Yoshiaki Ohuchi -- City Kobe（シティ神戸）

Good Free Photos

I've been to the city of Kobe three times in my life and one of my regrets is that out of those three times, I don't think I've ever taken any great pictures of the Kansai metropolis outside of some shots of the Portopia Hotel and Port Island. It is a picturesque city, though, with areas such as Sannomiya Station, Chinatown, Kitano Ijinkan and Kobe Port Tower.

It was only a little more than a month ago that I posted the late singer-songwriter Yoshiaki Ohuchi's（大内義昭）1990 "Zero de Hajimaru Number"（ゼロではじまるナンバー）, a City Pop/rock song. Well, he also put out something a little different around five years later in 1995 titled "City Kobe". According to his J-Wiki article, the song had already been ready to release on January 18th that year as this refined love song to the city, but then the preceding day, the Great Hanshin Earthquake wreaked havoc in Kobe and the surrounding area. That day was a day off for me from work and when I turned on the television, every station was focused on the devastation. At first, the grogginess from waking up had me wondering for several seconds about what the heck happened before it finally dawned on me that a major disaster had occurred a few hours earlier. It was such that I called up my relatives in Osaka to see if they were fine.

Getting back to "City Kobe", Ohuchi's song took on a more important meaning and outside of the first batch of singles, any future issues of the CD included some catchphrasing encouraging support for Kobe. "City Kobe" was written by Yoshiro Yashima（八島義郎）and composed/arranged by Ohuchi. For the most part, I would call it a refined New Adult Music creation with some underlying enka feeling and sophisticated pop strings but Ohuchi also decided to throw in some old-fashioned exotic kayo measures for good measure, perhaps to reflect the international nature of the port.

Hitomi Ishikawa -- Natsukashiki Refrain（懐かしきリフレイン）

 

As I mentioned in my very first article featuring Hitomi Ishikawa（石川ひとみ）, she was one of the first Japanese pop singers or aidoru that led me into the wonderful world of kayo kyoku during and following my trip to Japan in 1981. The reason for this was her huge hit "Machibuse"（まちぶせ）which was reaching all of the radios, record stores and music programs that year.

Well, as I always say, let's not forget those B-sides. Yes, incredibly enough, "Machibuse" still had a B-side and though it probably didn't have much reach beyond the big Ishikawa fans, it's still a pretty nice number. "Natsukashiki Refrain" (Nostalgic Refrain) isn't the pure pop of "Machibuse" as created by Yumi Arai（荒井由実）years previously. It's more along the lines of the 50s or 60s style of girl pop that was also pretty popular at that time. Written by Michio Yamagami（山上路夫）and composed by Kingo Hamada（浜田金吾）, the story is of a young lady reminiscing of a past romance after she sees the decrepit remains of a poster from a concert that she and her now ex-beau had attended a long time ago. 

The lyrics by Yamagami are definitely nostalgic but now that we're looking more than forty years back, Hamada's music has also added to the sepia-toned nostalgia. Kinda wonder how Ishikawa herself is thinking about her time as one of the most popular singers back in 1981.

Yutaka Kimura Speaks ~ Japanese City Pop Masterpieces 100: Motoharu Sano -- Manhattan Bridge ni Tatazunde（マンハッタンブリッヂにたたずんで）

 

Number: 082

Lyricist: Motoharu Sano

Composer: Motoharu Sano

Arranger: Motoharu Sano

From the 1982 album: "Niagara Triangle Vol. 2"

"Manhattan Bridge ni Tatazunde" is not simply a stoic rock tune; it also shows Motoharu（佐野元春）at his most charming whenever he sings this sort of romantic love song. The combination of his tough voice and the Spector-like pop sound is also marvelous. Along with his remarkable abilities as a melody maker, there is a lively sense of reality within the "city" that occasionally displays a cynical view that is difficult to express as a professional lyricist.

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

Machiko Watanabe -- Midnight（ミッド・ナイト）

 

Midnight in Japan for me was illustrated by a tired old English teacher finally reaching his apartment past 12 am after a long commute from the other side of Tokyo back to Chiba Prefecture. My neighbourhood in Ichikawa City was relatively dark although there were street lights, but it was quiet and completely safe. Plus, my two wonderful vending machines just a few metres away from the steps to my home always greeted and plied me with cold drinks.

