ASKA/Saburo Tokito -- Kimi ga Ai wo Katare （君が愛を語れ）

This ballad by Ryo Aska（飛鳥涼）rang a bell with me when I heard it on YouTube and it turns out that it is on my purchase of his June 1991 album "Scene II". It was also the coupling song for his mammoth hit single "Hajimari wa Itsumo Ame"（はじまりはいつも雨）which had been released earlier in March that year.

Written and composed by the singer-songwriter, "Kimi ga Ai wo Katare" (Express Your Love) starts off with some pretty piano to relate the story of some fellow who finally got the message that he was loved despite his own doubts about the relationship. I think the diagnosis here was that although he had been hearing, he really hadn't been listening. Well, it looks like that has been resolved happily and he has given standing orders to his significant other to let him know that specific reassurance whenever he falters.

Of course, being an Aska ballad, there will always be that sense of epicness (forgive me, I realize that it isn't a real word) infused in the arrangement, and sure enough, the second half sounds like the clouds parting to let the rays of sunshiny wisdom and joy filter into the guy's brain. I would say that there is even some passing resemblance to The Beatles' "Hey Jude" near the end. Break out the swaying glow sticks!

Gotta include the concert performance of "Kimi ga Ai wo Katare" with an orchestra although I think the original recorded version still takes the gold medal in terms of glory.

Now the whole reason that I've put this ballad up in the first place was that I was actually looking for any Saburo Tokito（時任三郎）songs featured online. Up to this point, I was able to profile a couple of songs by the actor/singer, his bluesy and romantic "Kawa no Nagare wo Daite Nemuritai"（川の流れを抱いて眠りたい）from 1981 and his comic hit, "Yuuki no Shirushi"（勇気のしるし）which was the jingle for all those Regain power drink commercials a decade later. And those songs were profiled way back in 2012.

Unfortunately, Tokito will probably only be known for his skills as a kakkoii thespian since I really wasn't able to find anything except videos representing the above two songs. However, I found out that he covered Aska's "Kimi ga Ai wo Katare" in June 1992 as his 16th single for which the above video is a cover.

Going back to Aska, I know about his personal problems from last year and I hope he gets better.

Chakra -- Myun Myun (ミュンミュン)

Ah, if only my awareness and ambition about Japanese popular music had been more open back in 1981 when I visited Japan back then, I probably would not only have been able to pick up a lot more singles in the aidoru category but also go further afield.

Why did I just get all so philosophical above? Well, I discovered this YouTube video featuring this New Wave band from that same year, and it wasn't Yellow Magic Orchestra. At the time, I had thought that YMO had a monopoly on that sound but if I had been smarter, I would have known that the influential band had been around for a few years which meant that other synthesizer bands probably did emerge from the woodwork to get on the bandwagon.

In this case, this was the band Chakra (チャクラ) which had a number of members but the main two were Mishio Ogawa（小川美潮）on vocals and Bun Itakura（板倉文）on guitar. The song featured here tonight is "Myun Myun" (try 3:27) from their 2nd album "Satekoso"（さてこそ...As Expected）from 1981 and it's quite the technopop earworm. In fact, I would say that it's the far older and cooler cousin to that "Nyan Cat" song which was all the rage several years ago. Itakura and Ogawa wrote the vocals while Itakura took care of the music. Listening to it, I got that feeling of Akiko Yano（矢野顕子）in there when she was also on her own technopop kick at the time. Along with Ogawa chirping the title, I also like the guitar work.

Chakra started in 1980 with a self-titled album produced by Makoto Yano（矢野誠）who had been married to the aforementioned Akiko. Then "Satekoso" came out the following year with Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）from YMO taking care of the production. One more album came out in 1983 titled "Nanyo de Yoisho"（南洋でヨイショ...Heave Ho on the South Seas）before Chakra finally broke up. Only one single was released in 1980 "Fuku no Tane"（福の種...Seed of Fortune）.

And since I mentioned that feline...

J-Canuck's 5 Attempted-But-Failed Karaoke Tunes

Got hit with a good bunch of articles to translate earlier today so I'm feeling a tad frazzled right now. Luckily, dinner helped take the edge off. Plus, I'm feeling that whimsy tonight so I've decided to go for something silly and provide a follow-up to my article on those five karaoke tunes that were always a part of my singing arsenal whether I went with teachers and students to the nearby Karaoke Kan or a tiny karaoke bar.

