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I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.

Saturday, March 7, 2020

Kenji Sawada/Katsuo Ono -- Rum-shuu Iri no Orange(ラム酒入りのオレンジ)


It's just a feeling with me and probably not accurate at all but when I think of Kenji Sawada(沢田研二)during the 1970s before he went all Glam Rock and New Wave, I think of him as being the sincere pop and rock balladeer most likely because of "Kiken na Futari"(危険なふたり)from 1973. Of course, he performed happy and uptempo tunes like "O-mae ni Check-in"(おまえにチェックイン)but I thought that was more from his 1980s persona.

But indeed, from his 10th original album from November 1977, "Omoikiri Kiza na Jinsei"(思いきりな気障な人生...A Life of Discomfort), there is the track "Rum-shuu Iri no Orange" (Rum-Filled Orange) which is this happy and uptempo tune with an interesting mix of tropical and rockabilly. Composed by Katsuo Ono(大野克夫)and written by Yu Aku(阿久悠), the orange here isn't a source of some newfangled cocktail but actually the analogy of a rum-filled woman that some fellow is going to "peel", not to put too fine a point on it. The cad feels that he may pay some consequences for this liqueur-assisted seduction but what the heck. In any case, despite my words in the first paragraph, when I figured Aku's lyrics, I kinda thought that this was the sort of song that Julie would tackle.

"Omoikiri Kiza na Jinsei" hit No. 1 on the album charts and ended up as the No. 5 album for 1978.


I keep forgetting that composer Katsuo Ono was once a member of the famous Group Sounds band The Spiders so he probably had his time behind the mike as well (also he's the fellow behind some of the more exciting jazzy theme songs such as the one for "Conan"). And I think it's indeed him here singing a cover version of his own creation on his 1978 album "Windward Hill". This one is a lot more relaxed in the AOR fashion. This time, I think Ono is in a hammock drinking from a true rum-filled orange.

9 comments:

  1. he had another song like this around the same period, Happy Lady (ハッピー・レディーalso by Katsuo Ono+Yuu Aku, the live performances sounded much better than the recorded version ) and in '81 there was also Butterfly Moon (沢田研二 - バタフライ・ムーン Sawada's own).

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  2. recently i finally got around to Sawada's Jewel Julie album, and some of the songs on there sound nothing like the "sincere balladeer" ... you might want to check that out.

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    1. Hi, bon and thanks for your comments.

      I can imagine that Sawada sounded even better live. He was quite the showman. "Jewel Julie" is something that I'll have to check out. BTW, what are your favourite Julie songs?

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    2. I was using his song lyrics to hone my Japanese, but I have been saying, "I can't speak Japanese like this, I'm going to get a punch in the face with some of these lyrics!" Should have stuck to Anzen Chitai :)))))

      My favorite Julie Songs list has been growing to nearly 400 lately, so I'll just name a few off the top of my list:
      from his group sounds day, I like ヘイ・ジュテーム
      https://youtu.be/QQVVZcVkMD0?t=1281

      early 70's I like 恋は邪魔もの
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idzsE6ExbEE

      late 70's I like ダーリング the most out of his fun performances.

      early 80's I have so many, I'll just mention a few I have not seen on this blog: ABCD, 月曜日までお元気で, 背中まで45分, バイ・バイ・ジェラシー, ジャンジャンロック, ジャスト・フィット, there are lots of light hearted nonsense songs around this period too, like his ジャスト フィット song (I recommend the entire album Miscast which features all 井上陽水 songs)
      His live performances contain a stronger rocker voice than his studio recorded versions, for examaple, 月曜日までお元気でsounds different in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvhjKOSnS-s
      and ジャスト・フィット is much stronger here:
      https://youtu.be/xbRlOE2pENA


      mid 80's: アリフ・ライラ・ウイ・ライラ~千夜一夜物語, 影-ルーマニアン・ナイト

      late 80's: Chance, 彼は眠れない, ルナ, 強くなって

      90's, Hello, シンプルな永遠, 光線, 世界はUp&Fall, SPLEEN ~六月の風にゆれて~, 恋なんて呼ばない, 銀の骨, さよならを待たせて, 泥棒....

      泥棒 has a really hilarious live performance
      https://youtu.be/cxqGN4O6xMc?t=4985

      2000 and beyond: 感じすぎビンビン, 渚でシャララ
      https://youtu.be/-sOYUK_rMwk

      I love reading your blog. Always something new/fun to listen to

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    3. Morning, bon. I know a lot of the songs of his that hit the Oricon charts, but these titles are new to me. I will have to definitely check at least some of them. :) Thanks! Most likely, I will hit some gems.

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    4. Lately I've been playing my Julie II album a lot. For whatever reason, that album was recorded in London in the early 70's. The tracks are not the same sort of songs you would hear Sawada sing on TV. They are much more relaxed. Maybe you might like it.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpmEDDa1s-s&list=PLcPifehxGVWQSmsvEgBJ6YDA0CbECJi-q&index=2

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    5. Morning, bon. I listened to "Koi wa Jamamono" as the beginning of my first deeper forays into the world of Julie. I'll probably write about that sometime later this week. :)

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  3. Katsuo Ono also wrote the music for this song, around the same period
    https://youtu.be/vEp0WD-ebtk


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  4. oh wait, i'm wrong, I always get his producer Kase mixed up with Ono.

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