Diamantes -- Shouri no Uta（勝利の歌）

 

Well, it took 38 years but the Hanshin Tigers won the Japan Series several hours ago. Many congratulations to them, Osaka and their many fans. I've got a feeling that residents there will be even more happier and boisterous for the next six months. 

I already wrote an article on the famous Tigers' theme song "Rokko Oroshi"（六甲おろし）back in 2014, but heck, why not play this again in tribute to the guys? Also, while you're at it, have a read of the Curse of Colonel Sanders. In Osaka, he isn't just all about those eleven herbs and spices.

But of course, I still had to look for an appropriate song of victory to reflect the Tigers' baseball championship and it didn't take long before I encountered Okinawa-based Diamantes' "Shouri no Uta" (CANTEMOS LA CANCIÓN DE LA VICTORIA) which I can simply is "The Winning Song". This is a short, sweet and celebratory song that was released as the band's 3rd single in June 1994. The composer and writer was Diamantes vocalist Alberto Shiroma（アルベルト城間）with keyboardist Bob Ishihara（ボブ石原）also helping out on the lyrics. 

Diamantes started out in 1991 centering around third-generation Japanese-Peruvian Shiroma and their music has incorporated rhythms from the Dominican Republic's merengue, Cuban guajira, rumba and the bolero. They've had a number of band members but currently Diamantes consists of Shiroma and bassist Tom Nakasone（トム仲宗根）from Okinawa. Their discography of singles and albums have been coming out since 1993 up to 2021 thus far.

Urbangarde -- Shinjuku Mon Amour（シンジュク・モナムール）

 

When I first wrote about the wild and eccentric band Urbangarde（アーバンギャルド）earlier this spring, I did note a quote from Wikipedia where the band went "...from bubblegum pop to 80s style synthpop, punk, progressive rock, chiptune, new wave, goth, industrial and heavy metal." As well, Tenma Matsunaga（松永天馬）and Yoko Hamasaki（浜崎容子）have been more than willing to make use of some of the more uncomfortable woes in Japanese society such as suicide and teen pregnancy as their lyrical themes.

One such song is "Shinjuku Mon Amour" (Shinjuku My Love) in which a heartbroken girl opts for suicide one April day as one grand theatre piece. With words and music by Matsunaga, and both him and Hamasaki on vocals, the music is jarringly happy in that techno rock way as if the powers-that-be had Urbangarde come up with a new theme for one of the series in the "PreCure" anime franchise. Along with that anime-happy atmosphere, I can also feel a bit of the old kayo kyoku mixed in there.

"Shinjuku Mon Amour" is a track on Urbangarde's 7th album from December 2015, "Showa Kyu-juu Nen"（昭和九十年...The 90th Year of the Showa Era）. There is a site which has translations of the band's songs including "Shinjuku Mon Amour".

Akiko Wada -- Sasurai no Blues（さすらいのブルース）/Otoko to Onna no Rock（男と女のロック）

 

Singer-actress Akiko Wada（和田アキ子）has been in the entertainment limelight for over 50 years and considering her height (5'9" which was considered to be very tall and rare for a Japanese woman back in those days) and her very straightforward manner of speaking, she's most likely been one of the more intimidating celebrities all these decades. Therefore, I'm not all that surprised that her first starring role in a movie was that of a gang leader in "Onna Bancho: Noraneko Rock"（女番長 野良猫ロック...Stray Cat Rock: Delinquent Girl Boss） which hit theatres in May 1970. The above is a scene from the movie where she is singing in English.

"Otoko to Onna no Rock" (Rock for Men and Women) was used as an insert song for "Onna Bancho: Noraneko Rock", and it's a pretty laidback bluesy number backed up by an orchestra with Wada singing about the state of men and women and their relationships. 

That song was actually the B-side to Wada's 5th single "Sasurai no Blues" (Those Wandering Blues) which was released in July 1970. With that lonesome trumpet and the jingle-jangle rhythm, I'd almost say that "Sasurai no Blues" hits me like a cowboy tune and at points, there is something approaching enka. Lyricist Rei Nakanishi（なかにし礼）and composer Kunihiko Suzuki（鈴木邦彦）were responsible for both songs. 

"Sasurai no Blues" was the follow-up to one of Wada's most famous songs "Waratte Yurushite"（笑って許して）which was released earlier in March that year. And though it did only half the sales that "Waratte Yurushite" had done, I don't think 110,000 records sold is anything to laugh at, and according to J-Wiki, "Sasurai no Blues" hung around for a long time on the charts, peaking at No. 28. 

