We're starting off this business week on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" with a twofer. As a lot of the kayo kyoku vets know, Shigeru Matsuzaki（松崎しげる）is most famous for his "Ai no Memory"（愛のメモリー）, a single released in August 1977 which became a huge hit.
Until then though, he'd had some very lean years with him and his manager getting doors slammed on them. But on hearing the May 1977 single immediately before the successful "Ai no Memory", I'm hoping that folks have had a change of heart in his earlier works. "Yuuhi no Uta" (Song of the Setting Sun), which was his 13th single, is a lovely little ballad if perhaps a bit on the Kleenex-friendly sentimental side given further heft by Matsuzaki's tender vocals. Along with Shunichi Tokura's（都倉俊一） old-fashioned folksy melody and arrangement are Makoto Kitajo's（喜多条忠）lyrics. It sounds like something that I would have heard on a K-Tel compilation of American pop balladry. I have to say that the young Matsuzaki on the single cover looks like the world's most casually-dressed Secret Service agent.
And speaking of him on the cover, Matsuzaki looks like a veritable kid posing for his high school photo on his very first single as a solo artist. Yes, just to take a little tangent here, back in his days at the Nihon University College of Art, he'd been with Tomiaki "Tommy" Hidaka（日高富明）and Mamoru "Mark" Horiuchi（堀内護）in a short-lived band called Milk or Hot Milk (Tommy and Milk would end up with the band GARO in the 1970s). Famous singer-songwriter Ryudo Uzaki（宇崎竜童）had been a manager at Ohashi Productions who would scout young Matsuzaki during his time with Milk.
Getting back on track, that very first single was "Hassen-Nana-Hyaku-Roku-Jukkai no I Love You" (I Love You 8,760 Times) released in October 1970. Written by Yu Aku（阿久悠）and composed by Kunihiko Suzuki（鈴木邦彦）, it stands out for being a regular kayo kyoku compared to his later stuff which sounds more in the New Music vein of things, and of course, his vocals don't sound like the familiar resonant and slightly raspy tones that we've become accustomed to. As for the rather convoluted number in the title, it stands for the number of hours in a year. Mind you, after having "I Love You" said to that special someone once an hour every hour for an entire year, I'm not sure if that someone will want to reciprocate anymore.
「夕陽の歌」 could have been sung by the Righteous Brothers! know it wasn't but it's got the loving feeling or maybe it's an Unchained Melody? (I Love You 8,760 Times) sound like a theme for a later 1960's movie!
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's a good observation. There's something of that epic love ballad in there that makes me think of The Righteous Brothers.
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