Sunday, October 5, 2014

Aki Yashiro -- Onna Minato Machi (おんな港町)

I have mixed feelings about the Queen of Enka, Aki Yashiro (八代亜紀). On one hand, I find that the way she sings is a tad strange - pronounces the words funny, but then that makes for great monomane material, I must add. On the other hand, I have to admit she's got that husky, low voice that gets me most of the time... which I had only noticed and paid attention to when I finally got myself to listen to 'Onna Minato Machi'.


By listening to the funky music, brought to you by Yukihiko Ito (伊藤雪彦) makes you envision our protagonist under the dimness of the streetlights out at the port in the middle of the night staring at the ships forlornly as they stream by. Ocean wind blowing her hair back as she yearns for her special one to come back to her. I think I've been watching too much Enka music videos. But seriously, at some points of the song, you can feel the loneliness from Yashiro's voice as she sings. Before I forget, the lyrics were done by 二条冬詩夫 (I apologize, I have no idea how to pronounce his name).

Anyway, other than being her 19th single released in 1977, 'Onna Minato Machi' is also under Yashiro's long repertoire of hits, peaking at 13th position on the Oricon charts. It also allowed her to receive the special prize at the 10th Zen Nihon yusen hoso Awards (全日本有線放送大賞). However, she only sang the song once at the 28th Kohaku on her 5th appearance in 1977.



www.dailymotion.com

1 comment:

  1. I think if a producer ever decided to bring back "Enka no Hanamichi" to TV, you would be the perfect choice to design the sets. :)

    As for Aki Yashiro, my mother was never a big fan of hers. She also didn't like Momoe Yamaguchi, so I guess she has something against husky voices. However, although I can't say that I am a die hard fan, I have enjoyed some of her repertoire such as "Ame no Bojou". It's the first time I've heard "Onna Minato Machi", and that descending "yooooooooooooh" she puts out near the end of the refrain stands out.

    ReplyDelete

Feel free to provide any comments (pro or con). Just be civil about it.