Momoe Yamaguchi/Akina Nakamori -- Aizenbashi（愛染橋）

 

Getting some of those cold feet before getting married? Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵）probably didn't, but she can still feel your pain. In December 1979, she released her 28th single, "Aizenbashi" (Aizen Bridge).

Written by Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）with some Kyoto dialect included, the song reflects the doubts and expectations of marriage via a famous bridge which actually existed somewhere in Osaka. The pensive but stylish melody was provided by Takao Horiuchi（堀内孝雄）which is interesting since his old partner from the folk group Alice（アリス）, Shinji Tanimura（谷村新司）, had been behind an earlier hit by Yamaguchi, "Ii Hi Tabidachi" (いい日旅立ち). In fact, I'd say that the song almost borders on an enka ballad. Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）took care of the arrangement.

"Aizenbashi" reached No. 10 on Oricon and ended up as the No. 69 single for 1980. It was also included on the singer's 19th studio album "Harutsugedori"（春告鳥...Japanese Bush Warbler） from February 1980 which hit No. 5 on the album chart. The single sold a little over 270,000 records and by doing so, Yamaguchi topped 10 million records sold for all of the singles thus far in her career. In that same year of 1979, aidoru duo Pink Lady and enka singer Shinichi Mori（森進一）also pulled off the same feat.

Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）gave her own refined cover of "Aizenbashi" through her 1994 album "Utahime"（歌姫）with more emphasis on the Asian and orchestral aspects.