Shack -- Love Machine ni Norikonde（ラブ・マシーンに乗りこんで）

 

Happy Monday! The topic of this article reminded me of an old beloved hockey player who bounced around six different National Hockey League teams between 1959 and 1975. His name was Eddie "The Entertainer" Shack and one of the teams he played for was our own Toronto Maple Leafs from 1960 to 1967. In fact, he had played for the last Leaf team to win the Stanley Cup in 1967 just before he was traded to the Boston Bruins. 

Considering that being less than two years of age at the time, I couldn't even remember Toronto winning that trophy, Shack's reputation greatly preceded him as a popular guy because although he couldn't score too much, he more than compensated by being a third-line agent provocateur to distract the opposing guys from their game. So I can imagine him getting into plenty of donnybrooks during a time when players fought like Japanese kaiju all the time. A local garage rock band known as The Secrets even whipped up a huge hit called "Clear the Track, Here Comes Shack" sometime in the year that I was born. I actually first got to recognize who he was by seeing some classmate's lunch box at school with a picture of Shack and the title of the song. I also realized that he did return to the Leafs at the very end of his playing career for a couple of seasons; that must explain some of the hoopla that I barely remember on the TV with his crumply grinning mug on the screen.

One thing that I do remember is Shack with his colourful personality was a natural in commercials, and when he retired, he would do ads for this soft drink business called The Pop Shoppe. As he put it, he "...had a nose for value". He definitely had the nose, all right.

Anyways, I'm waxing nostalgic on an old Leafs hero because a few days ago, a Japanese band followed me on Twitter (and thank you for that, by the way) and I followed them back. I never heard of them before but although「しゃっく」would be romaji-cized into Shakku, their website has Shack in their URL, so I'll go with that. From what little I've heard so far, they seem to be an indies rock band with a sense of humour. I'm uncertain how long they've been around but at this point, they consist of Hikaru Ishibashi（いし橋ひかる）, Kenta Nagasawa（なかざわけん太）, Giorgio Dekoyatsu（ジョルジョデコヤツ）, Hideyuki Aoki（アオキヒデユキ）, Kaji（かじ）and Sone（そね）. 

One song that I've come across is the comely and parade-like "Love Machine ni Norikonde" (Hop Onto the Love Machine) which was released sometime in 2020. The lyrics by Ishibashi may have some innuendo as the title indicates, although the overall premise is about having a sunny day together and the song has nothing to do with another "Love Machine". The music video has the guys enjoying their regular Othello disc-making bee, although the appearance of a new lady in the area has suddenly added a complication to the routine. The pandemic was in full blast at that time so seeing a video like this one must have been of great comfort to fans.

If any of the band members read this article and would like to provide any confirmation or correction to their names or any commentary about the band's history, they can feel free to do so.

Hiroshi Kamayatsu -- Island Girl

 

I was watching an "Uta Con"（うたコン）episode earlier tonight that I had PVR'ed a couple of weeks ago. There was a congenial theme of cover songs that night, and two of the folks guesting were veteran singer Misato Watanabe（渡辺美里）and comedian Tomomitsu Yamaguchi（山口智充）. They performed a duet version of The Spiders' classic "Bang Bang Bang"（バン　バン　バン）which may still be an oldies favourite at karaoke.

The Spiders' guitarist Hiroshi "Monsieur" Kamayatsu（かまやつひろし）was responsible for the dynamic melody behind "Bang Bang Bang" when it came out in the late 1960s. Who knew that approximately a decade later he would be into the light and mellow music for a while? His ninth studio album (and his fourth under the TRIO label), "Pineapple no Yukue e"（パイナップルの彼方へ...Up in the Pineapple）, came out in 1979 and apparently it was his third album in a row that was following the AOR line. Sure enough, the cover of "Pineapple no Yukue e" pretty much screams AOR.

One track in there is the very amiable "Island Girl", a happy-go-lucky tune of that genre with an underpinning of showtime jazz. The overall cheerful effect is similar to the one gotten from Taeko Ohnuki's（大貫妙子）classic "Yokogao"（横顔）from her 1978 album "Mignonne". Fujihiko Shimada（嶋田富士彦）was behind the lyrics to accompany Monsieur's melody. Not a bad way to end a Sunday.

