Episode 78: This isn’t rock and roll. This is just Tokyo pop. Feat. Zach Langley Chi Chi
Zach Langley Chi Chi of the I’m So Popular podcast (Episode 65) returns to the Idolcast to discuss the 1988 forgotten classic Tokyo Pop. (You may remember the late Carrie Hamilton from Shag: The Movie, which I discussed in Episode 58.)
Tokyo Pop—like Shag—received fair to middling reviews when it came out and then quickly disappeared from the collective cultural consciousness. Luckily for us (and sadly unlike Shag) Tokyo Pop was rescued by Indie Collect (with some help from Carrie’s mother Carol Burnett) and given a beautiful restoration.
The film is both a postcard from Bubble Era Tokyo and the portrait of the very special journey of the White Lady in Japan (see also: Girls, Lost in Translation, Ramen Girl, etc.)
Some of the topics discussed are:
Japanese pick-up artists and their quest for the “GG” or “Gaikoku Girl.” Ladies, be prepared for the GGハンター or GG Hunter when you visit.
RIP Mika Bat (archived version of THEEE BAT’s website.)
“City Pop” is an amorphous label and one that has been retroactively applied to a large swathe of unconnected artists, similar to something like “Yacht Rock” has here in the USA. What connects the catalogs of Yumin and Yamashita Tatsuro is what connects the “Yacht Rock” Philly soul of Hall & Oates to the “Yacht Rock” Laurel Canyon folk harmonies of Crosby, Stills, & Nash. It’s all purely in the ears of the contemporary listener.
Extremely Inappropriate in the New York Times; the drama is available to stream on Netflix in the USA. I’ll also throw in a plug for the hilarious Totally Killer, which hits some of the same nostalgic notes for a less politically correct time.
Visit the brand new Kabukicho Tower!
The songs played are:
“One Night Gigolo” by Checkers (Official MV)
“Jigojitoku” by Sakurazaka46 (Official MV)
“浪花節だよ人生は” by Hosogawa Takashi (A live performance from the master himself)
“The Fly” by THEEE BAT (Check out a live performance!)
“Kicks” by The Bawdies (Official MV; I actually really like the Bawdies and they have done a great job of carrying on that kind of vintage American rock sound we’ve forgotten here.)
“フィクション” by the Kome Kome Club (Live version)
“涙のリクエスト” by Checkers (TV performance version)