Emiko Nakayama -- News Sokuhou（ニュース速報）

 

A lot of us have half-jokingly remarked that whenever we hear soundtrack maestro John Williams' "Special Report" theme for NBC that it's not only the most epic music for a potential crisis but it makes us all go into Pavlovian-induced ("Oh, my word. It's John Williams! Activate the Panic Room, honey!) states of fear.

Well, Emiko Nakayama's（中山恵美子）"News Sokuhou" (Newsflash), which is the B-side to her 6th single from December 1975, "Yuu Gohan wa Curry ni Shimashou"（夕ごはんはカレーにしましょう）, is about as far away from Williams' bulletin song as Coruscant is from Tatooine. It's also quite different from the happily perky A-side which basically acted as a commercial jingle for Bon Curry Gold. 

Lyricist Fumiko Okada（岡田冨美子）and composer Ken Sato（佐藤健）, who had taken care of "Yuu Gohan wa Curry ni Shimashou", also created "News Sokuhou". I don't know where the newsflash aspect of this kayo kyoku comes in, but it is still a curious ballad in that it begins with what sounds like a 1970s breaking news alert before it suddenly transitions into a languid Motown soul love song (with electric sitar) containing some sappy love talk about comparing the songwriting boyfriend to Takuro Yoshida（吉田拓郎）himself. It's got plenty of atmosphere, too, with some stormy sounds busting in. Hopefully, the newsflash is that the pair is getting married instead of breaking up which a lot of lyrics and sound effects of storms tend to hint at.