In the aftermath of singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka's recent passing and my tribute to him and his influence on Japanese music, I've been getting some further comments on how much of an influence he's had. Commenter and contributor Fireminer noted that Sedaka had even given his blessing on a couple of his old songs to be used as theme tunes for one show in the mighty "Gundam" franchise which was a revelation to me. One was the second opening theme song for "Mobile Suit Z Gundam"（機動戦士Ζガンダム）, "Mizu no Hoshi e Ai wo Komete"（水の星へ愛をこめて）performed by Hiroko Moriguchi（森口博子）; the source Sedaka song was "For Us to Decide", and JTM gave his two cents about it when he came up with his epic "JTM's 80s Playlist - J-Dorama/Anime/Movie Edition" article all the way back in 2013.
The other Sedaka chestnut that was adapted was his "Better Days Are Coming" which was the first track on Side B of his June 1972 album "Solitaire". The original song has quite the rollicking feel of soft funk and even some gospel, especially with those lyrics.
Well, cue ahead thirteen years, and "Better Days Are Coming" was transformed into "Zeta: Toki wo Koete" (Transcending Time) for the opening theme of "Z Gundam" with the vocals of Mami Ayukawa（鮎川麻弥）. Given lyrics by Rin Aogi（井荻麟）, aka "Gundam" creator Yoshiyuki Tomino（富野由悠季）, the song sure felt like better days were coming. With more four-on-the-floor drumming, some scintillating synth work and an even funkier beat which could even get the morose Amuro up and hitting the dance floor, "Toki wo Koete" was certainly a shift away from the usual brassy and militaristic themes that I had often associated with the late 70s and early 80s brand of mecha anime. I gather that it was time for Gundam to boogie!
"Toki wo Koete" was Ayukawa's 3rd single released in February 1985. It got up to No. 15 on Oricon.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Feel free to provide any comments (pro or con). Just be civil about it.