Teruhiko Aoi -- Futari no Sekai （二人の世界）

I was browsing through YouTube to track down that Yujiro Ishihara（石原裕次郎）ballad "Futari no Sekai", and discovered that there was at least one other song with the same title. So, I decided to kill two birds with one stone and take care of this one by Teruhiko Aoi（あおい輝彦）.

My knowledge of Johnny's groups and singers had extended as far back as the early 1980s with the Tanokin Trio. However, since starting up "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I have discovered that Johnny Kitagawa and his empire went back even further as far back as the 1960s with the band Johnnys. One of the members of the group was indeed Teruhiko Aoi.

Not long after Johnnys broke up in 1967, Aoi went ahead with a solo singing and acting career. He released his debut single, "Boku no Himitsu"（僕の秘密...My Secret）in 1968 but it would be a few years before his second single would come out. That was his "Futari no Sekai" (Our World) which was released in February 1971.

Used as the theme song for a Fuji-TV drama also titled "Futari no Sekai" which came out in December 1970, Aoi also had a supporting role in the show which depicted a young couple created from a chance meeting at a concert and then getting married a mere 3 months later. The theme song has Aoi singing from the guy's point of view as he pours out his love and devotion to the lady of his life.

I couldn't help but compare Ishihara's "Futari no Sekai" with Aoi's version. Whereas the former has that setting of a Ginza nightclub with two seasoned lovers with yen to burn, the latter has more innocent and naive partners making their new middle-class life.

As someone who used to watch a lot of "Tora-san" movies and other similar comedy-drama flicks with their soundtracks at the Japanese-Canadian Cultural Centre here in Toronto as a kid, and then hear some of the kayo on the stereo, I like the melody led by the strings and the other instruments that was created by Chuji Kinoshita（木下忠司）. That's the nostalgia coming out once again.As for the heartfelt lyrics, they were written by Taichi Yamada（山田太一）who also came up with the screenplay for the drama itself. Finally, I gotta say that Aoi has got quite the nice voice.

On the Oricon charts, this was Aoi's first Top 10 hit as a solo singer as "Futari no Sekai" peaked at No. 3. Although it didn't make the Top 10 for 1971, it came close as it positioned at No. 13.