Bitei Matsuki -- Luminescence de Tsuranuite（ルミネッセンスで貫いて）

 

A couple of months ago, I posted an article featuring a 2022 duet between Bitei Matsuki & Souki Urakami（松木美定・浦上想起）titled "Butai no Ue de"（舞台の上で）. They showed that jazz and pop are still happily intermingling with each other in Japanese music, and so I was interested in seeing what more both have had to offer in their careers thus far.

Well in Bitei's case, even earlier in December 2021, he released an EP called "Luminescence de Tsuranuite" (Penetrating with Luminescence). That title track has that whimsical mixture of old-style jazz and pop that seems to be his calling card. Apparently, not only did Bitei come up with words and music but he was also responsible for the illustrations popping up in the music video above. A definite artiste, I see. 

One other personal observation that I have is that when I hear him sing the elegant "Luminescence de Tsuranuite", I sometimes get images of Gilbert O'Sullivan in my mind. Maybe there's even some feeling of the 1970s hidden in the arrangement.

YOASOBI -- Idol（アイドル）

No, this isn't Ai Hoshino but it is 
KKP AI representative Kayo Grace Kyoku!

 

Yup, I realize that I missed the trend-and-meme boat when it came to the popular anime "Oshi no Ko"（【推しの子】） in 2023. However, reading about the premise of the Aka Akasaka（赤坂アカ）story and knowing about how cutthroat the aidoru industry can be, I opted not to watch Season 1 just so that I wouldn't end up depressed and that's considering that I actually like my film noir and I had a lot of fun with Akasaka's other epic story "Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai"（かぐや様は告らせたい...Kaguya-sama: Love is War） which happens to take place in the same universe, albeit years earlier than "Oshi no Ko".

Still, I couldn't escape from one famous scene from the first episode. That adorable bit of wotagei took days to finally leave my head. Kinda too bad that things took a very dark spin some minutes later.

What cracked inside of me to finally post YOASOBI's "Idol", the opening theme for "Oshi no Ko", was frankly the duo's performance on the 74th edition of the Kohaku Utagassen a few nights ago. As I noted in my review of the show yesterday, the participation of pretty much every aidoru group invited onto the New Year's Eve special to dance while "Idol" was going had some "Avengers: Endgame" thrills going up my spine. It also didn't hurt having dance troupe Avantgardey start things off. Up until that point, I had only bothered to hear bits and pieces of the song although I observed that the opening credits sequence did look spectacular.

To be honest, when I read that YOASOBI was going to be responsible for the opening theme, I wasn't surprised since I had heard about Ayase and Ikura's penchant for taking on darker material, and "Idol", written and composed by Ayase, is all about the trials and tribulations within the life of an aidoru superstar. Although I can imagine some of the more dynamic alphabet aidoru groups singing this as well, it's been categorized as an anison and a pop tune. However, there is that intro which sounds like a hip-pop riff that Namie Amuro（安室奈美恵）used to tackle and then a chorus which is reminiscent of an anison for an isekai show before listeners get taken on a frenetic roller coaster ride. 

I think having YOASOBI appear on the Kohaku was a foregone conclusion considering that "Idol" not only hit No. 1 on the weeklies but it became the No. 1 song of the year on Oricon and Billboard Japan. It was released in April 2023 and it's also part of the album "The Book 3" which came out later in October, hitting No. 2 and going Gold.

Mamiko Tayama -- Hajimete no Asagaeri（はじめての朝帰り）

 

Let's welcome back KKP AI representative aidoru Kayo Grace Kyoku to "Kayo Kyoku Plus" for the first time in 2024! Looks like she's had her Holidays and is now all rested up.

This might be the first entry for aidoru Mamiko Tayama（田山真美子）but she already has representation here on the blog because she was also a member of the aidoru trio Rakutenshi（楽天使）which itself was a cog in the big group Nanatsuboshi（ななつ星）. I provided a few articles on Nanatsuboshi for the Xmas holidays including their "Juu-ni-gatsu no Tokubetsu na Yoru"（12月の特別な夜）.

Born in Iwate Prefecture, Tayama got her beginnings in show business as a child actor in 1986 but then broke into her aidoru career in 1989 with "Seishun no Evergreen"（青春のEVERGREEN...Youthful Evergreen）. Her discography isn't too extensive; she put out five singles and two original albums including her second album "Uta Shosetsu ~ Cynalyric"（詩小説（シナリリック）...Poetry Novel） from February 1991. One of the tracks is "Hajimete no Asagaeri" (First Time Going Home in the Morning) which has a darn catchy and cheerful hook by Jun Sato（佐藤準）and there's something about the arrangement which has me thinking of some PSY-S tunes. The other thing about the melody is that the chorus also reminds me of Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke". 

I couldn't find Keiko Aso's（麻生圭子）lyrics online but the title hints at that giddiness and embarrassment from heading home from the boyfriend's place for the first time. Maybe I'm just being naïve but I'm a little surprised that an aidoru tune actually covers this. The first time I actually came across the term of "asagaeri" was through Dreams Come True's "Ureshihazukashi Asagaeri" (うれしはずかし朝帰り) which had been released a couple of years earlier.

