Miki Nakatani -- Suizokukan no Yoru（水族館の夜）

 

I don't think that I ever mentioned this on any of the Miki Nakatani（中谷美紀）articles on KKP, but the first time I remember seeing her was the above Nippon Oil commercial, and it was that one scene that you see frozen as the thumbnail image that I remember which had me mistakenly identifying the ad as one for a diet medicine. But actually it was for gasoline and the lass didn't even say a word. She just popped up in different scenes and mouthed what the recording booth singers were singing in the jingle.

Although I myself haven't seen her in any movies or television shows in recent years, her filmography on J-Wiki has her still active in front of the camera. But I did want to feature a song from her September 1997 2nd album, "Cure", which I had posted over a decade ago.

"Suizokukan no Yoru" (Night at the Aquarium) was one of the songs that I hadn't covered in my article on "cure", but I'm glad that I'm able to do so today as an individual posting because it stands out for sounding a bit like a late 1960s (or perhaps even an early 1990s) Brit-rock or Brit-pop tune with that whimsical keyboard and the elastic guitar. It was written by Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）and composed/arranged by Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）with the story being about a woman trying to get over a romantic relationship that has just ended. I first assumed that the lass was visiting a Japanese version of Sea World to get over her troubles but by the end, the aquarium may have been the one made of her tears pouring down her face in her room. I realize that "Suizokukan no Yoru" isn't a kayo kyoku by any means, but as I was listening to it, I did pick up on the trope of the somewhat upbeat melody paired with some sad lyrics. 

Tracey Ullman/Kirsty MacColl -- They Don't Know

 

On this special holiday edition of Reminiscings of Youth, I'm keeping a promise I made when I posted Tracey Ullman's cover of "Breakaway" which had come out as her official debut single back in 1983. In actual fact, the first song that I and millions of other music video watchers had heard by the future godmother of The Simpsons was "They Don't Know", released in September that year. The video is very familiar to me and yet I had completely forgotten about Paul McCartney's cameo at the end.

As was the case with Ullman and "Breakaway", I didn't find out until much later that "They Don't Know" was a cover of an original version released in June 1979 by the late singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl. Listening to MacColl's version, I got the impression of a gentle contemporary pop ballad. Meanwhile, Ullman's cover several years later (along with the video) has always hit me as a tribute to 1960s girl pop. What I hadn't known was that the cover had MacColl returning to help out in her pipe of "Baby!" from the original since Ullman couldn't really hit her note that high.

In Canada, Ullman's "They Don't Know" peaked at No. 5 on RPM while in America, it got as high as No. 8. The video is one that I remember having a long run on the music shows and basically "They Don't Know" ended up as being my one reminder of Ullman until she showed up several years later on FOX TV with her own comedy-variety show.

So, what singles were being released in September 1983?

Jiro Atsumi -- Busan Ko e Kaere (釜山港へ帰れ)

Akina Nakamori -- Kinku （禁区）

Naoko Kawai -- Unbalance （ＵＮバランス）

East Lord -- Ai no Game（愛のゲーム）/On the Road（オン・ザ・ロード）

 

There was a 1982 movie starring Lisa Akikawa（秋川リサ）and the late Hiroyuki Watanabe（渡辺裕之）titled "On the Road", directed by Seiji Izumi（和泉聖治）with the plot involving a very remorseful motorcycle cop. After having caused an accident which ruined the career of a fashion model and not apologizing immediately due to political machinations within the police, Watanabe's Officer Tomishima goes on a cross-country pursuit of the model who's now heading back to Okinawa in her older sister's sports car. Of course, stuff happens.

But for me, it wasn't so much the movie but the opening and ending themes which first grabbed my attention. "Ai no Game" (Love Game) was the single that was released from the movie and it was performed by a band or an individual called East Lord（イースト・ロード）. I tried but I couldn't track down who the vocalist was. Perhaps it was composer Masao Nakajima（中島正雄）, a musician and producer who had been a member of the blues group West Road Blues Band in the late 1970s.

"Ai no Game" was actually the ending theme for the movie. With director Izumi's lyrics coupled with Nakajima's melody, the song sounds like a very gallant country rock ballad that could have accompanied the cop's quest throughout Japan. My compliments to East Lord who reminds me a bit of a less raspy Eikichi Yazawa（矢沢永吉）from Carol（キャロル）.

Izumi and Nakajima were also responsible for the opening theme which ended up as Side B of the single. "On the Road" is not surprisingly a lot more boisterous, probably to set the tone for the movie. I'm kinda wondering whether both songs wouldn't have been even more appropriate for a rebellious bike gang leader running the roads of Honshu.

EVISBEATS feat. WHALE TALX & annie the clumsy -- Lullaby

 

If you are living in Canada or the United States, I hope that you are enjoying your Labour Day before getting back to work tomorrow or getting ready to go to school. For me, I'll simply be enjoying a restful holiday Monday at home which also includes the usual daily blogging.

When I found out about the MC and trackmaker EVISBEATS not too long ago through his 2021 "Cherry Blossom" collaboration with musician Kazuhiko Maeda（前田和彦）, I also found another YouTube video as a recommended piece. In December 2018, he released an album "Holiday" which had the track "Lullaby".

