12 posts tagged “j-pop”
This group was pretty spectacular, for along with YOU’s interesting (to say the least) vocals, the band also featured respected session musicians Seiji Toda on Bass & Keyboards, and Hirokazu Kawaguchi on guitar! Through this introduction I got to know hits such as Chiisana Hoshi, Sagashiteru Noni and the super-catchy Jelly Eyes wa Amakunai (My all-time fave song from them!)…Here, Check out this awesome live Fairchild performance of Jelly Eyes at Hibiya-Yaon (yep, THAT arena that Princess Princess and Ribbon fans alike will instantly recognize!)
It’s hard to explain to someone not familiar with the show how loose and carefree the set-up is for the program. Tsuyoshi does this thing called the “Shindoi Walker”, where he’ll get dropped into some various town and he and a guest will simply walk from venue to venue, sampling the restaurants, happenings, and secluded haunts, soaking up the atmosphere.
I’d gotten used to the sassy, raspy voiced YOU’s antics on Shojiki Shindoi before, but a special three-part Shindoi in *HAWAII* is the one that knocked me out! She was SOOO funny, so naughty and HELLA SEXY! Besides her devil may care attitude, she had these quirks that always made me smile- when she and Tsuyoshi would be eating something delicious, instead of just saying “Oishii”, she’d stop with her mouth full and hit Tusyoshi! He’d just snicker and blow her off, just the way she expected him to! SO ENTERTAINING-I’d watch these Shindois OVER and OVER again!
Even after that, YOU’s appeared on the show several times since, always winning me over with her crazy ways! And I think it’s saying something that she’d be on a show with someone like uber-boobed Eiko Koike and I’d still only be staring at YOU!
YOU was just on Shojiki Shindoi again a few weeks ago, and when I decided to write up a little entry on her, I was stunned to find the lack of pictures of her on the internet. Despite her LONG legacy in Fairchild and her work with DOWNTOWN, it seemed like the ONLY pictures available were the stills from Daremo Shiranai! I downloaded the best ones I could find, but sadly, she didn’t look so great in the movie. After all, she was a slummin' Mommy, and she really wasn't painted in that great of a light...I was bummed that these were the only shots I could get of her!
Then fate stepped in, as I wandered one weekend through the store that carried used japanese fashion magazines… and there, in the front row, stood the very magazine you see scanned here, the February issue of IN RED!!!
Another fine 1970’s j-pop singer that I love and have been re-discovering through the magic of YOUTUBE is the always cute and rocking MINAMI SAORI, sometimes better known by her christian name of CYNTHIA!
While I’ve known her singles Irozuku Machi, Asyuu No Page, the rocking Jyunketsu, and of course the incredible 17才 (Juanansai), it was through the viewing of Youtube that I was turned onto other terrific pop-perfect tunes of hers like Natsu No Kanjyo, Yureru Gogo, Shiokaze no Melody and Kizutsuku Sedai.
I was in heaven! The songs were peppy and catchy, really radiating that "natsu" feeling, and Saori was such a cutie!
By the time I’d collected about 8 videos of hers for songs I didn’t have, I knew that I had to get a better retrospective of Cynthia than the five J-pop compilations singles I was getting by with...
Going online, I found that the SONY series “GOLDEN J-POP-THE BEST”, which I had quite a few in my collection, had also released a pretty definitive Saori Minami double CD set. Checking over the track listings, I was pleased to see that it contained almost every one of the new Saori songs I’d just discovered! An order was due!
For the longest time, the only recordings I had of Yamaguchi Momoe were ones that were included on compilations. Between four Golden J-pop Records collections and two Hit Parade Melodies collections, I had seven songs in total at the time, a fairly sub-par amount for an artist who was one of the most prolific singers of the late seventies!
My two favorite songs from Momoe were Aoi Kaijitsu and Playback, Part 2, and my initial 70’s j-pop collection purchases were bought with those songs in mind. Along the way I also acquired the songs Hitonatsu No Keiken, Imitation Gold, Natsu Hiraku Seishun, Pearl Color Ni Yurete and Cosmos, and over time these songs became just as beloved as my first favorites…It would be only a matter of time before I wanted to hear more!
