Hibari Misora -- Kappa Boogie Woogie （河童ブギウギ）

My "earliest" entry...going into 1949. And perhaps an odd way to start the Hibari Misora（美空ひばり） file. After all, this is the legendary singer of enka and jazz who put a huge stamp onto kayo kyoku for over 40 years. Apparently, during her many appearances on the annual Kohaku Utagassen, she awed her fellow singers into terror. According to Wikipedia, she recorded 1,200 songs and into the 21st century, she had (posthumously) sold over 80 million records.

But as I said, this is an odd tune to start with, but "Kappa Boogie Woogie" was her very first song released as a single. A kappa is a water sprite in Japanese folklore which looks like a cross between a frog and a bird. The pre-teen Misora, who was born as Kazue Kato（加藤和枝） in 1937, performed the song in the film "Odoru Ryuuguujou" (踊る龍宮城....Dancing Dragon Palace) in costume.

Of course, Misora ended up leading the Japanese through the postwar rebuilding and into their economic miracle. I'm not a die-hard fan of hers but she released so many nostalgic songs, I just automatically go "I know that one!" whenever I hear one of them.