microstar -- She got the blues (Part 2)

 

Well, it's been over five years since I gave my two pennies on microstar's July 2016 album "She got the blues". Before and since that article, I've additionally given some individual attention to other tracks on this fun release: "Yuugure Girl"（夕暮れガール）, "Tiny Spark", and "Tomodachi ni Narou"（友達になろう）, and I think that it's time to finish everything here with the remaining four tracks that I had yet to cover. Just as a reminder, vocalist Yuko Iizumi（飯泉裕子）took care of the lyrics for all of the tracks while producer Seiki Sato（佐藤清喜）composed them.

"Tsuki no Palace"（月のパレス...Moon Palace） is a rollicking 1970s R&B/pop number about the exhilaration and joy of falling in love. The synths are obvious here but the arrangement and Iizumi's vocals are so cheerful that they cover over any wonders about what could have been if real brass had been implemented.

The arrangement behind "My Baby" is very reminiscent of 1970s Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）when he was in New York City. From what I could get of the lyrics, it seems that a girlfriend has perhaps teasingly accused her guy of being a rather empty fellow but he counters that not only is she an empty vessel as well but that it's great to be in such a state if only that they can be filled up with wonderful things going forward. The horns do come in here only for "My Baby" to suddenly finish up at only two minutes and forty-five seconds.

Speaking of rollicking, that is some percussion rolling consistently and persistently throughout "Watashi-tachi wa Koi wo Suru"（私たちは恋をする...We are Going to Make Love）, a 70s soul number. I've heard that rolling thunder in other songs, Japanese and American, and would like to know whether there is a specific name for the drumming technique. It is quite propulsive as Iizumi's lyrics relate the story of a couple in love who will most likely consider the edges of their bed the borders of their world for the next several hours. 

The final track is "Oyasumi"（おやすみ...Good Night） and it really does feel like something to wrap up "She got the blues". With the lush arrangement including those trumpeting French horns, Sato couldn't get more Burt Bacharach than this. It's a fine tribute to the master who left this mortal coil in February. 

I would recommend microstar's "She got the blues" for those who want to get that sensation of an overall tribute to the urban contemporary as Japanese music saw it over the past several decades. As far as I know, there has yet to be a follow-up album but wouldn't it be nice if Sato and Iizumi could come up with one?

Yutaka Kimura Speaks ~ Japanese City Pop Masterpieces 100: Hiroshi Sato featuring Wendy Matthews -- I Can't Wait

 

Unlike for the inaugural article for Yutaka Kimura Speaks, there will be less J-Canuck blah, blah, blah and more of Kimura.

Number: 001

Lyricist: Lorraine Feather

Composer/Arranger: Hiroshi Sato

From his 1982 album: "Awakening"

This is his most contemporary mellow groove song from his landmark recording which established his distinct style after his encounter with the Linn drum. It may be a silly love song based on lyrics talking about the negotiations between a man and a woman, but thanks to Hiroshi Sato's（佐藤博）splendid taste, I can immerse myself in an aurally luxurious sensation within the dry air of Los Angeles. With the quality of the melody and the sound, it's of course very hard to dismiss "I Can't Wait" with the flavour that he imbues into it.

Kaoru Akimoto -- Kyou wa Hitorikiri（今日はひとりきり）

From Amazon.jp

 

It's been almost seven years since I featured any of the tracks on Kaoru Akimoto's（秋元薫）1986 "Cologne", probably seen as one of the pillars for City Pop collectors thanks to "Dress Down". I've already got that covered along with "Narcissist" (ナルシスト).

"Kyou wa Hitorikiri" (Just Me Today) is a track from Side B of the original LP and it's a slightly more contemplative but no less groovy song. Written by Akimoto and composed by Kenjiro Sakiya（崎谷健次郎）, I do love the thrumming from the bass synth and the measured pacing of the tune. It's just like a solo stroll in the city on a Sunday evening. 

There are still seven more tracks on "Cologne". I'll have to see about finishing off the rest of the album in one fell swoop soon enough. I'm just realizing that I covered "Dress Down" a few years before the whole City Pop boom around the world started up. Quite ironic considering that I've always considered myself a late bloomer.

GWINKO & Cindy -- Teenage Beat

 

Looking up the information for this particular song and singer GWINKO, I've realized that the lass was just a few days shy of 15 when her second album "Teenage Beat" was released in June 1988. And she was already singing and kick-stepping it up a notch.

