Kozo Mori and Moonriders -- Dance, Dance, Dance（ダンス・ダンス・ダンス）

From Dessinee Shop

I kinda felt like saying to the lady on the cover there something to the effect of "Uh, Miss, did you forget to wear something this morning? Awfully chilly today". Anyways, this is the cover for an album titled "Guuzen no Deai"（偶然の出逢い...Chance Encounter） which was released sometime in 1979 and is a release by a singer named Kozo Mori（もりこうぞう）. To be frank, at this point, that's really all I have about this fellow. Even the person behind the description of "Guuzen no Deai" at the website Dessinee Shop isn't even sure whether the singer is male or female. I'm pretty sure that it's a high-toned guy, though.

Just for the record, the photo was taken by the famous photographer Kishin Shinoyama（篠山紀信）who passed away late last year. But I want to turn you over to one of the tracks on "Guuzen no Deai", "Dance, Dance, Dance" by the mysterious Mori and the famous band Moonriders（ムーンライダーズ）. The guy at Dessinee Shop and I agree that the song is pleasantly rollicking, pulling in bits from rock, New Music and City Pop and I wouldn't mind hearing this in a car bombing down the highway...heading to a destination with a lot of surf and margaritas. Try as I could though, I couldn't find out who wrote and composed the happy-go-lucky "Dance, Dance, Dance"; there is an image of the liner sheet for the album but I couldn't magnify it enough to read the pertinent information behind who had made the song.

By chance, if anyone out there knows who Mori is, please let me know.

Yuuichi Ikuzawa/Laura Branigan -- Hot Night

 

I did see that recent trailer for "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" the other day and I've gotten some interest for the latest in the franchise. To be honest, I wasn't enthused enough about the previous movie "Afterlife" to see that one, but now that the Ghostbusters are heading back to New York City, the original crew and the new crew are joining forces, and even Slimer is making an appearance, well, perhaps I can be enticed back to the big screen although I will miss Harold Ramis as Egon.

As a bit of show and tell, I did eventually pick up the soundtrack for the original 1984 movie from which a few of the tracks did get their exposure in the movie such as the main theme by Ray Parker Jr., of course and "Savin' the Day" by the Alessi Brothers. However, I don't recall hearing "Hot Night" by Laura Branigan (I miss her, too) which is too bad because I think it would been a good accompaniment to some of the action scenes in the movie.

The song penned by Diane Warren and Steve Angelica did get its cover version in Japan via Yuuichi Ikuzawa's（生沢佑一）take which was released as a single in November 1984, about half a year after "Ghostbusters" had been released in theatres. Thanks to a successful search of the original record via Yahoo Images, I was able to glean that Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）was responsible for the Japanese lyrics. With a similar vroom vroom adrenaline charge in the arrangement, Ikuzawa does such a good job with his version that I'd thought that "Hot Night" was naturally his and his alone.

Haruyoshi Yamashina -- Osake to Joke（お酒とジョーク）

 

I guess whether it be Cliff and Norm at the famed Boston bar where everyone knows their name on the classic sitcom "Cheers" or the barfly who always shows up at the neighbourhood nomiya in Yurakucho a few times a week, hearty and alcohol-fueled companionship isn't long in coming at a watering hole. Didn't drink all that much myself despite colleagues' attempts to entice me into their world, so I never experienced that, although I have a few dining buddies. I would have been a poor partner anyways since I tend to drift off into REM sleep after a few glasses.

Well, I may have come across a musical description of that recently, and happily it is a 1970s City Pop tune. "Osake to Joke" (A Drink and a Joke) was written, composed and performed by Tokyo-born singer-songwriter Haruyoshi Yamashina（山科晴義）who goes by the name Harry Yamashina these days. A track on his April 1979 second album "Sayonara Kokoro No Lullaby"（さよなら心のララバイ...Lullaby of the Goodbye Heart）, it has that sunny disposition and a hearty fellow-well-met jauntiness in its arrangement so that it could accompany that walk over to the bar or even following the visit and on the way home (provided that the drink wasn't in excess). Yamashina's lyrics seem to reveal a bar regular's thoughts on life.

Yamashina made his debut in 1972 under the name Seisuke Matsuyama（松山晴介）as a 20-year-old with a single "Akai Hana Moyō no Fuku"（赤い花模様の服...Red Flower Clothes） and an album "Seisuke"（晴介）. Interestingly enough, he's got his own YouTube channel, harrygws, where he's put up a new straight pop version of "Osake to Joke" under that first stage name. Over the decades, as a lyricist and composer, he's provided music for singers such as Mako Ishino（石野真子）and the folk duo Furudokei（古時計）.

Milk Talk -- Plastic New York

Good Free Photos

 

In late November 2023, I posted up an article on "Ah Be Rue", a 2019 song by the synth-boogie duo Milk Talk. I found out about them thanks to a "Japan Times" article regarding vocalist Yuqi "Q.i" Shinohara and multi-instrumentalist Miles "Hair Kid" Ungar and I checked out their tunes up on YouTube.

"Plastic New York" was the second song that I heard and viewed following "Ah Be Rue". Though I've seen indications of a big release of it in 2022, according to the "Japan Times" piece, Q.i and Hair Kid had apparently created the technologically magical "Plastic New York" as their first song in 2016 when it was included in the latter's own album "Plastic Inbox". The album, produced at Maltine Records, featured Q.i and Akita Momo on six tracks including the song of note here.