Browsing around the web, I was fascinated to find that there were files and files of vintage Momoe Yamaguchi performances just waiting to be viewed, and I dove headfist into the smorgasboard. Of course, the first songs I looked for were my faves as listed above, (yep, lots of Playback part 2 and Hitonatsu No Keiken) but before you knew it, I was immersed in a whole new world of unknown songs- and EVERY ONE OF THEM WAS JUST INCREDIBLE! Listening to Momoe on CD is one thing, but being able to watch her go through the motions with that cool, serene disposition just made it all the better! I made up my mind that I had to get my hands on a real Momoe Yamaguchi anthology, to catch up on the sweet songs I’d been missing!
Doing a bit of research online, I found quite a few excellent Momoe Yamaguchi collections (including an impressive “every album and single she’s ever done” collection called “Premium Momoe” going for- eek!- 37,800 Yen!), and came across a recent release called GOLDEN☆BEST/PLAYBACK MOMOE part2…
I popped in the fist disc and absentmindedly drove around, taking in the good sounds- enjoying the ones I knew, and getting blown away / enraptured by the songs that were new to me! This collection is an incredible piece of work- listening to Momoe’s songs from her very first single Toshigoro in 1973 all the way through to her last single Ichie in 1980, you really hear her growing and maturing with each track as it plays! From cheery pop tunes to smouldering ballads, and all the fun tunes and kick-ass rockers in between! (and yes, I’m thinking Rock N Roll Widow as I type that!) Golden Best also includes a couple of extra singles, one of which, Atata Henokomoriuta, was released a few years after her retirement. An A++ Investment!
And for those (like Me) who like a little visual with their Momoe:
Treat yourself to the place where it all began!
…and for more J-pop musings, please visit ZDORAMA AGAIN. my VOXblog site dedicated to all things Japanese!
Actress turned Singer, Singer turned Actress, or simply a well rounded celebrity capable of both? In any case, it was watching the country drama with that hummable Masashi Sada song where I totally flipped for Ayumi. Her character Reiko was supposed to be the “townie” wife of “country” husband played by Kunie Tanaka, and she would always be seen in the prettiest dresses and always looked so damn classy. Too bad she was the deserter of the kids! Bad Ayu!
I remember thinking that this japanese actress reminded me a lot of Audrey Hepburn somehow, and when I described Ayumi as the Nihon equivalent of Holly Golightly to a friend, she immediately could see what I was talking about!
In fact, whenever she saw Ayumi Ishida on a show or clip in later years, she would always say, “Hey, that Audrey Hepburn actress you like was on the other night!”
That “Audrey Hepburn” actress was more than “liked” by me, and for a while there, it became sort of an obsession to get any footage of Ayumi I could find! I mean, I would rent movies with Ayumi Ishida in them, even though they didn’t have subtitles! What I would do is isolate all the scenes with Ayumi in them, and dub them onto my own VHS copy. That way, I could re-watch all her scenes and revel in her beauty over and over again, and heck with the storyline! I ended up filling tapes and tapes of these Ayumi-biased edited movies, invaluable to me, and completely worthless to anyone else!
Still, it must be said that throughout this entire time, I still didn’t really know that Ayumi had been any more famous than what I knew of her then, with occasional movies and an appearance or two on music shows. Not that I really thought about it, but I kind of had this vague idea she came out onto the scene around 1980 or so. The oldest movie I rented was from I think 1981, and even then I thought it was a pretty old film. The original series of Kita No Kuni Kara (another series I rented without subs) also came out around this time, so I really thought this was her "breakout" period. Silly Me!
My first inkling that there was more history to Ayumi than I thought was when someone listed all the performances of singers on the NHK Kouhaku. She’s been on the show way more times than I thought, and was surprised to see she had appeared in as many as 10(!) Kouhakus over the years, and had to ask myself, “How LONG has Ayumi Ishida been around?!”
