I've got a twofer in this article regarding veteran singer Aki Yashiro（八代亜紀）who has just celebrated 50 years in her career. So many congratulations to her on this achievement.
The first song happens to be her 8th single from May 1974, "Ai Hitosuji" (Single-Minded Love). It's been categorized as kayo kyoku on J-Wiki, but I think that with the bluesy sax and the dramatic strings, it hits me like a Mood Kayo to be savored at some nightclub in Ginza. Plus, there's that smoky voice of Yashiro who gives a full-throated lament about being in love with someone she shouldn't because he might be one of those love 'em-and-leave 'em types.
Written by Kohan Kawauchi（川内康範）, composed by Jun Kitahara（北原じゅん）and arranged by jazz pianist Mitsuru Kodani（小谷充）, "Ai Hitosuji" was Yashiro's first single to hit the Top 10 on the Oricon weeklies by coming in at No. 10. It also earned her a second consecutive prize at the Japan Music Awards following "Namida Koi"（なみだ恋）the previous year, and NHK's Kohaku Utagassen came knocking for her presence for a second year to perform "Ai Hitosuji". It would become the 25th-ranked single for 1974.
The second for this twofer comes here right after I saw Yashiro on a recent performance on NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン）a few weeks ago. Covering Robert Johnson's 1936 blues song "Sweet Home Chicago", the singer gave her own special rendition paying tribute to her home prefecture via "Sweet Home Kumamoto". Hearing that Yashiro always loved jazz and blues, I think that this was something that she loved to record and it did get its chance to see the sun through her October 2015 album "aiuta"（哀歌...Sad Songs）, her first release of blues tunes. Hiroshi Otomo（大友博）provided the Japanese lyrics.
For comparison, here is the original by Johnson.
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