Steve McClure - The Japan Times

May 04, 2024

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Steve McClure

Steve McClure has lived in Tokyo since 1985. Formerly Billboard magazine’s Asia Bureau Chief, he now publishes the online music-industry newsletter McClureMusic.com.

For Steve McClure's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE

Oct 31, 2001

Hey, world, meet Hasebe

DJ Hasebe looks set to become the latest Japanese platter-spinner to make a name for himself internationally, following in the footsteps of DJ Krush, DJ Honda, Ken Ishii and Captain Funk.

CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE

Oct 24, 2001

Three out of 50 ain't bad

Ska-core, that curious musical hybrid, seems to have finally come into its own in Japan. On the Oricon Top 50 album chart for the week ending Oct. 22, there were three Japanese ska-core albums.

CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE

Oct 17, 2001

Where dreams come true

Those who can, do; those who can't, teach. Right? That was certainly true of the various losers and sociopaths who "taught" me when I was in school. But this hoary old adage doesn't apply to a showbiz school recently launched by leading Japanese record label Avex.

CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE

Oct 3, 2001

No reason to feel ashamed

The savagely sultry summer has mercifully given way to the cooler, mellow vibe of autumn. It's time to savor such seasonal delights as sanma (Pacific saury), shinmai (newly harvested rice) and the latest Miyuki Nakajima album, which comes out like clockwork each year around this time.

CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE

Sep 26, 2001

Pop to the sixth power

Hermann H. & the Pacemakers are one of Japanese pop music's brightest new hopes. As with the superlative Cymbals spotlighted in last week's column, this six-piece band specializes in the musical genre known as "power pop." But in the case of Hermann (as the band is collectively known), the emphasis is a little more on the power side of the equation.

CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE

Sep 19, 2001

Prepared for blastoff

The title of British pub-rocker Nick Lowe's 1978 album "Pure Pop for Now People" aptly describes the sound of Tokyo-based band The Cymbals. The trio's music is bright, intelligent, catchy and easy on the ears -- but with enough of a rock punch to avoid saccharine overkill.

CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE

Sep 12, 2001

You ain't nuthin' but a henjin

What a wacky guy Junichiro Koizumi is. When he's not battling bureaucracy or trying to revive the ailing economy, Japan's unprecedentedly popular prime minister likes nothing better than to chill out and listen to the music of the King: Elvis Presley.

CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE

Sep 5, 2001

Welcome to the 'real' world

"Utada Unplugged" -- it has a nice ring to it. Hikaru Utada is the latest artist to get the MTV Unplugged treatment, and this correspondent was one of a small group of media folk invited to the taping of the diminutive diva's MTV Japan "Unplugged" special.

CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE

Jul 18, 2001

Taking the F-beat pulse

A favorite expedient of music-writer types is to write about a given city's "sound," lumping all the music that comes out of the city under one neat, convenient heading. We then explain what constitutes that sound and why it is The Next Big Thing, in an effort to establish ourselves as arbiters of what's hip and cool and new on the scene, man.

CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE

Jul 11, 2001

Please re-release me

Are you tired of hearing "Ashita ga Arusa"? This venerable kayokyoku pop classic (originally recorded by the late Kyu Sakamoto in 1963) has been revived not once, but twice so far this year. In mid-March, those wild and crazy guys from Osaka, the Ulfuls, released an upbeat, lighthearted cover. And, of course, as is their wont, they hammed it up for all they were worth in the accompanying video.

CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE

Jul 4, 2001

Ajico gets it all together

The supergroup. What a horribly dated concept that is. It smacks of corporate rock and overinflated, believe-your-own-hype egos, as in, "Hey man, you're the coolest guy in your group, and he's the main man in his band, and without me, my band is nothing, so like, if the three of us get together, man, it'll be an incredible band."

COMMUNITY / PARENT TRIP

Jun 29, 2001

They'll thank you for it someday

"I want my child to have the advantages I never had when I was a kid." When it comes to cliches uttered by doting parents, that's one of the all-time classics. I never thought I'd find myself saying it, but as I keep finding out, parenthood is full of such ironic twists. In my case, the "advantage" in question is learning to play the piano.

CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE

Jun 27, 2001

Love on the dance floor

Talk about good timing. Just as the enervating ennui of tsuyu set in, reggae singer Mikidozan released "Lifetime Respect," whose mellow vibe and infectious melody have taken it to the top of the charts. (It's No. 1 on the July 2 Oricon singles chart). With its loping, steady groove and positive message of love and dedication, "Lifetime Respect" (released May 23 by Tokuma Japan Communications) is the perfect antidote to the rainy-season blahs.

CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE

Jun 20, 2001

J-rap gets real

Most rap music leaves me cold. One reason is that, as a 42-year-old white Canadian male, I am culturally predisposed to dislike it. Another is that a lot of rap is crap: monotonous, rhythmically and melodically sterile, and full of violent, misogynistic, homophobic posturing.

CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE

Jun 13, 2001

Super Butter Dog: Bow wow wow yippee yay

When I first saw Super Butter Dog at an industry showcase a few years back, I thought they were a joke. First, of course, there was the name. Super Butter Dog sounded like one of those quasi-edible agglomerations of animal byproducts and chemicals you buy at dubious-looking matsuri stalls. And the band members, with their ersatz '70s fashions and the odd Afro looked decidedly dodgy.

CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE

May 30, 2001

The names are insane and I like it like that

What's in a name? Well, when it comes to Japanese bands, a lot, actually. Japanese rock groups, like Western psychedelic bands of 30-some years ago, have been coming up with some extraordinarily creative and just plain nutzo band names of late.

CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE

May 23, 2001

Have you never been soft rock?

All sorts of great music is coming out of Japan these days, as any true J-pop fan knows. And some of the most interesting stuff is the music that can be included under the rubric "soft rock."

CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE

May 16, 2001

The sweet sound of a good cause

Historically, the Japanese geinokai (entertainment world) has been slow to catch on to the idea of the charity concert/release. But now Ryuichi Sakamoto, a la Bob Geldof and the Band Aid famine-relief project, has put together an impressive array of Japanese and overseas talents on a track called "Zero Landmine," which is dedicated to raising awareness about the problem posed by the huge number of antipersonnel land mines still in place all over the world. Wars end, but land mines still kill and maim, and their victims are all too often civilians.

CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE

May 9, 2001

3G phones -- putting your music where your mouth is

Today's topic, class, is how to promote music in Japan and keep the Japanese music biz afloat. Are you ready? Then I'll begin.

COMMUNITY / THE PARENT TRIP

May 4, 2001

Big threat in a small box

I'm sure I speak for many parents out there who have had to deal with a threat to their children's mental and physical well-being more terrifying than television, more pernicious than pornography and more insidious than ijime.

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.

Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Spotlighting a Niigata castle town through sushi

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