Tag Archives: KAN

KAN “Ai wa Katsu” Interview (1992)

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Yesterday, it was announced that this man—one of my favorite songwriters—has passed away.

I had been working on this interview about his most well-known single, “Ai wa Katsu,” and my intention had been to post it today. I’m going to go ahead and publish the interview as scheduled, but please allow me first to express a couple of thoughts.

I just want to say that I absolutely adored this guy. Everything about him. I loved his voice. I loved his singing. I loved his piano playing. I loved his sense of humor; how he had seemingly dedicated his entire adult life to never ever being serious when he spoke. Even his lyrics were silly and comical more often than not. Humor was his life philosophy, and deservedly so. After all, what point is there to life if you can’t even have a wink and a laugh about it?

Most of all, however, I loved his sense of melody.

We all have our “sweet spots” when it comes to music, and for me the things he did as a songwriter often hit those sweet spots exactly on the mark. Anyone could tell he was a real musician’s musician, always wearing his influences—Beatles, Billy, Stevie, et al—on his sleeve. I’m going to miss this guy so much, and I’m going to continue singing praises of his work forever.

I wish I had something more meaningful to say. I feel like there has to be a better set of words I could string together to express how I feel about him. But this is the best I can do for now.

I love you, KAN. Thank you for the music. ❤️

Is KAN‘s 1990 hit single “Ai wa Katsu” your favorite goddamn song of all time? If so, you’ve come to the right place. Here, you see, is an entire 5000-word interview dedicated to that very tune.

This interview was originally published in the 1992 book Boketsu Bari Hori.

Text: Morita Kyoko
English translation: Henkka
KAN links: Website, Twitter, YouTube

Note: You can buy KAN’s physical releases on CDJapan.


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KAN Liner Notes ② (1989–1991)

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Here are the liner notes for every song on KAN‘s 4th, 5th, and 6th studio albums, written by the artist himself. The albums featured here are HAPPY TITLE (1989), Yakyuu Senshu ga Yume Datta (1990), and Yukkuri Furo ni Tsukaritai (1991).

These liner notes were originally published in the 1992 book Boketsu Bari Hori.

Text: KAN
English translation: Henkka
KAN links: Website, Twitter, YouTube

Note: You can buy KAN’s physical releases on CDJapan.


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KAN Liner Notes ① (1987–1988)

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Here are the liner notes for every song on KAN‘s first three full-length studio albums, written by the artist himself. The albums featured here are TV no Naka ni (1987), NO-NO-YESMAN (1987), and GIRL TO LOVE (1988).

These liner notes were originally published in the 1992 book Boketsu Bari Hori.

Text: KAN
English translation: Henkka
KAN links: Website, Twitter, YouTube

Note: You can buy KAN’s physical releases on CDJapan.


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Henkka’s New Music Discoveries

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I love music, and I’m always—constantly—looking for new stuff to listen to.

Pretty much my favorite activity in life is to sit down in a dark room, pour myself a drink, put on some headphones, and listen to new music in search of gems I haven’t heard before. This is something I’ve been doing quite consistently since my early teens. (Well, the drinks may have come a little bit later.)

In any case, here are a few recent “fruits of my labor.”

These findings are from the past year or so. I’ve listed each song, in no particular order, with its musical genre and year of release. Feel free to grab a drink and listen along if you’d like.

Young Gun Silver Fox
“Lenny”
2018 | YACHT ROCK

I discovered these guys a while ago when I came across a collaboration they’d done with the amazing Rod Temperton. (On a side note, I would list Rod Temperton’s Heatwave among my favorite bands of all time.) They’ve released four albums so far, and each one consists of this sort of very friendly, sunny-sounding yacht rock. Awesome stuff.

By the way, I learned from an interview of theirs that the band name Young Gun Silver Fox is derived from its two members. One of them is a young gun, while the other is a silver fox.

Pretty academic stuff, I know. Really makes you think.

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KAN – St. Petersburg (English Lyrics)

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サンクト・ペテルブルグ ～ダジャレ男の悲しきひとり旅～
St. Petersburg
~The Sad Solo Journey of a Man Who Loves Bad Puns~

I think it was — let’s see — around 9 hours after departure from Narita
As I sleepily saw from my window a faraway city glittering with lights

“Seeing it this clearly without any clouds or mist…
I’ve actually flown this route many times,
But that’s not something you see often.
It actually used to be called Leningrad…”

“Ah, Finland, right?”
“No, Russia.”
The stewardess smiled at me
Ah, such a pretty smile…

This is how love stories begin
With meaningless, petty conversations like this

The sun sinks into the horizon and the sky turns dark
And if you were sitting beside me right now
I suppose you’d be giving me a proper scolding

By the way, my final destination’s Paris
That’s difficult to pronounce — “Paris”
I’ll be spending a week there
Going around wine fields in a rental car

Speaking in simple French to everyone I meet, time passes slowly
And just like that, I have to fly home tomorrow, merci beaucoup
Ah, but I feel a little lonely, beaucoup

Teary-eyed, I vigorously wave my hand
And before I notice it, I’ve lost the keys to my rental car
The children all laughing
Comment allez vous?

This is how love stories begin
Right when you’re just sitting around off-guard
You won’t know what to do

Aren’t they pitiful, the skies so high?
If you were sitting beside me right now
I suppose you’d be giving me another proper scolding

But in the end
No matter what I see or do
It all leads back to you
I loved you so much I could cry

If I could just see you even once more
There are so many things I’d want to show you
So many things I’d want to talk to you about

Maybe one day we’ll randomly bump into each other
And maybe I’d actually be able to tell you a joke or three
Like nothing had ever changed

Or maybe you’d already be wisely married to some elite businessman

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