Kazemachi Roman

Kazemachi Roman (Japanese: 風街ろまん, Hepburn: Kazemachi Roman, literally "Wind City Romance") is the second album by Japanese folk rock band Happy End, released on URC Records in 1971. In this concept album, Happy End attempted to paint a musical picture of Tokyo before the 1964 Summer Olympics, through which sweeping changes transformed the city forever.[1]

Kazemachi Roman
Kazemachi Roman cover, clockwise from top left: Matsumoto, Suzuki, Hosono and Ohtaki, illustrated by Kazuhiko Miyaya
Studio album by
Happy End
ReleasedNovember 20, 1971
RecordedMay 11 – September 12, 1971
StudioMouri Studio
GenreFolk rock
Length37:14
LabelURC Records
ProducerHappy End
Happy End chronology
Happy End
(1970)		 Kazemachi Roman
(1971)		 Happy End
(1973)
Singles from Kazemachi Roman
  1. "Hana Ichi Monme"
    Released: December 10, 1971

Background and release

OK Music's Naoto Kawasaki notes how Eiichi Ohtaki and Shigeru Suzuki did not contribute to "Kaze wo Atsumete", with Haruomi Hosono playing the bass, guitar and organ and providing its vocals while Takashi Matsumoto plays the drums. Suzuki is also absent from "Kurayamizaka Musasabi Henge", which Kawasaki felt was inspired by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.[2]

Bannai Tarao, a fictional detective who has appeared in many Japanese crime thrillers, is credited on several of the album's songs. Ohtaki even opens "Haikara Hakuchi" by saying, in English, "Hi, this is Bannai Tarao. Haikara (lit. "High-collar " or "Western fashion") is... Beautiful." This song was the B-side to Happy End's single "Juuni Gatsu no Ame no hi" off their first album, though this album version is different.

Matsumoto thought "Hana Ichi Monme" was a representative song of Happy End, and it was released as a single. Its B-side was "Natsu Nandesu", which Ben Sisario of The New York Times described in 2017 as having "echoes of Neil Young."[1]

Kawasaki believes the ending of "Haru Ranman", with its uncredited banjo, mimics the end of Buffalo Springfield's 1967 song "Bluebird".[2]

"Aiueo", the album's last song, is a 30-second fragment in which Ohtaki sings the gojūon, accompanied only by his acoustic guitar. The song's title is a pun: "aiueo" is the order of pronunciation in Japanese, while ai ue (愛飢え) translates as "love hunger".

Seven bonus tracks were added when the album was included in the March 31, 2004 Happy End Box set.[3]

Reception and legacy
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Pitchfork8.8/10[5]

Together with their self-titled debut album, Happy End's Kazemachi Roman marked an important turning point in Japanese music history, as it sparked what would be known as the "Japanese-language rock controversy" (日本語ロック論争, Nihongo Rokku Ronsō). There were highly publicized debates held between prominent figures in the Japanese rock industry, most notably the members of Happy End and Yuya Uchida, regarding whether rock music sung entirely in Japanese was sustainable. Previously, almost all popular rock music in Japan was sung in English. The success of Happy End's first two albums proved the sustainability of Japanese-language rock.[6]

In September 2007, Rolling Stone Japan ranked Kazemachi Roman No.1 on its list of the "100 Greatest Japanese Rock Albums of All Time".[7] It was named number 15 on Bounce's 2009 list of 54 Standard Japanese Rock Albums.[8] In 2016, the album topped the list of 30 Best Japanese Albums of All Time published by beehype magazine.[9]

"Aiueo" was covered by Pizzicato Five as the final track on their last album, 2001's Çà et là du Japon.

Two songs from the album were used in American films which had Brian Reitzell acting as music supervisor. In 2003, "Kaze wo Atsumete" was featured in Lost in Translation as well as on its soundtrack. In 2008, "Haikara Hakuchi" was featured in The Brothers Bloom.

"Sorairo no Crayon" was covered by thrash metal band Outrage for their 2015 album Genesis I.[10]

"Hana Ichi Monme" was covered by Rolly for his 2015 cover album Rolly's Rock Circus.[11]

"Kaze wo Atsumete" was covered by Mayu, Manaka and Asahi from Little Glee Monster for the 2021 Takashi Matsumoto tribute album Take Me to Kazemachi!.[12]

