Credits

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.

Sunday, September 6, 2020

135 -- Wǒ ài nǐ(我愛你)


A couple of months ago, I introduced a band called 135 (Ichi-Go-San) which really must have stood out in the 1980s for its more worldly view in its arrangements. I still don't know all that much about the works of Shigeto Kajihara(梶原茂人), keyboardist/bassist Shigeharu Takagi(高木茂治)and percussionist Yoshihiro Honda(本田義博)but I have enjoyed their "Tokio no Kao"(トキオの顔)which, despite the title, seems to be taking place in a much more exotic locale, perhaps Europe. "Tokio no Kao", by the way, is a track on their February 1987 debut album "135".


Also on that album is their 2nd single "Wǒ ài nǐ" which in Mandarin means "I Love You". Released a few weeks before the album, this celebratory song was written and composed by the band itself, and it really doesn't sound like a tune that originates in China itself. Instead, I think that there is something about it that ranges all throughout Asia, and being a love song from what I could understand from the lyrics, wouldn't that be the logical thing to do since the emotion is universal.

In the J-Wiki article for 135, it was put down that the single version and the album version are different but to be honest, I think the only difference (and "Wǒ ài nǐ" is the first track on "135") is that the latter starts with a minute of mesmerizing alto saxophone before perhaps a slightly more drawn-out intro of the main melody. In either case, that sensation of festival and good feelings is ever-present with the proud vocals by Kajihara, a good bouncy bass and the rejoicing keyboards.

I've noticed that a number of 135's singles have been used for commercials, and "Wǒ ài nǐ" was used in an ad for a JVC stereo system. The fellow there may have meant it for the system or the futuristic setting, but I think his Japanese voicing of "Exotic but splendid" can also apply to 135 and the songs that I've covered so far on the blog.

1 comment:

  1. How (slightly) appropriate that Teresa Teng covered it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvh7x5HYsHE

    ReplyDelete

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