From the "Kayo Arena" magazine I got a while ago. He really looks younger than his actual age. |
At one point in the performance, Yoshi's official debut single, "Koibito wa Kimi Hitori" (恋人は君ひとり), was brought up. Released in 1973 when Yoshi, the gruff enka singer I know and love, was known as Eiji Yamaoka (山岡英二), the aspiring aidoru (I kid you not). The cover photo of this single, which was enlarged for the crowd to gawk at, had him in a white, Elvis-like outfit and standing in all sorts supposedly cute (fine, he did look a little cute) and sexy poses... I'm so glad the big guy turned to enka. But anyway, all that talk about Yoshi's/Yamaoka's debut single had me thinking about the Prince of enka's own debut single, "Hakone Hachiri no Hanjiro".
Attributing to the success of "Hakone Hachiri Hanjiro" was most likely his youth, impressive warbling, looks - in my opinion, he's better looking now than then (it's the hair) - and the catchy-ness of this jaunty tune with its signature line "Yadane tara, yadane" that he sings with a playful intonation, complete with the necessary finger gun hand gestures, has the fans screaming, "KIYOSHI!!!" immediately after. Just this one line alone got stuck in my head after hearing it for the first time during a "Kayo Concert" episode a few months ago, and it made me want to listen to it again.
Y'know, the "Yadane tara, yadane" part of this song seems reminiscent of one of Hikawa's more recent singles, "Choitto Kimagure Wataridori" (ちょいときまぐれ渡り鳥), where the pauses in between his equally as whimsically sung "Otto dokoi ikenee yo" allow the audience to scream out his name.
Ahh...so that was the song that got Kiyoshi on his way to fame and fortune. I remember the famous line but never knew the title. I would have to agree that he looks far more dapper in his shiny tux than in that boa which made him look like a candidate for some tiny burlesque bar in East Shinjuku.
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