Yasuko Naito -- Roppongi Lullaby （六本木ララバイ）

I've always had a soft spot for songs that can be interpreted in different ways successfully. In kayo kyoku, "Roppongi Lullaby" fits that bill. Written and composed by Shiro Okada（岡田志郎）and Ed Yamaguchi（エド山口）, the latter of whom was a musician/TV personality who also led an electric guitar band "Ed Yamaguchi & Tokyo Ventures", Yamaguchi came up with this karaoke standard, a loud and brassy tribute to the famous (& infamous) entertainment quarter in Tokyo.

First sung by husky-voiced Yasuko Naito（内藤やす子）in October 1984, another version has an old-style (perhaps 50s) R&B style with the saxophone as Naito kicks it up a notch (the video at the very top). The song also reminds me a bit of the more brassier examples of nightclub enka. To be honest, though, I enjoy the more languid and contemporary version here.

And then there is Ruiko Kurahashi's （倉橋ルイ子）version. For anyone who has heard this singer, either from this blog or elsewhere, Kurahashi definitely has a different voice when compared to Naito's pipes. She has a softer and more fragile delivery. And so, her version of "Roppongi Lullaby" is done almost like a gospel hymn, complete with pipe organ. I first heard this version on a Hong Kong tape back in the late 1980s, and just as much as Naito belts her take out of the park, Kurahashi quietly but powerfully delivers her version.

The video above though has the organ sounding a bit too much like something from "Monster Chiller Horror Theatre" which undercuts the overall performance. If you can, find the original Kurahashi version.

(October 27 2012: Looks like the powers-that-be have taken down the video. I've tried looking elsewhere for a link but to no avail. I'll keep on searching.)