Mignonne by Taeko Ohnuki -1978

Taeko Ohnuki (大貫妙子) is known as one of the original pioneers of City Pop, and the New Music scene in 70's Japan. However, there was a point in time when she almost quit the music industry altogether. What could have caused her such frustration that made her consider giving up her career? Well, it all started with the production of her 3rd album, Mignonne, in 1978.

THE HISTORY

After the release of her second album, Sunshower, Ohnuki moved from Crown Records to RCA, where she worked under the production of  E-ji Ogura (小倉エージ). Ogura also happened to be a music critic who was very harsh on Ohnuki's past work. This inevitably developed a lot of tension between the two as Ogura's direction for the album clashed with Ohniki's vision and there was a lot of arguing during production. Thankfully she was surrounded by some more familiar faces in the studio.

 Ryuichi Sakamoto(坂本 龍一) returns as an arranger alongside Ichizo Seo (瀬尾一三). Tin Pan Alley musicians make a comeback from the previous album, including Haruomi Hosono(細野晴臣) on Bass, Shigeru Suzuki (鈴木茂) on guitar, and Tatsuo Hayashi (林立夫) on drums. The album also features Sadistics members, Yukihiro Takahashi (高橋幸宏) on drums and bassist Tsugutoshi Goto (後藤次利). Jazz-fusion guitarists Masaki Matsubara (松原正樹) and Masayoshi Takanaka (高中正義) make an appearance, and of course, the ever-present Jake H Concepcion lends his saxophone to the production. The string arrangement was handled by violinist Tadaaki Ono (多忠昭) and his ensemble.

 When Mignonne was released on September 21st, 1978, it was another commercial flop despite the amount of promotion it received by RCA. Feeling she had disappointed her fans, she had considered leaving the music business. A long gap in time would pass until she returned to stardom, and in the interim, she worked behind the scenes as a backup singer and writer for other artists.

        THE MUSIC

SIDE A

じゃじゃ馬娘 (Jaja Uma Musume)/Shrewed Woman: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The opening dance track with a strut-worthy rhythm and groovy guitars is about an uncompromising woman who likes to play with people's emotions, chase after older men, and get her hands dirty.  横顔 (Yokogao)/Profile: ⭐⭐⭐ A pretty standard piece of sophisti-pop with a warm, early morning atmosphere. Complete with a jazzy piano, and a simple & smooth walking bassline.  黄昏れ (Tasogare)/Twilight:⭐⭐⭐⭐ A soothing late-night ballad about a woman lamenting about a past love on an autumn night. Features some beautiful piano playing and a jazzy trumpet solo.  空をとべたら(Sora Wo Tobetara)/ If I could fly: ⭐⭐⭐ I light-hearted bossa nova track about setting a caged bird free. It has some pretty flutes, an infectious bass, and a soothing string section. It even throws in a Spanish guitar solo for us.  風のオルガン(Kaze No Organ) / Wind Organ: ⭐⭐⭐ A pretty basic easy-listening soft rock ballad. Features some pleasant strings and a nice keyboard solo. SIDE B 言いだせなくて(Iidasenakute)/ Can't Get the Words Out: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ The first true disco track on the album with a very uplifting synthesizer intro, a great string arrangement, and an awesome saxophone solo. 4:00 A.M.: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Easily the most dynamic track on the album, about a woman who wakes up in the middle of the night, praying to God for another chance at love. The track begins with some very suspenseful flute playing, which leads into a very jazzy dance track. Complete with funky bass, a tight brass section, and a soul-chilling gospel choir. 突然の贈りもの(Totsuzen No Okurimono)/ A Suden Gift: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ As the title suggests, it's a heartwarming ballad about a heartwarming as a long-gone lover returning only to leave behind a bouquet of flowers out of the blue for her.  海と少(Umi to Shonen) /The Ocean and the Boy: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ An upbeat tune that opens up with a harp and leads into a funky dance number about a boy running across a sandy beach enjoying the tropical atmosphere.  年あこがれ()/ Longing: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ A beautiful bluesy soft rock ballad, that swells up into an orchestration of harmonious choir singing accompanied by an epic guitar solo towards the end. THE VERDICT

Despite my overall enjoyment of this record, I can understand why Taeko Ohnuki wasn't satisfied with this album. Everything here is less experimental and feels safer than the previous album, but overall the compositions are still really good. Some tracks feel right at home with her previous work, like Twilight and The Ocean and The Boy.

