村上RADIO 特別番組 Tシャツ・サマー - AuDee（オーディー）

村上春樹さんと、村上さんがDJをつとめる音楽番組「村上RADIO」とユニクロがコラボレーション！ユニクロのグラフィックTシャツブランドのUTから素敵なTシャツコレクションが出来上がりました。

デザインは８タイプ。村上さんの書籍イラストをはじめ、『ノルウェイの森』や『1Q84』など、村上さんの代表的な長編小説や、音楽番組「村上RADIO」の世界観をTシャツでデザイン化しました。村上ワールドが存分に楽しめるコレクションです。またピンズやステッカーなどのグッズも同時販売。全国のユニクロ店舗とオンラインサイトで3月8日（月）から発売開始です。

村上RADIO X ユニクロUTコラボTシャツ 2021年3月8日(月)発売！ユニクロオンラインサイトはこちら

About Murakami Radio

Murakami Radio is a bi-monthly radio show that features novelist Haruki Murakami as DJ. The first episode aired in the Summer of 2018, marking forty years since Murakami’s debut as a writer. The twenty-first episode was broadcast in February 2021.

Murakami had never appeared on radio or TV before, but — through Murakami Radio — he spoke directly to his listeners, sharing his favorite songs and occasional stories. With the support of fans of music and literature alike, the show quickly became a hit.

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In May 2020, when Japan was under a state of emergency because of COVID-19, DJ Murakami put on a special episode to cheer up his listeners from his own home: “Stay-at-Home Special: Music for a Brighter Tomorrow.” The two-hour special gained significant attention and later won top honors in the Radio Entertainment category at the Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association Awards in 2020.

Murakami has run at least one full marathon a year for the past 35 years. About running, he says:

“It might surprise you to know how crucial basic physical strength is for writing fiction over a long period of time. So at some point I made a decision — I need to run — and I haven’t stopped running since.”

When Murakami runs, he takes one of his many iPods with him.

“The Doors, Marvin Gaye, the Chili Peppers... When I travel or go for a jog, I’ll take iPods loaded with all kinds of music, from classical to jazz to rock, depending on what I’m doing. When I go running, I almost always go with American rock.”

On Murakami Radio, the novelist brings his own records and CDs into the studio, then tells us about the songs he’s chosen. He goes into music, literature and much more — all in his own voice.

What songs will Murakami play for us today? Stay tuned to find out!

— from the Murakami Radio website, Episode 1 (August 5, 2018)

: This is Haruki Murakami.

Welcome to a special installment of Murakami Radio: “T-shirt Summer.” I know it isn’t summer yet, but you can’t have T-shirts without summer, so why not enjoy the summer a little bit earlier than the rest of the world?

Today, I’m going to play a few instrumental tracks with some real summer vibes.

Nowadays, the T-shirt has earned its place in the world of fashion. As soon as summer rolls around, people in T-shirts fill the streets — but, until pretty recently, that wasn’t the case. Well, I’ll come back to this in a little bit.

: Hi-Heel Sneakers
Booker T. & The M.G.'s
Stax; First up, we’ve got one of my personal favorite instrumental groups, Booker T. & The M.G.’s, playing “Hi-Heel Sneakers.”

What a dynamite line-up: Booker T. Jones on organ, Steve Cropper on guitar, Donald “Duck” Dunn on bass and Al Jackson on drums.

Some years ago, the original band members came to Japan and I went to hear them play at the Blue Note in Aoyama. They were really something. So cool. They sounded just like they did back in the day — that good old “Memphis sound.”

: Oh, Pretty Woman
The Ventures
EMI / USA; Of course, when you’re talking about instrumental bands, you can’t forget the Ventures. Today, we’ve got their version of Roy Orbison’s 1964 hit song “Oh, Pretty Woman.”

This was a big one. The music of the Ventures is practically a traditional art unto itself. I can hardly imagine summer without it... And listen to that rhythm. It couldn’t be any more basic, or more persuasive. I’m pretty sure no one else out there could produce this sense of drive — no one but the original Ventures.

T-shirt talk #1

: Like I was saying, it wasn’t that long ago that people started going out wearing tees. In fact, until the sixties, T-shirts basically belonged to the working class and rebels. Just look at the movie stars who wore tees: Marlon Brando, James Dean. These guys had their own thing going on, apart from everyone else, going around town in T-shirts, jeans and leather jackets. I’m talking about the “bad” kids. They were the ones who wore plain white tees. Their ratty shirts were a statement against society. You never saw children from good families wearing clothes like that.