Although I now knew she'd been around since at least the mid seventies, the definitive answer came when some Japanese Special (can’t remember if it was the Kouhaku or the Recordo Taisho, though) put together classic performance montages throughout the show featuring artists like Hibari Misora and Amachi Mari, and there amidst the barrage of songs, I saw a clip of Ayumi Ishida performing “Blue Light Yokohama” in...1969! SUGOI!
MAN, I’d always thought Ayumi was as pretty as a gal could get, and was totally unprepared for how gorgeous a 20 year old version of her could be…She was just flat out incredible! My friend called me up, and exclaimed, “Did you see that Audrey Hepburn lady you like on the show? She just looked amazing!”, To which I gushingly replied, “HELL YEAH!” I went on to gush about how she looked like Jessica Claus from that Rankin/Bass special “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” come to life! And from me, that’s a compliment!
With the advent of YOUTUBE, I’m now able to watch all of Ayumi’s classic performances at my fingertips, and I have to say, with each new television appearance or music clip I see, she is still reminding me that she's one of the most attractive women ever! IMHO, She belongs right up there with Audrey Hepburn and Jaclyn Smith...she just exudes total class! Poring over the mass of Ayumi clips, I can feel that old obsession coming back again!
Hmmm, time to break out those old edited tapes!
…and for more J-pop musings, please visit ZDORAMA AGAIN, my VOXblog site dedicated to all things Japanese!
Another one of my favorite Japanese artists is the incredible Yumi Matsutoya, who needs no introduction from me! Known affectionately by her fans as “Yuming”, Yumi Matsutoya has been highly prolific in the Japanese music scene since her debut in 1972 - well over 3 decades - and continues to be so even today!
I’m more of a later fan, discovering Yuming’s music only around the mid 90’s, and this introduction came through (of all things) the Japanese Dramas I was watching at the time!
The first song I remember hearing from her was the theme song for the 1995 Matsumoto Akiko / Hosaka Naoki drama The Bride-To Be , featuring her song “Rondo”. I remember thinking it was a happy tune, very flamenco in style. But it was the theme song for the next show I watched, a serious drama called “Watashi No Unmei”, starring Azuma Mikihisa as a young man struggling with cancer, that caught my attention. The song for this drama was quite unlike the prior one. It was powerful and stunning, with HAUNTING vocals that I would later come to recognize as her “trademark”. The song was called “Inochi No Hana”, and this song really struck a chord with me…The chanting voices and the spiralling sitars throughout the song REALLY mesmerised the listener. Perfect for the show.
The song that finally pushed me over into fan status of all things Yumi Matsutoya was one that I heard only by chance. It was an older song from one of her earlier albums, and although I was to learn it was one of her more popular tunes, the first time I heard it was at a Karaoke Club! Some gal was beltin’ the song out, and I was blown away by it. It was catchy and WAY ROCKING! I asked who the artist WAS, and I was pretty amazed when they told me it was Yumi Matsutoya! MAN, this was the first time I had ANY IDEA that Yuming could rock out like that!
When I thought about it, it was really pretty impressive that one artist wrote such diffferent sounding songs. I mean, with 'Rondo', I thought she wrote ,you know, FESTIVE songs. then when 'Inochi No Hana' came around, I was amazed she wrote this moody song…and now, with this new rocking song, I just KNEW I had to explore more about her! I quickly asked someone what the name of the song was, but all he could help me with was , “All I remember is that the single had a painted cover, like a romance novel”.
Later that week, me and a friend made our way down to a store that rented out j-pop CDs and CD singles. There was a bin up in the front selling older CDs that were too old to rent anymore, and were selling them for cheap. The great thing about this is that they had quite a bit of out-of-print stuff in there. I remember getting an old Eri Hiramatsu single as well as an Ishida Hikari single there, and I was hoping they’d have the Yuming one. It couldn’t hurt to look! Searching through the “Ma” section of CD Singles, I immediately struck gold and pulled out this:
EUREKA! This HAD to be the song I heard…and no wonder no one could remember the title. It was long and full of Kanji! The song was called “Manatsu No Yo No Yume, roughly translated into : “A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream”.
