Only found out this morning that Emi Ito（伊藤エミ） of The Peanuts had passed away on June 15 at the age of 71. The duo had stopped being a performing act for almost 40 years but a number of their songs are still being covered by numerous artists, including the United States Air Force Band (you can look for them on YouTube). "Koi no Vacance"(Vacance de L'Amour) is one of The Peanuts' lasting songs.
As originally sung by Emi and Yumi, it has this infectiously rollicking beat emanating from a big band heart. Written by Tokiko Iwatani（岩谷時子） and composed & arranged by Hiroshi Miyagawa（宮川泰）, the song got The Peanuts onto the 1963 Kohaku Utagassen, and won Miyagawa a Japan Record Award for arrangement. The word "vacance"itself became one of the big catchphrases of the year because of the tune.
As I've said, a number of singers have covered "Koi no Vacance"over the years, one of them being another duo, W. W consisted of two petite members of Morning Musume（モーニング娘。）, Nozomi Tsuji（辻希美） and Ai Kago（加護亜衣）. Their cover of the song was their first single as this unit and was released in May 2004 as a surf rock version.
One small piece of trivia concerning Emi Ito; she was the first wife of Kenji Sawada（沢田研二）, vocalist of the Group Sounds band, The Tigers.
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