Yutaka Kimura Speaks ~ Japanese City Pop Masterpieces 100: Ginji Ito -- Konuka Ame （こぬか雨）

 

Number: 030

Lyricist/Composer/Arranger: Ginji Ito

From Ito's 1977 album: "Deadly Drive"

"Konuka Ame" (A Light Rain) had been performed under a band arrangement during his days with Sugar Babe, but this solo version by Ginji（伊藤銀次）has rewritten lyrics and a slower pace. The impressive arrangement which includes Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）on the Fender Rhodes possesses a sweet soulful style, but maybe this was influenced by Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）. The melody is also great and I love Ginji's romantic lyrics.

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

RIZCO (Ritsuko Kurosawa) -- Tokai（都会）

 

As of this writing, I haven't been to Tokyo in six years and I would dearly love to visit my old stomping grounds and friends there once more. There's always been a vibrancy there that can't be beat, and I know that some of the neighbourhoods I frequented such as Shibuya have changed quite a bit since my last visit.

Well, since we are noting the big city here, I'd like to show off this Ritsuko Kurosawa（黒沢律子）cover of Taeko Ohnuki's（大貫妙子）classic "Tokai" (The City) from her November 2001 7th album "melody". At the time, she was apparently going under the name of RIZCO. Not sure if I would categorize her take on "Tokai", which was originally on Ohnuki's "Sunshower" album (1977), a City Pop tune; I'd say that it has been given the groovy-and-spacey pop treatment which is perfectly fine. Nice bluesy guitar solo in there, too.

Mariko Takahashi/paris match -- Mahiru no Wakare（真昼の別れ）

 

My tradition of openly hoping that Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）is doing well wherever she is has also been transferred to pop chanteuse Mariko Takahashi（高橋真梨子）. Ever since I saw a live performance by her several years ago on television where she didn't look very well at all, I've been quite worried.

Back in May 2003, Takahashi released her 34th single "Mahiru no Wakare" (Breaking Up at High Noon), and it's the sophisticated pop-and-soul mixture song that fans have dreamed about. Written by the singer and composed by Kenjiro Sakiya（崎谷健次郎）, it follows the sad story of a woman realizing the mistake she made in letting her past lover go after playing an old record that they had once enjoyed together. Takahashi's sad lyrics aside, Sakiya's melody is heavenly, hinting at a much more romantic rendezvous at night instead of the high noon setting of the song. There's also something in the song that reminds me of Grover Washington Jr. and Bill Withers' original and iconic "Just the Two of Us". "Mahiru no Wakare" is also included in Takahashi's 26th album "Method" from June 2003.

The soul duo paris match recorded a cover of "Mahiru no Wakare" for their November 2022 album of covers, "OUR FAVOURITE POP Ⅱ ～TOKYO STYLE～". Actually, I discovered this cover first before realizing that it had been a Mariko Takahashi original. To continue on with the old-style soul and AOR comparison, the paris match cover seems to have a bit of Bobby Caldwell "What You Won't Do for Love" feeling in there.

Uwanosora -- Autumn Ballad

 

The above is a shot of the World Porters mall in Yokohama. Why? Because the following is a Yokohama-based tune.

One thing that I've mentioned time and again on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" is that autumn has often been the season representing the death of romance when it comes to kayo kyoku from the late Showa era. Well, it appears that the trope has been applied to something very Neo-City Pop in the Reiwa era.

I haven't talked about the multi-genre band Uwanosora（ウワノソラ）since 2021 when I noted their "Mujuuryoku no Photographer"（無重力のフォトグラファー）which came out in the summer of 2020. Well, Hirohide Kadoya（角谷博栄）and his band have shown that they like covering 1960s~1980s pop, AOR, City Pop, soul and Música popular brasileira, and I think their "Autumn Ballad", which is due to be released as a digital song anytime as of this writing according to the video explanation, fulfills the City Pop side of things.

Megumi Iemoto（いえもとめぐみ）has been the vocalist for the Uwanosora songs that I've covered so far, but this time, Kadoya hasn't only provided words and music but has also gone behind the mike, sounding a lot like AOR crooner Michael Franks. A song based in Yokohama according to the throw out of the neighbourhood of Honmoku, "Autumn Ballad" is about an imminent breakup between two people with the protagonist not feeling quite ready to do the deed. For the Uwanosora songs I've posted thus far, I've thought of them as being AOR but "Autumn Ballad" is about as close to City Pop as I've heard them.