Hibari Misora -- Makkana Taiyo （真赤な太陽）

This afternoon, I went to a Japanese dance recital starring my friend's dance troupe, The Toronto Buddhist Church Buyo Group. The theme of the show was Hibari Misora's（美空ひばり） songs. So, all of the classics were there for the dancers to dance to: "Kawa no Nagare no you ni"（川の流れのように.... Just Like the Flow of the River), "Ringo Oiwake" (リンゴ追分...The Apple Forked Road) and "Yawara"（柔） (already profiled). But the very last song was "Makkana Taiyo"(Scarlet Sun), released in May 1967.

I had heard the song before over the years but didn't realize/remember that it was Misora who had sung it. For people who usually see her as the Grande Dame of enka in a kimono, "Makkana Taiyo" is an eye-opener...or an ear-opener. Partnering up with the Group Sounds band, Jackie Yoshikawa and The Blue Comets (who were just savoring their big hit, "Blue Chateau"), Misora comes up with a shimmy-shammy-friendly shaker of a dance number. You'd almost think she was channeling any of the Cool Britannnia groups while singing it. I could imagine Austin Powers hitting the dance floor with it.

And you gotta see the original performance. Wigged out in a short bob, Go-Go boots and...gasp...a mini-skirt, Misora is just shimmying out the joint. Considering that the year before, she had come out with one of the most famous enka ballads in her repertoire, the tearjerking "Kanashii Sake"（悲しい酒....Sad Sake), this was quite the twist (no pun intended). "Makkana Taiyo" was written by Osamu Yoshioka（吉岡治） and composed by Nobuo Hara（原信夫）, and sold a record 1.4 million copies. It ranks 4th in Misora's all-time most successful singles.