Junko Hirotani -- Jasmine Tea Dream（ジャスミン・ティー・ドリーム）

 

Not surprisingly in a nation which has its own long history of tea, I was able to sample a lot of other teas that weren't simply the Orange Pekoe and the Green teas in Canada. There was Oolong, Chamomile and even Rooibos. I probably did have Jasmine tea at one point although I can't quite remember how it tasted. There was a tea shop near one of my schools that I frequented so often that the owner and waitresses not only recognized who I was but also knew what I liked to order (the tuna sandwiches were to die for there). But anyways, feel free to enjoy the above video by Nioteas TV.

I gather that Jasmine tea must have a calming effect according to this track from Junko Hirotani's（広谷順子）3rd and final album "Enough" from February 1983. "Jasmine Tea Dream" is about as tender as those jasmine blossoms and though it's completely Japanese in its creation with Hirotani herself behind the composition, Machiko Ryu（竜真知子）on lyrics and Masataka Matsutoya（松任谷正隆）arranging everything, I can't help but feel that there is something David Foster in the song, especially with the rich piano. At first, I was wondering whether "Jasmine Tea Dream" would fall under either the City Pop or the AOR hemisphere but by the end, I was persuaded that this is a straight pop ballad.

Hayashi Tetsuji no Sekai -- The City Pop Chronicle（林哲司の世界）

 

The above is a distant photo of the Tokyo International Forum in the Sukibayashi neighbourhood, just five minutes' walk north of Ginza. Although I never got to see a concert there, I've passed through the building a number of times, and I believe the 2021 edition of NHK's Kohaku Utagassen was held there while the Shibuya hall for the national broadcaster was undergoing renovations.

Earlier this afternoon, I was talking with podcaster Rocket Brown and he was kind enough to send me an image of a poster advertising an event there which will be held on November 5th from 5 pm. It turns out to be a concert titled "Hayashi Tetsuji no Sekai -- The City Pop Chronicle" (The World of Tetsuji Hayashi) which is a one-night-only performance of Hayashi's creations as done by many of the original singers including Yurie Kokubu（国分友里恵）, Anri（杏里）, Omega Tribe（オメガトライブ）and Akira Terao（寺尾聰）. Prices are around 15,000 yen per seat according to the poster.

I usually don't advertise concerts here but I felt that this one was too tempting to not talk about. Mind you, being late to the party as usual, I came across a Reddit string which was already rapping about this Hayashi event a few months ago. And at the same time, I'm uncertain whether the concert is already sold out. But one never knows and perhaps some of you City Pop fans who may be in Tokyo in early November might have the opportunity to check it out. Of course, if you are able to catch it, maybe you can let us know how it all went.

Yutaka Kimura Speaks ~ Japanese City Pop Masterpieces 100: Yasuhiro Abe -- Close Your Eyes

 

Number: 026

Lyricist/Composer: Yasuhiro Abe

Arranger: Nobuyuki Shimizu

From Abe's 1985 album: "Frame of Mind"

"Close Your Eyes" is a gentle medium-tempo tune that brings a taste of that quintessential Abe（安部恭弘）mellowness. Because it's not especially a flashy song, it's prone to be overlooked but I think it is a highly refined work. I have to tip my hat off to the excellent sense of Nobuyuki Shimizu（清水信之）who was also the arranger for "Irene"（アイリーン）. This was the peak of their prime time together.

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

Kumi Nakamura -- Kimagure（気まぐれ）

 

I like to welcome actress Kumi Nakamura（中村久美）to KKP and I'd like to emphasize that being a thespian is her main bread-and-butter (no musical pun intended) since she only released one single and one album (both in November 1980) to accompany her very long resume of acting roles. In fact, the video above will take you to a commercial she did for a pharmaceutical company.

Anyways, I did find this B-side to that lone single she did in 1980. Titled "Kimagure" (Whimsy) with the A-side titled "Kaette Oide yo"（帰っておいでよ...Come On Home）, the melody by Fumiko Kikuchi（菊池文子）kinda fulfills the whimsical aspect with the funky disco flute and the Fender Rhodes/electric piano of the 1970s and it's a nice little skip down the city lane. Machiko Ryu（竜真知子） provided the lyrics and I think Nakamura acquitted herself pretty well on this one. Would be interested on how she did with some of those remaining songs she contributed to her album "Hiko Shojo"（飛行少女...Flight Girl）.

