept me informed on what has caught his eyes and ears. One has been "Edomae Elf"（江戸前エルフ...Otaku Elf）, a slice-of-life about a teenage miko of a shrine in Tokyo who has to take care of the enshrined but still-living deity, Elda, a ne'er-do-well elf of over 600 years in age who has become somewhat of a lazy game-loving shut-in. The interesting thing about Elda is that she's played by veteran seiyuu Ami Koshimizu（小清水亜美）, the star from the wacky and violent "Kill La Kill"（キルラキル）, and she's someone that I've usually associated with tough-as-nails characters although I realize that a seiyuu has to be able to play all sorts of roles.

I guess that I've become a fan of these specific slice-of-life anime that deal with the residents of a shrine or temple in a friendly neighbourhood. While the main characters can bicker a whole lot, they're in the middle of a group of warm side characters. I've seen a few of these over the past decade that I've been back in the anime saddle including "Kamisama Hajimemashita" （神様はじめました）. For that particular show, the theme song which has the same title as the show was performed by Hanae（ハナエ）and it has that mix of traditional instruments playing a very pleasant but distinctly Asian rhythm although it is clearly not enka or minyo. In that article as well, I noted some similarities with Japanese-American band Hiroshima's "One Wish".

And that is also the case with "Edomae Elf". Its theme song is the catchy and skippy "Kien Romance" (Romance of Strange Coincidence) by Osaka pop/rock singer and YouTuber Akari Nanawo（ナナヲアカリ）who's been working since 2011. As much as the opening theme for "Kamisama Hajimemashita" fit that show, "Kien Romance" slots in nicely with "Edomae Elf" because of that combination of the traditional arrangements and the syncopated beats. Nanawo not only sings the song but also trips the light fantastic over the lyrics like a ballerina. Words and lyrics were provided by singer-songwriter Wanuka（和ぬか）.

I swear that the music video for "Kien Romance" should get its own anime series since it looks so distinct and good. If I'm not mistaken, the animator is known as Juu-hachi Bancha（十八番茶）, although their YouTube channel also has the names niyoru and mado listed in there.

Sergio Mendes & Brasil '77 -- Aisareta Ato de（愛されたあとで）/The Magic Wheels

Happy Monday to you all, especially since we're on the final Monday for April 2023. I thought that we can start this KKP week with something mellow once more. Bossa nova has always been one of my favourite genres anywhere around the planet, and so, I often think of Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 and their classic "Mas que Nada" which I will really have to cover on a future Reminiscings of Youth. I actually have covered a Mendes song through ROY but it was one of his AOR hits, "Never Gonna Let You Go" from 1983 which still retains a lot of sentimental value to me.

I read that Mendes, who at one point was on the same level as the late legendary Pele in terms of world-class popularity among Brazilian celebrities, had changed the double digits for his band as the decades passed. Therefore in 1971, Brasil '66 changed to Brasil '77 with Mendes' promise that the music would come out with a bit more rock and a bit more Brazilian authenticity. 

Bossa nova was and is a popular genre in Japan although I'm unsure whether Mendes and his band have that same sort of Big-in-Japan love that The Carpenters and The Ventures have enjoyed for years and years. Regardless, I was surprised to find out yesterday that Mendes & Brasil '77 had put out a Japan-only single in 1975 titled "Aisareta Ato de" (After Being Loved). Written by the late Rei Nakanishi（なかにし礼）and composed by Shunichi Tokura（都倉俊一）, it's certainly got the genre vibes in there including the flute and those delectable rhythms, but something inside me also believes that there is some of that kayo feeling as well.

If I'm not mistaken, the vocals are provided by Bonnie Bowden and maybe Mendes' wife Gracinha Leporace, but perhaps someone can confirm that one for me. They were both responsible for vocalizing Nakanishi's Japanese lyrics on the A-side and then the English version on the B-side under the title of "The Magic Wheels".

Glad to have found out about this single since there is nary any information about Brasil '77 on either Wikipedia or J-Wiki, let alone anything about this one-off single for Japan. It's finding this gem that has always made me grateful for the blog.

Gosanke Imagined: The Yonin Musume of My JET Days

 

Back on my wistful and whimsical imaginary Gosanke（御三家）series where I come up with my own trio of singers depending on my own times and experiences. Last week, my musings took me to the harmony-laden vocal groups of my past. Today though will be more about four (!) individual female singers that I remember fondly while I was on the JET Programme between 1989 and 1991. Now of course, I knew more than four female singers but these are the ones that hit my psyche the best during my time in Gunma Prefecture. 

Now, I was just going to go with Misato Watanabe（渡辺美里）, Mariko Nagai（永井真理子）and Kahoru Kohiruimaki（小比類巻かほる）as would be the case for the typical trio of singers. But then, I recollect that I got to know Miki Imai（今井美樹）for the very first time while I was having tea in a stylish lodge-style café on the way home after a JET seminar, and I was absolutely smitten. So, you'll forgive me if I push the envelope a tad and extend beyond the usual Sannin Musume（三人娘）to Yonin Musume（四人娘）.

