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| From Amazon.jp |
Not sure how a famed doo-wop group such as The Kingtones got to do a song regarding the often tear-soaked graduation ceremonies in the Japanese education system. But of course, the guys handled the task with their usual harmonic aplomb.
"Namida no Graduation Day" (Tearful Graduation Day) was released as the group's 19th single in February 1981, just around the time when those graduation ceremonies are about to launch. Written by Jun Hashimoto（橋本淳）and composed by Shunichiro Katsuyama（勝山俊一郎）, the song has that old-fashioned doo-wop delivery but with an arrangement that sounds more contemporary, kinda like another doo-wop group that was making the rounds at the time, The Chanels. Not surprisingly, the lyrics by Hashimoto have to do with the tearful goodbyes from students, knowing that they will not be seeing their beloved tough-but-fair teacher ever again on a regular basis. Being a former JET Programme teacher, I got to see that up close and personal.
This reminds me of the kind of music Motown Records tended to release in their heyday.
ReplyDeleteSpot on! Doo-wop and Motown were probably indeed a match for many years.
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