Saturday, February 9, 2013

GAO/Chikuzen Sato -- Sayonara (サヨナラ)


When GAO debuted as a singer through the NHK BS music program Young Battle, she revealed neither her real name nor her birth year. Her gender was a mystery at first, too, and she was clever enough to take advantage of her androgynous looks and husky voice to conceal the fact. I've read on one blog that when press tried to ask her whether she was male or female, she would answer "neither". Who knows if this story actually happened, but it seems plausible. In 1992, however, when her single Sayonara (サヨナラ) became a huge hit, Kohaku Utagassen producers asked her to perform on the show at the end of the year, which would mean that she had to make a choice between joining the "red" (female) team or the "white" (male) team. GAO accepted the offer and chose the former, thus revealing her identity.

As for "Sayonara", it's a sublime rock ballad that will probably get stuck in your ears for hours after you listen to it. It's interesting how GAO's voice and image can even make a love song "genderless", but that's what gives it a wide appeal, I think. Written by GAO and composed by Ikki Kai, it shot to No. 3 spot on Oricon weeklies and became the 16th-ranked single of 1992 and the 97th-ranked single on 1993, selling over a million copies total. The song eventually overshadowed the artist herself, making her a one-hit-wonder figure. I've listened to her other material from the early 90's and warmly recommend it to those who enjoy "Sayonara".

A number of artists have covered the song through the years, but I couldn't resist highlighting Chikuzen Sato's(佐藤竹善)take on it from 2007. His version sounds refreshingly down-to-earth compared to the original.


Image source: cdjournal

4 comments:

  1. Thank Nikala for this post on the enigmatic artist GAO. I love this song and GAO is certainly a very mysterious artist! Over at YouTube there's a recent video of her making an appearance on a Japanese variety program. She doesn't seem to have aged at all and sports wicked dark red hair now (almost reminds me of Annie Lennox). Her voice is still as husky and powerful as ever however. I'd be curious to hear her most recent album which released last year.

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  2. GAO was one of the singers I found out about during my 3 years back in Toronto between Gunma and Ichikawa. And I'd agree with JTM that there is somewhat of an Annie Lennox aura about her....along with Greta Garbo and even kd lang. I read her profile on J-Wiki and found out that apparently when she let her gender be known officially at some event, a number of her female fans apparently exploded in tears.

    As much as I love Sing Like Talking and Chikuzen Sato, for me, GAO's original version is the one that stands out. I think that power behind her voice is the key.

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  3. Boy am I happy to see a GAO post here! I've been obsessing over her lately because of that 90's compilation I listed to on YT. She's really intriguing coz' I couldn't get info on her. I had to do some sleuthing on some Japanese blogs which I could hardly read without Google Translate :'(

    But I do agree. Her voice is amazing, and its really what's made the impact on the song. If I were to have a girl crush, it would most def be GAO. Her songs are amazing, and her voice integrity has not wavered, even now.

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    1. Hi, Yuie-chan. Good to hear from you again. Yes, she's one of those rare singers that didn't quite reach lasting stardom but was blessed with that one song which has become a musical touchstone for a certain generation.

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