Love Trip & Takako Mamiya: Solving City Pop's Biggest Mystery

I’m a firm believer that good music is something that transcends the boundaries of both time and culture. That especially holds true when talking about Japanese City Pop, a genre of music that while seen as disposable yuppie music of the 1980s by those who live in Japan, is considered a hidden treasure trove by foreign audiences. Through the power of the internet, audiences from overseas have fallen in love with songs such as Plastic Love by Mariya Takeuchi, Ride On Time by Tatsuro Yamashita, and 4: AM by Taeko Ohnuki. It’s hard to believe, however, that a lot of these songs and artists are not as appreciated in their home country as they are overseas. While Tatsuro Yamashita is a well-renowned artist, he's only ever had one song hit Number 1 on the Oricon Music Charts, and only because it was a Christmas song for a commercial. While Plastic Love is considered a classic in the City Pop community in the west, it only made it up to 86 on the music charts in 1985. It wasn’t easy being a City Pop artist in the 1980's Japan, especially since the genre became so saturated during that time, and much like the economy that helped create it, was on the verge of bursting.

It was pretty common for an artist back then to only have one or two albums before calling it quits, music acts like So Nice, Noriyo Ikeda, Soap, and most famously, Takako Mamiya (間宮貴子), only have one album to their name before fading into obscurity. Thankfully some of them did have careers afterward, Katsuyuki Kamakura the lead singer of So Nice still performs today and one of the members of Soap, Takanori Arisawa, is best known for composing the Sailor Moon anime series. Takako Mamiya was not so lucky as virtually nothing is known about her after her music career, she doesn't even have a page on the Japanese Wikipedia. But thanks to a tedious study of liner notes, translating articles, getting first-hand information from experts and people with relatives who were apart of the 1980's Japanese music industry, I've been able to compile a complete history of all the information about her so far. I hope that this essay/album review serves as inspiration for other City Pop enthusiasts to continue the journey into solving the mystery of Takako Mamiya, now that we have further led to go off of.

THE HISTORY

Takako Mamiya, Yoshikazu Miura, & Sabine Marianne Kaneko

Fresh into college, Takako got her start in music under the Eastworld Label (EWR-20533), as a background vocalist for fashion model and singer, Sabine Marianne Kaneko, for her 1979 singles, “Say Yes” and “Stay Close to Me”. A note in the liner notes advertises Takako as "An excellent amateur of singing (Japanese) Folk and Rock!" suggesting that she has prior experience in the folk-rock genre. Afterward, she was brought on by composer Yoshikazu Miura (三浦義和), as a backup singer for the vocal group PAO, which consisted of her, Yoshikazu, & Sabine. They released another single in 1979 called “A Sunset Kiss” and only one full album simply entitled YOU released September 15th, 1980, however it was during the period where she left the group and was replaced by Fumiko Miyazaki (宮崎文子). Takako went on to seek contract work like commercial photo modeling and the occasional crap-shoot voice acting gig.

This brings us to 1982, when small-time label Kitty Records, home to guitar master Masayoshi Takanaka (高中正義) and holder of many anime soundtrack licenses, were looking to expand their artist base to compete with the likes of RCA. They managed to get a hold of Takako after a session musician scouted her out from a club in Shinjuku, and began production on her debut solo album, Love Trip, April the 15th at KRS Recording Studio in Tokyo and finished August the 28th. Despite not being a big name, Takako Mamiya managed to get some pretty well-known names to help with the production of her album. The main sound producer was Genji Sawai (沢井原兒), a jazz saxophone player who led a fusion band called Bacon Egg. The bassist was Yoshihiro Naruse (鳴瀬喜博), who’s the current bass player for the jazz-fusion band Casiopea. The drummer was Uehara Hiroshi(上原浩), who’s performed for both Tatsuro Yamashita (Spacy, Moonglow, & For You) & Hiroshi Sato (Orient). The backing vocals were provided by Hiroshi Narumi (鳴海弘) and Etsuko Yamakawa (山川恵津子), who many know as the city pop duo Tohoku Shinkansen (東北新幹線).

There were also several big composers for this album; former rock artist Katsu Hoshi (星勝) who was the guitarist for 60's rock band, The Mops; Yoshiko Miura (三浦徳子) who has written songs for various anime (Cat’s Eye, Fist of the North Star, Project Ako) and other female singers (Junko Ohashi, Junko Yagami, and Anri) ; singer-songwriter Akira Inoue (井上鑑), who is mostly known for his album “Seaside Lovers”, was a composer and the keyboardists; and Kazuo Shiina (椎名和夫) who made his professional debut as one of Minako Yoshida's backing musicians (violinist). After that, served as the second guitarist/violinist of folk band はちみつぱい (Hachimitsu Pai) and the first guitarist of pop/rock band, Moonriders.


Despite having a well-experienced team backing the production, Love Trip obviously did not make the sales it needed to keep Takako Mamiya in the business as an artist. One of the main reasons it flopped was due to the poor commercial promotion, and thus not enough air time on the radio, which is a big deal because car radios & stereos were the most prevalent during the 80's economic boom. This was due to the label not being big enough, management discussions that left no one at fault but not good enough to get it out, and the label not having the huge financial backing to push this new, unknown artist that had been part of a previous project that failed. There was a small following that helped the album become known in Tokyo. The company was looking for a cheaper way to promote the album so they played 真夜中のジョーク(Midnight Joke) in clubs, trying to promote the song as a single which help stimulate sales of the album. This would also explain why it didn't fall into complete obscurity.