This follow-up actually involves those five karaoke tunes that I tried that not only not become part of the arsenal but had me vow never to try them again. For that other article, I mentioned three conditions for me to have a chance of singing a song without clearing the room, and for the sake of this article, I will mention them again:

A: A nice even melody without any shifts in key.
B: Lyrics that didn't require me to leaf through a kanji dictionary many times.
C: No demand for vocal gymnastics (therefore, Kazumasa Oda and Dreams Come True were out).

Now, of course, there were plenty of other tunes that I did try out and never resumed but these five's failures left residual and painful memories of shame that have popped up now and then like unwanted cold sores.

Let me begin in no particular order.

1. Kazumasa Oda -- Love Story wa Totsuzen ni

Well, obviously I broke Rule No. 3. But actually I made the rule because of what had happened with this song. I absolutely love Oda's magnum opus....personally I think "Love Story wa Totsuzen ni" had a lot of the non-fans or casual fans of Off-Course forget that he had ever been a member of that amazing band.

I sang...or tried to sing..."Love Story wa Totsuzen ni" at karaoke when I was visiting my relatives in Osaka not too long after "Tokyo Love Story" had finished its run on Fuji-TV. Ugh! That refrain especially twisted me in conniptions...I hadn't realized that that part of the song undulated and twisted in 3D. Practice might have improved things somewhat but I was rather mortified at the time and my relatives were politely encouraging which made things worse. Ironically enough, I haven't seen them again in over 25 years.

2. Keizo Nakanishi -- Nemurenu Omoi

Another case of breaking Rule No. 3. Nakanishi has an amazing soaring voice. I do not. I can only guess the multiple glasses of Brown Cow did all the talking one night for me at the karaoke box. In any case, I did my rendition of this wonderful nighttime ballad which was rendered not so wonderful since my voice didn't get anywhere near as high as the original singer's vocals when needed.

Let's say this. Nakanishi = soaring jet. J-Canuck = Monarch butterfly with a case of hiccups. Once again, I received a sympathetic smile from a friend of mine which fairly screamed "Nice try, bro!". After that, I let the professionals handle this one.

3. YUKI -- Joy

Indeed, this is a joyful song. I loved the way YUKI contracted some of her lyrics as if a foreigner were trying to say them, and "Joy" in general sounded quirky and inspirational at the same time. And that was some music video.

One night, while I was teaching at the local juku in Urayasu City right next to my own city of Ichikawa, I made the suggestion to those night students of mine about having a karaoke outing at the nearby Shidax (which was the high-end karaoke box). Of course, they all leaped at the opportunity but I made one condition: the first hour would have my charges sing only English-language tunes. They were initially wary but, hey, they did a great job on that night.

The second hour was back to the regular stuff, and that was when I was interested in giving "Joy" a shot. It didn't clear the room but things were silent for a few awkward moments. Finally, the senior student basically remarked "Well, that was interesting...". Damning with faint praise indeed. YUKI with her high-pitched voice was fine with this, but the song didn't work quite as well with a baritone like me.

4. Anzen Chitai -- Friend

One of the saddest ballads ever released by the Hokkaido band, Koji Tamaki probably had his fans in tears with his powerful and heartrending delivery. I had listeners crying for a different reason. Strangely enough, I was OK with some of the other hits by Anzen Chitai, and in fact, one of my go-to tunes is another one of the band's ballads but I think with "Friend", there was just some subtlety required that I couldn't emulate.

5. B.B. Queens -- Odoru Ponpokorin

I didn't usually sing anison at karaoke but I did make an exception for the mighty theme song from "Uchuu Senkan Yamato" since the vocals were well within my range. However, whenever I tried B.B. Queens' biggest hit, "Odoru Ponpokorin", it wasn't just a little too high but it was a little too far out of my silliness range. For a number of songs, a good amount of body movement is encouraged but I was never all that expressive a fellow. Therefore, what my friends saw was more "Suwaru Ponpokorin" than "Odoru Ponpokorin".

So if any of you folks have your own karaoke stories, good or bad, please let me know.

