I heard this last night on NHK's "Kayo Concert" and I thought the song checked the right boxes for it to qualify for Mood Kayo status. "Tsuite Kuru kai" (Like To Come With Me?) has got the saxes, the bluesy arrangement and the melancholy request for companionship despite the protagonist's admission that he's not really all that much to crow about.
Akira Kobayashi （小林旭）first sang the song as one of his singles from Christmas Day 1970. Knowing the singer-actor primarily for the Eiichi Ohtaki-penned "Atsuki Kokoro ni"（熱き心に）, it was nice to see and hear the burly guy do a Mood Kayo. His performing style on stage seems to take on the stance of that gregarious drinking buddy. Despite his status as one of Japan's Young Turks during his early days, I've always seen Kobayashi as the disarming fellow with one too many beers in his belly who was more than willing to impart his wisdom and also listen to some while spending hours at the nomiya. Plus, he would be quite happy to get that microphone if there were a karaoke set at that bar.
Written and composed by Minoru Endo（遠藤実）, "Tsuite Kuru kai" was one of the big hits for Kobayashi as it sold more than 300,000 records. It was also used as the theme song for the movie "Neon Keisatsu -- Onna wa Yoru no Nioi" （ネオン警察～女は夜の匂い...Neon Police -- Women Are The Scent of the Night）. That's a pretty Mickey Spillane-type of title. Not sure if Kobayashi had starred in that one but I wouldn't be surprised if he did. He had those slightly Robert Mitchum looks way back when.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOfKpfafwRk
The above video is of Kobayashi performing the song on an episode of "Enka no Hanamichi"（演歌の花道）.
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