Toshiyuki Honda -- Good Evening

For any Japanese TV news watcher in the last couple of decades of the 20th century, there was the program "News Station"（ニュースステーション）on TV Asahi which starred the somewhat avuncular host/tarento Hiroshi Kume（久米宏）. Before that, he had been the longtime co-host of the music rankings show "The Best 10" alongside Tetsuko Kuroyanagi（黒柳徹子）. Both of them were known for their rapid-fire speaking style.

I didn't watch "News Station" all that much since when the 10 o'clock hour came about, I had already caught NHK's 9 o'clock news and I really preferred to catch some variety show instead of overdosing on the news on my ancient antenna TV. Strangely enough, the thing that I remembered most for "News Station" aside from Kume was the theme song.

And yet, I found out that "News Station" during its 19-year run had a number of theme songs easing their way into the broadcast. However, the one tune that I have always remembered and that I'd assumed was the one and only theme was its third version (out of the ten that came out) which had a four-year stint between 1989 and 1993. Called appropriately enough "Good Evening", this was created by composer and jazz saxophonist Toshiyuki Honda（本多俊之）.

The thing that got me hooked on "Good Evening" was that rat-a-tat style that introduced the song. That mix of synthesizers and tight snap on the snares got my attention, and now that I've given a listen to the whole thing, "Good Evening" seems to be all about a circus-like atmosphere surrounding something as serious as the evening news. Perhaps it was Honda's own interpretation of the old-style newsroom with telephones ringing off the hook, editors barking orders and typewriters clacking away at warp speed. Quite the fun ride.

Apparently one night, Honda and his band showed up to do "Good Evening" live right in front of Kume and company. The one thing that I noticed was the list of musicians backing him up underneath the YouTube video. One of the ladies on percussion was Mishio Ogawa（小川美潮）who had been the lead vocalist for the band Chakra in the early 1980s.

"Good Evening" was the theme that lasted the longest at 4 years and 3 months, and Honda would then provide a new theme for "News Station" right after called "Harmony" whose stint would go on for 3.5 years.