As I mentioned, there is something mystical and even soothing about listening to "Plastic New York" (especially with Q.i's whispery vocals). It feels like a couple of lovers on a different existential level in the Big Apple, almost as if the tryst were taking place in the Matrix. With those 80s synths playing about, I do get those Vaporwave chills up and down my back but at the same time, there is also the comfy City Pop bass to keep things grounded. Finally, as for the video above, I can finally say that there are actually two more people who dance like me, so for all those who were staring at me with Spock eyebrows at the discos back in my university days, I am not alone!😤

Kana Nakada feat. Pon-no-Michi All-Stars -- Ponpopopon（ポンポポポン）

 

Back when I was a kid, I used to remember family friends playing mah jongg. I certainly remember the clacking of the tiles being moved about rather hastily before each round. Unfortunately, I never gained enough of an interest to pick up the game myself but over the years, I've seen friends playing it in various settings.

As I mentioned earlier, I've found a couple of Hokkaido-based anime to peruse: "Snack Basue"（スナックバス江）and "Dosanko Gyaru wa Namaramenkoi"（道産子ギャルはなまらめんこい...Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable!）with their own infectiously fun theme songs. Well, I'm on the fence about this next anime "Pon no Michi"（ぽんのみち...The Way of Pon） although being a slice-of-life show, it might draw me in. Hinting at the game in the first paragraph, it's indeed about a bunch of friends coming together for mah jongg although the trailer shows that they're all up for other stuff as well. 

The trailer also has the opening theme which is also very catchy. "Ponpopopon" had me by the ears immediately thanks to the onomatopoeia being liberally delivered by Pon-no-Michi All-Stars（ぽんのみちオールスターズ）, which is basically the main seiyuu cast that I mostly don't know aside from Hibiku Yamamura（山村響）. The main singer though is Kana Nakada（中田花奈）who not only was a member of aidoru group Nogizaka 46（乃木坂46）but is currently a tarento and a professional mah jongg player herself. She even runs her own mah jongg salon.

"Ponpopopon" will serve as Nakada's first solo single and it will be coming out at the end of February 2024, so please wait out the month to get your copy. Koichi Ikekubo（池窪浩一）handled the lyrics while Masahiro Tobinai（飛内将大）took care of the melody and arrangement.

Tamao Koike -- Sexanova

 

Around 5 1/2 years ago, I posted an article regarding "Kanariya"（カナリヤ）by singer-songwriter Tamao Koike（小池玉緒）. I didn't know and frankly still don't know a whole heck of a lot about her aside from the fact that she hails from Tokyo alongside the information that she had released a couple of singles in the early 1980s along with one original album in 1992.

Koike has contributed her fair share of songs though on various compilations with different singers, mostly under the YEN label, a recording company created by Yellow Magic Orchestra's Yukihiro Takahashi（高橋幸宏）and Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）, itself under the aegis of Alfa Records. One of those compilations is "YEN BOX VOL.2"  which is a massive collection of 18 CDs released in December 1996. "Kanariya" itself is a track on Disc 18 which has a mix of previously unreleased songs by Koike and karaoke versions of songs by other artists such as Miharu Koshi（越美晴）.

For this article, I have "Sexanova" which sounds like the perfect title for a punk or post-punk/New Romantic song of the 1980s, and as I mentioned for "Kanariya", perhaps "Sexanova" is something that had been created back in, let's say, 1983 for the sake of argument. Written and composed by the late Toshio Nakanishi（中西俊夫）of the New Wave band The Plastics, the song is actually a light and smooth tropical tune with Koike's vocals nicely bouncing about after having a couple of margaritas. You can even hear some water lapping on the shore along with some ungulate bleating away.

Toni Basil -- Mickey

 

On this week's Reminiscings of Youth series, I'm touching base with one of the touchstones of my view on New Wave and music video in the 1980s. Interesting thing though...I've already made reference to it. Back in the pre-ROY days of 2016 on the blog, I wrote about Gorie's（ゴリエ）cover of "Mickey" and of course, I mentioned the source song by Toni Basil.

Yes, that's right...Toni Basil's "Mickey" from January 1982. That video for the song really struck out at me with Toni as a heavily made-up cheerleader stoically but frantically dancing all around a stark stage with her team as she sang this New Wave serenade to the title guy. Supposedly, the guy was Micky Dolenz of The Monkees but Basil has denied this. Anyways, the song created by Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn must have been a radio station's dream: eclectic but approachable, weird but fun, New Wave but pop-catchy. 

"Mickey" has been one of the tentpoles for my education in music video music, alongside The Buggles' "Video Killed The Radio Star" and Kim Carnes' "Bette Davis Eyes". And once again, just like those songs, I have discovered that Basil's magnum opus "Mickey" once had an earlier life. It used to be known as "Kitty" by the New Wave band Racey back in 1979. Well, hello "Kitty". 😻

Not sure when the above footage was taped, but apparently the powers-that-be plus Basil must have gotten a good rate on that empty white stage. In any case, those lyrics by Chapman and Chinn will always have a place in my memory:

Oh Mickey, you're so fine

You're so fine, you blow my mind

Hey Mickey, hey Mickey

Hey, it ended up in a "Doctor Who" episode as said by one of my favourite iterations of the dastardly Master. "Mickey" hit No. 1 in both Canada and the United States.

So, when "Mickey" was blowing everyone's mind, which singles were popping out in Japan in January 1982? Geez, has it already been 42 years?!

Seiko Matsuda -- Akai Sweet Pea (赤いスイートピー）

Southern All Stars -- Chako no Kaigan Monogatari （チャコの海岸物語）

Tatsuro Yamashita -- For You (album)