Track listing
Side A - Wind (風)
No.TitleLyricsMusicProducerLength
1."Dakishimetai" (抱きしめたい, "I Want to Hold You")Takashi MatsumotoEiichi OhtakiEiichi Ohtaki3:32
2."Sorairo no Crayon" (空色のくれよん, "Sky Blue Crayon")Takashi MatsumotoEiichi OhtakiEiichi Ohtaki4:05
3."Kaze wo Atsumete" (風をあつめて, "Gather the Wind")Takashi MatsumotoHaruomi HosonoHaruomi Hosono4:06
4."Kurayamizaka Musasabi Henge" (暗闇坂むささび変化, "Ghosts of Flying Squirrels at Kurayamizaka")Takashi MatsumotoHaruomi HosonoHaruomi Hosono1:51
5."Haikara Hakuchi" (はいからはくち, "Westernized Idiot")Takashi MatsumotoEiichi OhtakiEiichi Ohtaki3:37
6."Haikara Beautiful" (はいからびゅーちふる, "Westernized, Beautiful")Bannai TaraoBannai TaraoBannai Tarao0:33
Side B - City (街)
No.TitleLyricsMusicProducerLength
7."Natsu Nandesu" (夏なんです, "'Tis the Summer")Takashi MatsumotoHaruomi HosonoHaruomi Hosono3:16
8."Hana Ichi Monme" (花いちもんめ, "Hana Ichi Monme")Takashi MatsumotoShigeru SuzukiShigeru Suzuki, Tatsuo Hayashi3:59
9."Ashita Tenki ni Naare" (あしたてんきになあれ, "We hope that tomorrow is clear")Takashi MatsumotoHaruomi HosonoHaruomi Hosono, Shigeru Suzuki2:13
10."Taifuu" (颱風, "Typhoon")Eiichi OhtakiEiichi OhtakiBannai Tarao6:30
11."Haru Ranman" (春らんまん, "Spring, in full bloom")Takashi MatsumotoEiichi OhtakiEiichi Ohtaki2:49
12."Aiueo" (愛餓を, "Love-Hunger" or "ABC")Takashi MatsumotoEiichi OhtakiBannai Tarao0:37
2004 Bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
13."Haikara Hakuchi Introduction~Narration (Take Erushii)" (はいからはくち お囃子〜ナレーション（テイクちぇるしい）)0:46
14."Haikara Hakuchi Narration (Takes 1 & 2)" (はいからはくち ナレーション（テイク1・2）)0:22
15."Haikara Hakuchi (City Version)" (はいからはくち （『CITY』ヴァージョン）)2:36
16."Haikara Hakuchi (Single Version)" (はいからはくち （シングル・ヴァージョン）)2:27
17."Ashita Tenki ni Naare (Rehearsal Take & Rhythm Tracks)" (あしたてんきになあれ （リハーサル・テイク/リズム・トラックス）)2:24
18."Natsu Nandesu (Rehearsal Take)" (夏なんです （リハーサル・テイク）)3:18
19."Aiueo" (あいうえお)0:35

Personnel

References
  1. Sisario, Ben (2017-10-27). "The Hidden History of Japan's Folk-Rock Boom". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-08-05. “The band’s 1971 album ‘Kazemachi Roman,’ a classic of the genre, describes with a shrug how the Tokyo of their childhood was being swept away and replaced by a high-tech metropolis.“
  2. "日本語のロックを確立した、はっぴい えんどの『風街ろまん』". Japan Music Network, Inc. (in Japanese). 2014-02-05. Retrieved 2018-04-08.
  3. "はっぴいえんどbox". HMV Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 2016-01-09.
  4. Jarnow, Jesse. "Kazemachi Roman - Happy End" (Review). Allmusic. Macrovision Corporation. Retrieved 2016-01-08.
  5. Rosenberg, Tal (March 20, 2022). "Happy End: Kazemachi Roman Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  6. TJ Mook Kike! Densetsu no Nihon Rokku 1969-79 TJ MOOK 聴け! 伝説の日本ロック1969-79 [TJ Mook Kike! Legendary Japanese Rock 1969-79]. Takarajima Press. 2004. p. 33. ISBN 4-7966-3862-8.
  7. "Finally! "The 100 Greatest Japanese Rock Albums of All Time" Listed". Exclaim!. 2007-11-14. Archived from the original on 2012-12-31. Retrieved 2012-08-18.
  8. "日本のロック・スタンダード・アルバム54(6)". Tower Records. 2009-06-03. Retrieved 2018-02-20.
  9. "30 Best Japanese Albums". beehype. 2016-06-25. Retrieved 2016-07-07.
  10. "OUTRAGEニューアルバムでアナーキー、頭脳警察らカバー". Natalie (in Japanese). 2015-08-10. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  11. "ROLLYがミカバンド、はっぴいえんどなど愛する70s邦楽ロックをカバー". Natalie (in Japanese). 2015-04-28. Retrieved 2016-02-10.
  12. "B'z、松本隆トリビュートAL参加決定。桑名正博「セクシャルバイオレットNo.1」をカバー". Barks (in Japanese). 2021-06-15. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
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