Another reason the album flopped was the inconsistent thematic structure of the music made it less palatable for the Japanese consumers. Because there were so many different composers on the album, the second half of the album sort of breaks the musical aesthetic of the whole thing. The album lacked a true identity to set Mamiya apart from other well-known albums that were being sold that year like Tatsuro Yamashita’s For You (mellow summer AOR) or even Toshiki Kadomatsu’s Weekend Fly To The Sun (Day To Day City life disco & soul). Even the vague album cover, complete with random background cactus and racist memorabilia, is polarizing, which you can thank graphic artist & photo director, Teruhisa Tajima (田島照久ﾠ), which is odd because he's done better work in the past for other artists under the CBS/Sony label.

As of today, there aren’t even any records of Love Trip on the Oricon Charts, which is a sign that it did quite poorly. It’s no surprise that Takako would choose to drop off the face of the earth, earning her the nickname "The Mystery Woman of City Pop". However, is that really what happened after the production of Love Trip? While it is still unknown where she is in the present time, my latest discovery has led me to find that she didn't disappear entirely, but rather went into contracted commercial work (as many City Pop artist did between albums), continuing to work in the industry as a part of the never-ending sea of no-name voice actors and commercial stand-ins. One online account says there existed a commercial of Takako in a bikini advertising a coffee vending machine, this commercial may or may not be lost to time, or it could be a false account, but with enough excavation, it could lead to more possible clues on her whereabouts.

THE MUSIC REVIEW

Love Trip: The opening smooth jazz number sets the mood and flow for the entire album with its rooftop bar at sunset vibe. While the song is quite mellow, the bass is quite pronounced throughout. The piano work is quite exemplary as well and it ends off on an awesome Saxophone solo.

Chinese Restaurant: While still retaining the smooth jazz vibe, this song carries a more oriental-based melody. The lyrics have the singer wistfully wondering whether her old lover still remembers their first meeting at such a restaurant.

真夜中のジョーク (Midnight Joke): The star song of the album, and for good reason. Here Mamiya sings about driving alone by herself in the middle of the night, contemplating whether her love is one big joke. This song easily has the best horns in the album as well as a rocking guitar solo at the end.

哀しみは夜の向こう(The Sadness Lingers well beyond into the Night): This song carries the same tone and theme as Midnight Joke but adds more samba elements to the mix. The lyrics tell the story of a young woman named Jenny, who’s awake at 3 in the morning, struggling to sleep because she can’t forget her former lover.

All Or Nothing: Despite having a very similar intro to Midnight Joke, the rest of the song is slightly more optimistic, with Takako singing about not letting her feelings or her vices get in the way of giving her all in a relationship.

渚でダンス (Dance At The Waterfront): This is the halfway point song that shifts the tone of the album from midnight melancholy, to night time boogie, to give us a mellow moonlight dance number.

One More Night: Has the same upbeat feeling as the previous song but with more samba elements thrown in. Has a rocking sax solo in the middle of the song.

モーニング・フライト(Morning Flight): Carrying the same samba vibe as the previous song, this is definitely the most upbeat song on the album. So much so that it feels like a song Meiko Nakahara might sing.

たそがれは銀箔の…(A Silver Leaf in The Twilight): A slower skippy mid-tempo number with some light flute play a warm trombone, and some excellent dream backing vocals from Tohoku Shinkansen helping out.

What A Broken Heart Can Do: Instead of a song reprise, Takako decides to end off the album with a self-cover of the intro song, sung with decent English vocals written by Gregg Oldron .

THE VERDICT

Production: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Vocals:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Arrangement:⭐⭐⭐⭐

Aesthetic:⭐⭐⭐⭐

Memorability: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Composition:⭐⭐⭐⭐

On top of having some of the most relaxing songs in the genre, the soothing and slow nature of the music (especially in the 1st half) helps accentuate her air of mystery. Except for the 3 upbeat dance numbers, it’s hard to compare Love Trip's sound with many other albums that I personally know of, except for maybe First Flight by Makoto Matsushita, who also goes for a “Midnight Melancholy” vibe on his debut album. Tracks 6,7,& 8 sound like they’d belong more on Meiko Nakahara’s Friday Magic, which came out the same year. There’s also a sense of loneliness that’s carried through her voice especially in Midnight Joke. If your a big fan of smooth jazz and easy listening, this album is the right pick for you. It’s a good soundtrack for when your driving at night or just up late at night for whatever reason.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find any information about Takako Mamiya’s current whereabouts, so this serves as a collection of all the information I found out about her and this album so far. Hopefully, this article will encourage others to find out more about her and just maybe, entice Mamiya herself (if she’s still alive) to come out of hiding and reach out to us so she can see just how much we all treasure her beautiful music.

I’d like to give a big shout-out to Reddit user The_PC_Breaker and internet renowned kayokyoku expert, J-Cannuck, whom I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know personally, as their wealth of information was key to making this Essay & Review as informative as possible.