Favorite J-Pop Singles: Judy and Mary / Overdrive

As I mentioned in an earlier, I was first turned onto Judy and Mary through their awesome ORANGE SUNSHINE album with the pop perfect tunes like Cheese Pizza and Radio, all courtesy of my J-pop guru Dan. For the longest time, all I knew of them was the casette tape copy he made for me, and the  only visual I had of the band were the pics included in the Orange Sunshine CD…

   The first time that I actually got to see Judy and Mary on TV performing live was during the Japan Record Awards (Recordo Taisho) that New Year’s. It was 1995, and the band was promoting  MIRACLE DIVING, the album that would ultimately be their “Sgt. Pepper’s” i.e. the album that would explode them into the mainstream audience! The song up for the award that night was a single from the album called Over Drive, a tune that up until that point I hadn’t heard before…but BOY would I remember it afterwards!

  The Record Taisho usually had a mix of live performances and video clips featured throughout the show, and so it wasn’t unexpected that when Judy and Mary’s song was announced, a huge screen was dropped down to show the Over Drive PV. Once the song started though, the announcers danced over to the screen, and lifted it up, revealing the band playing right behind it!

   There was Takuya on Guitar, Onda on Bass, and Kohta on Drums…but where was Yuki? Why, she was in a carrier sailing over the audience as the band played! By the time Takuya got to his blazin’ guitar solo, she’d reached the stage, sashaying out of the cage, revealing a cute kimono outfit! In fact, everyone was dressed up in very matsuri style costumes as befitting the occasion!

  Once all together, the band got into it in earnest, and MAN… I had known how zany the group was already, but for some reason, I still didn’t expect the amount of energy and passion that the group would radiate! It was truly a heartfelt performance!

I Love YOU!

Years and years ago, I purchased a set of Pony Canyon collections that showcased greatest hits from their catalog of the 70’s and 80’s. Along with Pony Canyon greats like Shizuka Kudoh, Hikaru Nishida and the mighty Checkers, the CDs also featured a quirky new wave group with a peppy anime-voiced lead singer- the group was FAIRCHILD, and the vocalist was a girl named Ehara Yukiko, better known as the charismatic YOU!

    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!)

Nowadays, most people know YOU through her famous starring role as the dead-beat mother in the popular movie Daremo Shiranai (Nobody Knows), but it was through her frequent guest-appearances on (of all things) Kinki Kids’ Domoto Tsuyoshi’s show Shojiki Shindoi that I fell in love with her!

   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!!!

My heart leapt up, and even though I got some funny looks from the lady ringing me up, ( what’s this guy doing buying a japanese girl fashion magazine?!) I threw down the seven bucks with pride and triumphantly left the store with my treasure! Its time to share!

A Song to Brighten Your Day: "Himawari" by Sugar

Sugar-Himawari

A few years ago there was this Kyoko Fukada drama co-starring Yuki Matsushita about a poor girl who goes to work as an apprentice in a major Television studio, called Shiawase Ni Naritai. While the drama itself wasn’t anything too spectacular, (although Fukakyon was adorable as usual) the theme song was a catchy little pop tune called “Himawari”, and I'm telling you, this song really MADE the show, so cute and catchy that I found myself actually anticipating hearing the song at the end of each episode!

The song was sung by a Korean J-pop quartet called Sugar. I’d never heard of this vocal group before, but that song was a must have! A single from their album COLORS 4 WISHES, it was one of those songs  that stuck with you even after the show had ended, and it never failed  to bring a smile to my face!  In fact, I’d even confess that towards the end of the show, it was the main reason to keep tuning in to the drama!

Later, I was able to download the PV of the song, and was blown away by how gorgeous these four girls were! Featuring the talents of Ayumi, Soo-Jin, Hye Seung and Haleen, I was kind of surprised that this group didn’t have a bigger following, as their look seemed part Morning Musume and part MAX!

I was saddened to find that the group has since split up, but with songs like Take It Shake It, Real Identity, Go The Distance, Heartful, and Loveaccele, they’ve left behind a few great little singles for us to enjoy!

