Penny Tohyama

0:12Hello and welcome to the Monaco Weekly. For today's show I speak with a very special guest, legendary Japanese city pop singer Penny Toriyama. I've been a fan for many years and we play some of her hits here at Monaco Radio. Penny tells me about the renaissance of city pop and her music plans for 2024.

0:44Have you heard city pops? They call it city pop. Yeah, yeah, I think it's a city pop boom right now. From the 80s, the Japanese singers in the 80s music, it's kind of hit all over the world. So probably that's why my music was recorded on 80s. So, you know, it's part of a city pop music. So I guess that's why they start to get to know me again, you know. How would you describe city pop for people that perhaps are not experts? I can't explain because I've been singing pop songs all over, you know, all my life. So they just put City in, you know, in the beginning. So, you know, I mean, there's nothing changed, I think.

1:25And you mentioned Columbia Records, because when you go, I don't know, Tower Records in Tokyo, there's plenty, plenty of CD-pop compilations and your albums were there. It's very interesting, right? Because there's more attention to that sometimes than to the kind of the newer music as well. I know. Yeah, I guess, like I said before, it's because it's a city pop boom. So I guess my song, my music, it's in a top city pop. So I guess the Columbia wanted to release, you know. But it's all digital. They renewed it. They remastered the album. So I think you can hear it more nicely, I guess. And I don't know why, but I'm thankful because, you know, they just they released so many albums and they you know and it's for the new people like old fans they have my albums but some of the new fans i have i started to get new fans so i'm so i'm glad yes i do have the physical copies of some of your albums though including sexy robot which is one of my favorites

2:39Penny, I just want to know, tell me more what you're doing with music these days. You just mentioned that you came back from tour, right? Yeah. So tell us about some of your recent projects and about this tour as well. Recent is that March 6th, I'm from Colombia. My new best CD was released. And I guess that was the first this year. The show, good thing. And then from May, they wanted to, the China, they wanted to invite me for a live concert. And we went to, from four days, I had a concert in Blue Note Shanghai and Blue Note Beijing and Koshu. It's a live house called Mao. And I was surprised because we were surprised, not only me, but my Columbia was surprised too, because the ticket was sold out in two minutes.

3:33Wow. That's impressive. And it's 600 people, you know, and 600 people, you know, so it was, but the China tour was only for two days. But since the tickets was sold in Beijing and Shanghai and the other places, so they, you know, they offered another two days. And I was surprised because all the fans were young, very young. And they all sing together. They know the lyrics and the music. So it's kind of pressure, you know. I can't make mistakes.

4:14But it was sort of like that. It was really great. And like you mentioned Sexy Robot, right? In Sexy Robot, there's a song called Kathy. I think that the song Kathy was a kind of break in China. A lot of people covers it in YouTubes and stuff like that. So I guess that's why they got to know me and they wanted to invite me to the concert. So it was really great.

4:46and there is you mentioned china there so basically this thing about your music and perhaps a little bit of city pop i feel that in europe as well maybe in the united states where you are right now so it's not something that is just in japan i think people are becoming more interested in this kind of music too what do you think yeah yeah i think i think yeah i they ask me so much same questions like that because they say they say why you know i think because on the 80s in japan you know the there has so much money you know the bubbles was yeah yeah and so they put so many you know time and a lot of uh money to record you know like like it was oh, you know, like a bass man was there.

5:33And, you know, it's not like a PC, you know, like, I don't know how to expand it. You know, it was, I guess, I guess that's why the sound is kind of, you know, very new, new and nice. Optimistic as well. Yeah, yeah. After 90s, you know, the Japan was kind of, you know, the recording was kind of, you know, down. So I guess from 80s to the first of 90s, you know, they put so much effort in the recording. So I guess that's why the sound is so good. That's why maybe, you know, after so many years, you know, they like the sound. I don't know, but I guess that's something like that, I guess.

6:18What do you listen to music these days? what inspires you musically? I was inspired in soul music like Motown and physical when I was small and I guess that's my root for the music I still like soul music but recently I wanted to I'm into jazz standard jazz I never sang jazz so I'm kind of interested putting my jazz taste in a new music that I want to make I think something like that And mostly I listen to my songs because I have so many concerts and live. I have to learn the words and the music. So mostly I listen to my songs. Give me some of your favorite songs because I have a little list here.

7:03I love, sorry, I mentioned many times Sex Row, but Exotic Yokogawa. I think it's so funky. What is it about actually, Exotic Yokogawa? I think it's so funky. It's one of my favorites.

7:19Yeah, I don't know. I guess it was in a Next Door album. That was in Next Door album. I think it was a third album. We wanted to do disco sound.

7:35Yeah, yeah. So that's why exotic Yokogawa was supposed to be like a disco song, you know, and, you know, having fun and, you know, stuff like that. I guess that's why everybody likes it. I don't know. it's a great so so so tell me it's so exciting that you're still performing what are your plans uh for the rest of the year or next year is there anything you can review in terms of next year i'm going to china tour again yeah so i guess that's that's kind of you know exciting for me and uh i do mostly lives covers cover live and my original lives and i do radio program i have radio program and I still write lyrics and you know I guess I'm going to music but my hobby or you know like I'm learning flamenco dance right now and I do tai chi for you know like tai chi for health I'm taking I have to take care of myself so I do I like to move around so I guess you know that's mostly I'm walking taking a walk and stuff like that I guess that's fantastic and listen you did mention a radio show where can people go to actually listen to some of the shows because i think they will be very curious it's uh live so i guess it's not recorded so i guess it's it's like one time it's in uh tokyo it's called kumaya the kumaya station it's near there kumaya fm i do a music program and i i bring a lot of guests and i play my song and there's a lot songs that I like.

9:11I love radio.

9:31Thank you very much, Penny. What a pleasure. The show was edited by Sarah Nico and I am Fernando Augusto Pacheco.

9:41Thank you.