I would also think that a song and a final album track titled "Midnight" would offer the same sort of deal in the form of a ballad. However, on singer-songwriter Machiko Watanabe's（渡辺真知子）album "Fog Lamp"（フォグ・ランプ）from November 1978, that wasn't the case at all. It is actually quite the spirited finish to Watanabe's 2nd original album with its disco and City Pop showing off some type of action-thriller aural piece. There's probably a car chase squeezed somewhere among the notes woven together by Watanabe herself. 

Just a few minutes ago, I had finished off the latest Yuko Asano（浅野ゆう子）1970s disco tune "Potsuri Potsuri"（ぽつりぽつり）. Lyricist Akira Ito（伊藤アキラ）and arranger Motoki Funayama（船山基紀）had their hands in that one, and so they did with this one, too. "Midnight" also shares track space with Watanabe's "Blue" on the album.

Yuko Asano -- Potsuri Potsuri（ぽつりぽつり）

 

Back in August, I covered the B-side of Yuko Asano's（浅野ゆう子）October 1977 single. The song was called "Sunset Seaside"（サンセット・シーサイド）and it was a stately disco kayo.

Well, that A-side is titled "Potsuri Potsuri" (Little by Little). It can also be translated as "Drip, Drip" for those who like their onomatopoeia, and perhaps the story is about something taking its sweet time. Compared to "Sunset Seaside", "Potsuri Potsuri" maybe goes a bit harder into the Donna Summer disco although Asano's vocals here remind me of those belonging to a young Junko Yagami（八神純子）. As with the B-side, this particular song was also created by lyricist Akira Ito（伊藤アキラ）, composer Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）and arranger Motoki Funayama（船山基紀）.

Signal -- Slow Down

 

Several years ago, I discovered a folk group called Signal（シグナル）whose 1975 debut single "Hatachi no Meguriai"（20歳のめぐり逢い）was a big hit that year. The song would also be covered by Hiromi Iwasaki（岩崎宏美）on her album "Sumire Iro no Namida"（すみれ色の涙）from November 1981.

Well, as has been the case for many a folk singer or group in Japan back in those days, Signal apparently also made a jump into groovier seas, and in the same year that Iwasaki recorded that cover version of "Hatachi no Meguriai", the original band made the move to a new company, Polystar, and got more into rock, pop and City Pop. Yes, in September 1981, Signal released "Passing Shower" and one of the tracks is the relaxing "Slow Down". Written by guitarist Akio Asami（浅見昭男）and composed by fellow guitarist Masanori Sumide（住出勝則）, it's an AOR-friendly tune that can be compared with some of the output by other bands from that time such as H2O and Bread & Butter.

One tidbit of trivia that I've gleaned is that Asami's wife is none other than singer and seiyuu Mitsuko Horie（堀江美都子）. She's no stranger to City Pop herself.

Risa Yamamoto -- Dance de Kizutsukete（DANCEで傷つけて）

 

Welcome to November! Hopefully, Halloween was an enjoyable one for you with those candies and other treats. Looks like the first day of the month will begin with the usual Urban Contemporary Friday on KKP.

Today, we're starting off with a new name to the blog. Singer and actress Risa Yamamoto（山本理沙）was born Rieko Susa（諏佐理恵子）in Osaka although she did spend a lot of her high school years up in Sapporo. A lot of her TV career from the mid-1980s while she was in her teens involved a number of variety shows, dramas and commercials. However, she also had a brief recording career with five singles and one original album.

That May 1986 album, "You're In", included the track "Dance de Kizutsukete" (Hurting Through Dancing), which was created by lyricist Keiko Aso（麻生圭子）and composer Takashi Tsushimi（都志見隆）. I think the song straddles the line between City Pop and pop although the rhythm has that champagne-and-caviar form of City Pop. It's not too bad especially with that horn section in there but that banging synthesizer before the verses can get a bit grating.

Yamamoto ended her career in 1989.