Then you get more unique songs like Jaja Uma Musume, while funky and catchy, seem a bit outside of Ohnuki's comfort zone, from a lyrical standpoint mostly, since I don't think Ohunki has a shrewd personality and her voice doesn't really carry the authority to back up what she's saying. This feels like something, you would hear from Minako Yoshida or Junko Ohashi's discography. Can't Get the Words Out is another great disco track with an uplifting melody that feels more in line with Ohuki's style. Then there's the best track, 4:00am., I remember when I first heard it being entranced by the suspenseful flute in the intro and being hooked by the gospel-style choir chanting "Lord give me one more chance!". 

Despite being made in the less-than-ideal circumstances, Mignonne is an album that's overall pleasant to listen to. Because I'm a disco/funk fan, this is the album I personally gravitate to, but I do understand why Sunshower is considered the best. There's definitely a tonal shift from the introspective, progressive jazz-fusion of Sunshower, into the more streamlined disco and soft-pop Mignonne. That being said, I think Ohnuki, being the talented composer that she is, handles this shift very well, even though it might not be what she wanted initially. I think existing fans of Taeko Ohnuki will still enjoy this album, as it retains a lot of its jazz roots. Newcomers, especially those who found 4:00am on Youtube (like I did) will enjoy the well-polished late '70s Sophisti-Pop and get to experience the origin of one of City Pop's viral sensations.

Yellow Magic Orchestra by YMO - 1978

I’ve noticed that Americans, for the most part, have a very limited perception of Japanese music. If we think of modern J-Pop it’s always in terms of anime music and teenybopper idol groups (both male & female), and when it’s older Japanese music we jump all the way to the Feudal era oriental-style music or at least Enka music from the Showa era. However, during the ‘70s New Music scene, various artists went out of their way to challenge the status quo of what Japanese music was supposed to sound like, from supergroup Tin Pan Alley to psychedelic rock group Happy End, to superstar singer-songwriter Yummi Arai, and among all these acts they were all connected to one key individual; a man named Haruomi Hosono.

Haruomi Hosono, or just “Harry” for short, was an exceptional producer, singer-songwriter & bassist and to this day is considered one of the architects of modern Japanese music. Harry was aware of the various stereotypes that the western world had about Asian culture, especially music, and was known for composing songs that flipped those stereotypes on their heads. One of his most famous albums to achieve this was known as the Yellow Magic Orchestra released in 1978 by the band of the same name, founded by Harry, along with Percussionist Yukihiro Takahashi( 高橋 幸宏 ), and Ryuichi Sakamoto( 坂本 龍一 ).

THE HISTORY

Yellow Magic Orchestra, or YMO for short, was initially conceived by Hosono as a one-off exploration of computerized music revolutionized by German band Kraftwerk & Japanese composer Isao Tomita (冨田 勲), as well as a parody of Exotica, a genre of music invented by pianist Martin Denny, built off of Western conceptions of the orient. However, YMO wasn't Harry’s 1st foray into electronic music that year, Parisio released on April 25th featured songs that combined folk & jazz fusion with techno-pop, and Cochin Moon, released September 21st, was Harry’s first completely electronic solo album. Both albums also featured future YMO members, Yukihiro Takahashi & Ryuichi Sakamoto, although during this time frame they were still known as the Yellow Magic Band. However, the three members were already veterans of the music industry before coming together, Yukihiro was the drummer for the Sadistic Mika Band (later known as just The Sadistics) and Sakamoto was working on his own solo debut album, Thousand Knives that same year.

The 1st YMO album began production in July 1978 at a Shibaura studio in Tokyo, and utilized a wide variety of electronic music equipment, most notably (but not limited to) the Roland MC-8 Microcomposer, and was the earliest known pop album to use it. The microcomputer was programmed by pioneer Hideki Matsutake (松武秀樹 ), who came on board after helping Ryuchi Sakamoto on Thousand Knives. The only acoustic instruments used during recording were a Steinway piano, drum set, and a marimba. Hosono of course was the main producer, handling the Bass and the arrangements for all the songs, Yukihiro was in charge of the drums, percussion, and vocals (La Femme Chinoise), and Sakomoto was the main keyboardist, but also handled percussion and orchestration.

