Tetsuya Watari & Ayumi Ishida -- Wakare Michi（わかれ道）

 

Last night, I was watching a 1986 episode of "The Best 10" from the collection that former contributor and good friend JTM had sent me a few years back. Well, lo and behold, in that episode's special segment, thespians and singers Tetsuya Watari and Ayumi Ishida（渡哲也・いしだあゆみ）came through that silvery revolving door. Even back then, it had become somewhat occasional that older celebrities would appear to sing on "The Best 10".

As it turned out, the two of them were on "The Best 10" to perform a November 1986 duet single called "Wakare Michi" (Parting of the Ways), a bittersweet Mood Kayo on the sad realization that a romantic relationship was coming to an end, despite the cover of Watari and Ishida walking down the path arm in arm. Written by Kaoru Mizuki（水木かおる）and composed by Masato Sugimoto（杉本真人）, the melody kinda strikes me as what was popular in the arrangement of kayo, whether it be Mood or enka, in the 1980s with that addition of a French accordion and built-in ennui (I'm a sucker for good accordion). From what I heard in the interview with them on "The Best 10", it was the first duet for Ishida at least, but she said that Watari made it very easy to follow along in the recording of "Wakare Michi".

Well, how about that? The video is straight from that episode of "The Best 10". It's ironic considering the lyrical content since both Ishida and Watari look great together as a couple, and their performance most likely made the song a popular one at karaoke. Watari would continue churning out the singles but for Ishida, "Wakare Michi" would be her 57th and penultimate single for many years until 2015 when she put out her final one to date.