Hiroko Ohgi/Mina Aoe/Meiko Kaji -- Shinjuku Blues（新宿ブルース）

Yes, it's indeed a Saturday night. Perhaps it's time for something a bit more shibui. So, get those tumblers and ice buckets out. Old Parr coming up!

I found a song on that compilation of Mood Kayo tunes photographed at the top of the article titled "Shinjuku Blues". Seeing a title like that, I would have immediately thought of Keiko Fuji（藤圭子）, the Queen of Kayo Blues, but actually I couldn't find any video on YouTube with her. And that is also because the original version was sung by a singer-actress from Hiroshima Prefecture named Hiroko Ohgi（扇ひろこ）.

Debuting in 1965 with "Aishuu Kaikyo"（哀愁海峡...Sorrowful Strait）, she had a huge hit in 1967 with "Shinjuku Blues", the story of a disconsolate lady slowly pacing through the streets of the area after losing a love. Ironically, there had been naysayers, presumably before its release, crowing that the single wouldn't sell outside of Shinjuku itself and that the lyrics were too dark. Well, it looks like the Japanese version of the cry-in-your-beer ballads was becoming the big thing in kayo kyoku at that time, so "Shinjuku Blues" made its mark.

The remarkable thing about Ohgi while performing "Shinjuku Blues" is her delivery which is mostly in the lower registers but then suddenly soars up high above the izakaya and bars. That slow steady performance accompanied by the organ really gives this song a elegiac feeling. I could imagine Ohgi in her kimono sadly walking through streets like Golden Gai holding a framed picture of her lost love as if he left this mortal coil suddenly.

"Shinjuku Blues" was written by Akiko Takiguchi（滝口暉子...not sure if that is the correct reading of the first name）and composed by Kanae Wada（和田香苗）. On the strength of the ballad, Ohgi found herself appearing on the 1967 Kohaku Utagassen for the first time. She would appear one more time the following year. Oddly enough, although she is listed as an enka singer on J-Wiki, there is no listing of her discography aside from this song and a couple of others.

I think another sign of success for a song is the number of times it has been covered. I'm sure that Keiko Fuji has covered it sometime but not finding her version anywhere, I did find other covers although I don't know when they were recorded. The late Mina Aoe（青江三奈）gives a slightly more upscale version with the bluesy sax and horns, and to be frank, I think this is the one that I like the most out of the three featured here.

Then, there is "Shinjuku Blues" by actress-singer Meiko Kaji（梶芽衣子）. Strangely enough, although I've had this image of Kaji as being a tough suffer-no-fools-period kickass character in the wilds of Shinjuku, her take on "Shinjuku Blues" is probably the sweetest of the three, thanks to the light piano and flute. It kinda takes things into a more pop vein.

Enjoy your scotch-on-the-rocks while listening to this one!