Additional vocals were provided by Alfa Records secretary Tomoko Nunoi (布井智子) who could speak French so was invited to provide narration on La Femme Chinoise, and Shunichi “Tyrone” Hashimoto (橋本俊一) for the song Simoon, who has worked previously with Harry’s previous band, Tin Pan Alley. Other guest artists included prolific guitarists Masayoshi Takanakan( 高中 正義 ), who played electric guitar on Cosmic Surfin' and La Femme Chinoise, and British poet Chris Mosdell, who wrote the lyrics for the album and came on board through Takahashi after he discovered his poetry work through the Japan Times newspaper.

YMO had completed recording by September 5, 1978, and was released November 25th the same year. The album sold 250,000 copies in Japan earning it 69th place on the Oricon Pop Charts. However, the accolades didn’t stop in Japan, as Harry intended for YMO to have the potential for reaching success in non-Japanese-language territories as well. Thus YMO was released in the US on 30 May 1979 by A&M Records with a new mix done by Al Schmitt at Capitol Records Studio in Hollywood, California. In the US, YMO entered the Billboard 200 and R&B Albums charts. Its most successful single was Computer Game / Firecracker, which sold over 400,000 records in the United States and was a top 20 hit in the United Kingdom. The band YMO not only became Japan’s hottest pop act, but also an important milestone in music production, influencing and inspiring genres such as chiptune, synth-pop, and even Hip Hop. Firecracker, in particular, became popular in the then-emerging hip hop community, which appreciated the new electronic sounds, and in the Bronx, where it was later sampled by pioneering hip hop artist Afrika Bambaataa in his famous 1983 debut album Death Mix (1983). YMO became such a global phenomenon that they were able to earn a spot on the American TV show Soul Train in 1980, where they performed Firecracker as the first and only Japanese band on the show.

THE MUSIC

Side A

1. Computer Game 'Theme from The Circus’: Serves as the prologue to the song Firecracker. All the sound effects come from the 1977 arcade game “Circus” and it features an 8-bit sample of a funeral march.
2. Firecracker: A cover of a Martin Denny song from his album Quiet Village. They turned the original quiet oriental lounge track, into an electro chiptune disco number. Has very hip-hop feel to it a whole 6 years before Newcleus came on the scene.
3. Simoon: Named after the sandstorms of the Arabian Desert, Simoon is a slow melodic electro lounge song that, according to Hosono, was inspired by the desert scenes in Star Wars. Indeed images of C-3PO & R2-D2 making a lonely trek through the Dune Seas on Tatooine come to mind while listening to this song.
4. Cosmic Surfin: A futuristic surf-rock track that was originally introduced in the 1978 album Pacific, which was a collaboration between Harry Hosono, Shigeru Suzuki & Tatsuro Yamashita. The YMO version has a slightly slower tempo and more complex Drums & synths added. It also features Masayoshi Tanaka on electric guitar.
5. Computer Game 'Theme from The Invader': Another chiptune interlude, this time it’s SFX from the Game Circus juxtaposed against sound fx from the game Space Invaders.

Side B

1. Yellow Magic (東風 Tong Poo, "East Wind"): Arguably the most iconic song on the album written by Ryuichi Sakamoto, It was the first composition of his to be recorded by the band, and the only track on the album to be composed by him. The title came from Jean-Luc Godard's 1969 movie "Le Vent D'Est..." (Wind from the East ), an appropriate name for a synth-pop disco number inspired by Chinese classical music during the cultural revolution in China. The original was an instrumental punctuated by Hosono's funky bass as well as Sakamoto’s sweet improvised piano playing. A 1979 version was released with Minako Yoshida's（吉田美奈子）breathy vocals added in the background.
2. La Femme Chinoise: Another important entry in YMO's discography since it opened up the opportunity for the band to be seen not just as an instrumental group but a vocal one as well, featuring french narration by Tomoko Nunoi and the New Wave/Romantic inspired vocals of Yukihiro Takahashi.
3. Bridge over Troubled Music: The last Interlude in the album that serves as the prologue to Mad Pierrot. The title is based on the Simon & Garfunkel classic Bridge over Troubled Water. 
4. Mad Pierrot: The title is derived from the 1965 French film, "Pierrot le Fou" (Pierrot The Madman). Another fast-paced Oriental Synth Pop Dance track in the same vein as Tong Poo. Apparently, the song was so difficult to perform live, that the band decided to stop doing so for a while.
5. Acrobat: The final song of the album (unless you have the US version like I do), it takes the Combined circus music & funeral march from the 1st track and turns it into a full dance song, although it's only a minute & a half long.

