I've been a fan of Japanese popular music for 40 years, and have managed to collect a lot of material during that time. So I decided I wanted to talk about Showa Era music with like-minded fans. My particular era is the 70s and 80s (thus the "kayo kyoku"). The plus part includes a number of songs and artists from the last 30 years and also the early kayo. So, let's talk about New Music, aidoru, City Pop and enka.
Credits
I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.
I'd just like to reassure folks that the above is a shot of an Ami Ozaki（尾崎亜美）CD single from the 1990s. However, for today, I'd like to return to her 1970s roots since I hadn't been to that part of her early discography in a couple of years.
Call me an old New Music wonk but the piano that begins Ozaki's 4th single"Hatsukoi no Toori Ame"(A Passing Shower of First Love) had me at "Hello!". After that, the singer-songwriter from Kyoto goes full steam ahead into an optimistic contemporized version of a 1950s/1960s girl pop song about a couple sharing that umbrella during some meteorological spritzing. Of course, the tradition of sharing that umbrella in Japan is one serious sign when it comes to the subject of romance. No wonder it's so softly upbeat thanks to Masataka Matsutoya's（松任谷正隆）arrangement of Ozaki's words and music.
It's a bit of a shame though that after "Hatsukoi no Toori Ame" had been released in July 1977, it got no higher than No. 100 on Oricon. The song shares track space on Ozaki's（尾崎亜美）2nd original album, "Mind Drops" with "Taiyo no Hitorigoto"（太陽のひとりごと）.
It was a few months ago that I posted "J-Canuck's Four Favourite Songs by Original Love" after seeing singer and songwriter Takao Tajima（田島貴男）perform live on "Asaichi"（あさイチ）one Friday morning. His amazing performance was such that I just had to put up something by the band.
Well, one of the songs that Tajima performed that day was "Deep French Kiss" which I realized was Original Love's debut single from June 1991. I hadn't heard it before and found it really cool. Of course, the "Asaichi" performance was a veteran Tajima with that characteristic growl in his voice and so I wanted to hear it way back when more than three decades ago.
Indeed, Tajima's voice sounded downright angelic and soulful in the original 1991 recording, although the lyrics hinted at some raunchy stuff happening starting with the titular act (hope the couple brushed beforehand). The music is jazzy and funky and it feels as if I were having the pleasure of hearing it at a small live house where the entire venue is suffused with good vibes. There's the hearty sax and organ along with some punchy percussion all over. Good times were about to be had by Original Love.
The last time singer-songwriter Yoko Shibata（柴田容子）was on the byline of an article was over four years in 2022 when I wrote about her "Heartbreak House"（ハート ブレイクハウス）. And that's a pity especially on hearing this new tune by her.
Well, the "new" tune is actually an old one but it's one that I'm hearing for the first time. "Heartbreak House" was on her one-and-only February 1978 album"Tomarigi" (とまり木...Perch) but so was "Furareta Ato de" (After Getting Dumped) which was the first track of the album. I have an affinity for a clarinet-led bluesy jazz number and this one indeed fills all the checkboxes. Shibata wrote and composed "Furareta Ato de" which takes the wistful view of experiencing one of the more emotionally twisting trials of life and gives the shrug of "Hey, what can I do?". It's a nice song to shuffle off to the nearest watering hole to drink away the rest of the evening.
I remember seeing the music video for Styx's "Mr. Roboto" as a teen on Canada's premier music program "The New Music" and there was some narration about a rock opera ("Kilroy was Here") that was being produced at the time featuring the band and other actors. Never heard any more from it, but the chief song "Mr. Roboto" has been the main aspect that has survived all these years, and apparently the lyric by vocalist Dennis DeYoung, "Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto" is now part of the English vernacular. When one would use it in polite conversation is beyond me, however.
Still, the technopop/technorock"Mr. Roboto" caught my ears and at the time, I was keenly attuned to anything that had synthesizers connected to it, and of course, there was my whole fascination with Japan, so you can imagine how hyped I was at hearing Japanese being sung in an American rock song. At the time though, I could only understand that lyric of "Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto" and it wouldn't be until some time later, I finally figured out what the other Japanese was (domo arigato, four years of university Japanese language training).
"Mr. Roboto" hit No. 1 in Canada and No. 3 in the United States.
So, what was hitting the top of the charts at around the time "Mr. Roboto" was released on February 11th 1983? Well, we've got the Top 3 of the February 14th 1983 Oricon singles chart.
