When was that, exactly…

I recall being invited to Takahashi Yukihiro-san's show on Nippon Broadcasting, which had moved to Odaiba,
and in a studio filled with an overwhelming festival atmosphere, banners proclaiming defiance against the undeniable decline of the radio industry fluttering, I think I was swept up in the energy and participated with a similar, forced cheerfulness…

Recalling that, I found myself back at Nippon Broadcasting in Yurakucho, a place I hadn't visited in ages, and experienced another charmingly haphazard recording session.

Later, seeing the program's lineup, I realized this project was a grand endeavor to uplift disaster victims and Japan with good music. It made me wonder, "Was I really the right person for this?" and I felt a bit out of place, though not entirely. I ended up selecting and explaining the music myself, and recording messages to the listeners in a spontaneous, one-take performance.

What's more, the unexpected part was recording under the watchful eye of a dignified, beautiful, and composed female station director whom I was meeting for the first time that day. Thinking back, I regret the childish chatter I let slip and am confessing it now.

Here are the details. It seems I really do prefer fully produced programs. The End.

Let's cheer up Japan with Good Music!
My Playlist
http://www.1242.com/my-playlist/

Love for Japan kizashi
Talk (Opening Talk)
"This is Shinichi Kuwabara, a music curator. Today, we'll be exploring the theme 'Smile Rock Again.'"
CM
Talk (Reason for selection, etc.)

"Rock means not ceasing to think.
In Japan, where we are forced to live with self-responsibility,
we must begin our own rock,
not one that is borrowed from others as before.
Now is the time for a new beginning."

Beginnings by Chicago

M1
(MIX) Chicago / Beginnings

The beginning
I am merely the beginning of something I want you to feel eternally. Merely the beginning. Just the very beginning. I will bring you into my life. I will have you by my side. Merely the beginning. Just the very beginning. (Partial lyric translation)

The Trajectory of Chicago
The Chicago Transit Authority
The studio album by Chicago Transit Authority
Released April 28, 1969
Recorded January 27–30, 1969
Columbia Recording Studios, New York
Genre Rock
Length 76:36
Label Columbia Records
Producer James William Guercio

M2
Talk (Reason for selection, etc.)
"Reconstruction requires construction.
Here, I introduce a song of construction.
This is the music that Japan, in its national policy during the war, created. Regardless of the purpose, we are easily inspired by valiant music.
Music can be both poison and medicine. That's right.
And so, back then, and even today, Japan is a good country~"

In the actual recording, the theme for the music selection was not well-defined,
so my explanations became quite nonsensical...

"Oath of the Hot Sands (Song of Construction)" (October 1940)
Lyrics: Yaso Saijo
Composition: Masao Koga
Vocal: Hisao Ito

1) With joyous voices,
Golden clouds shine over the wilderness.
Dawn is breaking, dawn is breaking,
Our song of construction rises on the continent.

2) Over mountains and valleys, valiantly,
Brothers whose blood has flowed,
Now smile, and listen,
Our triumphant song of construction.

3) If born as a Japanese man,
This flesh, these bones, to the continent,
My departed mother's words,
Her eyes shine like the stars of dawn.

4) Like desert wildflowers in the morning dew,
A path of love, shining and opening.
Light is rising, from the east,
Our song of construction echoes throughout the world.

CM

Talk (Message to disaster victims & reason for selection, etc.)
"Hmm, I can't remember. It went by so fast."

M3
Radioactivity / Kraftwerk
Radio-Activity is an album by the German electronic band,
Kraftwerk.
It was released by EMI in November 1975.
"Hmm, that's why Kraftwerk's perspective was so prescient."
No, that's not it. I forgot to mention the most important thing.
I suspect that back in 1975, radioactivity was seen as a mysterious and fearsome entity, but perhaps it also held a certain allure as a future energy source?
It was an era where we could envision the future with a sense of longing...

M4

(MIX) What's Going On / Marvin Gaye
This is "What's Going On," also known as Motown sound. Released in 1971.
Marvin Gaye / What's Going On
MARVIN GAYE / What's Going On

Mother, mother
There's too many of you crying.
Brother, brother, brother
There's far too many of you dying.
Brother, brother, brother
We're findin' out where we should be.
Father, father
We don't need to escalate.
War is not the answer.
Love is the only way to overcome hate.
Brother, brother, brother
We're findin' out where we should be.
Riot in the streets, songs of the protesters.
Don't punish me, please.
Tell me what's happening.
What's going on?
What's going on?
And I say, what's going on?
What's happening, King?
Magnificent!! Direct Translation of Soul Music

M5
Jolie / Al Kooper
A 1972 work, "Song of Sincerity."
Akira no Eejyanai ka - Akira Kobayashi
Lyrics: Shinichi Sekizawa / Composition: Ryoichi Hattori
Akira no Eejyanai ka / Sendō Komoriuta (April 20, 1962)
Talk (Reason for selection, etc.)
"People in the Edo period were resilient,
much more open-minded than today, you know?"

CM

Talk

M6
Esashi Oiwake - Joji Hirota & The London Metropolitan Ensemble
Requiem: Praying for the repose of the dead; Mourning; Dirge
According to producer Aisuke Matsutoya,
Esashi Oiwake is a fisherman's song passed down in Esashi and Matsumae since the Edo period.
It's a song about the resilience of fishermen who set out for herring fishing, braving rough seas in pursuit of a fortune, and also about the sorrow of the families who see them off. When thinking about the disaster-stricken areas, "Let's do our best" isn't the only message. Sometimes, listening to music allows us to shed tears and find the strength to shift towards hope for tomorrow. There was no other song that could convey this power than Esashi Oiwake (Maeuta).
We must face these difficulties, drawing parallels with Japan's strong will to rise again.

M7
Hiroshi Fujiwara & K>U>D>O presents
We've Got a Good Thing Going (Michael Jackson)
Talk (Reason for selection & Farewell)
"Let's go all out! Go all out, you know?"
This is also not quite right.
Hiroshi Fujiwara and Kudo-kun's world, where both music selection and arrangement are executed with perfect taste, possesses a quality that can stand on the global music scene. It is precisely for this reason that their music can bring happiness to discerning music fans.

To say that music makes people happy is too simplistic. In reality, music chooses people, and people choose music.

The theme of cheering up Japan with the power of good music
is a profound and wonderful theme that requires a long and arduous journey.
I don't want to call music "good music" if it requires an explanation to be understood. Music itself is eloquent, so I want to leave its interpretation to the listener's feelings.
It's because I say such naive things,
that I won't be called upon by anyone.
But I believe that's what it means to call oneself a music curator.
You compete with your selections. That's all.
It feels akin to the Way of Tea.

CM

"And in the end, I completely forgot what I had talked about."
That's fine.
No, that's not fine at all.
Conveying something good in an easily understandable way.
Perhaps creating such a theory is also an important job for a music curator.
Mastering the art of clearly communicating excellent selections.
A new challenge has emerged. I was given a valuable experience.
Thank you, My Playlist. Next time will be even better.



← Diary-T 207-212