DAOKO & Yasuyuki Okamura -- Step-Up Love（ステップアップLOVE）

 

Never actually heard or saw this anime "Kekkai Sensen"（血界戦線...Blood Blockade Battlefront） adapted from a 2009 manga which is currently into its third series. From what I've read of the premise though, it sounds like a bit like "Men In Black" with a supernatural bent.

The anime adaptation has had two seasons with the second season being called "Kekkai Sensen & BEYOND" that had its run in 2017. I decided to take a gander at how the theme songs came across and I did a full stop at the ending theme and the credits for that second season. One reason is that good ol' Yasuyuki Okamura（岡村靖幸）, one of the funkiest singers to be involved in anison alongside one of the most soulful in Masayuki Suzuki（鈴木雅之）, was back again to help out in a duet with singer-songwriter and rapper DAOKO. I'd written about DAOKO almost a month ago regarding her 2015 debut single "ShibuyaK".

Well, cool and funky is what I'm getting with their collaboration, "Step-Up Love". Released as DAOKO's 4th single in October 2017, both singers worked on the lyrics while Okamura took care of the music and arrangement. A song where the romantic chase seems to be more preferable than the final takedown, "Step-Up Love" has DAOKO and Okamura getting to do what they love best, the former doing her sultry rap while the latter gets to funk it up.

Looks like the song got translated into a dance-off between DAOKO and Okamura in the official music video. MIKIKO, the choreographer behind Perfume's dancing, was also responsible for creating that competition in the basketball court. DAOKO and her ELEVENPLAY group of dancers did their Voguing against Okamura's quintessential funky struts. "Step-Up Love" managed to peak at No. 8 on Oricon. It's also a track on DAOKO's 2nd album as a major act, "Thank You Blue" which came out in December 2017 and got as high as No. 13.

Suzi Kim -- Maloa（マロア）

 

Several weeks ago, I wrote about an old Fuji-TV program known as "Wordsworth no Bouken"（ワーズワースの冒険...The Adventures of Wordsworth） which dealt in providing viewers about some of the more mature and refined hobbies out there. It lasted about four years and had a parade of celebrities helping out in the delivery such as actress Rie Miyazawa（宮沢りえ）above.

Now, the original theme song that was used with "Wordsworth no Bouken" was the fantastical and mysterious "Sha Rion"（シャ・リオン）as recorded by the late Eri Kawai（河井英里）and created by Michiru Oshima（大島ミチル）. I think that was also the theme song that everyone still knows the show by, but apparently (and this doesn't show up on the J-Wiki article for the program), in 1997, which was its final year, Oshima concocted a new theme titled "Maloa" (or "Maroa") according to the brief explanation for the YouTube video. Sung by Suzi Kim（スージーキム）this time, it's quite the perky Latin jazz tune that could tempt viewers to book that vacation to Brazil.

Suzi Kim is someone whose name that I've heard from time to time when it comes to Japanese music, but the only information that I could dig up so far on her was located at the website for the Zaza Voice Training School where I gather that she is an instructor. After studying in the United States, she returned to Japan where she provided backup chorus to singers such as Masaki Ueda（上田正樹）and Takuro Yoshida（吉田拓郎）. She also started up the Royal Funk Band in 1996 which is still performing today, but she has done DJ duties on radio and has participated in commercials.

Teruhiko Aoi -- Boku no Himitsu（僕の秘密）

 

Well, for a guy who really wanted to keep things a secret, he's pretty open about it with how much he loves that girl.

I'm talking about Teruhiko Aoi's（あおい輝彦）debut single as a solo artist, "Boku no Himitsu" (My Hidden Secret). Once a member of Johnny & Associates' first group Johnnys in the 1960s, Aoi even took four and a half months during his stint with the group to head over to America to study singing, dancing and English. Of course, he would have his biggest hit nearly a decade later with "Anata dake wo" (あなただけを). 

But it all began with "Boku no Himitsu" which was released in August 1968 not long after Johnnys broke up in the previous year. Written and composed by Aoi himself (something that he did on occasion) with arrangement by Kunihiko Suzuki（鈴木邦彦）,  he created the song as this one-man Group Sounds tune which probably had the teens shimmying on the tables, although I don't know how well it did on the charts. The sultry way he keeps saying "I love you" and "I wanna tell you my hidden secret", it's pretty obvious that he was studying his English. 

Hakucho-za -- Himekuri（日めくり）

Warwick Publishing

I know that the daily pad calendars exist everywhere on Earth but since I first saw them in Japan when I went there in 1972, they've been imprinted upon me as a part of Japanese décor. If I'm not mistaken, there was one in my grandparents' house in Wakayama Prefecture. However, I've never used them in my home either here or in Japan because I needed to have calendars with plenty of space for me to write down scheduled events.

Well, I've got one of the most wistful songs ever made in the kayo kyoku era. "Himekuri" (Daily Pad Calendar) was the B-side to Hakucho-za's（白鳥座）June 1981 debut single "Kamome"（かもめ...Seagull） and it was written and composed by band member Yutaka Takahira（高比良豊）. Using the concept of ripping off each sheet as the days come and go, it's an allegory for a couple who lived day-by-day in their own humble little abode until the time arrived that they had to finally break up for whatever reason. It seems like the woman in the relationship was left in the apartment while the man has opted to return to his hometown, but the former is going by the calendar and taking things day-by-day to recover although things are currently still a little tender and raw.

