Yurie Kokubu -- Dear~How To Love You

 

I think as much as 1970s City Pop had certain distinctive arrangements and sounds (the keyboard haze effect) and the 1980s version also had their own fascinating tones (the sparkling mineral water glissando), there is also something about the 1990s version. And yes, I know that there will be some who disagree that the final decade of the 20th century in Japan had City Pop especially with the economic downturn there but I can't deny that there was rich urban contemporary music happening. The music industry including certain singers and producers probably didn't get the memo from Parliament or the stock exchanges.

For me anyways, there was that certain big brassiness and especially sparkly synthesizers that marked that time. Maybe the Bubble had burst, but musically in some corners, it was still living life large in the big city. Time to hit the New York Grill for dinner? Sure, let me dust off my VISA Gold!

Anyways, that's the buzz I get from Yurie Kokubu's（国分友里恵）"Dear~How To Love You", the first track from her 4th album, "Do You Love Me?" from August 1991. Written by her old bandmate from SHAMBARA, Kaoru Akimoto（秋元薫）, and composed by Hitoshi Haba（羽場仁志）, it starts out innocently enough but then the horns rev up and we're off to West Shinjuku for that medium-rare steak. And yep, the brassiness and sparkle are there. Plus, Kokubu seems to be really exercising those golden vocals more than ever.

MYX -- Take It From Me

 

Welcome to the Good Friday edition of "Kayo Kyoku Plus". Yup, it is a national holiday today in Canada and the United States, so I'm sure that at least some folks are roasting turkey, lamb or ham for that big family get-together. Wherever you are, I hope that you are relaxing and enjoying yourselves.

Here I was getting ready to provide a big writeup on this mysterious band called MYX, under the assumption that I had yet to post anything on this funkalicious group. And then I found out...or more accurately...got reminded that I had actually written something on MYX back in late 2021 for their "Dance (Everybody Get Up)". Well, at least I don't have to repeat myself.

The funk still keeps on pouring forth from their 1981 album "Myx" with "Take It From Me" which is a slightly more of a slow burner when compared to "Dance", but no less a funk fest. The vocals emanating from MYX remind me of a funkier version of PAO which had their time at around the same time.

Top 10 Oricon Singles for April 5th 1976

 

Usually I go straight to the list here but just to explain, I'm feeling rather exhausted this evening since my inadequate amount of sleep became even a little bit shorter this week which is why I'm finishing my three for Thursday with an Oricon Top 10. However, I also feel like giving out belated April Fool's headlines since I missed my chance yesterday.

"Momoe Yamaguchi to release her 1st single in 46 years!"

"Tatsuro Yamashita and Mariya Takeuchi in negotiations to host 2026 edition of Kohaku Utagassen!"

"Hiroshi Itsuki goes punk rock! Gets a Mohawk cut!"

Anyways, on to the list (and good night)!

1. Daniel Boone            Beautiful Sunday

2. Masato Shimon         Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun

3. Hiromi Ohta              Momen no Handkerchief

4. Momoe Yamaguchi    Ai ni Hashitte

5. Candies                      Haru Ichiban     

6. Hideki Saijo               Kimi yo Dakarete Atsuku Nare

7. Iruka                           Nagori Yuki

8. Seiji Tanaka                O Marijana

9. Masatoshi Nakamura  Ore-tachi no Tabi

10. Junko Sakurada         Nakanai wa

Martha and The Muffins -- Echo Beach

Daeva Trac via Wikimedia Commons

 

Welcome to another Reminiscings of Youth for this Thursday. There were times when I was frankly in a dead-end job and often reminisced during the drudgery about an old place where I used to know friends and had fun. For me, that hallowed place was the International Student Centre in Cumberland House at the University of Toronto. It's apparently now known as the Centre for International Experience. Having worked there as well as played there, a lot of the university clubs reserved rooms for activities and for a long while, the Japanese-Canadian Students' Association had an office on the third floor. 

For songwriter and member of the Toronto New Wave band Martha and The Muffins, Mark Gane when he endured his own job from Hell, his hallowed place was Sunnyside Beach along Lake Ontario in our common hometown. And from that came the idea for "Echo Beach" which was released in February 1980. I didn't know about the significance of the lyrics back then but I remember the song as one of the first ones made in Canada that I actually got hooked on when I finally discovered the joys of pop music. The source album "Metro Music" which was also released in February that year has a map of lakeside Toronto with Sunnyside Beach in there somewhere.

I'm not sure anymore but I had assumed that there were two music videos for "Echo Beach", one was of Martha and The Muffins playing on stage (which is above) and a conceptual one where the band members were strangely doing calisthenics in a park late at night somewhere (Sunnyside Beach, perhaps?). Perhaps I'm hallucinating, though. Regardless, although the band enjoyed success in Canada with a lot of their other singles, "Echo Beach" was probably the only single that had any significant fame outside of the country. It scored No. 5 on Canada's RPM and No. 37 on Billboard's Hot Disco (!) singles chart in the USA. It also went Gold in the Great White North and won a Juno for Single of the Year. Martha and The Muffins is also represented through another ROY article on "Black Stations/White Stations".

So, what was also coming out in February 1980 in the record stores in Japan?

