Released in August 1980 as her 18th single, "Koibito yo" is a sad song of parting on an epic scale as a woman comes to grips with the end of an affair. The heartrending strings brings to mind a depressing breakup between man and woman on a windswept cliff. However, the feelings for Itsuwa's trademark song didn't come from any past romance but from a personal tragedy. She wrote and composed the song as she remembered her very first producer, Takasuke Kida（木田高介）. Just a few months previously, Kida had been killed in a traffic accident, and for Itsuwa, who had considered him family, the death touched her deeply. The feeling that was imbued into "Koibito yo" was that the moment was an unforgettable one and that it was an incident that she still couldn't believe happened.
"Koibito yo" hit the No. 1 spot for 3 weeks on Oricon and became a million-seller, earning the Gold Prize at the Japan Record Awards. It eventually became the 8th-ranking song for 1981. But the song's legacy has also extended into it being covered by a number of Japanese artists, including Hibari Misora, Hideaki Tokunaga and Shizuka Kudo. It has also become famous in Vietnam since being covered by one of the nation's most popular singers there in 2005.
When listening to this, I felt that it was the kind of song that Hiromi Iwasaki would knock out of the park. Moody, smoky, sultry, all the tropes you'd use to describe her mystery series songs. Lo and behold, I find this performance from late 1980 (she does Matenrou afterwards), and it's all I expected it to be. And given the date, you could almost call it an audition for Madonna Tachi no Lullaby, Ieji, and the rest.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm off to find an Akina Nakamori version. Funnily enough, I think this is one song that Akina would do better than her model Momoe (who didn't tend to do subtle). And speaking of Akina, are you going to do Eki some time?
Hello there. Iwasaki can pretty much knock any cover out of the park but I think Itsuwa still owns "Koibito yo" (although Akina could do a good job with it as well).
DeleteAs for "Eki", I've actually featured it in the article on Akina's album "Crimson":
http://kayokyokuplus.blogspot.ca/2017/03/akina-nakamori-crimson.html
A VERY vibrato heavy rendition of Koibito Yo. Can't say I like it, but the performer is someone who could call Hibari Misora a young whippersnapper.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKIgL2W1dgo
Hello, Jim.
DeleteThat lady there is the late Noriko Awaya who had been singing since the 1930s. She specialized in chanson so it's no surprise that she tackled "Koibito Yo". She was also someone who suffered no fools gladly in show business and was very public about how much she despised the genre of enka. For some reason, though, she had always been invited to be one of the judges on the many "monomane" shows...I guess everyone liked her stone-faced snarkiness when she rendered decisions.
https://kayokyokuplus.blogspot.com/2016/01/noriko-awayakenji-sawada-amapola.html
By strange coincidence, Koibito yo came on the radio whenever I would drive through the "Love Motel" section of town. Hmm, cosmic forces at work...
ReplyDeleteConsidering the lyrics of the song, I don't think "Koibito yo" would be the greatest choice for the love motel neighbourhood, but of course, the radio station wouldn't know that.:)
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