Monzen-Nakacho Station happens to be one of the stops along my old Tozai Line. I used to pass by it all the time on my way to downtown Tokyo although there were a couple of times that I actually stopped by to meet with friends. One time, the inner city area was the place to have dinner at a restaurant along the monjayaki alley.
After all these years, I still can't say that I'm a huge monjayaki fan. I'll take okonomiyaki in a heartbeat, but monjayaki is indeed Tokyo soul food.
Admittedly, I never got the chance to fully explore Monzen-Nakacho but I was still a little surprised to find out that a Mood Kayo song was based on the area. I mean, there are areas in Tokyo that have gotten their due through kayo kyoku such as Ginza and Shinjuku but I never thought that Monzen-Nakacho was ever that big to get its own tune. Well, I was wrong since Hiroshi Wada & Mahina Stars（和田弘とマヒナスターズ）indeed paid tribute to the shitamachi neighbourhood by recording the 1963 single "Koi no Monzen-Nakacho" (Falling in Love in Monzen-Nakacho).
Composed by Masanobu Tokuchi（渡久地政信）and written by Minoru Shimizu（清水みのる）, it's all about the mournful singing of love gained and lost in the area...and probably drinking one's sorrows, and there are tons of watering holes in the area, I have to admit. The rhythm is appropriately laconic and wistful; plus there are elements of both enka and Mood Kayo along with that Hawaiian twang which was often part and parcel of the latter genre.
In place of dramatic vocals, I think the emphasis is on a relaxed, elegant sound suitable for dance halls, lounges, and late-night radio. In other words, this song probably belongs to the mood chorus (ムードコーラス) tradition and, by extension, Mood Kayo genre.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think this is truly a MOOD Kayo. The lyrics are such that we have heard them before aside from the mention of specific place names. The music seems to have the heavier focus with both the enka and Mood Kayo elements.
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