Yoshimi Iwasaki -- Aka to Kuro（赤と黒）

Masashi Sada -- Doukeshi no Sonnet（道化師のソネット）

The Chanels -- Runaway

Sakanaction -- Iranai（いらない）

 

It was good to see Sakanaction（サカナクション）in action again when I saw Ichiro Yamaguchi（山口一郎） and the band on last year's Kohaku Utagassen. They did a mini-medley consisting of their recent "Kaiju" （怪獣）and then a golden oldie in the form of "Shin-Takarajima" （新宝島） .

Well, they haven't been resting on their laurels apparently. In February, they released a digital download single titled "Iranai" (Don't Need You) which was made the theme song for the late-night comedy hero drama "Kochira Yobi Jiei Eiyuuho?!"（こちら予備自衛英雄補?!...Small Fry Heroes） about a septet of seemingly dysfunctional folks with special abilities called in to serve with Japan's Self-Defense Forces in a reserve capacity. I'm kinda wondering if this had been NTV's take on The Thunderbolts.

The trailer for the show doesn't really show anything unless fierce anger and resentment are their powers. However, I've gotten more mileage from the official music video for "Iranai" and I'm happy that there is plenty of 80s synthpop flavour to savor in the arrangement. The video itself has its charms as its characters wanna give their tribute to the famous dance sequence in "Pulp Fiction" although Yamaguchi plays a far less dangerous and dumb dance partner than Vincent Vega to model/actress/dancer Aoi Yamada's（山田葵）femme fatale. His lyrics talk about some frantic push and pull regarding desire for a young and perhaps psychotic lady...which may indeed be playing out in the video. By the way, talking about psycho...Yamaguchi drops in a whole lot of sugar into his coffee which is what I used to do a few decades ago.💀 A completely different aside, but hey I can totally see him and the Salarywave Man from Kirinji's（キリンジ）"Jikan ga nai"（時間がない）having a dance-off at a disco somewhere in Tokyo.

For some video information on Yamada, you can check out this video from the Victoria's Secret YouTube channel.

Masayoshi Takanaka -- Star Wars Samba

SorryArii via Wikimedia Commons

 

I only read this on Reuters' Twitter account some minutes ago and just in case the tweet gets deleted (I doubt that), I'll quote it here:

Seventy-three-year-old Japanese guitarist Masayoshi Takanaka is selling out venues worldwide, riding a surge of Gen‑Z enthusiasm that has propelled him back onto international stages — and back to London for the first time in five decades.

Despite it being April Fool's Day, I don't think this is some cruel hoax so let me give my heartfelt congratulations to Mr. Takanaka（高中正義）. Of course, on reading this, I'm going to take full advantage of the opportunity.

Yes, it is April 1st but it's also a Wednesday and therefore Hump Day as usual. Folks are sighing about the fun that is now past history from last weekend and the fun that they have to wait another few days for this weekend. So, let's have Takanaka himself bring a little cheeky happiness to everyone with his own tribute to the original "Star Wars". Indeed, his third single from July 1977 is "Star Wars Samba". I had to blink twice when I saw his J-Wiki discography but he did arrange John Williams' classic theme to sound like a samba to have caipirinhas with. So, perhaps Japanese fans could not only enjoy MECO's disco version but also Takanaka's elastic Brazilian take at the same time. Apparently, it was also placed into his fourth album "Brasilian Skies" which was released in the same month as the single.

Hmmm....sense the samba side in him, I do! 

Happy 10th, Uta Con!（うたコン）/Hideki Saijo -- Ai no Juujika（愛の十字架）

 

First off, Happy 10th Birthday to the NHK music show "Uta Con". I saw their episode last night and it was nice not only to see some of the highlights from the past ten years but also get a tour of how the magic works at NHK Shibuya. It's amazing how quickly the years fly by...I remember when "Uta Con" got the baton passed over to it from "Kayo Concert"（歌謡コンサート）back in 2016.

Now, "Kayo Kyoku Plus" had its tenth anniversary back in 2022 so I actually pulled out most of the guns to celebrate our grand project back then, and of course, you can take a look at some of that via "10th Anniversary Special: 10th Anniversary Songs". However, I still wanted to commemorate the "Uta Con" achievement so I've opted to present a few songs over the years that have had something of the number 10 involved in the titles. I'll admit though to being a little cheat-y with my choices. But the important thing is that I also have the opportunity to present a new tune onto the blog by the late great Hideki Saijo（西城秀樹）. Anyways, without further ado:

(1984) Akina Nakamori -- Jukkai (1984) (十戒 (1984))

(1986) Minako Honda -- the Cross ~ Ai no Juujika（愛の十字架）

(1993) SMAP -- $10

As noted above, I have this Hideki Saijo tune that has that 10-ish relationship (albeit through kanji association only). This is "Ai no Juujika" (Cross of Love), his 7th single from December 1973. Indeed, it shares the same title as Honda's song above but that's the only common denominator. It is otherwise a totally different animal.

Written by Takashi Taka（たかたかし）and composed by Kunihiko Suzuki（鈴木邦彦）under Koji Makaino's（馬飼野康二）arrangement, this is also the first time for me to hear Saijo's "Ai no Juujika", and from what I hear, it's a very early Hideki song of passion and angst. It's quite the cross for him to bear and I think he's even shedding a few tears in the concert audio above. All the better for the screaming fans to rush over to comfort him. Not surprisingly, the song hit No. 1 and finished 1974 as the 22nd-ranked single.