Teruhiko Saigo -- Kimi dake wo（君だけを）

 

Sad way to start off this week on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", but unfortunately another one of the bright lights in the kayo kyoku era has flickered out. Singer and actor Teruhiko Saigo（西郷輝彦）, one of the original Gosanke（御三家...The Big Three） of the 1960s alongside Yukio Hashi（橋幸夫）and Kazuo Funaki（舟木一夫）, passed away yesterday at the age of 75 in Tokyo from prostate cancer. My fellow KKP contributor Noelle Tham was the first to write about Saigo through what is arguably his most famous song "Hoshi no Flamenco" (星のフラメンコ) from 1966 which got him to perform it at NHK's Kohaku Utagassen in the same year as well as in the 1973 edition. The above video features that latter appearance which turned out to be his final of 10 appearances on the New Year's Eve special (although he would show up on the 1987 edition to help cheer on his buddy, Yuzo Kayama).

Saigo was born as Seiki Imagawa（今川盛揮）in Kagoshima Prefecture in 1947. After dropping out of high school in 1962, he hitchhiked his way to Osaka where he worked part-time and eventually became employed with the country and rockabilly band Gary Ishiguro & Sons of the West（ゲーリー石黒とサンズ・オブ・ウエスト）which usually toured around the Kansai region of the nation. It was there that he was able to enter a talent agency.

His debut single was "Kimi dake wo" (Just For You) from February 1964, just a couple of weeks after his 17th birthday. Written by Tetsu Mizushima（水島哲）and composed by Jun Kitahara（北原じゅん）, Saigo's first foray into recording coincided with the recent establishment of Crown Records in late 1963 so he was seen as one of the new crop of fresh young singers for the company. With that jaunty innocent arrangement and Saigo's rich and velvety vocals, "Kimi dake wo" was a hit off the bat for the singer and it managed to sell 600,000 records. Along with another hit from his 4th single in August that same year, "Juu-nana Sai no Kono Mune ni"（十七才のこの胸に...Seventeen in My Heart） , Saigo would also win Best New Artist honours at the Japan Record Awards at the end of the year, and even make his first appearance on the Kohaku to sing "Juu-nana Sai no Kono Mune ni".

Saigo had been married to actress/singer Mari Henmi（辺見マリ）and they had a daughter Emiri Henmi（辺見えみり）along with musician Noritaka（辺見鑑孝）. His second marriage begat another daughter, actress/illustrator Uchuu Imagawa（今川宇宙）. My condolences to Saigo's family, friends and fans.