Do Do -- Ai（愛）

 

The other day, commenter Robert B. gave his thoughts under the article for short-lived folk duo Do Do's（ドド）"Miyakowasure"（都忘れ）and "Kyou mo Higurete"（今日も日暮れて）which made up for the two sides of their 3rd and final single from 1975. Well, he also noted that he greatly enjoyed their debut single which was released in October 1974.

Simply titled "Ai" (Love), this was a song written and composed by one-half of Do Do, Yuko Shibuya（渋谷祐子）and it deals with the sad aftermath of a broken romance and how the man is wondering (perhaps in vain) about making it better again. Arranged by Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）, even though this was a 1974 single, "Ai" sounds somewhat like a throwback to the 1960s era of Sunshine Pop and psychedelic rock. As I was listening to it, I hearkened back to songs like "California Dreamin'" by the Mamas & the Papas and maybe even The Animals' "The House of the Rising Sun", both of which dealt with their own personal crises. 

Do Do had entered the 7th Yamaha Popular Song Contest in May 1974 with "Ai". Looking at the original cover for the single, I rather like how Shibuya is standing nonchalantly against her partner Masako Kuriaki's（栗秋雅子）piano while playing away on the flute. The above advertising blurb at the top basically boasts that while Karen Carpenter made her debut on the drums and Suzi Quatro got her start on the bass, Do Do made their fresh beginnings with the flute. It almost comes across like that barb-trading between Loki and Tony Stark in "The Avengers": "I have an army!"..."We have a FLUTE!".

Of course, years later Shibuya would trade in the flute for a katana and a long gun for one of her solo albums when she jumped into the City Pop lake.