Strangely enough, the inspiration for this Author's Pick came from that Sanma Akashiya（明石家さんま）special that I referred to in Masayuki Suzuki's（鈴木雅之）"Tokubetsu na Ichi Nichi ~ a special day"（特別な一日）back on Xmas Eve. Unfortunately but not surprisingly, the video for the entire show got taken down in the last couple of days (although I was able to replace it with Milet's talk with the comedian) but it did show not only Martin's chat with Sanma but also a karaoke performance of the cool singer's famous 80s "Lonely Chaplin" with R&B chanteuse AI. Apparently, AI was so nervous performing with Suzuki that her microphone was about to slip from her hands due to sweat.
But on seeing that performance, a light bulb sparked off over my head. All these years, I've been telling readers that my sources on finding about all this kayo and J-Pop have included CD shop browsing, the old "Sounds of Japan" radio broadcasts on CHIN-FM, and watching anime. But I have neglected to mention that I've also discovered songs through my old karaoke visits to Kuri in Yorkville and then those karaoke sessions in Japan, notably Gunma Prefecture. So I have decided to put down a short list of songs that I first found out about from those visits since after all, I've already talked about my favourite karaoke tunes and the ones that I utterly failed at. As well, Noelle Tham has given her karaoke experiences here, too.
By chance, if any of you commenters have any songs that you discovered through a trip to your friendly neighbourhood karaoke joint, please feel free to share. It's the Holidays, after all.🎉
Kiyomi Suzuki with Rats & Star -- Lonely Chaplin (ロンリー・チャプリン）
Ruiko Kurahashi -- Last Scene ni Ai wo Komete （ラストシーンに愛をこめて）
Anri -- Snowflake no Machikado （スノーフレイクの街角）
Anzen Chitai & Yosui Inoue -- Natsu no Owari no Harmony (夏の終わりのハーモニー）
I've tried it once myself...perhaps that should have gone onto the Failures list as well. :)
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