The music by Takahira is led by a poignancy-heavy piano, silky strings and Reiko Sada's（佐田玲子）somewhat weary vocals in a folksy arrangement. And I certainly can't forget that wailing electric guitar. There is that feeling of a sunset leading the now parted lovers into the night but also a new morning. If you have a chance, have a listen to Hakucho-za's 1982 "Yonjuu-ni Kilo no Seishun"（42キロの青春）for a different angle in their sound.

The Bangles -- Manic Monday

Good Free Photos

I'll never not marvel at the observation that Canada's Thanksgiving and Japan's Sports Day fall on the same day...the second Monday in October, considering one nation feasts while the other nation promotes strenuous physical activity. Regardless, I wish my fellow Canadians a Happy Thanksgiving. Our family had the regular get-together last night but since I'm the only person who likes turkey, it was sushi for dinner. 

I figure that depending on the family and the logistics (or lack of them), there will be those who are having a pretty manic Monday getting ready to greet extended family after spending time, money and energy to create that traditional turkey dinner with all of the trimmings. So, as such on the usual special holiday edition of Reminiscings of Youth, I give you "Manic Monday" by The Bangles.

According to the Wikipedia article regarding the song, although it had originally been written and composed by Prince in 1984 as a duet between him and Apollonia 6, the deal with "Manic Monday" didn't quite make it, and a couple of years later, he offered it under the pseudonym Christopher to The Bangles. It was released as the band's single at the end of January 1986.

I remember first seeing the music video showing Susanna Hoffs singing while her fellow bandmates were making like regular folks trying to start off their Monday mornings. The lyrics and the music both come across as a relatable happy-go-lucky day-in-the-life pop tune about resignedly schlumping off to work while wishing that the weekend hadn't ended. 

For both the American and Canadian charts, "Manic Monday" hit No. 2, and even in Japan, it managed to get as high as No. 56 on Oricon. 

Interestingly enough, although I'd planned to consult the Oricon Top 10 for January 1986 for the comparative hits in Japan, I realized that I had already done so a couple of weeks ago for Sade's "Is It a Crime?" which was also released in that month. Therefore, let's go with the singles that were released back then.

Hideaki Tokunaga -- Rainy Blue

Misato Watanabe -- My Revolution

Yukiko Okada -- Kuchibiru Network (くちびる Network)

Masami Tsuchiya feat. Ryuichi Sakamoto -- KAFKA

 

I've heard of author Franz Kafka and the adjective that he left us all: Kafkaesque meaning (according to the "Encyclopedia Britannica") to describe "...isolated protagonists facing bizarre or surrealistic predicaments and incomprehensible socio-bureaucratic powers. It has been interpreted as exploring themes of alienation, existential anxiety, guilt, and absurdity". 

Catching Kafkaesque movies was never one of my pointed priorities in pop culture life but I think I have heard or seen a few such as Terry Gilliam's "Brazil" and then there was the B-plot in the overall OK "Ocean's Thirteen" with the poor hotel inspector going through his own existential hell as part of Danny's overall plan of revenge (happily, he gets a handsome reward in literally the final scene).

Strangely enough, I figured that if Kafkaesque ever deserved a soundtrack, there would be either a sinister French accordion or a boppy technopop layer. Well, I have apparently won the lottery since Masami Tsuchiya's（土屋昌巳）"KAFKA" featuring the Professor himself, Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）, has both (well, the accordion was actually a pianica). Sakamoto wrote, composed and arranged (and played most of the instruments for) this song with Tsuchiya on the electric guitar and Sakamoto intoning some lyrics hinting at a garbled incomplete message driving any Kafkaesque victim insane with frustration. The music also hints that the poor schlub must be going through some really horrendous battles.

"KAFKA" was placed onto Tsuchiya's June 1982 debut album "Rice Music". Might I say that Tsuchiya looks very handsome/pretty on that cover? He looks like a New Wave bellboy!

Arisa Mizuki/Ami Ozaki -- Kagami no Naka no Utopia（鏡の中のUTOPIA）

 

Well, as I've always said, never forget about those B-sides...or coupling songs when it comes to the CD single. It's been close to eleven years since I first posted Arisa Mizuki's（観月ありさ）dreamy May 1991 debut single "Densetsu no Shojo"（伝説の少女）as created by singer-songwriter Ami Ozaki（尾崎亜美）. Yup, I bought that one used for a grand total of 357 yen.

The coupling song for "Densetsu no Shojo" was "Kagami no Naka no Utopia" (Utopia in the Mirror) as also created by Ozaki and arranged by Jun Sato（佐藤準）. It's an interesting song in that it starts out sounding like something that should have been inserted in a Studio Ghibli soundtrack but then the chorus goes into a more contemporary pop mode. I think I can understand why it didn't achieve its own A-side status but the contrast between the two aspects keeps things interesting.

Ozaki recorded a cover of "Kagami no Naka no Utopia" for her March 1992 3rd album of self-covers titled "Points-3". Her version keeps the contemporary pop arrangement throughout the song and even throws in a bit of rock under Motohiro Tomita's（富田素弘）aegis.