Happy Monday to you all! After several years of hearing about this legendary sketch on "Saturday Night Live" (I haven't watched the show in nearly 30 years), I finally caught it and had a good laugh. I might be enticed to catch the 50th anniversary of the NBC show in a few years but knowing how hit and miss it has been and the fact that I'm no longer one to watch network television, we'll all have to see.
In the Sudden Delusion by J-Canuck department, if there were ever a Japanese band that could possibly fit into the dynamic on SNL as both guest musical act and guest participants in sketches, it would be the Osaka rock band Ulfuls（ウルフルズ）. Vocalist Tortoise Matsumoto（トータス松本）and the gang can do the wild n' goofy stuff and I can imagine them getting up in their cowboy outfits to do this very song.
"Kawaii Hito" (Cute Guy) was Ulfuls' 15th single from October 1997 and it's a son's tribute to his Mom (Awwwww), so I think putting it on now is appropriate since Mother's Day is just around the corner. Created by the band and Ken Yoshida（吉田建）, "Kawaii Hito" is a sunny and jangly tune that probably did lead to the idea of having a music video based on a good old-fashioned gunfight in a Western town. The old vet in the video was portrayed by the late tough-guy actor Joe Shishido（宍戸錠）.
The song managed to get as high as No. 5 on Oricon and it went Platinum. It was also seen as a good tune for the commercials since it was used for Pocky (above), a brand of Asahi Beer, and the cosmetics giant Shiseido over the years. "Kawaii Hito" was even brought on as the ending theme for an NTV medical information program.
I agree with this post 250%! Tortoise Matsumoto and the Ulfuls , fit right in on SNL! Tortoise Matsumoto can act, too! He has been in CMs and dramas or at least one drama that I know of.
ReplyDeleteI remember Tortoise having a regular role on the NHK morning serial drama as a ne'er-do-well father of the main character. In the end, I think the Ulfuls are a bunch of guys who like to have fun and make music.
DeleteTortoise also played a number of songs for NHK's Children program called 「みいつけた」.
ReplyDeletelong time no comment (I'm so sorry I can't track my old comments, I think the last one I wrote was in June 2022), this is actually the second Ulfuls song for me, the first one is Banzai song, I adore that song. Of course I also heard it from SmaSma ending song segment.
ReplyDeleteHi, May...it's been a while. Good to hear from you again. The "Banzai" song has been popular at wedding receptions, so I hear.
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