I must've been ignoring the top most paragraph on his J-Wiki page because I just came across this just yesterday: Hideo Murata (村田英雄) had a nickname just like the rest of the San'nin no kai (三人の会), Michiya Mihashi (三橋美智也) and Hachiro Kasuga (春日八郎). Mihashi's moniker was Michi, Kasuga's was Hachi, and last but not least Murata's was Muchi... I was not expecting that. I had assumed that if Murata had a nickname, it'd be something more imposing and macho, something more befitting of the manly vibe he emanated. But I suppose Muchi is fine too to fit in with the other two fellas since theirs ended with a "Chi" too.
Moving back to the proper topic, today I shall be writing about... Muchi's (it's actually quite fun to say) "Mina no Shu", and I'm guessing it means something on the line of "Everyone's crowd/gathering". Composed by the late Shousuke Ichikawa (市川昭介), "Mina no Shu" sounds really festive and cheery, and it has the audience clapping away and me swaying along to the easy beat. No wonder Murata sung this twice out of his 27 appearances on the Kohaku, first sung at the competition when it was released in 1964, then once more 10 years later in 1974. It seems like a pretty good summer song to play at someone's summer party or get together, then you have everyone joining in on it and having a blast. The lyrics were written by lyricist, screenplay writer and photographer Shinichi Sekizawa (関沢新一).
Link above is to a video of Muchi and his rival Haruo Minami (三波春夫) singing "Mina no Shu" together... A performance that I can sum up with one word: Amazing. To see two veterans in their field collaborate is just incredible! Okay fine, Minami did slip up on his lines at last part, but hey, it was still a great show.
"Mina no Shu" is also quite the catchy ditty, and it normally gets stuck on replay in my head once I start listening to it - like now, for instance. It can get quite irksome, but I enjoy anyways.
blogs.yahoo.co.jp
Right, I think I should at least mention that Lee Kuan Yew, the first Prime Minister and the founding father of modern Singapore, has just passed on today. He had a great run, contributed a great deal to the country's growth and development, and lived a long life. Rest in peace, sir, you had done a mighty fine job.
Hi Noelle.
ReplyDeleteI heard about Prime Minster Lee's passing yesterday. I'm sure there are many Singaporeans mourning his loss as the father of the nation. He succeeded in bringing the country up to first-world status in about a quarter of a century.
As for "Mina no Shu", yeah, it sounds like a song perfect for summer festivals...much jauntiness and dancing involved. Could use more songs like that at the Kohaku. And as for Murata's nickname, I didn't know about that one, but I think "Muchi" was a good one. One meaning for it is "whip". I'm sure he was a pretty intimidating guy from time to time.
Hi J-Canuck.
ReplyDeleteYeah, there are many mourning his death, as I've seen on the news channels, which have been showing stuff on PM Lee - his achievements, what he's done, etc. And I think that would continue till the week ends.
So that's what "Muchi" means. Then in that case, it is a pretty cool nickname for Murata.