One of the weirder examples of Wasei-eigo（和製英語）or Japlish that made my internal organs itch as a teacher was the term adulty. I've had a few students spout that at me and it meant "mature" or "sophisticated", although when I heard it, it sounded like something that an elementary school kid would say. Of course, I corrected my young charges of that saying but there was always that one student who could never shake the habit.😩
Well, allow me to bring something adulty into your day today on "Kayo Kyoku Plus". This is "Wasurete Ii no ~ Ai no Makugire" (It's All Right To Forget ~ The Last Scene of Love), a duet originally performed by former 60s aidoru Tomoko Ogawa（小川知子）and singer-songwriter Shinji Tanimura（谷村新司）as a single back in February 1984.
It's about as mature and sophisticated as a ballad of heartbreak can be. A couple, resigned to the fact that their relationship has come to its inevitable end, exchange their goodbyes before one of them gets on the bus and takes off forever. Tanimura wrote and composed "Wasurete Ii no" and it really feels like one of his ballads since I've always treated his love songs as musical equivalents of a well-cooked steak. This one, in particular, is a filet mignon. Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）arranged the song and it does remind me of some of the classy love tunes by singers such as Mariko Takahashi（高橋真梨子）, Hiromi Iwasaki（岩崎宏美）and Mieko Nishijima（西島三重子）.
The above video has Tanimura and Ogawa singing their duet although I'm not sure if it was because of a bad cold or the need to show the emotion, but Ogawa doesn't sound too steady for some reason. However, the setting is quite adulty! "Wasurete Ii no" went as high as No. 21 on Oricon and ended 1984 as the 91st-ranked single.
Tanimura has even provided his own solo version of his creation.
I've been wondering just how good a singer Hiromi Iwasaki is, in comparison with others. From her era, Rumiko Koyanagi and Sakiko Ito sang in an earlier mode, so weren't directly comparable (and I'd say Hiromi was better at emoting than either). Of those who sang modern style songs in the modern mode, the only comparable one I can think of was Momoe, and Hiromi was at least as good or better at nearly everything (Momoe had a slightly deeper and raspier voice, and that's about it).
ReplyDeleteWhich made me think of contemporary enka singers, namely Masako Mori and Sayuri Ishikawa. Masako was definitely technically better in every way, but her performance of Hatachi Mae shows she doesn't have the abandon in modern pop songs that Hiromi has that makes the latter so much fun. Hibari Misora taught Masako to underplay her singing to heighten the emotion for enka, but sometimes you just need to belt it out with a wide grin, and my goodness Hiromi was good at that.
Anyway, to get to the point, here's Sayuri's version of Wasurete Ii No (it's around 9 minutes in).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mta1dRmFBUU
Comparing their versions of a song that belongs to neither, I'd say that Hiromi's is definitely better.
Hi, Jim.
DeleteHiromi Iwasaki is definitely one of the best singers that I've heard (and I'm happy that she's one of the first I heard when I first got into kayo kyoku in earnest). I'm sure when the talent scout and the recording company signed her up and those first records were coming out, they were rubbing their hands in glee.
Of course, she made the transition from aidoru to regular pop singer with aplomb and there is also her career on stage in musicals. She's just one of the most talented singers bar none, but I also think there are other great singers out there. Otherwise, I wouldn't have lasted as long as I have as a kayo fan. :)
I was wondering because there was a recent poll ranking the best idol singers, which frankly illustrates the point that just because something is popular doesn't mean it's good (Seiko Matsuda in the top 5, ahead of Masako Mori who was outside the top 10, Momoe at top).
DeleteHere's a sizzling performance from Yoru no Hit on original release. Having watched a few versions of this song, it's struck me that Shinji Tanimura seems to be a control, the one constant in every version alongside the star, who is the female performer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-nrzJiL2Zo
Morning, Jim.
DeleteSizzling is right. I don't think I've seen that sort of an "intimate" performance on Japanese TV back then.