Masayoshi Takanaka -- Star Wars Samba

SorryArii via Wikimedia Commons

 

I only read this on Reuters' Twitter account some minutes ago and just in case the tweet gets deleted (I doubt that), I'll quote it here:

Seventy-three-year-old Japanese guitarist Masayoshi Takanaka is selling out venues worldwide, riding a surge of Gen‑Z enthusiasm that has propelled him back onto international stages — and back to London for the first time in five decades.

Despite it being April Fool's Day, I don't think this is some cruel hoax so let me give my heartfelt congratulations to Mr. Takanaka（高中正義）. Of course, on reading this, I'm going to take full advantage of the opportunity.

Yes, it is April 1st but it's also a Wednesday and therefore Hump Day as usual. Folks are sighing about the fun that is now past history from last weekend and the fun that they have to wait another few days for this weekend. So, let's have Takanaka himself bring a little cheeky happiness to everyone with his own tribute to the original "Star Wars". Indeed, his third single from July 1977 is "Star Wars Samba". I had to blink twice when I saw his J-Wiki discography but he did arrange John Williams' classic theme to sound like a samba to have caipirinhas with. So, perhaps Japanese fans could not only enjoy MECO's disco version but also Takanaka's elastic Brazilian take at the same time. Apparently, it was also placed into his fourth album "Brasilian Skies" which was released in the same month as the single.

Hmmm....sense the samba side in him, I do! 

Happy 10th, Uta Con!（うたコン）/Hideki Saijo -- Ai no Juujika（愛の十字架）

 

First off, Happy 10th Birthday to the NHK music show "Uta Con". I saw their episode last night and it was nice not only to see some of the highlights from the past ten years but also get a tour of how the magic works at NHK Shibuya. It's amazing how quickly the years fly by...I remember when "Uta Con" got the baton passed over to it from "Kayo Concert"（歌謡コンサート）back in 2016.

Now, "Kayo Kyoku Plus" had its tenth anniversary back in 2022 so I actually pulled out most of the guns to celebrate our grand project back then, and of course, you can take a look at some of that via "10th Anniversary Special: 10th Anniversary Songs". However, I still wanted to commemorate the "Uta Con" achievement so I've opted to present a few songs over the years that have had something of the number 10 involved in the titles. I'll admit though to being a little cheat-y with my choices. But the important thing is that I also have the opportunity to present a new tune onto the blog by the late great Hideki Saijo（西城秀樹）. Anyways, without further ado:

(1984) Akina Nakamori -- Jukkai (1984) (十戒 (1984))

(1986) Minako Honda -- the Cross ~ Ai no Juujika（愛の十字架）

(1993) SMAP -- $10

As noted above, I have this Hideki Saijo tune that has that 10-ish relationship (albeit through kanji association only). This is "Ai no Juujika" (Cross of Love), his 7th single from December 1973. Indeed, it shares the same title as Honda's song above but that's the only common denominator. It is otherwise a totally different animal.

Written by Takashi Taka（たかたかし）and composed by Kunihiko Suzuki（鈴木邦彦）under Koji Makaino's（馬飼野康二）arrangement, this is also the first time for me to hear Saijo's "Ai no Juujika", and from what I hear, it's a very early Hideki song of passion and angst. It's quite the cross for him to bear and I think he's even shedding a few tears in the concert audio above. All the better for the screaming fans to rush over to comfort him. Not surprisingly, the song hit No. 1 and finished 1974 as the 22nd-ranked single.