Kyu Sakamoto -- Benkyo no Cha Cha Cha（勉強のチャチャチャ）

 

As I've mentioned before, "Ue wo Muite Arukou" (上を向いて歩こう) will always be Kyu Sakamoto's（坂本九）most famous kayo kyoku but close by in second place is his "Miagetegoran Yoru no Hoshi wo"（見上げてごらん夜の星を）which can rival the Sukiyaki song in terms of how many tears it can wring out from listeners.

"Miagetegoran Yoru no Hoshi wo" was quite the emotional ballad for Sakamoto, so I gather that the producers for the May 1963 single figured that the B-side had to be somewhat lighter in tone to compensate. Well, the same creators of the A-side, lyricist Rokusuke Ei（永六輔）and composer Taku Izumi（いずみたく）, came up with this cheery slice of Latin-infused kayo called "Benkyo no Cha Cha Cha" (The Study Cha Cha Cha). Short and sweet with an arrangement that Perez Prado would be proud of, it's good enough for those cramming students to get off their duffs for a couple of minutes to do a cha cha throughout the major high school subjects. Hopefully, it was enough for them to pass those dreaded entrance exams. Incidentally, Danny Iida and the Paradise Kings（ダニー飯田とパラダイス・キング） provided background chorus.

Of course, many years later, a beautiful long-legged singer would give her own thoughts on studying.