Mitsuko Baisho/Teruhiko Aoi (Johnnys)-- Tokei wo Tomete（時計をとめて）

 

Chieko and Mitsuko Baisho（倍賞千恵子・倍賞美津子）are sisters who have been veterans in the acting and music industries for decades. The former is someone that I've known better primarily because she was acting as Sakura, the kind and dutiful sister to the legendary comical traveling salesman Torajiro Kuruma（車寅次郎）in the very long-running movie series "Otoko wa Tsurai yo" (It's Tough Being a Man) that my family used to watch for years. However, the younger Mitsuko Baisho is someone that I've also gotten to know through television dramas and commercials, and she has quite a different air about her. She has had more of the sexier and more voluptuous side.

But what I hadn't known about her until recently is that like her elder sister Chieko, Mitsuko Baisho has also had her time behind the recording microphone. In fact, she has released 23 singles and 2 albums up to 1985. Her 10th single was "Tokei wo Tomete" (Stop the Clock) which came out in 1967. The title might sound like the name of an American game show but Rei Nakanishi's（なかにし礼）lyrics put that rumour to rest by describing a lady's ardent request for time to be stopped so that she can spend as much remaining time as possible with the love of her life. Mitsuko seems to have her sister's singing ability with an operatic voice.

Now, actually "Tokei wo Tomete" is a cover of a bolero song titled "El reloj" which was created by Mexican singer-songwriter Roberto Cantoral when he was a member of the music trio Los Tres Caballeros and released as a single in 1957. According to Wikipedia, Cantoral had a tryst with one of the women participating in a tour by the trio through America and was inspired to write the song based on the brevity of time Cantoral had with the lass before they had to part in their different directions.

Along with Baisho's version, there were other covers of "El reloj" (The Clock) including an even earlier one by Teruhiko Aoi（青井輝彦）as a solo when he was still a member of the very first Johnny's Entertainment aidoru group, Johnnys（ジャニーズ）. Released in 1966, the Japanese lyrics were handled by another person, Masaru Kamo（かもまさる）. His rendition has a less strident feeling and more of a lullaby approach to the song, partly thanks to Aoi's creamy vocals. I can imagine the lad's fans simply fainting in the aisles now.