Izumi Yukimura -- Cha-Cha-Cha wa Ikaga（チャチャチャはいかが）

I was just talking with contributor T-cat a couple of hours ago about how much we love the old stuff and noted as well the fact that I slightly consider myself an anachronism I may be. For instance, along with the songs, I do love watching the black-&-whites on Turner Movie Classics. And just last night, I did talk about some jazz at a time when we're approaching a century since the Jazz Age cropped up.

After making my comments to T-cat, on a whim, I decided to visit YouTube and see if there were any Izumi Yukimura（雪村いづみ）songs there. I had already given the veteran singer and actress some attention through a few articles as someone that I first got to know through TV appearances when she was well into middle age.

I'd had no idea how much of a powerhouse singer she was right from her teens and once again, I've discovered another song for her to show off her chops. This is her cover of the American pop song "Ain'tcha-cha Comin' Out T-tonight?" as originally done by Jo Stafford in 1955. Yukimura's version from 1956 was re-titled into the Japanese "Cha-Cha-Cha wa Ikaga" (How About Some Cha-Cha-Cha?).

Now as I said last night, I have liked all kinds of jazz and that also includes the Latin jazz by folks such as Tito Puente and Perez Prado. And of course, there is Japan's Orquesta de la Luz. "Cha-Cha-Cha wa Ikaga" rather gets the spicier side of nostalgia flowing. Yukimura's English delivery is really quite good although I notice that she doesn't quite stutter the "tonight" as she does enunciate the "T" almost like a special prefix. But no complaints here...the song stayed in my head all throughout watching "VS. Arashi" tonight.

Norman Gimbel and Alec Wilder created the original Stafford song with Seiichi Ida（井田誠一）providing the Japanese lyrics for Yukimura. Ida also took care of the Japanese lyrics for Yukimura's cover of "Till I Waltz Again With You", known as "Omoide no Waltz"（想い出のワルツ）in Japan..