Naomi Chiaki -- Kanashimi Moyou（かなしみ模様）

 

It was only in the last half-hour that I wrote up "Ai no Toubousha"（愛の逃亡者）by the late singer Yoko Nagisa（渚ようこ）. And I figured that considering her singing abilities to bring back some of the genres of yesteryear, she could have easily covered any of the material by balladeer Naomi Chiaki（ちあきなおみ）.

Case in point: Chiaki's 18th single from September 1974, "Kanashimi Moyou" (Patterns of Sadness). First hearing this on one of the NHK music shows recently and then listening to the original, there's definitely a nostalgic feeling of the American pop ballads of those late 1960s and early 1970s. In fact, I was reminded of "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" by The Hollies from 1969. 

With lyrics by Yu Aku（阿久悠）and music by Makoto Kawaguchi（川口真）, Chiaki gives one of her splendid smoky deliveries and though the words describe a woman trying to grapple with life after a romantic breakup, Kawaguchi's melody sounds very hopeful so there's a big hint that despite the lass' regrets, recovery is just around the corner. "Kanashimi Moyou" did OK by reaching No. 69 on Oricon but Chiaki was able to perform it during her fifth appearance on NHK's "Kohaku Utagassen" at the end of 1974. She made a total of nine appearances on the New Year's Eve special.