Probably a lot of City Pop and J-R&B fans had been wondering if there were ever a duet between a couple of singers within the genre, and sure enough, there was something close to it. GWINKO and Cindy got together to do the first and title track from the album although it's been listed that Cindy was more on backup chorus rather than an equal partner. "Teenage Beat" was written by Akane Tsukinose（月の瀬 茜）and composed by Masatoshi Nishimura（西村麻聡）. As for the type of R&B, I'm not quite sure...would it be funk or a milder form of New Jack Swing? There is something rather Janet Jackson about it.

Sky -- Kimi ni, Kurakura（君に、クラクラ）

 

Last fall, I wrote about this short-lived duo called Sky with Eizo Kitazawa（北沢英三）and Takashi Morimoto（森本隆）through their 1981 song "Last Ballad"（ラスト・バラッド）. It's a slow and sweet ballad that fit the autumn quite nicely. Incidentally, just last week I wrote about a song that Kitazawa had composed under a later pseudonym, Masayoshi Hatta（八田雅弘）, titled "Kanashiki Sherry"（悲しき恋人）.

Well, a little more than half a year later, I've found another 1981 single under the Sky banner and that would be "Kimi ni, Kurakura" (Dizzying for You). And befitting the spring and rising temperatures, this one is rather more upbeat with Keisuke Yamakawa（山川啓介）providing the lyrics while Takao Horiuchi（堀内孝雄）from the folk group Alice（アリス）composed the melody. Tatsushi Umegaki（梅垣達志）arranged everything into a nice of mix good ol' rock-n'-roll and AOR.

Created as a jingle for a Kanebo Cosmetics commercial, "Kimi ni, Kurakura" is about a cocky fellow who manages to part the monochrome clouds away from a woman's life to provide some well-needed sunshine. I would probably think that the glare must have been truly dizzying for her. I'm assuming that some of that old footage in the above video is from those Kanebo ads.

Yosui Inoue -- Feminist（フェミニスト）

 

Welcome to another Urban Contemporary Friday on "Kayo Kyoku Plus". I would have started earlier but I had to watch the finale for Season 3 of "Star Trek: Picard". Not a dry eye in the house.😉

Anyways, why don't we start off with some sunny and summery Margaritaville-type music such as singer-songwriter Yosui Inoue's（井上陽水）"Feminist"? A track from his September 1979 7th album "Sneaker Dancer"（スニーカーダンサー）, I should also add that there is some disco in there, too. Either way, it comes off as a travel-friendly City Pop that was written and composed by Inoue with Katsu Hoshi（星勝）providing the arrangement.

Looking at those lyrics, it sounds like Inoue is singing from the point of view of a footloose and fancy-free lady who's not much for feminists but does like her pianists. She likes to keep things simple and fun. Maybe that was indeed the atmosphere back in the late 1970s going into the early 1980s. As for the album itself, "Sneaker Dancer" hit No. 3 on Oricon.

Dionne Mitsuoka -- Chotto Matte Kudasai（ちょっと待って下さい）

 

I've mentioned this before in a very few articles on KKP in the past but when I was on my JET stint in Gunma Prefecture between 1989 and 1991, I remember watching "MTV Japan" past the midnight hour on Saturday mornings on TBS. At the time, it was pretty much my only source of catching J-Pop music videos since on those prime-time music programs, the acts showed up to perform live. I never caught too much of the original MTV with those day-glo VJs but "MTV Japan" was a much more staid affair only showing a few hours each week in a relatively dimly-lit studio with a couple of button-down hosts, music critic and producer Kenta Hagiwara（萩原健太）and TV/radio personality Dionne Mitsuoka（光岡ディオン）. In between videos, the two would interview folks in the music industry.

What I hadn't known was that Mitsuoka did put out at least one album titled "Aquarium" in June 1991. One track I've found there was "Chotte Matte Kudasai" (Please Wait A Moment) which was created by Loyal E. Carner and Jeanne Nakashima. It was also produced by Mitsuoka's co-host Hagiwara. "Chotto Matte Kudasai" is a bossa nova-infused ballad that's reminiscent of those breezy 60s girl pop tunes and I got some vibes of early Anne Lewis while listening to Mitsuoka's girlish vocals.

I'd completely forgotten that Mitsuoka had married THE BOOM's Kazufumi Miyazawa (宮沢和史) in 1994. The two of them have a son, actor and fashion model Hio Miyazawa（宮沢氷魚）.

P.S. Blast my aging memory! The song is much older.