Gawr Gura -- Shyness Boy

 

This will be the last article of the three advance City Pop tunes I'm starting up today on Thursday, so I'll put up the remaining two tomorrow. Admittedly, this isn't a particularly deep think piece but then again, City Pop by its nature isn't about the metaphysics of it all. It's always been about having some great fun in the metropolis or even in the resort areas.

Back in the fall of 2023, I was surprised to find out from commenter Gen Kanai that VTubers were also plying their hands and voices on City Pop, and so I took a try with Houshou Marine（宝鐘マリン）& Gawr Gura（がうる・ぐら）and their duet "SHINKIRO" from 2023. Incidentally, it was also the first time that I presented KKP official cartoon representative Kayo Grace Kyoku up at the top though she didn't have a name at the time.

I also found out that Gawr Gura had enjoyed covering some of the City Pop classics from the 1980s including Tatsuro Yamashita's（山下達郎）"Magic Ways" whose video came out in 2022. She did a really nice job there, and just recently, I found her other 2022 cover of one of my favourite songs of the genre, Anri's（杏里）"Shyness Boy" from her 1983 album "Timely!!". Yes, I realize that it's basically her doing karaoke but still, it's not just a row of terrifying teeth emanating from the mouth of the VTuber shark! Of course, it's Toshiki Kadomatsu（角松敏生）who came up with the words and music for "Shyness Boy".

One other thing that I've discovered is that Gawr Gura retired from Hololive last year in May, so I'm hoping that whoever portrayed her is enjoying a happy life somewhere.

shaky -- silhouette

 

Back in June 2024, I introduced a band called shaky which was anything but shaky. In fact, I really loved their debut digital single from 2019, "Closer". It was some really nice soulful Neo-City Pop.

The band finally put up a website but things are still rather sparse although they have a brief profile section. From what I've read there, the members are influenced by R&B, soul, funk, jazz and other genres. Any other news on shaky only comes as far as 2020 so I'm not sure what their current status is. However, speaking of that year, the Fukuoka group did release another single in March 2020 titled "silhouette". It's quite the percolating and funkier tune which makes one feel like taking a night drive into the big city.

Junko Ohashi & Minoya Central Station -- Feel So Fine

 

I've technically done my three for Thursday. However, I'm being drawn away from duty tomorrow so I'm getting a start on my usual Friday Urban Contemporary stuff today. The NHL Trade Deadline Day has a way of distracting me...even from my beloved City Pop (you can take me away from Canada, but you can't take away Canada from me).🏒

So, why not go with one of the best? I have a number of Junko Ohashi's（大橋純子）albums with Minoya Central Station（美乃家セントラル・ステイション）, but I don't think "Full House" from June 1979 is one of them...perhaps. Anyways, there is a real banger from Side A, "Feel So Fine" that's struck my fancy.

All I can say is that bass addicts will be slurping this one up repeatedly as we get to hear the late great Ms. Ohashi in her most wonderful disco glory. It really does feel so fine. Written by Machiko Ryu（竜真知子）and composed by Kenjiro Oda（小田健二郎）, the song practically bewitches the listener to vicariously hit the ground running in Roppongi or Shinjuku in search of any dance club of the time such as the Lexington Queen (although it wouldn't open until 1980). By the way, the remix version below is by YouTuber Sukebe (heh heh heh).😁

Two-Letter Abbreviations

From Dank via Wikimedia Commons

Look at all those abbreviations in the United States. Makes things rather compact, don't they? Well, it's time for a bit of whimsy here on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" today as this thought came to my mind for the latest Author's Picks. I think they're rare enough but there are some Japanese songs that have two-letter abbreviations in their titles, so why not give a few out?

(1975) Eikichi Yazawa -- I Love You, OK（アイ・ラヴ・ユー、OK）

(1981) Yellow Magic Orchestra -- U.T.

(1990) Denki Groove -- N.O.

(1990) Pink Sapphire -- P.S. I Love You

(2018) Kirinji -- AI no Touhikou（AIの逃避行）

Neil Sedaka -- Better Days Are Coming/Mami Ayukawa -- Zeta: Toki wo Koete（Ζ・刻をこえて）

 

In the aftermath of singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka's recent passing and my tribute to him and his influence on Japanese music, I've been getting some further comments on how much of an influence he's had. Commenter and contributor Fireminer noted that Sedaka had even given his blessing on a couple of his old songs to be used as theme tunes for one show in the mighty "Gundam" franchise which was a revelation to me. One was the second opening theme song for "Mobile Suit Z Gundam"（機動戦士Ζガンダム）, "Mizu no Hoshi e Ai wo Komete"（水の星へ愛をこめて）performed by Hiroko Moriguchi（森口博子）; the source Sedaka song was "For Us to Decide", and JTM gave his two cents about it when he came up with his epic "JTM's 80s Playlist - J-Dorama/Anime/Movie Edition" article all the way back in 2013.