Cherish -- Koi no Funade （恋の船出）

Remember last week when I informed you about all that renovation work upstairs? Well, they're still at it. In fact, today, the contractors dumped a whole bunch of detritus which increased noise levels significantly. At least, they had the common courtesy to warn us in advance, and to be honest, they have been following all noise by-laws.

So perhaps to ease a bit of my pain, some 70s folk may be just the tonic. Therefore, I cherish Cherish (チェリッシュ). The (future) husband-and-wife folk duo of Yoshitaka Matsuzaki and Etsuko Matsui （松崎好孝・松井悦子）made their fame with their cute-as-all-get-out "Tento Mushi no Samba"（てんとう虫のサンバ）in 1973, but I also like this wistful ballad titled "Koi no Funade" (Ocean Departure of Love). This was the B-side to their 12th single, "Ai no Period"（愛の終末...The End of Love）which came out in October 1974.

Haruo Hayashi（林春生）came up with the lyrics with the legendary Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）creating the music with that wonderful flute and strings. Another example of melodic chamomile tea here. I'm pretty much convinced that Tsutsumi was able to concoct fine music in any genre although I'm not sure if he ever came up with anything for X Japan (just kidding). He and Hayashi collaborated often on Cherish's songs and for this particular single, it went up as high as No. 24.

Hitomi Yaida -- Hitori Jenga （一人ジェンガ）

Actually the above is a photo of tsukemen but since I've considered the scrumptious dish as a form of deconstructed ramen, it will serve for my purposes here.

Whenever I took my rare trips outside of Tokyo, one of my favourite destinations was Yokohama and within that wonderful port city, one of my favourite stops was the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum. Although I enjoyed visiting and staying right by Yokohama Bay with Minato Mirai 21, Yamashita Park and Chinatown in the vicinity, the Ramen Museum was (and is) located a little further away near JR Shin-Yokohama Station, but all it takes is a short subway ride up to get there from the Bay so not inconvenient at all.

Perhaps the place might be seen as a little too touristy but I enjoyed going there not only to have my choice of ramen represented by several restaurants from all over the nation but also to savor the time trip back to Tokyo of the 1950s. The restaurants are all located down in the sub-basements of he facility surrounded by a detailed mockup of postwar inner city Tokyo so the place can also be a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach.

Now the reason I gave that shout-out to one of the national emporia for Japanese dishes is due to the music video for Hitomi Yaida's（矢井田瞳）"Hitori Jenga" (Playing Jenga Alone). When I was watching Yaiko perform in the video, I just went "Hey! Wait a minute...I know that place!" Yup, it was the Tokyo set in the museum. So I'm a tad worried now that something Pavlovian might happen and I will end up salivating for ramen whenever I hear this song.

In a way, though, Yaida's 10th single from September 2003 is a pretty nice match for the Ramen Museum since the song created by the singer-songwriter and arranged by her, Daishi Kataoka（片岡大志）and Akira Murata（村田昭）has that retro-rock feeling. I think it also sounds like something that Ringo Shiina（椎名林檎）would tackle as well in that sense.

Also I enjoy that one line she delivers "Aitai kedo aenai no"（会いたいけど会えないの...I want to meet you but I can't）for some reason. Yaida's lyrics come off as a bit of an old postwar film noir in the big city where a woman would dearly like to be with that one fellow but cannot due to dark circumstances from her past coming back to haunt her. The title actually refers to all of those entanglements being compared to playing that dangerous game of Jenga; how far can it be played before the whole thing comes crumbling down?

The single peaked at No. 6 on Oricon and was also put down as a track on her 4th album "Air/Cook/Sky" which came out a month after the single. It managed to get as high as No. 2.

Ken Yamauchi & Masako Izumi -- Hoshizora no Futari （星空の二人）

Not quite sure where I first heard this but I suspect the song was performed on a "Uta Kon" (うたコン) in the last few months of last year. This is another duet by actors Ken Yamauchi and Masako Izumi（山内賢・和泉雅子）titled "Hoshizora no Futari" (Starry Sky Couple) from March 1967.