With October 31st coming up in the next few weeks, I'm pretty sure that I'll be covering Danny Elfman's "Beetlejuice" theme for the annual Halloween ROY article. It's quite the distinct song that set up the composing career by the former vocalist for Oingo Boingo. For a while, he seemed to be the go-to guy for magical European Gothic suspense horror scores for movies like "Batman" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas".
Earlier today, I received word from a KKP commenter that I hadn't heard in some years, Matt K. We shared thoughts and feelings on one of the 1980s most unique Japanese pop albums, "Bouekifu Monogatari"（貿易風物語...Trade Wind Story） by singer-songwriter Kazuhiro Nishimatsu（西松一博）. The original 1985 LP provided music that felt like stuff that could be heard in that notorious bar in Mos Eisley where Han Solo had shot first. There was something of that techno-jazz cabaret vibe that could have come from the early 20th century...and maybe even the early 22nd century.
I provided articles for "Bouekifu Monogatari" in 2018 and 2020, and yet I think there are still a few tracks that I hadn't covered. Matt K. reminded me of one of those tracks. I did mention Elfman off the top and so here is "Byakuya e no Shoutai"(Invitation to a White Night) which sounds like something that could have floated around in the master composer's mind, even though of course, this is Nishimatsu's composition with Ren Takayanagi（高柳恋）as the lyricist. To be honest, listening to "Byakuya e no Shoutai", images of The Joker from Tim Burton's 1989"Batman" maniacally running around and cackling in his lair while playing a huge pipe organ have come to mind (although it's hard for me to imagine Jack Nicholson spending time on a keyboard). The frenzied minor-key chord progressions simply suggest villainous ideas are afoot here, something that Nishimatsu's vocal punctuations help enhance. I wonder whether the singer had sported a mask and a quill pen when coming up with this one.
Yesterday, I was watching NHK's daily morning information show "Asaichi"（あさイチ）and the theme was hen'ai. I'd never heard of the term before but was wondering if it were transcribed thusly: 「変愛」. Of course, seeing that kanji in my mind, I went "Oh, geez...I didn't think these guys would go into fetishism this early in the day...and on NHK, no less!" . But then, I saw the proper kanji: 「偏愛」. According to jisho.org, the definition is favoritism or partiality, but for the purposes of "Asaichi", it actually referred to particularly unusual hobbies. So, the reporters visited a housewife who has been collecting bags from stores and restaurants for decades, another lady who often spent two hours a day enjoying removing aphids from her plants, and another woman who thrilled at admiring/passing through iron bridges.
Perhaps then, the whole thing about non-Japanese people collecting Japanese City Pop albums can be considered hen'ai as well. I used to collect newspaper articles on Japan and astronomy when I was a kid until all that browning newsprint became too much of a fire hazard.
Anyways, it is Hump Day and so to relieve the usual stress that comes in the middle of the week, I thought that I could provide some examples of those rarefied pastimes via music.
I love my ramen but I'm not quite on the same level as some of these other folks who make going out for ramen a daily ritual. I've even seen magazines devoted to the dish in the convenience stores.
This wasn't covered in "Asaichi", but I can imagine people who would just adore visiting the various museums in a particular city. Tokyo has no shortage of those historical and artistic institutions.
Of course, there is also the lady who has an affinity for going aphid-hunting. It was even reported in "Asaichi" that she's got a good battle comrade in the form of a praying mantis.
Up until recently, I had never heard of this singer-songwriter Asqua（明日香）who hailed from Aichi Prefecture but then I listened to her wonderful song which was released as her third single from December 1983,"Blue Lullaby". Thanks to her gentle piano and string-led melody and Yoko Oshita's（大下洋子）lyrics, her "Blue Lullaby" sounded as if it had been created and recorded from at least half a decade prior to its early 1980s release date. In addition, Asqua had a comforting voice that reminded me of the golden tones of Midori Karashima（辛島美登里）who would soon be making her own debut within the next few years.
Born Minako Suga or Kan（菅美奈子）, Asqua took her first steps into a career in music through the annual Yamaha Popular Song Contest in 1981 and then released her debut single in late 1982. She released a total of eleven singles, three albums and six mini-albums. Sadly, her life would come to an end in October 2013 at the age of 49 due to cancer. A couple of live albums were posthumously released in 2014.
