Now you might be taking a look at the byline above and saying "Wait a minute! Didn't J-Canuck already give his due to Bonnie Tyler on Eclipse Day?". My answer would be "Indeed, yes!". However, when I was looking up stuff on Tyler for that article, I also found a single that she had released back in 1981 which apparently immediately preceded "Total Eclipse of the Heart", and it was only meant for Japanese audiences because it was made for the above commercial.
Yes, now I am always going to equate Tyler with Japanese vodka. And it's going to be so easy because her "Sayonara Tokyo" goes down as easy as that Suntory libation (hopefully). Right from the beginning, the arrangement is so AOR that it sounds a bit strange that it was used for an ad that's been set somewhere in the winter woods; mind you, "Sayonara Tokyo" was just given a very brief hear-through there.
If anything, "Sayonara Tokyo" is something to be heard while that plane takes a fellow away from a winter-free Narita Airport, Tokyo and Japan for good. The vodka might be in there, too. Lyrics and melody were provided by singer-songwriter Yusuke Nakamura（中村裕介）and he's made a fine power ballad for Tyler here. Nakamura, who has also gone by the name Kintaro Nakamura（中村きんたろう）, also provided the music for "Tasogare"（たそがれ）recorded by Mai Yamane（山根麻衣）, another chanteuse with that mahogany voice.
Despite the fact that you had already given your due to Bonnie Tyler on eclipse day I Thank you very much for introducing Bonnie Tyler's "Sayonara Tokyo" in this post. I was totally unaware of this song but I am very happy that I now know of it. I am really curious in how she came to be selected to sing this song for a Japanese CM, especially before her big hit song.
ReplyDeleteHello, Brian. Never heard of this song at all myself until I was doing the research for "Total Eclipse". Would like to know as well how she got the gig for "Sayonara Tokyo"; maybe it could have been something as easy as her manager asking "Well, Bonnie, have you ever been to Japan?".
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