Curtis Creek Band -- Foggy

 

Ah, yes. William Thomas Riker...former First Officer of the USS Enterprise-D and Enterprise-E, former Captain of the USS Titan, trombone player, great cook and apparently was once rather popular with the ladies. I believe that some folks know that I'm also an old fan of "Star Trek" although there were a few lean years in the franchise...mind you, the first season of "Strange New Worlds" and the final season of "Picard" have helped alleviate some of the pain.

Well, why bring such an overt shoutout to that other pop culture love of mine into a Japanese music blog? It goes back to a talk that I had with podcaster Rocket Brown a few weeks back where he recommended a group to me called Curtis Creek Band. As soon as I heard the name, something clicked within my memory engrams. Something that had to do with "Star Trek" and specifically, Will Riker. It didn't take me long to discover that Curtis Creek had indeed been mentioned in an episode of "The Next Generation" decades ago. It was the name of a river in Alaska which was part of Riker's holodeck program for fishing.

In a very eerie coincidence, I have also discovered via Discogs that the members of Curtis Creek Band didn't get together necessarily because of music but because they were all fellow fishing hobbyists. Were they fishing on Riker's favourite body of water? Things that make me go Hmmmm.🎣

Curtis Creek Band got together in 1979 as this fusion band centering around harmonica player Nobuo Yagi（八木のぶお）and saxophonist Toshiro Sakka（さっか利郎）. They were then joined by guitarist Toru Hirano（平野融）, drummer Hajime Hirano（平野肇）, and pianist Toshiya Shioiri（塩入俊哉）. According to Discogs, they released four albums up to 1983 with that final one being "Windy People", and from what I've found, there were two versions of "Windy People": one with the some guy holding a bouquet of flowers on a motorcycle as you can see above and another version with a woman looking over the word "white". Both versions have different tracks as well. Maybe the band wanted to go with twins.

The first version of "Windy People" has "Foggy", a laidback but funky track led strongly by Sakka that could be accompanying someone through a walk in such meteorological conditions. Composed by singer-songwriter Ryo Takayasu（高安良）, there is plenty of good groove in "Foggy" and the arrangement reminds me a bit of Billy Joel's "The Stranger". The ending finished with sounds of water lapping on shore and some foghorn sounding off in the distance; it had me taking off my headphones for a few seconds thinking that there was a storm going off outside (we actually had a huge thunderstorm about an hour earlier with hail).

Cappuccino/Toko Furuuchi -- Ku-ji kara no Lily（九時からのリリィ）

 

When I first heard this song some weeks ago, there was that ASMR reaction up my spine since I've always had a soft spot for grand AOR balladry. Some of my examples would be The Eagles' "Desperado", Michael Johnson's "Bluer Than Blue", and on the Japanese side of things, "Kawa no Nagare wo Daite Nemuritai" (川の流れを抱いて眠りたい）by Saburo Tokito (時任三郎）.

The interesting thing is that "Ku-ji kara no Lily" (Lily From Nine O'clock) was also released in the same year as Tokito's ballad, 1981. It's just too bad that there is very little information on the source band Cappuccino（カプチーノ）. In fact, the only data I could find thus far comes from the vocalist's own blog. She identifies herself as singer Chie and in that year of 1981, "Ku-ji kara no Lily" was the band's debut single.

I don't know how it did on the charts, but it's one of those songs for me that has me thinking of a team pulling off a tough job really well and then staring off happily into the sunset since they're now free. Yes, it's Miller Time!🍺 Shunichi Tokura（都倉俊一）made the melody and he also produced the single while Yu Aku（阿久悠）came up with the lyrics that speak of a different scenario. It's wistfully about pining away for Lily, a nighttime piano player in a tiny bar who has seen better days but has to settle for her lonely existence. 

I did get some further information from the emcee in the above video (unfortunately that video has been taken down). Found that the vocalist's full name is Chie Sato and she was only a high school senior when she recorded "Ku-ji kara no Lily". Those are some velvety vocals that she possesses.

Soulful chanteuse Toko Furuuchi（古内東子）gave her longer bluesy take on "Ku-ji kara no Lily" as a coupling song for her November 2005 single "Coat wo Katte"（コートを買って...Buy Me A Coat）. It almost sounds like she's taken on the role of Lily herself. Another coupling song on this single is the cheerful "Somewhere in Tokyo".

Masayuki Kishi -- Modern Museum

 

The above is indeed a photo collage of John Lennon taken at what was the world's only official John Lennon Museum located in Saitama Super Arena. I went there in its last few weeks of existence, and well, it had everything that a Lennon fan would want to see including some shots of Liverpool. Why it was placed into a sports stadium, I have no idea but maybe the owners got some sort of deal on discounted rent.