THE VERDICT

Yellow Magic Orchestra was a band that took me a while to get into, I was introduced to them through the song Rydeen from the album Solid State Survivor, and while I did enjoy the song I wasn’t sold by the rest of the more ambient post-apocalyptic songs. In contrast, because YMO retained that strong emphasis on exotica, it still retained the melodic & jazzy flow that I’m used to hearing in other Hosono works, which is probably why I enjoyed this album a lot more. As a huge hip-hop head, I naturally gravitated towards Firecracker as my favorite song. I always imagine watching B-Boys break-dancing to this song, to top it off the US mix of the song has punchier equalization and heavy use of reverb making it much more satisfying to dance or bop your head to. As a fan of both ‘70s Disco & Chinese orchestral music, Tong Poo is another favorite of mine as it combines the best of both worlds perfectly. I currently own the US release of the album which omits Acrobat, and to be honest nothing of value was lost, as it just would have been another redundant interlude. It’s not a bad song, but the fact that it’s so short and that it recycles the same chiptune SFX from the previous Computer Game interludes, it’s not a very interesting song. That being said, the 1978 album Yellow Magic Orchestra is a must-own for any fan of electronic music. Whether you’re into chiptune or vaporwave or any type of video game music, YMO is worth checking out just to hear where it all came from.

Production: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Vocals:⭐⭐⭐

Arrangement:⭐⭐⭐⭐

Aesthetic:⭐⭐⭐

Memorability: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Composition:⭐⭐⭐⭐

Go Ahead by Tatsuro Yamashita -1978

It's no secret that Tatsuro Yamashita (山下達郎) is one of my favorite musicians of all time. However, the Japanese market didn't share that same sentiment back in the '70s. Prior to his breakthrough album, Ride On Time, Tatsuro had a rough time establishing himself as an artist. As a matter of fact, he was expected to retire after his 2nd album, Spacy didn't make its rejected sales. In 1978 he decided to release what everyone thought was going to be his last & final album, Go Ahead! Much in the same vein as Mariya Takeuchi's (竹内まりや) Variety, Go Ahead! was essentially a showcase album with each song representing all of Tatsuro's musical influences.

THE HISTORY

Tatsuro in New York, the cover for the single, "Lets Dance Baby"

Based on the live atmosphere recorded in the previous work, It’s A Poppin’ TIme!, and his session work with other big names in the ‘70s such as Chu Kosaka ( 小坂忠 ) and Yumi Arai (荒井由実), the musical evaluation of Tatsuro Yamashita as an artist was favorable, however as a contract musician for a record company, Yamashita wasn’t meeting the sales figures RCA wanted. He was quite panicked himself and testifies that he was still learning about the production and distribution of commercial music during this period, and when he found out that record companies don’t respond well to a lack of improvement in sales, he felt he must finish his career as a solo musician.

All of the music was composed & arranged by Yamashita while receiving lyrical help once again by jazz & funk singer Minako Yoshida(吉田美奈子). The album was directed by Ryuzo "Jr." Kosugi (小暮徹), who participates in the chorus and percussion performances. Go Ahead! was released on December 20, 1978. His fortunes began to turn that year, when the A-side single, entitled Let’s Dance Baby became a smash hit in the Osaka disco scene. RCA re-labeled the single, swapping the sides to promote “Bomber” further. Tatsuro Yamashita’s newfound success in the disco market would influence his production on his next album in 1979, Moonglow.