When I got home, I put in the disc and cranked up the volume…and was once again floored! MAN this song was just AWESOME! I loved it so much I inevitably had to purchase the entire album that it was from, an eclectic album called U-Miz. I also ordered a Laserdisc Concert of Yuming’s called Into The Dancing Sun, because I wanted to see her perform "Manatsu No Yoru No Yume" live. This concert was mostly composed of songs from her two albums U-Miz and The Dancing Sun.
When U-Miz turned out to be as great as I hoped it would, I knew that I’d be purchasing The Dancing Sun, too! Not to mention picking up Kathmandu, with the songs that first got my attention: Rondo and Inochi No Hana. Every time I would buy an album, I wanted to see the songs live, so I would get the concert, then I would learn older songs via the concert, and get more CDS...Before I knew it, I had quite a few Yuming CDS and Laserdisc Concerts in my possession!
As for the time-frame of Yuming songs I have, at last look, the earliest album I have is 'Voyager' (1983), the most recent release I have is the terrific collection "Seasons Colours" (2007), and I've got most (but certainly not all) of the albums in between!
Manatsu No Yoru No Yume
First single I ever got from Yuming! Wow, what a song!
Tengoku No Door
Peppy, Driving Beat with some soaring vocals from Yuming…
Those who like Puri-Puri may like this song!
Inochi No Hana
Haunting Melody mixed with killer bass riffs and spooky sitars throughout.
Wanderers
Song I fell in love with after watching her alluring performance on the Wings Of Light Tour!
Saigo No Usso
Lonely song that was the Opening Theme for that weird japanese drama Hitorigurashi
with Tokiwa Takako and Nagasaku Hiromi
Rouge No Dengon
Fun song most people remember from the Hayao Miyazaki Movie Kiki’s Delivery Service!
Babylon
Yuming channels Roxy Music in this atmospheric new-age flavored composition from Da Di Da.
Raga #3
Incredible, Epic song! Can’t understand why this wasn’t a bigger hit!
Awesome performance of this on the Shangri-La DVD Concert!
Party Hekou
Feel-Good Yuming Song! This song never fails to bring a smile to my face!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Below: Some Sweet TV Performances by Yuming
"Ame No Machi Wo"
Umareta Machi De - Ano Hi Ni Kaeritai
"Rouge No Den'gon"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Postscript:
Yumi Matsutoya’s just announced her New Single Ningyohime no Yume to be released next month!
It’s now 2007, and Yuming is STILL GOING STRONG!!!!
When posting yesterday’s entry on That Thing You Do, I included a link to an earlier post of mine featuring Shakalabbits’ cover of That Thing You Do, and was reminded that I never got around to doing a proper send-up of The ‘Labbits’ new CD Uso Wo Mazekonda Shinjitsu No Soup! It’s time to rectify that right away!
When the singles for Monologue and Dazzling Soup both had real winsome, poetic covers, I thought for sure that the album to follow would have an equally beautiful cover, and I wasn’t disappointed. Just Beautiful, and the gorgeous illustrations are spread throughout the lyrics booklet.
As the two singles might suggest, the ‘Labbits have matured a bit, their sound has solidified into a massive, polished sound a la Butch Vig in his heyday, with King’s bass lines droning through the songs puncutated by Take-C’s bursts of power chords, as Mah rips through the set with Uki’s voice driving the song, lifting the song up with that cool raspy voice of hers!