My Latest Gift To Myself: Minami Saori!

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!

Favorite J-Pop Singles: Seishiro Kusunose/ Shiawase Madakai

What do the two family dramas Pokka Poka and Makasete Darling have in common?

Well, they’re both shows that feature a family comprised of a mother, father and little girl, but more importantly,

both shows feature terrific theme songs! Yes!

First up we have Pokka Poka, the drama based on the heartwarming manga by Jun Fukami. This theme song is “Shiawase Madakai” as performed by Seishiro Kusunose. This is an updated version of the song which graced the beginning of Pokka Poka1. The original version is a bit more relaxed, a slower tempo that shocks you when you are trying to sing it at karaoke! But both are fine, just fine!

Asami Tadokoro: Nanase Natsumi (truly adorable, she out-cutes Asuka!)

Yoshiko Tadokoro: Haba Yuichi

Asuka Tadokoro: Kamiwaki Yuu

The opeining credits to Pokka Poka 2 features Seishiro Kusunose's song while scrolling over home movie footage of the Tadokoros’ wedding, building their life, and the birth of their daughter Asuka! This song just hits you in all the right places when you combine it with those visuals! One of the best drama openings ever, at least in my opinion!

Asuka's growing up:

Favorite J-pop Singles:Tatsuya Ishii featuring NORA / Rhythm

Next up we have “Makasete Darling” the drama surrounding the goings-on with the Kagetora family. The theme for this drama is “Rhythm” by Tatsuya Ishii (he of Kome Kome Club fame) featuring Nora, and this opening credits play over cartoon backgrounds of the three members of the family, as they work, play and …eat!I dunno, I've always felt that Makasete Darling was a really under-rated drama. In fact, I think I was the only one I knew who watched it! Even my friends who loved "Pokka Poka" dismissed Makasete Darling as a Pokka knock-off (which it probably was, to a degree...demo sa...) and didn't bother tuning in! But this show was really sweet, and heck, after seeing Jinnai Takanori doing his Mister Bill impressions in that wacky show "Stalker Sasaou-Onna" (a guilty pleasure, I admit), it was refreshing to see him in a "normal" role, and he'd go from this drama right back to wackiness as Yoshimi Tendo in "Heaven Cannot Wait"!

Asai Kagetora: Jinnai Takanori

Minako Kagetora: Kaku Chikaku

An awesome, catchy song, complete with all those Kome Kome Club "hooks" that we're used to hearing.
This single from Tatsuya "Carl Smoky" Ishii came out just after KK2 called it quits back in (I think) 1996 or so, and while this wasn't a substitute for the real thing, It sustained our hunger til the group reformed in 2006!

And MAN, when Smoky sings the lines
"Subete Futari No Rhythm, Oh My Love Kokoro No Rhythm",
You realize that whether it be Kome Kome Club or solo, this is as good as it gets!!

Favorite J-Pop Artists: Yamaguchi Momoe

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 headfirst 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…

This is really a terrific anthology-  originally released as a three-album anthology on vinyl a few years after Momoe retired, it collects all of Momoe’s singles as well as two bonus songs onto two CD discs. CD Japan was selling this collection for the great price of $27.50, but I couldn’t wait and shelled out $40.00 at good old reliable Shirokiya so I could have it and listen to it immediately!

 I popped in the first 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 e no Komoriuta, was released a few years after her retirement. An A++ Investment!

Since then, I've become a major lover of all thing Momoe, even down to getting that aforementioned  awesome, awesome MOMOE PREMIUM BOX SET shipped over from Japan, and what with it being already out of print, you can BET that cost me a pretty penny, but when I found out it contained ALL of Momoe's various Album releases...I just HADDA have it! (And for more on THAT, see below...)

Notes on My MOMOE PREMIUM Box Set!!!

Man, I thought I knew Momoe from that Golden Best collection, but seriously, NOTHING can compare to listening the actual albums as they originally came out, where you can enjoy and appreciate her growth as an artist in a more "real time", if you will.  From her first album "Toshigoro" to "Hana Zakari",  to her epic "Cosmos" and down to her swan song album "This Is My Trial", the MOMOE PREMIUM BOX SET has them ALL, and you hear each and every step she took from her shy Star Tanjo beginnings to the legendary "Eternal Idol" that she is!