Misato Watanabe -- Summertime Blues

Mariko Nagai -- Zutto

Kahoru Kohiruimaki -- Twilight Avenue (44:35)

Miki Imai -- Retour

Testpattern -- Ryuuguu

 

One of the first Japanese folk tales that I learned about was through a picture book which told the story of "Urashima Taro"（浦島太郎）, a stalwart young boy who saves a sea turtle and for his troubles, he is taken to the wondrous undersea Palace of the Dragon King or Ryuuguu-jo（竜宮城）. Well, he loses track of the time and he pays dearly for it at the end.

I'm assuming that is indeed the inspiration behind techno duo Testpattern's "Ryuuguu" which is actually written as "Ryugu". A grand, shiny and inviting number that has me thinking of the palace as depicted through the imaginations of Fumio Ichimura（市村文夫）and Masao Hiruma（比留間雅夫）as a gleaming futuristic undersea city of silicon with tons of advanced technology and activity bursting everywhere. The palace would impress Captain Nemo and the Nautilus, let alone a lone Japanese fisherman.

I've written about Testpattern via two of their songs: "Techno Age" and "Crescent Moon", both from their lone 1982 album "Après-Midi". This time though, "Ryuuguu" was a part of a compilation album of technopop tunes called "Yen Manifesto Vol. 1" which was released in September 1983 under the production of Yellow Magic Orchestra's Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）and Yukihiro Takahashi（高橋幸宏）. Testpattern shared track space with Koji Ueno （上野耕路）and the band Interiors.

Frank Nagai -- Fuyuko to Iu Onna（冬子という女）

April 26 2023: I was given the correction for the title earlier today from commenter Yurihan on the proper reading of the title. It is indeed "Fuyuko to Iu Onna" according to the romaji reading of the single cover as located on the Amazon site given to me in the comments below. However, I am leaving the text that I had originally typed in as is so that you can see why Yurihan made the comment without any confusion although the title on the byline has now been corrected.

 

Hmmm...usually it's been with the names of the singers or songwriters that I've sometimes run into reading problems. This time, though, it's the title although I think I may have a handle on it due to coming across similarly titled kayo over the years. 

By the way, I am talking about a 1964 single by the late Frank Nagai（フランク永井）, "Fuyuko to Iu Hito" (A Woman Named Fuyuko). I tried searching for the proper reading of that original title as you can see above as usual but I couldn't find anything and the lyrics by Takao Saeki（佐伯孝雄）don't have the title in there. The title if read directly would come out as "Fuyuko to Iu Onna" but I know that enka legend Saburo Kitajima（北島三郎）has had his "Hito" (which actually means "person" in English) series of songs based on a woman and a certain geographical area in Japan. For example, there is "Hakodate no Hito"（函館の女...Woman of Hakodate） and "Onomichi no Hito"（尾道の女...Woman of Onomichi）.

Although I hadn't been too sure about why the furigana would say "hito" over the kanji of "onna" when I wrote about Sabu-chan's "Hakodate no Hito", perhaps now I can give a theory. Maybe to refer to "onna" instead of "onna no hito" in the title is a little too rude and abrupt, but the full expression may just be a bit too long for titular purposes. And so, a compromise was made, but again, that's just my theory.

In any case, Nagai's "Fuyuko to Iu Hito" was created by kayo veterans, lyricist Saeki and composer Tadashi Yoshida（吉田正）, in the form of a stringent tango. The cover has Nagai looking rather pensive over this drink and that's because he is worried and he cares greatly for Fuyuko, a woman that he's probably seen in the drinking joints doing her duties all the while she's hiding great pain inside. He would love to help her but circumstances may indeed be preventing him from doing so. Isn't that a typical kayo for you?

Tatsuro Yamashita -- Ashioto（あしおと）

 

It's an occupational hazard but it's been the case with a lot of the singers and/or songwriters over the years on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", but their files have been so long that I've forgotten at times whether I actually included a certain song of theirs or not. Well, that's the aging process for you.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5ehm9q

Case in point: Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）. I know that I did put up his 1983 album "Melodies" all the way back up in 2017, but as usual, I didn't throw in the entire track list. So, what I hadn't realized was that I didn't include "Ashioto" (Footsteps) into that article or its own individual article as far as I know. Scrolling up and down the Tats file didn't show me anything of an "Ashioto" which is downright shocking since I've found it to be one of his most amiable tunes.

(fine cover version)

I found out from the translation that I did for one of his recent interviews that the singer-songwriter could have become an astronomer if the singing thing hadn't panned out (and aren't we glad that it did?). However, looking at his most congenial "Ashioto", I think Yamashita could have had a promising career as a scriptwriter for rom-coms. According to the description for "Melodies" up on J-Wiki, he admitted to having a soft spot for all of those shy guys in love with the supposedly unattainable lass with a heart of gold. Well, this was the love song he wrote in tribute to those fellows as he describes a florist quietly swooning over a female office worker who happens to pass by his shop every day after work. And all that is happening over a Chicago soul arrangement. Listeners can only hope that "Ashioto" is merely Episode 1 of a love story that will more or less end happily by the end of Episode 12.