It's a local holiday Monday here in our neck of the woods so I figured it was time for a Holiday edition of Reminiscings of Youth.
Now, just to be completely transparent and as I have mentioned in other articles, I never became a bona fide fan of the September 1983 cartoon "Inspector Gadget" (produced in Canada for its first season), although I knew of the character's famous catchphrase, "Go, go, gadget (fill in the blank)" and the iconic voice work of the late Don Adams of "Get Smart" fame. Also, there is the supremely catchy theme song by Shuki Levy (that I used to hear in the mornings and the afternoons), and for you regular KKP readers, if that name sounds familiar to you, then worry not because he has been in the pages of this blog due to his contributions to the Great Japanese Songbook by providing kayo kyoku to singers such as 1970s aidoru Sakiko Ito（伊藤咲子）and even taking part in the duo Shuki & Aviva during that same decade.
But since then, Levy has provided plenty of music, a lot of that within the children's show realm and "Inspector Gadget" was one of the themes. What I was surprised about but should have realized was that Levy had been inspired by the famous "In the Hall of the Mountain King" when he came up with the theme song for the intrepid inspector. But Levy created the theme by mixing a splendid combination of humour, mystery and lighthearted adventure which is what the show was all about.
So, what singles were coming out in Japan in September 1983 when Inspector Gadget was solving his crimes haphazardly?
Jiro Atsumi -- Busan Ko e Kaere (釜山港へ帰れ)
Checkers -- Gizagiza Heart no Komori Uta（ギザギザハートの子守唄）
Yu Hayami -- Lucky Lips (ラッキィ・リップス)
As a young lad I was a big fan of inspector gadget or at least I liked to watch the show and I remember his theme song very well. My mother even bought me a London Fog Trench coat that I used to wear all throughout the not so cold Texas winters.
ReplyDeleteI've heard that Texas can be quite cold in winter which is surprising to me since the Lone Star State is far more south compared to us here in Canada. How cold does it get there?
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