THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,325) Jun Mayuzumi — “Doyou No Yoru Nanika Ga Okiru”/土曜の夜/”Something Feelin’ And It’s Saturday Night”
The French yé-yé girls had nothing on Japan’s Jun Mayuzumi (see #480). This horn-infused confection coulda been a Bond theme!
Sheila Burgel tells us that:
The Japanese media and . . . monopolistic talent agencies . . . were relentless in their pursuit of wholesome, easily digestible talent, but their plans were derailed by the Beatles’ incursion. Japanese teens . . . had been seduced by the Liverpudlians’ DIY spirit and authenticity that was missing from Japan’s mostly manufactured pop. America’s instrumental combo the Ventures were equally worshipped by Japan’s youth. . . . [A] new wave of rock bands swiped from the British Invasion and blurred their influences with dissonant chords and Oriental melodies, thus creating a unique brand of Japanese rock’n’roll called Group Sounds. . . . [T]he [Group Sounds] boom liberated many of Japan’s finest pop writers . . . . Once [it] hit . . . [Kunihiko] Suzuki emerged from anonymity and penned “Koi No Hallejujah”, a monster hit for a little-known singer named Jun Mayuzumi. Released in February 1967, [it] was the girl-pop manifesto. . . . replac[ing] orchestras with organs and shrill electric guitars, upped the volume and vibrato, and showcased a yearning, mournful vocal that came to epitomise the girl-pop sound. Before Jun Mayuzumi became synonymous with Japanese beat girl, she cut her teeth as a pre-teen singing in Toyko’s jazz cafes, at army bases and as the house singer in a band . . . . At age 14, she signed to Victor Records under her birth name of Junko Watanabe and released half-baked Euro-pop covers. When the three singles failed to chart, she changed her name, cut all her hair off Twiggy-style, signed up with talent agency Ishihara Promotions and landed a deal with the Capitol imprint of Toshiba Records. The success of “Koi No Hallelujah”, her first Capitol release, established Mayuzumi as the “queen of Japanese beat” . . . . Though “[Koi]” was her biggest hit and fouth single “Koi No Yuuwaku” (“Angel Love”) took home Japan’s most prestigious record of the year award in 1968, her two best records are undoubtedly “Black Room” [see #480] and “[Doyou]”, released in Christmas of 1969 . . . . Both share booming bass lines, a tough vocal and a dancefloor readiness . . . .
liner notes to the CD comp Nippon Girls: Japanese Pop, Beat & Bossa Nova 1966-70
Wikipedia adds (courtesy of Google Translate):
Mayuzumi Jun is a Japanese singer and actress . . . . [who] had many hits in the late 1960s with h[er] unique, punchy and attractive singing voice. H[er] older brother is the composer Takashi Miki. She began her singing career at the age of eight in 1956. . . . [S]he toured US military camps around the country as a jazz singer . . . . In 1964, she debuted . . . but did not have a hit, and in 1967 she moved to Ishihara Promotions. As she was a fan of composer Mayuzumi Toshiro and had a powerful singing voice, she changed her name to “Mayuzumi Jun” and re-debuted with “Koi no Hallelujah” . . . . Her punchy singing voice and miniskirt quickly drew attention. She was active during the same period as the group sounds boom and was called “One-Man GS” along with Akiko Nakamura and others due to her sound. . . . Kunihiko Suzuki was often in charge of composing the songs. Some of her hit songs were composed by her brother Takashi Miki. . . . In the two years from 1967 to 1968, her record sales reached 5 million copies. She also appeared in movies with ther own hit songs as theme songs . . . . and became a popular actress.
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%BB%9B%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A5%E3%83%B3
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