Albums That Were Important to Me In 1990

 

In 1990, I spent half the time in Moji-Ko on the island of Kyushu and then Tokyo.  After going through a horrific time in Lun*na's hometown, I became obsessed with the music around me.  In the port town, there is a music shop that sold CDs.  Half of it was Western music, and the other was Japanese pop music.  The only Western music they sold there were hard rock bands from the 1970s and oldies.  I bought the first two (the third album was a live release) Honeycombs album on one CD.  As friends and readers know, I have been obsessed with their recording of "Have I The Right."  It was also on this trip that I recognize the name, Joe Meek. On future trips to Tokyo, I bought various compilations of Meek's productions and recordings.  But in Moji-Ko, I became a devoted fan of the band TAMA.  I discovered them on late-night TV where there was a battle of the bands, and they were terrific.  They reminded me a lot of The Balancing Act, in that their instrumentation was acoustic, but their focus was on Japanese folk music but weird folk.  The other Japanese artist I was devoted to was Jun Togawa.  The album below is a six-song EP (CD), and again she is somewhere between Kate Bush and electro-pop with weird Japanese pop from pre-war Japan.  She's unique in voice and music.   

Once I hit Tokyo, I purchased the new Associates' album, which is really a Billy MacKenzie solo, and a compilation of Sparks music from their era with Island Records.  Those two albums were my only connection to the Western World. Other than that, I was only reading Japanese 20th-century literature, oh, and I did purchase a lot of Glenn Gould on CD.  Sony did an incredible job in re-releasing the entire Gould catalog.   I couldn't avoid that buy!  

The Wonderful World of TAMA

When I lived in Japan the only thing I could connect to was the Japanese pop band TAMA (たま ). One reason was because they were on this TV show that was on late on night. It will start around 11pm and end at 4 am every Saturday night. Here young bands would fight it out in front of a group of experts (Nagisa Oshima among them) and eventually they would get gonged or told to leave. Sort of like American Idol, but this show had a particular edge to it. More Rat Pack feeling. It felt like a club in a way.



You should watch the first part because imagine being in the Japanese countryside, and not be able to communicate to friends in English is both scary and fantastic at the same time. TAMA above wins the big contest and they do a fantastic song live - which reminds me of a Japanese pop version of Brian Wilson's "Smile."



This is the more 'arty' aspect of TAMA. There are two songwriters in the band. One is sort of the Paul McCartney and the other has that bitter John Lennon genius thing going.

The beauty of the band is that they are a throwback to Pre-war Japan. I like their clothes, vintage instruments, and compared to other bands in Japan at the time - they surely stand out from the rest of the pack.



i don't know too much about Japanese pop, but I do know the essence, and TAMA is like a cool breeze on a very sad and blue day.