The Tube -- O.Ne.Ga.I Radio（オ・ネ・ガ・イ RADIO）

 

Well, if summer is indeed just around the corner, then that must mean it's time for another TUBE song. It just wouldn't feel like a KKP summer without a song from Nobuteru Maeda（前田亘輝）and the guys. 

As I did last year with putting up the B-side, "Namida no Harbour Light"（涙のハーバーライト）, to TUBE's debut single (when they were known as The Tube), "Best Seller Summer"（ベストセラー・サマー）from June 1985, I'm putting up the B-side here of their sophomore effort, "Sentimental ni Kubittake" (センチメンタルに首ったけ) which came out later in October. If you're wondering about the odd appearance of the title on the byline, that's how it looks on the official TUBE YouTube channel, so I'm just going with that.

Written and composed by Maeda and arranged by the band, "O.Ne.Ga.I Radio", being an early TUBE song, sounds a bit different from the usual good-time pop/rock that we've gotten used to by the guys. Instead, it has more of a straight-ahead 50s or 60s rock n' roll vibe as the vocalist sings about the old communications device being the heart of any beach blanket party. According to the J-Wiki article, although an album version of the song exists on The Tube's 2nd original album, "Off Shore Dreamin'" from December 1985, the single version has apparently never made it onto CD.

(4:28)

Nogizaka46 -- Hadashi de Summer（裸足でSummer）

 

As Hiroshi Nagai（永井博）has so wonderfully depicted above, the hot season may already have arrived. The temperatures are a little cooler but it's certainly comfortable and the sun out there is gorgeous. Who wouldn't want to tear off those work clothes including the stifling leather shoes and socks and wade into some cooling water?

The ladies at Nogizaka46（乃木坂46）share your pain and desire, and back in July 2016, they released their 15th single, "Hadashi de Summer" (Barefoot Summer). Written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and composed by Hidetoshi Fukumori（福森秀敏）with arrangement by APAZZI, it's just the aidoru tonic to get fans ready for the season. The music video by Takeshi Maruyama（丸山健志）filmed in Okinawa Prefecture may have gotten viewers to book their tickets on ANA or JAL for Japan's southernmost province. Nothing like a summer vacation with friends.

"Hadashi de Summer" hit No. 1 on the Oricon weeklies and it would become the 6th-ranked song for 2016. It was also a track on Nogizaka46's 3rd studio album "Umarete kara Hajimete Mita Yume"（生まれてから初めて見た夢...The First Dream I Had Since I Was Born） from May 2017. The album also reached the top spot and became the 7th-ranked album of that year. It also shares space with the hit single "Influencer".

Chika Takami -- Natsu wo Erande（夏を選んで）

 

I've written about aidoru Chika Takami（高見知佳）a few times now since 2015 including the first article for her best-known song, the EPO-penned fun and catchy synthpop "Kuchibiru Nude"（くちびるヌード）. Therefore, it's a pity to hear that the Ehime Prefecture-born singer, whose real name was Fusayo Takahashi（高橋房代）, had passed away on December 21st, 2022 at the age of 60 due to carcinomatous peritonitis after suffering ovarian cancer.

Today wasn't as torrid as it was over the previous couple of days but even though we're a few weeks early for summer, it's warm enough that I've decided to hit some of the summer kayo. So, I came across Takami's 14th single, the one before "Kuchibiru Nude", "Natsu wo Erande" (Choose Summer). Released in October 1983, this one is a really relaxing tune with a hint of bossa that I believe fits that early 1980s aidoru ballad to a T. It's quite the classy teenybopper song written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and composed by Kisaburo Suzuki（鈴木キサブロ）.

In July 2022, Takami had actually run as a candidate in the House of Councillors election as an independent politician but unfortunately lost to the Liberal Democratic Party candidate. My condolences to her family, friends and fans.