EVISBEATS took a more active role in "Lullaby" along with some good buddies: Japanese hip-hop group WHALE TALX and singer-songwriter annie the clumsy who was apparently inspired by New Zealand comedy duo Flight of the Conchords to spark her career in music. All together, they make "Lullaby" into one of the calmest and grooviest hip-hop tunes that I've ever heard...maybe more hip-pop, I'm not sure. I've known about EVISBEATS for just a short while but my impression is that he also has his love for jazz so I can pick some of that up in the arrangement of the song. In fact, with that keyboard work in there, I kinda got that feeling that if the late legendary Vince Guaraldi had gotten into hip-hop, "Lullaby" could have been one result.

On the same day that "Holiday" was released, EVISBEATS also put out an instrumental version of the album which includes "Lullaby".

Keizo Nakanishi -- Snowy Sun

 

My Keizo Nakanishi（中西圭三）phase focused on his early years between the early and mid-1990s so my knowledge on his work from then on is extremely sparse unfortunately.

Therefore, coming across this song for the first time not too long ago was a pretty good find. "Snowy Sun" is on his December 1999 album "Sunshine Groove". The groovy beats are there along with that amazing Keizo voice although I thought at the start of the song that his vocals and the rhythm didn't quite match up solidly. With that title, I thought that "Snowy Sun" must have been used as a commercial tune for ski wear or even a ski resort. However, it was actually used for Attenir Cosmetics.

Nakanishi composed the groovy and funky melody while Kanata Asamizu（朝水彼方）provided the lyrics. Meanwhile, Nobuo Ariga（有賀啓雄）was responsible for the overall arrangement. I'm not sure what Nakanishi has been up to over the past few years, but according to J-Wiki, it appears that he's still active performing at concerts.

Rikako Aida -- Ordinary Love

 

Well, with the aging process in full roll now, I have to admit that I was about to write on both the opening and ending themes for the 2019 anime adaptation of "Senryu Shojo"（川柳少女...Short Poetry Girl）. However, I found out that I had already given my two cents on the opener "Kotonoha no Omoi"（コトノハノオモイ...Memories of Classic Japanese Poetry） by Sonoko Inoue（井上苑子）all the way back in that year. Looks like my own memories need some re-jigging.

The reason that I'm mentioning this adorable and tsukkomi-filled 15-minute anime once more a few years later is that I've been re-watching the entire series again. Nope, it has neither earned any new seasons nor superlatives, but as someone who prefers the mild slice-of-life stuff, it's been nice going over the lives of Nanako and Eiji and their surrounding buddies once more. 

"Ordinary Love" by Rikako Aida（逢田梨香子）, a member of the aidoru group Aquors just like Ai Furihata（降旗愛）, is the pleasant and contemplative piano-and-guitar ballad which finishes off each episode. Written by Satomi and composed by Kouhei Aoki（青木康平）, I think that the song has the right title in depicting the budding relationship between a young girl who can only communicate via a special form of haiku on a stiff strip of writing board known as tanzaku（短冊）and a former delinquent who's really a bunny-loving nice dude. Even they deserve some ordinary love.

Considering the above video with Nanako becoming good buddies with Kino in their distinctive fashion, I remember the point that I made in the posting regarding last year's anime "Aharen-san wa Hakarenai"（阿波連さんははかれない...Miss Aharen is Indecipherable） and "Komi-san wa, Komyu-sho desu."（古見さんは、コミュ症です。...Komi Can't Communicate）. Just imagine a tea party with Nanako, Kino, Komi-san, Aharen-san,  Chino Kafuu of Rabbit House, and Kanna Kamui Kobayashi. It says a lot when Chino-chan would most likely be the most vocally active of this quiet sextet.

Jimmy Buffett -- Margaritaville

 

Saw it on the news crawl on CP24 this morning, but yep, unfortunately singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett passed away at the age of 76 yesterday due to lymphoma. The man was the paean to good old-fashioned tropical beachfront living and such was the fame and popularity of his magnum opus, "Margaritaville" that I think it did have at least some influence on the Resort Pop subset within the New Music, City Pop and AOR realm in Japan. The folk-turned-AOR duo Bread & Butter might be one example. In any case, I've mentioned his name and the song enough times over the years on KKP that I have to mention this today.

"Margaritaville" was released in February 1977, and I can imagine here in Canada at that time, listeners really got that desperate feeling about flying to Florida on hearing this song of tropical paradise. But strangely enough, what I only discovered just in the last hour or so is that "Margaritaville" is really about a hedonistic beach bum who has come to the gradual realization that he's lost the love of his life due to his own actions, especially after a few instances of bad luck. Margaritaville may really be now the bum's soft prison and his margaritas are the crutch to keep him going.

I used to hear "Margaritaville" all the time on radio as a kid and all this time, I'd just assumed that it was the song to advertise a potential retirement in perpetually summery ecstasy. It certainly sounds inviting enough. And I've drunk enough margaritas to get that nice comfortable buzz. 

The song hit No. 4 in Canada and No. 8 in the United States but it went all the way to the top of the Adult Contemporary charts in both nations. It was even inducted into the 2016 Grammy Hall of Fame and in the United States National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress this year. My condolences to Buffett's family, friends and fans through this special ROY article.

So, what were some of the Best New Artists at the Japan Record Awards that year?

Karyudo -- Azusa Ni-go （あずさ２号）

Ikue Sakakibara -- Al Pacino Tasu Alain Delon Yori Anata (アル・パシーノ＋アラン・ドロン＜あなた)

Yosuke Tagawa -- Lui-Lui