About a few days ago, I had written about Ringo Shiina's（椎名林檎）Latin swan song of sorts (or so I thought) "Ringo no Uta"（りんごのうた...Ringo's Song）. Well, today will be about the original "Ringo no Uta" (Song of the Apple), a jaunty song that I've heard off and on since I was a baby and has been considered to be the first postwar kayo kyoku hit, according to the Wikipedia entry. Wiki explains the history about the song so without having to repeat it, you can take a look at the article here.
Written by Hachiro Sato（サトウハチロー）and composed by Tadashi Manjome（万城目正）for release in January 1946, less than 6 months after the end of World War II, it was sung initially as a duet with actress Michiko Namiki （並木路子）and singer Noboru Kirishima（霧島昇）who also later sung another kayo classic, "Mune no Furiko"（胸の振り子）. Although the official release of it as a 78 rpm single was in that January, its reputation had already grown a few months earlier through its use in the movie "Soyokaze"（そよかぜ...Soft Breeze）which also starred Namiki. In fact, its popularity translated into a then-unheard-of sales record of over 100,000 copies sold.
I'm not sure whether my father's collection includes "Ringo no Uta" although I know that there are several 78s in there, but I have been hearing the song on tape and through some of those old retrospectives on TV over the decades which included the recent airing of the 46th annual "Omoide no Melody"（思い出のメロディー...Melodies of Your Memories）on NHK. For a people who really love their nostalgia, "Ringo no Uta" has been one of the crowd-pleasers among the older set and perhaps even some of the younger generations.
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