Miyoko Tashiro -- Inochi wo Kakete Aishitai（命をかけて愛したい）

 

Over a decade ago, I wrote about a classic kayo, "Aishite, Aishite, Aishichattanoyo" (愛して愛して愛しちゃったのよ）, which was performed by the Mood Kayo vocal group Hiroshi Wada（和田弘）and Mahina Stars（マヒナスターズ）along with singer Miyoko Tashiro（田代美代子）. Since then, Mahina Stars have graced the pages of "Kayo Kyoku Plus" a number of times, but unfortunately it has been just the one article for Tokyo-born Tashiro.

Allow me to remedy that. Tashiro was a student at Meiji Gakuin University in Tokyo when she dropped out midway and began her career as a singer. She learned chanson from singer Yoshiko Ishii（石井好子）and jazz from singer Toshio Suzuki（鈴木敏夫）. It wasn't long before she had that hit with Mahina Stars in 1965.

In September 1966, Tashiro released her own single "Inochi wo Kakete Aishitai" (I Want to Risk My Life Loving You), a light love song in the Latin-infused Mood Kayo vein written and composed by Domei Suzuki（鈴木道明）. Characterized by a crying trumpet, bluesy guitar and silken strings, the kayo makes the listener feel like they are in a classy old-fashioned bar with the bartender shaking up a cocktail right then and there while Tashiro is singing on stage. Despite the mid-60s release date, "Inochi wo Kakete Aishitai" sounds somewhat timeless as if it could have been played at any time between the 1930s and the 1960s.