Singer Kazuko Matsuo（松尾和子）has been known among kayo kyoku fans for taking part in duets and group songs such as "Tokyo Nightclub"（東京ナイトクラブ）, her collaboration with Frank Nagai（フランク永井）. Of course, though, she has been releasing her own solo singles for years. And what I was struck by when I was poring through her discography on J-Wiki was that in 1960, she released a grand total of 11 singles...almost one a month. That's a lot of productivity and I'm wondering if she didn't end up dangerously exhausted by the end of the year.
Among that huge number of records was her 10th single from August of that year, "Saikai" (Reunion). I first heard it on a recent episode of NHK's "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新・BS日本のうた...Songs of Japanese Spirit）, the network's show focusing on enka and the old kayo kyoku. Just from the arrangement alone, it's quite the melancholy waltz-like kayo (the lonely clarinet helps) about a woman who has met an old flame for the first time in a while and realizes how much she loved (and probably still loves) him. The punch in the gut is probably that they can never regain that old relationship again due to other factors such as the guy finding a new lover. And the resignation in Matsuo's vocals pinpoints that.
"Saikai" was written by Takao Saeki（佐伯孝夫）and composed by Tadashi Yoshida（吉田正）, the same famous songwriting duo who came up with "Tokyo Nightclub" in 1959 for Matsuo and Nagai.
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