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I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Anri & Michael Franks -- Antonio's Song


As I mentioned in the article for songstress Anri's（杏里）"Wedding Shower", I got her 1996 album, "Angel Whisper" based on her contribution to the Atlanta Olympic Games, "Ano Natsu ni Modoritai"（あの夏に戻りたい）. The fun "Wedding Shower" was also included on that 18th album of hers, and another track was the intriguing "Antonio's Song".

I had never heard of the original by Michael Franks...and for that matter, I had never heard of jazz singer Michael Franks, which goes to show how educational my voyage into Japanese popular music has been. It's even pointed me back to old American pop tunes from the 70s. In "Angel Whisper", Anri performs a duet with Franks that has hints of the original, and it has that quiet bossa nova sound that I have come to enjoy. Considering the relaxing pace of the song, I gather that Anri had to slow her delivery a fair bit.


Gradually, I was able to obtain a copy of the original through an AOR compilation album, and I actually like it better than the duet version between Franks and Anri. It's got more of that bossa nova and the sophistication that had me thinking clinking wine glasses and fancy dress ballroom. "Antonio's Song" was a track on Franks' 3rd studio album, "Sleeping Gypsy" from 1977. There is some mystery in the melody and also some mystery in the title and lyrics. I'm not 100% positive about who Antonio is...perhaps it might be one of Franks' heroes, Antônio Carlos Jobim, one of the pioneers of bossa nova back in the 1960s.


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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 23, 2015 at 10:55 PM

    Hi J-Canuck,

    You might be interested to listen to Yukari Ito's version as well. The arrangement resembles much closer to the original but the lyrics are in Japanese.

    I need help again of identifying a few titles from a series of commercials.

    1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEjKWaIEeKc
    - at 10:46 mark

    2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF6su5tRa40
    - at 00:01 and 4:45 mark

    Thanks in advance!

    Al

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    Replies
    1. J-CanuckJune 24, 2015 at 9:55 AM

      Hello again. Good to hear from you. I'll have to scout out that Yukari Ito version of "Antonio's Song" then. Thanks.

      Now as for your questions.

      1. The singer you're looking for here is Kiyonori Matsuo and his song is "Oh, Caroline!". Apparently, it was never an official single but may have been put on an updated version of his 1987 album, "No Thank You".

      2. That instrumental riff starting at the beginning remains unknown to me unfortunately, and at least one person in the comment section was also inquiring about it. The band might look like AB's, though. The second song at 4:45 was a cinch. In fact, one of my collaborators, nikala, has already written an article about it. The song, "Ippon no Ongaku" is by Kazuhito Murata, and you can check out nikala's article here: http://kayokyokuplus.blogspot.ca/2015/04/kazuhito-murata-ippon-no-ongaku.html

      Delete

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