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Cosmic Groove is a polyrhythm, the massive groove created when the different rhythms of people, culture, and language are combined. It deeply touches humanity's soul. Creating this kind of universal groove is my ideal.' -Toshi
©2003 Jammin' Corp
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Disco Daze The 1970's. When we think about the '70s here in the States, a riot of tense images comes to mind. The oil crisis and gas lines. Bombing Cambodia. Watergate. Gene Simmons' long, bloody tongue. The fall of Saigon. Camp David. George Clinton as Dr. Funkenstein. The Munich Olympics. Afghanistan. Kent State. Star Wars. Studio 54 and the silent beginning of the AIDS era. Revolution in Iran and the American hostages. An inelegant, chaotic decade in America, bookended by the overdose of Jimi Hendrix and the murder of John Lennon. A ten-year hangover from the 1960's and its thwarted idealism, perhaps. America does not exist in a vacuum, however, and what went down Stateside in the 1970's had parallels in Japan and the rest of the world. In fact, Japan's first post-war economic crisis started right here, when Nixon destabilized the yen/dollar exchange rate in 1971, promptly bringing Japan's economy to a screeching collision of a halt. Next, the oil crisis set off by OPEC in 1973 plunged Japan into recession for the rest of the decade. Politically, Japan had its own version of the Watergate scandal brewing at the exact same time as Tricky Dick's agonizing public demise. Between 1974 and 1976, an investigation into bribery allegations led to the arrest and ouster of Japan's Prime Minister, Kakuei Tanaka, driving a huge nail in the coffin of Japan's public trust in the government. Familiar yet? For all of the purported differences between peeps, societies, and cultures, we always hear the same damn story. These events resonated in the Cosmic Groove, of course. Music is fluid, reflecting the times, providing a mirror on people and life in general. The prevailing societal winds of the 70's - inflation, public demoralization, and economic recession- fostered an environment in which music like punk (nihilism), new wave (ice-olation), or disco (hedonistic party vibe), easily thrived. A far cry from the idealistic themes of peace, love, equality, and awareness that laced rock and R&B in the 60's. But the 60's were over. It was the 70's, and disco exploded, not just here, but in Japan as well. It was music that helped people to just have a good time. Although the very best disco- think Chic, Parliament, Rick James- redefined groove, and laid the groundwork for hip-hop, it was fundamentally party music. It got your groove on, never mind the outside world. And it appealed to folks in Japan just as much as it did to us, in all of our collective, bell-bottomed, wide-collared glory. So without further delay, we present the secret history of Japanese disco. Like the introduction of American music to Japan in general, the story of disco begins with GI Joe. Shinjuku, in Tokyo, was the first place outside of the US military bases that supported GI nightlife. As early as the mid-60s, early Shinjuku discotheques catered to GI's by playing American groove music. Back in the pre-Disco day, these places were called "odoriba" (Japanese for "dance hall") or "go-go clubs," and about 70% of them were only equipped with juke boxes. Although the clientele was mostly American at first, a few Japanese soul/R&B addicts became regulars. For them, these juke boxes were the ground zero of groove, filled with brand new music straight from the States. The other 30% of clubs had DJ booths with just a single turntable and amp. Primitive, but this limited equipment was still enough to create an underground vibe- edgy, hip, energetic, and with dangerous undertones of sex, violence and drugs. Remember, most of the patrons were GI's enjoying brief moments between stints in Vietnam. Eventually, though, these early discos attracted sizable numbers of young Japanese who later became innovators in Japanese art, music and fashion. And for them, discos were groove culture's epicenter. In 1968, the legendary club Mugen opened its doors in the Akasaka district of Tokyo. It was the first full-blown discotheque in Japan, replete with psychedelic lighting, a large live stage, and a state of the art sound system. Go-go dancers grooved behind the main stage, and surly waiters took drink orders on the floor. Besides the nightly "Soul-Showcase" played by the seven-piece house band, touring American acts like Sam & Dave, Ike and Tina, and others got down at Mugen in the 60's, providing live, grade A groove. The tradition continued in the 70's with shows by Con Funk Shun, Rufus, and the Ohio Players, to name just a few. In the early 70's, Japan was blindsided in a big, loud, heavy way by hard rock (Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple), and many worried that the groove underground would simply fade away. However, groovmic vibrations out of America, the Philly sound and new soul (as personified by Donnie Hathaway, Curtis Mayfield, etc.) maintained and revitalized the scene with danceable songs. Also, blaxploitation films like "Shaft" and "Superfly" peaked around this time, and the soundtracks (which had a much bigger impact than the actual films in Japan) were nightly staples on Tokyo dance floors. Around this time, Afro-Rake became Tokyo's number one soul disco, the seismic center of the groove movement. It was the first disco to cross-promote with TV, radio, print media, and record companies. Many Japanese soul fans tuned into the weekly radio programs it sponsored, such as "Afro Rake Info" or "Soul Freak," and via these radio shows, Afro-Rake also introduced new American artists to Japan. The club also recruited several DJs from overseas, including DJ Tony B from Chicago, and others from as far away as Jamaica, bringing dub to Japan when it was new. The venue quickly attracted a strong following, of which local African-Americans were about half. The other half included Afro-haired, loyal Japanese regulars, dubbed the "groove freaks" by the Japanese press. For American soul artists touring in Japan in those days, Afro Rake was also the after-hours hangout. It was featured in Ebony magazine, and groups like the Commodores and Crusaders often surprise-guested, jumping onstage straight out of the audience. Finally, no discussion of Japan's groove scene is complete without mentioning Yokota Base (in the heart of Tokyo) and the legendary soul food restaurant B.P. It was Mecca for Japan's underground R&B/funk/soul scene and its followers. Back in the day, you had to go to the clubs in Yokota. It was the Groove Hajj. And B.P. was the after-hours joint for Yokota's African-American GI's. Besides live performances, dancing, and poetry readings, you could find a vibrant American social scene, ranging from soldiers, to civilians, to even an occasional Black Panther. Later on, many discos strived to capture that B.P. vibe. So that whole period from the mid-60's up to about 1974 was really when the first generation of true Japanese R&B/funk devotees, or groove freaks, came of age. They were there when it was badass and underground. Nothing stays underground forever, though and from the mid-70's to the early 80's, things changed both here and in Japan. As Nelson George notes in Hip Hop America, "The entire American disco experience...flowered underground before its mainstream discovery circa 1975..." Well, it went down like that in Japan, too. With acts like Van McCoy ("Do the Hustle"), KC & the Sunshine Band, and others, a full-fledged disco boom rocked Japan in the mid to late 70's. By 1978, at virtually the same time it hit America, "Saturday Night Fever" was playing across the country and disco was bigger than ever. It became commercialized, mainstream entertainment. No longer the dark, dangerous musical underground for a select avant-garde audience, disco became music for everyone. It happened here in the States, too; remember your parents taking disco lessons? Discotheques became places for socialization on a mass level, alienating the original groove freaks, both here and in Japan. But real groove never truly disappeared. In the late 70's, as disco peaked and died an ugly death, something else was happening. While Michael Jackson's "Off The Wall" became a big hit, and the artist we still call Prince debuted, a series of self-contained groups like Earth Wind & Fire, Raydio, Cameo, Con Funk Shun, and others emerged. Disco re-morphed into funk and deep groove music. Rick James, Brick, Zapp, and Dazz Band were next up, and the hip-hop era was just around the corner... |