Well, I knew that Checkers'（チェッカーズ）songs were huge favourites at my old karaoke bar of Kuri in Yorkville back in my university days, but little did I know that one of them "Julia ni Heartbreak" has been officially covered at least four times since the 1990s.
According to J-Wiki, the earliest cover was by actress/singer Kaori Momoi（桃井かおり）through her 1993 album "More Standard". Momoi has made herself immortal through her force of personality via movies, TV and commercials for the past few decades, and she just has this way about her in terms of her voice, facial expressions and stance. Therefore, it's not surprising that Momoi decided to go with a sultry Latin style demanding classy tango attention in her take on the original 50's rock-and-roll version of "Julia ni Heartbreak", created by Masao Urino and Hiroaki Serizawa（売野雅勇・芹沢廣明）for Checkers back in 1984.
However, my image of Momoi just stretching out on the chaise lounge and holding court won't do for this song. The revised picture is of her in a red silk dress on a small stage in a smoky old-fashioned nightclub while lovingly caressing an ancient microphone and singing this one complete with tender vocal breaks representing the heart rending after a failed romance. Of course, the bartenders are quietly shaking up their cocktails as a beautiful couple are tripping the light fantastic on the floor.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Feel free to provide any comments (pro or con). Just be civil about it.