Regardless, it's been a while since singer-songwriter Masayuki Kishi（岸正之）has gotten his name on a KKP byline but I've got a song of his right here. "Modern Museum" is a track on his 1984 album "Pretender". Kazuko Kobayashi（小林和子）wrote the lyrics of comparing a romantic breakup and its aftermath to a piece of art. Meanwhile, Kishi provided the music that ought to get honourary status as a truly American West Coast AOR tune. That piano sounds like it just came over from helping out Kenny Loggins in the recording studio.

If I'm not mistaken, my last article on Kishi was "Machikado no Pretender"（街角のプリテンダー）which was also a track on "Pretender". 

DEW -- Atsui Sasayaki（熱いささやき）/Night Time

 

To begin the first Urban Contemporary Friday for June 2023 on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I may have found one of the rarest of the rare. I am talking about what was probably the short-lived duo DEW consisting of guitarist Hiroshi Yasukawa（安川ひろし）and keyboardist/producer Nobuo Kurata（倉田信雄）. In 1980, they put out one single and one album titled "DEW 1st".

Today will provide space and time for the lone single "Atsui Sasayaki" (Hot Whispers) with lyrics by Toyohisa Araki（荒木とよひさ）and melody by Yasukawa under Kurata's arrangement. It's notable for some odd choices such as Christmas bells in the intro and a weird combination of keyboards in the coda, but between the two is some rumbling downtown Latin-tinged City Pop.

The B-side is "Night Time" which starts off with a steamrolling cascade of piano before the convertible takes off for a road trip on the expressway. Kurata trips the light fantastic on his instruments and there is a feeling of 70s and 80s City Pop arrangements coming together for a passing of the torch perhaps. Yasukawa also has a good deal of fun on the guitar. Unfortunately, I couldn't find out who was handling the songwriting for "Night Time".

I could find the J-Wiki articles for both Yasukawa and Kurata although neither make any mention of their time in DEW. Yasukawa began his music education as a violinist at the age of 5. Graduating from Doshisha University, he entered a jazz trio and later on, provided his skills for the television industry. Yokohama-born Kurata began as a studio musician in 1977 and has worked with virtually everyone ranging from Naomi Chiaki（ちあきなおみ）and Masashi Sada（さだまさし）to Misia and Ringo Shiina（椎名林檎）.

Shiho Nanba -- Aurora ni Kakurete（オーロラに隠れて）

 

Sad to say, but one of the natural phenomena that I have yet to see despite being over half a century old is the Northern Lights. One of my regular students was able to take a trip to the Yukon and braved the very sub-zero weather to witness the spectacular nature of an aurora.

A couple of years ago was the last time that I wrote about singer-songwriter Shiho Nanba（南波志帆）who has been noticed for her whispery voice and some association with the newer J-AOR acts such as Blue Peppers. My article back then was for her 2009 "Pool no Ao wa Uso no Ao"（プールの青は嘘の青）, a Sunshine Pop sort of number that was provided to her by Takaki Horigome（堀込高樹）of Kirinji（キリンジ）. It wasn't released as a single; instead, it was a track on her "Kimi ni Todoku ka na, Watashi."（君に届くかな、私。...Will I/It Get to You?）indies album.

The mid-teens Nanba would release her first single as a major artist in December 2010, "Aurora ni Kakurete" (Hiding in an Aurora), and rather than the light and mellow stuff, this particular song has more of a bubbly pop flavour reminiscent of Tommy february6. However, it was Takaki's brother, Yasuyuki Horigome（堀込泰行）who came up with the melody while YUKI from Judy & Mary wrote the lyrics regarding an adorable Christmas date. The arrangement was handled by Hiroyasu Yano（矢野博康）from the Cymbals, and as mentioned in the "Pool" article, he was the one who advised Nanba to try the whispery voice treatment.

Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass -- Going Places

 

Yep, that's the one. This is one of the first albums, Japanese or non-Japanese, that I ever got to hear as a little tyke playing around on the carpet. In fact, I played it last night on my TEAC for the first time in ages; the bass tones have gotten muffled but Herb Alpert's distinctive trumpet is very much intact. And for the first time in ROY history, I'll be talking about an album rather than a single although I will keep things to just a few tracks.

Trumpeter Herb Alpert and the Tiujana Brass has already gotten representation on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" in the Reminiscings of Youth category for their provision of the catchy theme for the first "Casino Royale" movie in 1967. Even when I was watching the movie for the first time and heard the theme, I quickly figured that it had to have been Alpert with that puffy and breathy style of his.

