First off, thanks go to The history man on YouTube for providing this video on the life and career of kayo kyoku songwriting legend Yu Aku (1937-2007) who apparently remains the 2nd-most prolific lyricist in Japan following Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）. Yesterday, the return of NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン）after the Olympic break was a big one for all of the kayo fans since a good chunk of the program was a tribute to the works of Aku who would have been 89 back on February 7th..
This isn't an Author's Picks because I wasn't the one who came up with these songs for performance on the show last night. Of course, it was the NHK producers who did that but I still wanted to acknowledge the Aku songs that had been sung on the Shibuya stage since they have remained part of the bread and butter that make up a lot of this blog. You can also take a look at a Creator article that I wrote up back in 2015 regarding Aku and his constitution on writing those lyrics.
(1974) Isao Sasaki -- The Theme from Space Cruiser Yamato (宇宙戦艦ヤマト）
(1977) Sayuri Ishikawa -- Tsugaru Kaikyo Fuyu Geshiki （津軽海峡・冬景色）
(1977) Hiromi Iwasaki -- Shishuuki （思秋期）
(1984) Shinichi Mori -- Kita no Hotaru （北の螢）
(1982) Hiroshi Itsuki and Nana Kinomi -- Izakaya （居酒屋）
(1977) Kenji Sawada -- Katte ni Shiyagare （勝手にしやがれ）
(1973) Finger Five -- Kojin Jugyō（個人授業）
(1974) Finger Five -- Gakuen Tengoku (学園天国）
You say "The Theme from Space Cruiser Yamato", I say the theme from "Star Blazers" - a classic!
ReplyDeleteHi, Laura. I hope you and the family are doing great going into this year. Yup, "Star Blazers" was the first iteration of the anime that I saw but I still prefer to go with the original title.
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