Mari Henmi -- Keiken （経験）

http://plaza.rakuten.co.jp/kusukutu/diary/200908250003/

Yamete~!（やめて...Stop!）....breath flies away like a vapour trail

Yup, I do remember that one sung word although I hadn't known who was responsible for singing that, let alone know the title, until last night's "Uta Kon" (うたコン).

It turns out that sexy purr belongs to singer/tarento/actress Mari Henmi（辺見マリ）and she appeared last night on the NHK show to perform one of her biggest hits, "Keiken" (Experience). Her now-former husband, Teruhiko Saigo（西郷輝彦）, and her daughter, Emiri Henmi（辺見えみり）are already represented elsewhere on the blog so I figure it was time to feature the mother.

"Keiken" was Henmi's 2nd single which was released in May 1970 when she was only 19 years old. It turned out to be one of her biggest hits due to the supposedly racy lyrics provided by Kazumi Yasui（安井かずみ）, especially when she breathed out that lyric shown at the top of the article, and her hand gestures. The protagonist just can't seem to bear her partner's constant affection but neither can she push him away either. The melody by Kunihiko Murai（村井邦彦）also has that steam with the horns, saxophone and guitar.

The song peaked at No. 2 on Oricon and became the 13th-ranked single for the year. It also won Henmi a Newcomer's Prize at the Japan Record Awards. She also got her lone invitation to the Kohaku Utagassen but due to the racy lyrics and the hand gestures by the singer, she wasn't able to actually sing "Keiken" on the national broadcaster. Instead she sang her 3rd single, "Shiseikatsu"（私生活...Private Life）.

I guess things must have been much more puritan way back when since I didn't feel the least bit scandalized from listening to the song. Still can't see how those hand gestures would have been too sexy for the tube even back in the 1970s.