Michiko Maki -- Akatsuki ni Kakeru （暁に駆ける）

I have to admit that I have little idea who Michiko Maki（牧美智子）is. There is not a lot of data on this lady except from what I could find from a Japanese blog which describes her as having been born in Ishikawa Prefecture and debuting in the entertainment industry under the name of Yoko Aihara（愛原洋子）in 1971. She changed her name to Michiko Maki soon afterwards and worked in the geinokai until 1977.

However, I discovered this song that she sang as the theme tune for the TV Asahi cop show "Shin Futari no Jikenbo: Akatsuki ni Kakeru"（新・二人の事件簿 暁に駆ける...The New Case File For Two: Chasing After The Sunrise）which lasted from 1976 to 1977. "Akatsuki ni Kakeru" has that urgent beat about detectives on the beat with that horn and strings arrangement which will be familiar to all those who have seen the old Japanese police dramas. For me, it is that arrangement which has had me all nostalgic for the kayo kyoku of that decade.

The lyrics were written by Kazuya Senke（千家和也）who wrote a number of songs for Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵）and provided the words for the sung version of the classic anime theme for "Lupin The 3rd". Shunsuke Kikuchi（菊池俊輔）came up with the music which sounded as if it could have also served as the theme for a samurai drama as it did for a cop show (well, different time period, same sentiments).

As for the TV show, it featured Agnes Chan（アグネス・チャン）in one of the supporting roles as well as Maki herself as a police officer. The other reason that I wanted to feature "Akatsuki ni Kakeru" tonight was that I thought the cover for the single had a really nice shot of the tall skyscrapers of West Shinjuku. Bright lights, big city indeed!

West Shinjuku