Music Fair (ミュージックフェア）

"Music Fair" is the longest-running music show in Japanese TV history. Premiering on August 31 1964 on Fuji-TV, (although it had an initial pilot in March of that year as a special program) its first host was legendary Japanese chanson singer Fubuki Koshiji（越路吹雪）, and the half-hour program showcased the big hitmakers of the time, within Japan and abroad. For me, one of the highlights of the show was the actual theme song. During my time in the country, I heard the shorter version of the theme performed by vocal group Circus, but past performers were The Peanuts and folk singer Ryoko Moriyama（森山良子） (who I think is the one singing on this version, with a chorus); currently The Gospellers are the ones behind the theme. The above video is of a 1976 broadcast which was then hosted by (husband & wife actors) Hiroyuki Nagato and Yoko Minamida（長門裕之・南田洋子）and the full glorious big band version of the theme is played. The song brings back those memories of the orchestras backing old American variety shows like "The Jackie Gleason Show" or Ed Sullivan.

"Music Fair" has bounced all over the TV schedule during its 49 years on the air. For half of my time in Japan, it used to be on at 11 p.m. on Sunday nights, so it was either the last thing or the second-last thing I saw before hitting the hay going into another work week. The show always struck me as an evening show with that layer of sophistication reflected by the famous theme, the huge ballroom-like stage, and a more formal-if-friendly approach taken by the hosts. So, it was with some surprise and disappointment when it got shifted in 2001 to its current time and day of 6 p.m. on Saturdays.  My history with "Music Fair" actually started years back when my family was renting Japanese TV videos from the local Nippon Video in Toronto, and a part of the show usually was taped in the last 15 minutes' worth of the tape after the main feature. So I got to know the lovely singer/actress Yuko Kotegawa（古手川祐子）as the host for years, before actress Anju Suzuki（鈴木杏樹）took over in 1995.

The basic format of the show is inviting two or a small gaggle of singers to perform their hits or to collaborate together in a medley of their songs or other famous kayo kyoku or J-Pop. Interspersed is some very congenial talk among the artists and the hosts at a sound level that is a fair bit lower than that on the old music ranking programs or the current "Music Station" on TV Asahi.

First up, we have an ALFEE special.

A bit of Teresa Teng here.

And finally, we have a young Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵）.

Finally, I wanted to mention the sponsor which has been behind "Music Fair" since it began, Shionogi Pharmaceuticals, since one of the other memories of the show was the commercial for pain reliever Sedes which always came on before the hosts and the singers appeared. Yoko Oginome（荻野目洋子） was the Sedes girl during a lot of my time watching the show. I still have the jingle seared into my memory: "Itaku nattara, sugu Sedes"（痛くなったら、すぐセデス....If you're in pain, take a Sedes now.)　The commercial in question is the second one in the above video.

In any case, I don't know if "Music Fair" has been released on DVD or Blu-Ray as of yet, but if it is out, I recommend any kayo kyoku fan to get their orders in or even just watch the show on Fuji-TV if he/she is in the country. Or just head over to YouTube and punch in the title in katakana, followed by a famous singer's name. You may just get that footage there.

My old Sunday nights were just a fine time to listen and watch kayo kyoku since there was "Enka no Hanamichi" (演歌の花道）on TV Tokyo at 10 p.m. and then once that was over at 10:30, I just had to wait that extra half-hour before the strains of "La, la, la.... Music Fair" would come over the speakers.