When I first got into j-pop, everything was about those Pony Canyon gals CoCo, whether it be laserdiscs, CDs, singles or books, and I really hadn’t thought about buying anything from any other artists, but with the help of friends and J-pop Music Shows, my eyes were soon opened to all that J-pop had to offer!
The two main sources of my original j-pop music came from both my friend Dan (who was the one who introduced me to J-pop, after all) and co-workerr Dave, who’d regularly make me cassette mixes of the latest “hits” out there. And as it happened, I was listening to a mix he’d made for me featuring the jangly pop anthem “La La La” by artist Ohguro Maki on the day that I had some extra change in my pocket and decided I wanted to try listening to something new!
Already becoming pretty well known for it’s use in the then-currently-airing Japanese drama Aji No Ichimonme (Masters Of Taste) starring the then-up-and-coming Nakai Masahiro, Ohguro’s La La La became the very first non-CoCo j-pop song I ever bought, soon to be followed by others!
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| Nakai Masahiro in Aji No Ichimonme |
With its bright and peppy guitar chords and Maki’s tuff and powerful voice, you had a song that instantly grabbed you and without even knowing what those Japanese lyrics meant, got the “GANBATTE!!!” never say die feeling! (And makes you want to cheer Nakai on as he goes on to become a master chef! AHAHAHA)
I was recently reminded of just how sweet this song is when I was watching the latest episode of ZETTAI REIDO, that detective drama starring the always enjoyable Ueto Aya. The show was about a investigation team that dealt in “Cold Cases”, that is, murder cases that have not been solved, and for the moment have been shelved. Since they are almost all cases that have happened years ago, the flashbacks are entertaining because of its “tiemcapsule” format!
Anyway, in this one episode, Aya is trying to retraced the footsteps of a girl that was murdered in the mid-nineties. She reads through her notes: Victim went to the Music store and borrowed a CD single. Aya repeats what the victim did, rents the same CD, puts in the disc in front of the record store, and while walking, tries to guess what the person did while listening to the music.
As Aya retraces the steps of the girl, suddenly, the beautiful chords of La La La start, and I have to say, I totally got goosebumps! It was at once SOOOOOO NATSUKASHII and also so bittersweet in the context of the drama. Aya walks , stops and breathes in a breath of fresh air, and turns and observes the cherry blossoms overhead…so sweet! Before she knows it, the song has led her to an important clue!
Ah man listening to that song took me ALL THE WAY BACK to 1995, suddenly I was back in Tower Records and picking up what would be the beginning of a lifelong love of j-pop music! “La La La- YAPPARI!”
