A lot of funny and magic things happened during our recent trip to Japan (full report see HERE), but chew
on this one:
Many people complimented us on the track "SEGA Beats", which appered on the disrupt-LP "The Bass Has
Left The Building" and on the Souljazz compilation "Dub Echoes", saying it's a very cool cover version. And
indeed the melody and harmonies were taken from the old Soul Vendors ska tune "Ringo Rock" (there's also
a Skatalites version) . But funnily
enough everybody could sing Japanese vocals along, and it finally turned
out that the ORIGINAL original is
not from Jamaica at all - but from a classic
Japanese movie called "Ringo-en
no
shojo (lit. "Girl of Apple Park" -
1952)! The track is titled "Ringo Oiwake" and sung by Misora Hibari when
she
was still a young girl. She
would
later become one of Japan's most famous singers, a true diva doing the
timeless
gems. Check the
videos
below, one from the actual movie, and one from a TV show in the 70s, incl.
a whole string orchestra.
"Ringo Oiwake", from "Ringo-en no shojo", (1950)_____
...and an orchestrated version from the 1970s
Now the big question is: how did this song travel to Jamaica, of all places, and become a ska classic? If
anyone has an idea please let us know - we should definitely follow this one up.
However, if you think about it, Japan is strongly tied into Jamaican and Western music since long. Almost
every essential piece of electronic gear used in all styles of music since the 80s has been designed there: Roland and Boss (drum machines), Casio (synths), Akai (samplers), Nintendo (Gameboys), just to name a
few. Our visit to Quarta 330 in the 5G vintage synth store in Tokyo (be jealous HERE) confirmed that theory.
It is well known that the "Sleng Teng" riddim, Jammy$ biggest hit, is simply the "Rock" preset from the Casiotone MT-40 with an offbeat. So actually credit should not go to Jammy alone but to the Japanese
engineer who came up with the most versioned bassline in Reggae of all times - in a Casio lab in Shibuya...
So it's fair to say that the sounds from Japan and the technology around them left a severe mark in all
new styles of
music since three decades: what would Reggae be without the Casio synths or the
Boss
Dr. Riddim?
What Hiphop without the TR-808 or the Akai MPC2000? What Techno without the TR-909
and the Juno?
And finally there's a strong tie from
Tokyo to the
UK Bristol
scene
(see the Banksy original in the pics HERE):
E-Jima,
operating
out of
his small, vinyl-packed
treasure vault "DiscShop Zero (Rebel Music Specialist)"
since 1993,
is
pioneering along the lines of
obscure
and
forgotten musical
history. He found a Smith &
Mighty track
called
"Brainscan"
on
VHS-tape (!) from
1986,
which is just
THE
prototype
Dubstep tune of
them all, incl.
beautiful Detroit-like strings. Rob Smith
re-mastered this gem
and it appeared
on Angel
's Egg
7" -
congratulations if you got one
when it
came out!
It's THIS one.
Soom T did a recording session on the track while
over in
Tokyo
in Feb 2010, so let's see how the story
continues.
absolutely bend your ear towards the two Japan-only releases of Jahtari on the Rudiments label:
