Naomi Chiaki -- Watashi to Iu Onna（私という女）

 

NHK's long-running music program "Uta Con"（うたコン）is provided through three viewings on Jme, the first live show at around 7 am Tuesday morning Toronto time and then two reruns later in the day. I have breakfast in the dining area around the corner from the TV so I can only listen to what's being performed for the first several minutes of "Uta Con". 

Mom noted that the show this week was being broadcast in a Japanese house setup which was rather unusual. Usually it's held on the grand stage at NHK's Shibuya studio in Tokyo or at the Osaka equivalent in front of a live audience, but it looks like for some reason, it was one of those rare bottle shows with just a few guests and a lot of old VTR clips. Maybe NHK Shibuya was undergoing major cleaning or something and the Osaka studio was booked for some other event.

The themes of today's show was a glance back at the 1974 Kohaku Utagassen and a tribute to the wonderful singer Naomi Chiaki（ちあきなおみ）. She's been away from the limelight for over 30 years now, but when she was active for that time starting from the 1960s, she cut quite the figure: smoky voice, sad brown eyes and that full head of hair. 

One new song that I discovered during the NHK tribute was "Watashi to Iu Onna" (A Woman Like Me) which was her 8th single from June 1971. Written by Rei Nakanishi（なかにし礼）and composed by Jun Suzuki（鈴木淳）, who had been her composer for all of her singles up to this one, it's a fairly lighthearted, perhaps even a bit flippant, kayo kyoku about a lady who may have seen another one of the good guys slip through her fingers while hinting through the title itself that she's one of those women who has seen this situation all too often. 

I really like this live version below because the arranger really amped up the brass. But even with the original, there is the appealingly skippy rhythm and those shimmery strings. By the way, "Watashi to Iu Onna" was her ticket to perform on the Kohaku Utagassen in that year of 1971. Of course, the following year would have her perform her most famous song on that New Year's Eve special.