J-Canuck's Thoughts on the 74th Edition of the Kohaku Utagassen（第74回NHK紅白歌合戦）

 

OK, first off, I did take shots of the TV screen of the title card for the 74th edition of the Kohaku Utagassen on NHK. So, if anyone on the network sees this and is unhappy about it, please inform me.

I actually watched No. 74 twice thanks to the wonders of technology and curiosity from my family. Overall, I have to say that it was a mix of the more grounded edition No. 73 and the flamboyance of editions past. We did get somewhat of a fancy-pants introduction of the singers mingling in the audience, for example. As for the theme of "Borderless", yeah, I think the producers fulfilled that in a number of ways: genre, nation, generation, etc. For me, the absence of the Johnny's & Associates groups such as Snow Man didn't strike as hard with the K-Pop groups like Seventeen filling in the gaps quite effectively and I have to say that if and when the Johnny's groups do return for No. 75, they've got a bar to reach in terms of the choreography. 

Basically, there were no surprises. Everything happened according to what the pre-released lineup stated. There were a few disappointments, one of which was a foregone conclusion as soon as I saw that there would be a Disney tribute segment. For those who were watching the Kohaku via TV Japan; probably because of copyright expenses and/or persnickety permission requirements from the Mouse House itself, the segment was "legal'ed" out on our screens in that we could listen to the audio but the video part was replaced with a still photograph. As well, it seems that the powers-that-be behind the anime "Kimetsu no Yaiba"（鬼滅の刃）also had the performance by MAN WITH A MISSION and milet in terms of the theme songs were similarly "legal'ed" out. This was also the case with LiSA's performance on the Kohaku a few years ago with her own contribution from "Kimetsu no Yaiba".

Secondly, I was looking forward to that segment on the 70th anniversary of television in Japan with performances by old-timers Akira Terao（寺尾聰）, Hiroko Yakushimaru（薬師丸ひろ子）, Pocket Biscuits and Black Biscuits. However, it was really just the performances by Terao, Yakushimaru and the double Biscuits with Tetsuko Kuroyanagi（黒柳徹子）introducing half of them. I liked all of them just fine but it was really a case of false advertising there. The third thing was something that I wasn't all that surprised about considering the large number of music figures that we lost in 2023 and the time constraints on the show, but it was too bad that any mention of the people that have passed was limited to singer and TV host Masashi Sada（さだまさし）giving a shoutout to the late Shinji Tanimura（谷村新司）before he sang his song.

The highlights for me were the Queen + Adam Lambert performance of "Don't Stop Me Now", and the jam sessions of rock and aidoru big wigs. The performance of YOASOBI's "Idol"（アイドル）did bring some shivers when every aidoru showed up to dance in an event that one of the YouTube commenters described as an Avengers-type entrance. I guess then that Yoshiki's attraction of rock guitarists from a lot of bands for his number was the arrival of the X (Japan) Men. Also, it was nice to see a good domino challenge during Kaori Mizumori's（水森かおり）enka performance along with enka prince Keisuke Yamauchi's（山内惠介）presence in Asakusa, my old stomping grounds nearly thirty years ago. Of course, I will always appreciate good ol' Masayuki Suzuki（鈴木雅之）!

No. 74 was a well-oiled machine. The Kohaku was smooth and comfortable and had a pretty peppy pace. Bad news first though...it's looking like it's scored its lowest ratings in history with even the first half of the show dipping below 30% for the first time. At points, it appeared that the producers were throwing in everything but the kitchen sink to entertain folks but this was the final result. Now, do ratings mean much to you and me? Nope, not at all. I don't plan to go out on New Year's Eve all that much in my senior years so the Kohaku will always be my viewing bet. However, the ratings probably do matter to NHK and in the years to come, maybe some drastic retooling is in order or the axe may finally come down on one of the longest annual music specials on Earth, as I had once feared a couple of years ago.

The good news is that barring any major incidents, Edition No. 75 should be a shoo-in. It is a sapphire anniversary after all, and I think the Kohaku Utagassen is still something that beats most regular programming for now. And maybe, just maybe, the powers-that-be at NHK will decide to focus more on the international fandom rather than the homegrown crowd.

Queen -- Don't Stop Me Now

 

My own personal listening history with Queen began with "Another One Bites the Dust" which was one of their disco outings in 1980. But then the following year, when all of us kids were heading out to Japan after graduating from Japanese language school, I got to hear my classmate's copy of their classic "Bohemian Rhapsody" (1975) on the plane ride. Then in short order, I got to hear "We Will Rock You" and "We are the Champions" especially since the NHL's New York Islanders were using that last song as their victory anthem during their dynasty of Stanley Cup wins in the early 1980s. Having finally gotten into music by that point, I got to hear their New Wave "Radio Ga Ga".