The other Sedaka chestnut that was adapted was his "Better Days Are Coming" which was the first track on Side B of his June 1972 album "Solitaire". The original song has quite the rollicking feel of soft funk and even some gospel, especially with those lyrics.

Well, cue ahead thirteen years, and "Better Days Are Coming" was transformed into "Zeta: Toki wo Koete" (Transcending Time) for the opening theme of "Z Gundam" with the vocals of Mami Ayukawa（鮎川麻弥）. Given lyrics by Rin Aogi（井荻麟）, aka "Gundam" creator Yoshiyuki Tomino（富野由悠季）, the song sure felt like better days were coming. With more four-on-the-floor drumming, some scintillating synth work and an even funkier beat which could even get the morose Amuro up and hitting the dance floor, "Toki wo Koete" was certainly a shift away from the usual brassy and militaristic themes that I had often associated with the late 70s and early 80s brand of mecha anime. I gather that it was time for Gundam to boogie! 

"Toki wo Koete" was Ayukawa's 3rd single released in February 1985. It got up to No. 15 on Oricon.

Bay City Rollers -- Saturday Night

 

Let's start off this Thursday with a regular Reminiscings of Youth article. I remember back in the sixth grade when our teacher was one of those really ambitious types who had some of us creating a mini-greenhouse in the classroom along with macrame owls to boot. One of my classmates was a huge Bay City Rollers fan and she couldn't stop jabbering away about "Saturday Night", one of their big hits.

Methinks that if she had ever met the guys from Scotland, she would have been jabbering in tongues for the rest of her childhood. But "Saturday Night" is indeed a catchy anthem ("S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT!") of a power pop song and it was one of the hits that I remember hearing on telly and radio in the mid-1970s. From what I've read, there was an original version released in 1973 in the UK, but it didn't do much on the charts back then. However, it was re-recorded with new lyrics and re-released in the United States sometime in August 1975 and that was all she wrote. It hit No. 1 in both Canada and America.

I've mentioned "The Hockey Theme", the legendary former theme song for the CBC's iconic "Hockey Night in Canada" show. In that article, I also let folks know that "The Hockey Theme" and HNIC parted company years ago due to some failed negotiations between the original composer and the network. But since then, a cover version of "Saturday Night" by the band Monster Truck has been used to get the audience all revved up just before the games begin since HNIC always appears on Saturday night.

Since Wikipedia didn't bother to give an exact date of release for "Saturday Night" (simply August 1975) in the US, I'll just go with what was at the top of the Oricon chart for August 4th 1975. Here are Nos. 1, 4 and 5.

1. Takashi Hosokawa -- Kokoro Nokori（心のこり）

4. Downtown Boogie-Woogie Band -- Minato no Yoko, Yokohama Yokosuka （港のヨーコ・ヨコハマ・ヨコスカ）

5. Akira Fuse -- Cyclamen no Kaori （シクラメンのかほり）

The Tigers/Toi et Moi -- Kaze wa Shiranai（風は知らない）

 

It is once again Hump Day this week so perhaps the stress levels and blue feelings are at their peak. Well, I can't prescribe anything professionally, but at least, I can provide some soothing music. This time, I'm plucking something from the Group Sounds era of the late 1960s in Japan...specifically, this B-side from a March 1969 single by The Tigers（ザ・タイガース）titled "Kaze wa Shiranai" (The Wind Doesn't Know). Written by Tokiko Iwatani（岩谷時子）and composed by Kunihiko Murai（村井邦彦）, it was the flip side of The Tigers' 9th single "Utsukushiki Ai no Okite"（美しき愛の掟...A Decree of Love）.

There are some lovely harmonies between Kenji Sawada（沢田研二）and his colleagues and some peaceful arrangements as a lot of natural images come through Iwatani's lyrics such as wind, rainbows and the great big sky. I guess that would be par for the course for a pop song from the late 1960s. However, the impression that I got from the song was that one shouldn't rely on those symbols of nature for wisdom; ultimately, one has to rely on his/her own soul for guidance.

Some months later in December 1969, the folk duo Toi et Moi（トワ・エ・モワ）recorded a cover of "Kaze wa Shiranai" for their first album of cover songs, "Anata to Watashi to Toi et Moi"（あなたと私とトワ・エ・モワ）. The English translation of "You and Me and You and Me" sounds obviously redundant which may explain the official English title of "A Wonderful World of Toi et Moi". Anyways, their cover version is also lovely and it sounds a little more upbeat.