Unlike their earlier albums which are rich with their brand of Ska-rock-pop, Uso Wo Mazekonda Shinjitsu No Soup is a mix of Rockers, Ska, Pop songs and even a couple of sweet ballads. As mentioned above, a few of these songs have already been released prior to the album, specifically Dazzling Soup, Silk, Shonen to Shiroi Inu and Monologue, and they are representative of the album’s sound and concept, but there’s much more, and I feel special mention must be made of Kutsuoto ni Sludge,a kick-ass rocker, and the gentle Marigold, a rare song featuring Uki showing her gentle side. Then there’s the terrific power-ballad “Raise Up” to close the album, and you’ve got another fine Shakalabbits masterpiece that I feel takes them to even greater heights!
Shonen to Shiroi Inu
Shakalabbits channels The Cream doing “White Room” in this one!
Dazzling Soup
The single that turned me into a full-fledged fan of Shakalabbits!
Monologue
One of the most incredible songs of theirs, with an awesome PV to accompany it!
Silk
Sort of a story-video, featuring a very cute Esumi Makiko-ish girl…(who IS this?)
Live Rock Alive is footage taken from Chisato's 1992 Concert Tour, promoting, naturally, Chisato's album Rock Alive. This Laserdisc is my Hands-Down-All-Time Favorite Moritaka Chisato Concert! Stellar
songs, great backing band,and In My Humble Opinion, Chisato is as close
to Girlish Perfection as you can get here...THIS ONE ROCKS THE HOUSE!!!
"Fight"
Terrific,genki performance, and I love when she gets the audience to cheer on!
"Watashi Ga Obasan Ni Nattemo"
As far as I'm Concerned, this is THE definitive performance of one of my very favorite Moritaka Chisato songs!
"Yowasetteyo Konyadake"
Chisato dons Kimono and performs 70's band style...classy!
"Mitsukete Saifuu"
Chisato lets her hair down quite literally here,swinging it around in her face and shoulders...DAMN
"Wakarimashita"
Chisato's long-running stage band THE LONDON kick it into high gear for this one...ROCKING!
I remember making a casstte transfer so I could listen to the Live Rock Alive concert on my walkman, memorizing every little detail and flourish she put into each song. Subsequently, most of the Rock Alive songs performed here (as well as some older songs like "Get Smile" and "Junanasai") seem more like the "real" versions than their album counterparts!
To this day, Live Rock Alive and its successor, Lucky Seven Live are still in my top ten J-pop Perfs!
…and for more J-pop musings, please visit ZDORAMA AGAIN. my VOXblog site dedicated to all things Japanese!
Besides being two of my favorite J-pop bands,Princess Princess and Chisato Moritaka had a pretty close relationship going on at the time.I would frequently see pictures of Princess Princess concerts where Chisato came onstage to perform a song or just to say hello the audience, and Chisato was one of the guests (along with Arisa Mizuki and Hiroko Moriguchi) who helped send off Princess Princess on their final Music Fair appearance.
After Princess Princess split up, the trend continued, and I remember seeing a memorable Music Fair where Chisato and Princess Princess lead singer Kaori Okui took turns singing each other's new singles! Yes, Kaori sang "La La Sunshine" and Chisato sang "Happyman"! They also did a beautiful duet together performing Chisato's "Ame".
Recently browsing through the various Princess Princess clips uploaded on Youtube, I came acroos two performances featuring Chisato Moritaka and Princess Princess signing together onstage, one featuring Chisato singing "Diamonds" with the girls, and this incredible performance of the group backing up Chisato on her KOKON TOZAI song "Teriyaki Burger"... I just love this clip, because besides the fact that Puri Puri's skills and singing really beef up the song,I love watching the SHEER JOY they're all having performing, especially Kaori!
This terrific performance is from the 1991 NHK Xmas Pop & Rock Special. Sugoi!
…and for more J-pop musings, please visit ZDORAMA AGAIN. my VOXblog site dedicated to all things Japanese!
One thing that I've always loved about the various variety shows that J-storm group ARASHI have are their catchy and hilarious opening credits that accompany them!