Alpert and the Brass' "Going Places" was their 5th album released in September 1965, just a month or so before I arrived in the world. Listening to the album again last night naturally brought back a whole wave of nostalgia. The first track is "Tijuana Taxi" which is a good song to get acquainted with the guys. Knowing my brother and myself back then, I figured that we were giggling all the time to that bicycle horn blasting away.

The other really recognizable track is "Spanish Flea" which is a playful tune that has a close connection to that "Casino Royale" theme. Probably out of all of the tracks, it's the most famous one in pop culture since it was used as background music for the American game show "The Dating Game" and humourously utilized as the go-to song whenever a TV station had technical difficulties.

"Going Places" is also known as the Alpert album of cover songs and one of them is "Walk, Don't Run" that had originally been a 1954 composition by jazz guitarist Johnny Smith and then covered by The Ventures in 1960. I got really hung up on this song for a while not knowing that it was a cover version. Of course, being that young at the time, my musical vocabulary and comprehension were minimal to say the least so I hadn't realized that the Tijuana Brass wasn't just solely doing the mariachi thing; they were also rocking hard, like with this particular track, and jazzing it up, too.

My final track is "And the Angels Sing" which was originally recorded by Benny Goodman in 1939 as a jazz tune. This was also another favourite of mine for its breezy and easy listening style. Alpert and everyone on the band sounded like they were having a grand old time with this one. 

It was fun for me going down memory lane with "Going Places", and apparently so did many people when the album first came out. It stayed at No. 1 on US Billboard for six weeks straight. To finish things off here, I came across some poignancy when I was reading up on Alpert's biography and perhaps this quote could help those who are just starting out in anything and have gotten discouraged. I found it on Wikipedia but the original source is the April 2017 issue of "Off Beat".

All artists should be looking for their own voices. I went through a period of trying to sound like Harry James and Louis Armstrong and Miles [Davis]. And then when Clifford Brown came along, it was almost discouraging. The guy was so good! But I kept at it. I loved playing. And then when I heard Les Paul multitrack his guitar on recordings, I tried that with the trumpet. Boom—that sound came out. After I released ‘The Lonely Bull,’ the record that started A&M in 1962, a lady in Germany wrote a letter to me. She said, ‘Thank you, Mr. Alpert, for sending me on a vicarious trip to Tijuana.’ I realized that music was visual for her, that it took her someplace. I said, ‘That’s the type of music I want to make. I want to make music that transports people.

And of course, he did find his own sound. As much as Miles Davis has his own voice, so does Herb Alpert.

For this week's Japanese-to-American comparison, we'll go with some of the winners at the Japan Record Awards for 1965.

Grand Prize: Hibari Misora -- Yawara (柔）

Best New Artist: Hiroshi Wada & Mahina Stars & Miyoko Tashiro -- Aishite, Aishite, Aishichattanoyo (愛して愛して愛しちゃったのよ）

Best Composer: Hirooki Ogawa for Chieko Baisho -- Sayonara wa Dance no Ato ni （さよならはダンスの後に）

Fishmans -- Season

 

Welcome to June! And sure enough, although summer is officially three weeks away, my city has been smacked with some heat and humidity typical of the hot season, somewhere in the area of 32 degrees Celsius. Frankly, we have to watch a lot of snow and ice and cold for a lot of the year, so I don't particularly mind this level of 3H weather (the third H stands for haze) because I went through something far harsher in Japan for many years.

Early last month, I wrote an article on the multi-genre (pop, rock, reggae, shoegaze, Neo-psychedelia, dub and Shibuya-kei) band Fishmans（フィッシュマンズ）for the first time via their relaxing March 1996 single "Baby Blue". A Fishmans fan by the name of bonk then recommended in the comments to try out "Long Season" which was an epic October 1996 one-track album which lasted around 35 minutes. I was planning to do so but then I read the description where "Long Season" was based on a nearly 6-minute single (the band's 11th), "Season", that had been released in September of that year. 

Well, I figured that I ought to try the original first before tackling the album (which I will do sometime over the weekend). Written and composed by the late vocalist/bassist Shinji Sato（佐藤伸治）, it's the story of a couple who carry on a devil-may-care romantic spree throughout Tokyo during what I assume is summer. Rather than alternative rock, I think "Season" is cloaked in atmospheric alternative pop and, as has been labeled in the J-Wiki article on the song, it's also heard as a dub number. I've learned that dub is an electronic genre that stems from reggae so I got some further musical education there.

The music video for "Season" is also quite evocative in a very dreamy way. I'm sure that pop psychologists would love to take this one on. The single peaked at No. 62 on Oricon. I'm now interested in hearing how "Long Season" goes. Does it provide even more insights into the couple's breezy summer affair? Inquiring minds want to know.