Takashi Hosokawa -- Ouenka, Ikimasu（応援歌、いきます）

 

On the latest episode of "Uta Con"（うたコン）before it went on official summer hiatus for a month, the show began with a medley of summer kayo favourites. One such song was a Takashi Hosokawa（細川たかし） tune that I hadn't heard in a very long time and hasn't been included on the blog until now.

Probably the reason that it was placed into the summer medley was the generous inclusion of beer into the lyrics, and if I'm not mistaken, Hosokawa's 38th single from May 1991, the feel-good "Ouenka, Ikimasu" (I'm Going with the Fight Song) was used for a beer commercial, though I have yet to find it. It's an interesting song to be sure because though the veteran enka singer uses some of those enka vocal techniques, the melody by Motoyoshi Iwasaki（岩崎元是）is much more along the lines of the late pop troubadour Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）and sure enough, I've found out through Iwasaki's J-Wiki file that he was greatly inspired by Ohtaki. Actually, the Hokkaido singer-songwriter already has representation on KKP via his own City Pop stuff from the mid-1980s.

The lyrics of enjoying the company of good buddies and beer were created by veteran Shigesato Itoi（糸井重里）. Frankly, I was surprised that "Ouenka, Ikimasu" hadn't been given its own J-Wiki article since the song seems to have created a lot of good vibes for that year including folks raising their mugs of suds. At this point, I'm not sure how well the song did on Oricon but it must have been done well enough to earn Hosokawa his invitation to the Kohaku Utagassen in 1991 and 2014 to perform this particular tune.

I can imagine that the beer gardens in Tokyo are packed right now with some very thirsty drinkers, especially with the usual heat and humidity that beats down on residents in a typical Japanese summer. Drink hearty, my friends!🍻

I almost neglected to mention that this is a follow-up to Noelle's original article on the song.