Naturally, the MOMOE Box Set is beautifully made, as are all Japanese packaged sets of ANYTHING whether they be CDs, Movies or even (especially) tokusatsu!), I was immediately blown away by the sheer WEIGHT of it! A white Slipcover that looks to be the "coversheet" of the set, very formal and white, with the backside listing all the contents:

Opening the Box, and we are greeted with a very nice black vinyl covered slipcase holding three bound hardcover books...

The first two hardcover books were elaborate gatefold CD holders, each holding 12 discs...

Additionally, each CD was decorated with the original album label the LP was issued with. This was thrilling for Momoe's later releases where the labels were stylized, but not so big a deal for her early releases which simply featured the company logo.

In all, the Momoe Premium Set consisted of all 22 of her original album releases:

Yamaguchi Momoe's First Album "Toshigoro"

Yamaguchi Momoe's Second Album "Aoi Kajitsu"

15sai no Theme Momoe no Kisetsu

15sai no Theme Hito Natsu no Keiken

15sai

16sai no Theme

Sasayaka na Yokubō

17sai no Theme

Yokosuka Story

Pearl-Color ni Yurete

Momoe Hakusho

GOLDEN FLIGHT

Hana Zakari

COSMOS

Dramatic

Hatachi no Kinenbei Manjushaka

A FACE IN THE VISION

L. A. Blue

Haru Tsuge Dori

Mobius's Game

Phoenix Densetsu

This is My Trial

 Plus a Karaoke Disc and a single of her unreleased song

"Tokyo no Sora no Shita Anata wa".

The  thing that just topped off this awesome set was the inclusion of a very nice hardcover bound book  that featured all the artwork and paperwork usually included with each of her album releases. You got front covers, back covers, inside gatefolds, album sleeve pictures and even the lyrics sheets! They even included scans of the vinyl albums themselves! And since the book was 12'' x 12'', it was almost like having the REAL thing in your hands!

Of course, no matter how elaborate or fancy a Box Set is, it will only be as good as the actual MUSIC CONTENT itself, and OH MAN, was I IN HEAVEN! Experiencing the entire MOMOE canon for the first time was SIMPLY MIND BLOWING! From joyful discoveries like Momoe's early recordings where she amazingly did songs like Asaoka' Megumi's "Watashi No Kare wa Hidarikiki" and Finger 5's "Kojin Jugyou" to immersing myself in her later CONCEPT albums like MOEBIUS' GAME, PHOENIX DENSETSU, and COSMOS, she was constantly surprising me with each disc, and my admiration for her just kept growing and GROWING! This was a purchase WELL WORTH THE PRICE!!!

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  

PS: I was to later find that though the Momoe Premum Box Set claimed to be the “Complete” Momoe collection, somehow, somebody overlooked her 45’s output, and  the box set DIDN’T contain any of her singles or B sides! To rectify the situation, they later simply released a Single Momoe Premium ADDENDUM to take care of that gap. That is, ONE MORE SET I need to get! It seems that even after all this time, I’m STILL going treasure hunting, in search of the magic chalice! Back to those Yahoo Japan Auctions and Otokichi Premium…!


6/13/11/Edit: Yatta! Finally Got It!

The Original Ayu: Ishida Ayumi

いしだ あゆみ

I first fell in love with beautiful actress Ishida Ayumi when I watched her in the 1998 jdorama "Kita No Kuni Kara” . Then, by chance, watching an old Kouhaku from around 1994 or so, I saw Ayumi performing a song called “Blue Light Yokohama”, and was taken aback by her stage presence as well as the catchy tune she was singing! At the time I assumed she was an actress who decided to release an album (as many actors and actresses do!) as a one-shot venture, rather than the other way around! Little did I know just how famous Ayumi and Blue Light Yokohama was!

 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!”

Gorgeous Ayu!

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!

Jessica and Ayumi?

 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!