THE MUSIC

A-SIDE

1. Overture: A short & sweet soulful A Capella Intro, which leads into...
2. Love Celebration: A very chill but funky Chicago-style R&B number. It’s also the only song on the album that Yamashita wrote & sang completely in English. He originally composed the song for future Dynasty member, Linda Carriere, for her album produced by Harry Hosono (細野 晴臣). But the project was scrapped and only a demo version exists. Later on, a different rendition was sung by Kimiko Kasai (笠井紀美子) and given Japanese lyrics, entitled Vibration.
3. Let's Dance Baby: A super catchy Disco number with some Samba rhythms mixed in. Originally composed for the doo-wop group, The Kingtones, Yamashita's version doubles down on the Latin beat with some great backing vocals by Minako and Kosugi. The lyrics were written by Osamu Yoshioka(吉岡治). This song was Tats’ first single as a solo singer and ranked No. 75 On the Oricon charts.
4. Monday Blue: A sorrowful ballad about losing a lover over the weekend, although towards the end of the song, the lyrics suggest some hope of revival. This song is the longest track on the album. The team behind this album consists of drummer Hidekazu 'Ponta' Murakami（村上 “ポンタ” 秀一), keyboardist Hiroshi Sato (佐藤博), guitarist Tsunehide Matsuki（松木恒秀）and bassist Akira Okazawa（岡沢章). Apparently, during production, nobody except Tats was confident about how this song would come out, but thankfully the control room staff during the recording had their breath taken away near the end of the song.
5. ついておいで (Follow Me Along):  Tatsuro starts us off with some jazzy crooning backed by a piano solo, and then takes us on a journey with a very optimistic 16-beat dance number.

B-SIDE

1. Bomber: The highlight of the album, a rocking disco song that pays tribute to the Isley Bros. hard funk sound. Featuring the baddest bass-line in Tats' entire library of music, thanks to bassist Akihiro Tanaka(田中章宏). The song also has one of the best guitar solos only to be matched by Silent Screamer in 1980, both done by Kazuo Shiina (椎名 和夫). It also features some of the most unique lyrics in Japanese music as it tells the story of a man's bad altercation with the police. With English words/phrases like “Police”, “Judge Right”, “Target” and “Roulette”, one might wonder if Bombers lyrics might be alluding to some form of police/civil corruption in Japan in the '70s, or if it's just a tail of a sneaky crook trying to outwit the police.
2. 潮騒 (The Whispering Sea): A summer love ballad inspired by the works of Todd Rundgren.
3. Paper Doll: A funky style R&B number about taking love for granted, much in the same vein as Mariya's Plastic Love. Yamashita had recorded Paper Doll several months previously to be released as a single, but the record company didn’t have faith it would sell and scrapped the idea.
4. This Could Be The Night: A cover of The Modern Folk Quartet’s 1965 hit single. It’s a pretty faithful remake with updated production value given a larger emphasis on Phil Spector's signature “Wall of Sound”.
5. 2000トンの雨 (2000t Of Rain): A smooth resort pop finale that's another homage to the sound of Phil Spector, with its mix of Latin percussion and contemporary R&B elements, like the awesome saxophone. 

THE VERDICT

Go Ahead! It is easily in my top 5 favorite Tatsuro Yamashita albums, with its Southern Soul-influenced tunes and funky bass lines. Tatsuro cast a pretty wide net of styles and nails them all perfectly, from the Todd Rundgren-Esque ballads in Shiosai to Chicago R&B reminiscent of Curtis Mayfield in Paper Doll, an homage to Phil Spector in 2000 Tons of Rain.

My personal favorite is the Isley Brothers-inspired Bomber. In my honest opinion, Bomber has got to be one of the greatest songs Tatsuro has ever produced, period. There are just so many layers to why the song stands out compared to other J-pop songs during and even after its time, from the choice of lyrics to Tats’ particular Americanized style of singing to the kick-ass bass-line. The bomber is a song that only Tatsuro himself can pull off flawlessly. Trust me I’ve heard a number of covers of this song and none of them come close in a million years, even the legendary male pop idol, Hideki Saijo couldn't do it justice.

My least favorite song is easily the cover song, This Could Be the Night. Tatsuro does great covers of songs, but I think his original content highlights his vocal range a lot better, there also wasn’t anything spectacular about the arrangements either. Despite that though I’ll definitely listen to Tatsuro’s version over the original any day. Overall I would definitely call this album an essential listen for all City Pop music fanatics.

Here's a shoutout to @slowestofsins for this awesome Tatsuro Yamashita fanart! Make sure to follow him on Instagram!