About 6 months earlier, Yamauchi and Izumi had a huge hit with "Futari no Ginza"（二人の銀座）, a song that had been penned by The Ventures and Rokusuke Ei（永六輔）. This follow-up was written by Hisatoki Izumi（いずみひさとき）and composed by Makoto Kawaguchi（川口真）, and has a bit more of the sweet and a little less of the urgency. With the grand horns and chorus in there, I was thinking that "Hoshizora no Futari" had also been a theme song for a movie of the same title but didn't come across any indication of that in Yamauchi's J-Wiki article.

Yamauchi and Izumi still sound like that adorable teen couple hopelessly in love and not shy to show it. The video below has a shortened updated version that sounds as if The Ventures took a crack at arranging it.

Tatsuro Yamashita -- Melodies

Happy Tuesday to you all! Hope all of you have managed to survive Blue Monday. I got my first bill from the good ol' folks at MasterCard today and it doesn't hurt too much. By the way, the above photo is of Fuji-TV down at Odaiba right by Tokyo Bay. Yeah, it has that Meccano kit look to it. My old friend who went to the Ontario College of Art isn't too much of a fan of the design but I'm OK with it. I remember seeing this construct as one of the very first structures on the man-made island when I visited Odaiba in 1995...there was really nothing but a few condos and a whole lot of sandy ground surrounding the TV station. Things have come a long way since then.

Well, it feels like I've already covered a good chunk of the tracks for Tatsuro Yamashita's（山下達郎）hit album "Melodies" but I feel that it's time to at least give some tribute to his June 1983 release. Did give his 7th album a listen late last night and was satisfied as usual. For the record, I've written articles on the following tracks from "Melodies": "Kanashimi no JODY: She Was Crying"（悲しみのJODY）, "Blue Midnight", "Kokiatsu Girl"（高気圧ガール）and "Christmas Eve".

I like those four tracks but I also love the song "Merry Go Round" (メリー・ゴー・ラウンド). I was reading the write-up for each of the tracks on J-Wiki and I came across this rather intriguing comment from Yamashita about this particular track. He commented that during those days whenever he composed a funk song and laid down the lyrics, he felt that there was this rather Ray Bradbury-type world which would be whipped up. Now I have read my fair share of science-fiction but I'm not as familiar with Bradbury's material so I'm not quite sure what he meant by that. However by looking at those lyrics, I got the impression that this couple enjoying that midnight ride on that carousel in Tokyo's Korakuen amusement park was experiencing something more otherworldly.

Perhaps then that above video showing scenes from the incredible "AKIRA" (sorry but it's been taken down) was the right one for "Merry Go Round". Oh, it's pure Tats City Pop with that thumping bass, the groovy keyboards and his layered vocals. I gather that he was really getting into the beat with those background whoops.

(cover version)

Then, there is "Night-Fly"（夜翔...not sure how to pronounce the kanji here）, a nicely nocturnal and dreamy ballad which Yamashita wove from his impressions of the sound of sirens wailing off in the distance while living in Tokyo. That may sound rather odd but I can relate to that feeling. But for me, I would also add the faint sounds of the hustle and bustle of life down on the ground and even the sight of those slowly blinking red warning lights on all of the skyscrapers in The Big Sushi.

I also found out on J-Wiki that the singer-songwriter had also created the English title with the hyphen since he didn't particularly want any letters of inquiry from the representatives of Donald Fagen because the fellow from Steely Dan had come out with his great album "The Nightfly" the previous year. That album is also on my shelf and it is one of my favourites as well.

I couldn't find any other of the tracks that hadn't yet been covered by me represented on YouTube but I did want to give some attention to Yamashita's cover of "Guess I'm Dumb". As I said, I couldn't find that song so here is the original song as performed by Glen Campbell in 1965.

One of my thoughts about Yamashita in terms of his musicality and delivery was that he should have been made at least an honourary member of The Beach Boys. So I guess there is a certain rightness about covering this tune created by Brian Wilson and Russ Titelman for Campbell (another TV presence from my time as a toddler) who also had his time with the The Beach Boys. The Wikipedia article on the song mentions it as well but "Guess I'm Dumb" also has that grand Burt Bacharach horn arrangement in there. I was also attracted to the lyric "I guess I'm dumb but I don't care"; sounds like the perfect mantra for me.😆

"Melodies" hit No. 1 on Oricon and became the 7th-ranked album of the year.