T-shirt talk #2

: Look at American Graffiti. All the good kids are wearing button-down shirts with collars. That’s just the way it was. The only character to ditch the collar and put on a great-looking tee is Carol, a precocious girl who’s maybe thirteen or fourteen years old. The shirt she has on was created by surfboard maker Dewey Weber. Carol was a fan of the Beach Boys, which would explain her feelings for that shirt. After I saw that movie, I went out and bought one for myself. It really is the coolest shirt.

: Wouldn't It Be Nice?
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Intersound; Summer’s the season for eel — and, without question, it’s also the season for the Beach Boys. Let’s listen to this Beach Boys tune as performed by England’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. From Pet Sounds. Side A, track one: “Wouldn’t It Be Nice?” Michael Thompson is featured on guitar. Talk about a huge performance.

T-shirt talk #3

: Speaking of movies, in Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, Brad Pitt is wearing a Champion logo tee. I remember when everybody had one of those. Then there’s the shirt from Bear Surfboards, the shop that John Milius created for Big Wednesday. That was a popular one, too. I still have mine. I wear it all the time. If you think about it, though, pulling off a plain white tee is far from easy. If it’s brand-new, it won’t look right, and if it’s some old ratty thing, no one wants to see that, either. Unless, of course, you’re Marlon Brando or James Dean.

: More
Kai Winding
Ace

: More
Mari Fujiwara

: Next up, we’ve got the theme music from Mondo Cane. This movie is known as A Dog’s World in the United States, but it’s Sekai Zankoku Monogatari (“Tales of a Cruel World”) in Japan. Still, there’s nothing at all brutal about this track. It’s actually a very romantic melody.

“More.” A greater love than the world has ever known. That’s what this bold song is all about. Here performed by the group of jazz trombonist Kai Winding, you won’t catch the trombone unless you’re really listening for it. It’s a pretty strange arrangement that way. Meanwhile, that’s Kenny Burrell on the cool guitar playing front and center.

Here’s another version of “More,” performed by classical cellist Mari Fujiwara. It may be the same song, but performed in a different style, it takes on a completely different feel, doesn’t it? Well, which “More” do you like more?

T-shirt talk #4

: Anyway, like I was saying, there were almost no tees with designs in the sixties. For the most part, T-shirts were underwear. But, once we got into the late sixties or so, the younger generation started pushing harder and harder against the social structure. And when their attitudes changed, so did their clothes. They grew beards and put on ratty jeans and T-shirts as an extension of how they saw society.

These days, that rebellious spirit isn’t really a factor, but I think it’s great that everyone can go out and express themselves with all kinds of designs and messages displayed on their shirts.

I’ve got a pretty decent collection of tees myself. I’ve even put out a book called Murakami T. It’s not like I ever wanted to build a serious T-shirt collection. I bought the ones that caught my eye, and it just kind of happened. One nice thing about T-shirts is that they don’t cost a lot. You can buy them without too much thought.

: Sukiyaki
Martin Denny
EMI-Manhattan Records; “The father of exotica” — Martin Denny. He was a pretty unique guy who wanted to add a tropical touch to every arrangement, but he really pushed things with Kyu Sakamoto’s “Sukiyaki,” going for a full-on Pacific Rim mood. I can imagine some people out there frowning at this one, but I’ve always had a real soft spot for it.

The gong at the end is great, isn’t it? Of course this take was panned, so Denny put out a disc with a straighter rendition, and that’s the more common version of the song these days, but for me it’s got to be this earlier take.

: Reptile
Eric Clapton
Reprise Records; The closing music for today’s show is “Reptile” by Eric Clapton. Apparently, back when Clapton was a kid, they used to respectfully call the cool adults — the sharp ones — “reptiles.”

: We’ve been listening to music without words this time around. How did you like it? This kind of thing can be pretty refreshing sometimes. Feels like summer. When summer comes, I pretty much live in shorts and a T-shirt. Nice and comfy. I wish I could always be a “reptile” who looks good in shorts and a tee... that’s really all I want. Nothing much else on my wish list these days, so I guess that’s what I’ll shoot for. Until next time.

Translated by David Boyd illustrations by Masaru Fujimoto