Fishmans -- Long Season

 

A couple of days ago, I wrote about the band Fishmans'（フィッシュマンズ）September 1996 single "Season", the alternative pop and dub song. Just to remind folks, all this came about because of a recommendation by commenter bonk some weeks back about this experimental album titled "Long Season" that was released a month later in October and was based on the original "Season".

Vocalist/bassist Shinji Sato（佐藤伸治）created "Season" and he's also on board for "Long Season". When I wrote up about "Season" on Thursday, I mentioned that his lyrics were relating a romantic spree during the summer in Tokyo, and naturally I had assumed that "Long Season" was an epically extended version which might provide further "details" on the love affair.

"Long Season" is actually considered to be an album with one track separated into five segments melding into each other over 35 minutes. But instead of this affair being further opened up to listeners, my overall impression just listening to it in its entirety twice is that the album is more about Fishmans simply exploring the different directions that the original melody could be taken into. Part 1 which is the second-longest section includes a mystical keyboard riff which weaves in and out of the entire album. Perhaps it may be the most grounded and closest part to the original since it thematically feels like how the couple got together in the first place whether it be in the cooler and more mysterious parts of Shibuya. I do have to mention that along with the regular band, there are special guests helping out. Among them, UA, MariMari, Butchi（ブッチー）, Naoko Ohmiya（オオミヤ・ナオコ）and Yoshiko Ohmiya（オオミヤ・ヨシコ）are helping out in the chorus with ASA-CHANG contributing on percussion.

Part 2 at 8:42 has the riff bringing us deeper into the urban wonderland as the melody trips the light fantastic into a new direction. There is something rather psychedelic (especially with the haunting scatting) about this part although somehow the riff continues to guide us through. Part 3 at 14:06 provides a bit of a breather as the first half or so consists of a "calm blue ocean" of glops of water hitting a pool from a faucet with distant eerie sounds echoing; all that before the percussion tide rolls in and makes us wonder where we've ended up. Toto, I've a feeling we're not in "Season" anymore!

At 20:39, Part 4 begins with a subdued alternative rock treatment of the original melody in comparison with the alternative pop feeling of "Season", and Sato's repeated scatting feels like something from the mouth of a vocalist for a 60s band. Not sure if that is Sato or UA singing out "yume no naka"（夢の中...inside a dream） over and over. The final Part 5 at 25:26 is the longest at under ten minutes with the guiding keyboard riff from Part 1 returning and sticking around all by its lonesome for several seconds as a "palate-cleanser" before Sato brings another familiar rhythm, some clear vocals and dub. HONZI even introduces a violin for a little progressiveness and other instruments including an accordion come together to rather hint that we're now in the epilogue. It all ends with a soft landing.

Not being a rock expert in the least, I have a feeling that listening to "Long Season" multiple times would be needed to gain further insight. The video has been up for several years so I'm sure that rock fans probably have deeper feelings about it. At first, when I saw the structure of the song, I had first thought about Holst's "The Planets" but then realized after listening that maybe there is more of a jazz approach in terms of the improvisational feeling. In any case, I invite your own comments.

To finish up, I have this translated quote from Masahiko Maeda（前田昌彦）, a journalist for the Japanese music magazine "BUZZ" who gave his own assessment of "Long Season", which hit No. 100 on Oricon:

A monumental work in which experimentation, the everyday, majestic beauty and trivial cuteness all crystallize effortlessly into one.

Yutaka Kimura Speaks ~ Japanese City Pop Masterpieces 100: Sugar Babe -- Ame wa Te no Hira ni Ippai（雨は手のひらにいっぱい）

 

Number: 008

Lyricist/Composer/Arranger: Tatsuro Yamashita

From their 1975 album: "SONGS"

The perfection of "Ame wa Te no Hira ni Ippai" (The Rain Has Filled The Palms of My Hands) makes this the quintessential Barry Mann song done in the Tatsuro style in the masterpiece "SONGS". I am really into this Southern Pop done in the tempo of the Classics IV and B.J. Thomas as it is wrapped within the Phil Spector sound to make an ideal arrangement that can also be considered to be a Niagara tune. Yamashita's later song, "2000t of Rain" can be said to have developed from it.

The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).