Nyc Nyusa/Ikuzo Yoshi -- Sakaba nite（酒場にて）

 

A few years ago, I wrote about the interestingly-named band Nyc Nyusa（ニック・ニューサ）which specialized in that blended genre known as New Adult Music consisting of enka/Mood kayo and rock elements. 

Well, I found out that Nyc Nyusa brought those New Adult Music ways and applied them to a lost love kayo titled "Sakaba nite" (At The Bar) which had originally been sung by the late Chiemi Eri（江利チエミ）back in 1974. Released as the band's 4th single in June 1983, this was written by Michio Yamagami（山上路夫）and composed by Kunihiko Suzuki（鈴木邦彦）, and in comparison with the original's somewhat more pop-leaning swinging Mood Kayo beat, Nyc Nyusa's take on "Sakaba nite" has replaced the pop with a more jangly rock feeling, thanks to a mournful electric guitar. In a way, this "Sakaba nite" shifts the setting from Eri's tropical seaside bar to a more imposing hole-in-a-wall in deepest darkest Kabukicho.

Looking at the J-Wiki article for "Sakaba nite", I noticed that there was a fairly long list of singers who have covered the kayo over the years. The list includes Ikuzo Yoshi（吉幾三）who is more than willing to go full-bore heart-on-a-sleeve, and he did his version of the song on his 2012 album "Ano Koro no Seishun wo Utau"（あの頃の青春を詩う...Singing of Those Salad Days）. This time, led along by a Latin guitar, Yoshi seems to emphasize the truly lonely aspects of "Sakaba nite" through his hangdog voice.