1982 Kohaku Utagassen (33rd edition)

Can't quite believe that I gave that listing for the 1981 Kohaku Utagassen all the way back in 2012, but then again, I was probably filled with a lot of enthusiasm for telling about one of the sources responsible for me getting into popular Japanese music. Therefore, I'm now bringing this article in the form of its sequel, the listing for the 1982 Kohaku Utagassen（第33回NHK紅白歌合戦）.

If I'm not mistaken, this was probably televised in Toronto in January 1983 instead of New Year's Eve 1982...video technology and legal red tape as it was back then. That was also the case for the 1981 Kohaku. There were some distinct highlights that I still have in my brain from the 33rd edition such as Hiromi Iwasaki's（岩崎宏美）rendition of "Madonna Tachi no Lullaby"（聖母たちのララバイ）as above, Seiko Matsuda's（松田聖子）pretty number and Hiromi Go's（郷ひろみ）cover of Bertie Higgins' "Casablanca". And Aming's（あみん）"Matsu wa"（待つわ）still goes into my Top 5 Adorably Cute moments from the entire history of the special.

Another highlight was watching Southern All Stars（サザンオールスターズ）performing "Chako no Kaigan Monogatari"（チャコの海岸物語）. I had never heard of Keisuke Kuwata（桑田佳祐）and his band before and their out-of-the-ordinary performance on the Shibuya stage had me wondering if these guys were seriously nuts (I think Kuwata was trolling NHK the entire time). My parents were even more unimpressed. However, things are now cool between SAS and me although that is most likely not the case between them and NHK.

Here is the list:

Red Team

Junko Mihara               Honki de Love Me Good! (1st appearance)
Naoko Kawai               Natsu no Heroine (2nd)
Aming                          Matsu wa (1st)
Mizue Takada              Glass no Hana (5th)
Seiko Matsuda             Nobara no Etude (3rd)
Kiyoko Suizenji           Daishobu (18th)
Sugar                            Wedding Bell (1st)
Naoko Ken                   Natsu wo Akiramete (6th)
Los Indios & Silvia      Como Esta Akasaka? (3rd)
Mina Aoe                      Isezakicho Blues (16th)
Chiyoko Shimakura     Kono Yo no Hana (26th)
Mieko Makimura         Kuchinashi no Hana (2nd)
Ikue Sakakibara           Nagori Yuki (5th)
Rumiko Koyanagi       Midaregami (12th)
Junko Sakurada           Sailor Fuku to Kikanjuu (9th)
Miyuki Kawanaka       Anata Hitosuji (2nd)
Hiromi Iwasaki           Madonna Tachi no Lullaby (8th)
Masako Mori               Tachimachi Misaki (10th)
Sayuri Ishikawa           Tsugaru Kaikyo - Fuyu Gesshiki (6th)
Sachiko Kobayashi      Omoide Zake (4th)
Aki Yashiro                  Umineko (10th)
Harumi Miyako           Namida no Renrakusen (18th)

(The "top batter" Junko Mihara)

White Team

Shibugaki-tai               100%...Sou kamo ne! (1st appearance)
Toshihiko Tahara         Yuwaku Suresure (3rd)
Masahiko Kondo         Horeta ze! Kanpai (2nd)
Hideki Saijo                 Sei Shojo (9th)
Hiromi Go                   Aishuu no Casablanca (10th)
Haruo Minami             Chanchiki Okesa (25th)
Southern All Stars       Chako no Kaigan Monogatari (2nd)
Yoichi Sugawara         Ai no Sanka (16th)
Yuzo Kayama              Kimi to Itsumademo (9th)
Frank Nagai                Yurakucho de Aimashou (26th)
Masao Sen                  Kitakuni no Haru (10th)
Kenji Niinuma            Shinsetsu (7th)
Joji Yamamoto            Tabi no Owari wa Omae (2nd)
Toshiyuki Nishida       Aah...Ueno Eki (2nd)
Kenji Sawada              Rokubanme no Yuutsu (10th)
The Cool Five             Uwasa no Onna (11th)
Masatoshi Nakamura  Kokoro no Iro (1st)
Takashi Hosokawa      Kita Sakaba (8th)
Hideo Murata              Fuufu Shunjuu (21st)
Saburo Kitajima          Namida Bune (20th)
Hiroshi Itsuki              Chigiri (12th)
Shinichi Mori              Kage wo Maite (15th)

(Sorry but the video has been taken down.)

The other thing I remember from this Kohaku was that the younger singers did a Beatles medley in the early part of show. Quite good but still not quite as slick as their tribute to Quincy Jones' "Ai no Corrida"（愛のコリーダ）in a similar segment on the 1981 broadcast.

Being the immature nerd I was back then, I think I rather giggled at the intro of Mina Aoe's（青江三奈）magnum opus. However, the above video is from the 1968 edition of the show.

Sugar's performance of "Wedding Bell"