A long-standing tradition among these beginnings is normally soft-spoken leader Satoshi Ohno stepping up and playfully striking various "Tough Guy" poses and attitudes! In two "D NO Arashi" openings, he is portrayed tricking the other members into spelling out "Leader Saiko!" In another, he is carried by his co-workers on their shoulders, "emperor" style! In one, the members are carried like mannequins onto the set, followed by a very real Ohno slipping on some cool shades before the group animates!
But out of all of these, my very favorite one has to be the "Fight Song" opening credits of "G No Arashi"!
Sakurai Sho is happily polishing his trophies..
Masaki Aiba is twirling a Soccer Ball...
Kazunari Ninomiya is catching up on some reading...
...and Matsumoto Jun yawns, waiting for something to happen.
Then suddenly,Ohno shows up, and WANTS THEM ON THEIR FEET!
He perks up Nino first...
approaches Sho...
persuades Jun...
and convinces Aiba...
Then gets the boys in line to form their FIGHT pose as the line GANBATTE echoes!!!
It doesn't hurt that the theme Fight Song is a terrific tune, either!
Growing Up in Hawaii, my first exposure to Nishida Hikaru was through a series of commercials the japanese model had done for Foremost fruit drinks. As she spoke perfect English, there was nothing that hinted to me that she was a Japanese talento-All I knew was that she was a cute spunky girl dancing around in the grass.
Many years later, of course, she would be famous as the Pony Canyon J-pop artist, but it wasn’t until 1996 that I fell in love with her and her music, and it was due to the timing of three specific events. It was the airing of a zany comedy on NGN called “Natsu! Depart Monogatari” starring TOKIO’s Tatsuya Yamashita and Hikaru that made me sit up and take notice of her.
Then during a chance viewing on MUSIC FAIR, I caught Hikaru singing her new single “Melody”…and boy, did that voice blow me away! I had to have that single, so immediately went out and got it!
It could have ended there, with me owning one terrific Nishida Hikaru Single, but then as timing would have it, Hikaru released her latest album, a kicker called “Two-Four”, and that was it! I loved that album so much, I was DYING to hear her other stuff!
Clear, Esprit, Nineteen Dreams, Silhouette, Sundance, File Of Life, Love Always…. Over time, I managed to acquire her entire back catalog of CDs and Singles, and I have to tell you that each and every one has incredible sentimental value to me. I’d just moved to another town, and I spent many days taking walks around the neighborhood, listening to my walkman, Hikaru as my only companion!
Probably my greatest Hikaru moment was watching a video collection of hers. In the PV for her song “Kitto Aiga Aru”, she is riding her bicycle through what I immediately recognized as my own town! She rode past my neighborhood park, down my street, and THEN RIGHT PAST MY APARTMENT! I was in utter shock! Hikaru-chan had ridden right by my house ! Where the heck was I at that time?! :)
When it came time to choose which album I wanted to feature in this article, I found myself in a bit of a difficult situation:I just love ALL her stuff too much to choose ONE! Each of her albums is a favorite in its own way, so rather than hawk any specific one, I thought I’d just serve up a sample of some of my fave Hikaru Songs.
Hikaru-chan performed this song at the Kouhaku!
The song that made me realize there was no going back for me! Awesome drums and thumpin’ bass lines PLUS
great vocals by Hikaru equals me running out and buying up everything I could of hers.
The song that started it all for me! It was a good thing I grabbed this single too,
because I was to later realize it wasn’t on any of her albums!
Pony Canyon does it again! As a HUGE fan of Otomejuku girl groups CoCo and Ribbon (not to mention Qlair), I really appreciate the “Pony Canyon” style of song-crafting, and “Don’t Worry Yourself” is a terrific example! Just Great!
This is pure J-Pop perfection! She did a great performance of this on her Manatsu Jouzu 1991 Concert,
as well as a bluesy re-vamp of the song in the Hippy Happy Groove Concert Tour...
Nowadays Hikaru Nishida has been busy starting up a family!
Visit her homepage and you can see the proud Mommy and her baby!
http://www.nishida-hikaru.com
Omedetto, Hikaru-chan!
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