Probably for such a rare single, it has been fortuitous that DJ Notoya was kind enough to include it as the first track on his "Tokyo Glow" compilation.

Mami Ayukawa -- Smoky Town wo Samayotte（Smoky Town をさまよって）

 

Just for the record, the above from the good people at Good Free Photos is not a photo of San Francisco but of Högakustenbron, Sweden. The more you know, and all that stuff.

When I was listening to singer-songwriter Mami Ayukawa's（鮎川麻弥）"Smoky Town wo Samayotte" (Wandering Through Smoky Town), I was instantly attracted to her melody of samba/bossa nova via the synthesizers and such so that I was also reminded of the song stylings of Matt Bianco. However, I am hoping that the "smoky" in town is referring more to fog rather than photochemical smog. The last thing I need to hear that Ayukawa is suffering from COPD, although I can understand that both can lend to a very atmospheric nightscape in the city. Sorry, a bit anal retentive on my part.😋

"Smoky Town wo Samayotte" is a track on Ayukawa's October 1988 album "Smile". 

Makoto Iwabuchi -- Moonlight Flight（ムーンライト・フライト）

 

OK...I couldn't (and still can't as of this writing) embed Yasuhiro Abe's（安部恭弘）video into my article regarding his song a few minutes ago, but I'm fine here with singer-songwriter Makoto Iwabuchi（岩淵まこと）. Go figure on TGIF.

In any case, whereas Abe's "Kanojo ni Dry na Martini wo"（彼女にドライなマティーニを）is the equivalent of high and mighty and frenetic painting of the town red in Bubble Era Tokyo, Iwabuchi's "Moonlight Flight" is much more laidback and Margaritaville relaxing. The flute and the strings hint at that literal ride in the sky as the singer serenades listeners like a mix of lonesome cowboy and Hawaiian crooner.

"Moonlight Flight" is a track on his October 1977 debut album "Super Moon" which also shares space with "Whiskey Drive"（ウィスキー・ドライブ） which I wrote back in August. Interestingly enough, the song also came out as a single much later...in 1995. This year has been quite the good discovery of Iwabuchi.

Yasuhiro Abe -- Kanojo ni Dry na Martini wo（彼女にドライなマティーニを）

Good Free Photos

 

Well, it seems as if it's been the end of the week when Blogger and YouTube decide to not speak with each other, thereby preventing any embedding of videos here. It's happened twice before and it's happening now so I'll have to just provide the link to the video for now.

(October 7 2023: Ah, I got it back!)

Still, this song by City Pop crooner Yasuhiro Abe（安部恭弘）is well worth the extra step of heading back to YouTube. "Kanojo ni Dry na Martini wo" (A Dry Martini for the Lady) is a track from his awkwardly titled "Tune box the summer 1986" from July of that year. "Tennessee Waltz" (テネシーワルツ), which is the last Abe song that I posted up several months ago, is also a fellow track on the album.

I have to give props to the multi-instrumentalist and arranger Nobuyuki Shimizu（清水信之）for his wonderfully thrumming City Pop style including "Kanojo ni Dry na Martini wo". He's been helping Abe and another City Pop veteran EPO (among other singers) for years, and it's come to the point where I'll probably have to feature him in a Creator article soon. Although Chinfa Kan's（康珍化）lyrics seem to be pointing out a scene in a bar where two people, both from broken relationships, find each other to perhaps build a new one, Abe's melody hints at a lot of hope and optimism in the big busy city. The time seems to be around Xmas although I don't really think that this would classify as a Xmas tune. Of course, Abe's falsetto is always a highlight and I read on one person's blog that Yasuhiro Kido（木戸泰弘）and Seishiro Kusunose（楠瀬誠志郎）are among the folks helping out on the smooth-as-silk background chorus.