"Don't Stop Me Now" from 1979, however, was a song that I wouldn't get to know about for many years and yet it's probably the most preferred hit among many Japanese. Sure enough, I've seen a few commercials there featuring "Don't Stop Me Now" including one where a jet plane is just pulling off all these loops in the sky; can't remember what it was selling...knowing Japanese ads, it was probably life insurance. I can possibly understand its great popularity in Japan, though. With Freddie Mercury espousing pure joyous fun for the sake of it, all those hard-working cogs wouldn't mind throwing their blazers to the wind and going all Wang Chung!

Now of course, any of you who read "Kayo Kyoku Plus" regularly and have their eyes and ears to the music scene in Japan know that I'm posting this special holiday Reminiscings of Youth because Queen and Adam Lambert showed up on last night's Kohaku Utagassen to perform "Don't Stop Me Now". It was great and nostalgic to watch them in San Francisco, but wouldn't it have been something if the band had actually shown up on the Shibuya stage in Tokyo? But the logistics would have most likely overwhelmed the production staff. Still, good to see the guys bring out the goods.

Apparently, it isn't just Japanese pop culture that picked up on the joyousness of "Don't Stop Me Now". When it was originally released in 1979, it didn't do all that well on the charts with the United States for example only having it reach as high as No. 86 on its Billboard. Since then though, it has done a slow persistent burn up to the top of many fans' favourite lists. And in 2018 through Billboard Japan, the song went up to No. 37 and then No. 32 in 2019.

"Don't Stop Me Now" was released in Japan in March 1979 which of course begs the question about which other singles were getting out there in that month.

Momoe Yamaguchi -- Be Silent（美・サイレント）

Satoshi Kishida -- Kimi no Asa （君の朝）

Southern All Stars -- Itoshi no Ellie （いとしのエリー）

Dr. Dragon and Oriental Express -- The Birth of a Dragon

from Good Free Photos

 

2024 is the Year of the Dragon and as such, I was wondering what I could post on here to commemorate this observation. Well, it didn't take too long because my mind was able to pop out the late great composer Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）. You see, he had a couple of nicknames, one of which was Jack Diamond and then the other was Dr. Dragon.

In gradually learning more about Tsutsumi, I realized that he had quite a sweet tooth for disco and R&B back in the day, and in fact, under his Dr. Dragon name, he even released a June 1976 album titled "The Birth of a Dragon". Well, the band's full name was Dr. Dragon and Oriental Express and it was quite the band with Shigeru Suzuki/鈴木茂 (guitar), Tsugutoshi Goto/後藤次利 (bass), Tatsuo Hayashi/林立夫 (drums) and Akiko Yano/矢野顕子 (keyboards).

Dr. Dragon was responsible for the composition and arrangement of all of the songs, and arguably the most famous track is the oddly-titled "Sexy Bus Stop" which was originally an instrumental but then given lyrics by Jun Hashimoto（橋本淳）and then given over to then-70s teen aidoru Yuko Asano（浅野ゆう子） to be made into a hit. It has its own article and when I posted it over ten years ago on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I even gave viewers a glimpse at another track, "The Theme of Dr. Dragon" which is now above this paragraph. It starts out with a bit of a brass explosion, sounding like the intro to a Bruce Lee movie (remember "Enter the Dragon"?) before it gets into the funk underlain by a rumbling rhythm which reminds me of something similar from the American cop show "SWAT". The urgency gives way in parts for an upbeat Asian riff.

Hashimoto would provide lyrics to some of the tracks including this one, "Peanuts", although he never got credited for his work on the album. Yup, "Peanuts" goes heavy into the disco, rather like Van McCoy, as the vocalists (perhaps EVE?) give their full-throated love for the goobers. It's all rather light-hearted though overall and I could even imagine the aidoru trio The Candies tackling this one.

One more tune that I'll provide here is "Hustle Jet" which has Goto going hard into the bass and once again, the happy-go-lucky nature of the disco here makes it friendly for any aidoru and even any soundtrack for a television drama or comedy. Hashimoto once again gives his few lyrics to "Hustle Jet". I've yet to hear the remaining tracks but I gather that they will also sound like disco with some of that added kayo kyoku-ness, thanks to Dr. Dragon.

Takako Shirai -- Happy New Year

 

Happy New Year to everyone although I have to say that it's going to be a little subdued for 2024 on hearing about the strong earthquake and resulting tsunami that struck Ishikawa Prefecture and beyond overnight local time here and around 4pm on January 1st in Japan. From what I've heard and read so far, there's been considerable infrastructure damage but no news on any injuries and deaths. I am hoping that everyone in the area is staying safe and sound despite the massive disruption to their New Year's holiday.

Let's begin 2024 with something short and sweet then by pop rocker Takako Shirai（白井貴子）. "Happy New Year" is barely over a minute as a sung January 1st message of love to that significant other, and I just love the piano arrangement for this song which was written and composed by the singer. It was included as a track on her December 1985 EP "Princess Night".