Mizue Takada -- Kikyou（帰郷）

 

The return of NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン）last night from summer hiatus was a special one, to be sure. I don't think I've ever seen a special episode of the long-running music show devoted to a single artist; it's usually been a highlight reel of the year's best performances. But last night, concierge Shosuke Tanihara（谷原章介）had former aidoru Mizue Takada（高田みづえ）onto the show along with her friends and fellow singers Hiromi Iwasaki（岩崎宏美）and Ikue Sakakibara（榊原郁恵）, and Takada was given a tribute in what was advertised as "a one-night-only comeback". 

After the episode, I read an article regarding it on Mixi and it mentioned that in March, her husband, the former sumo wrestler Wakashimazu（若嶋津）, had passed away at the age of 69 from pneumonia, something that I hadn't known about. My belated condolences to Takada, the rest of her family and his fans. I don't really know whether his passing and the aftermath triggered the idea to have this special episode but it was great to see Takada again on stage to perform a couple of her old hits including her 1980 single "Watashi wa Piano"（私はピアノ）which was the very first song that I had heard by her as a teenager and was therefore one of the first kayo that got me into this very long hobby in the first place.

"Watashi wa Piano" is this urban Latin-spiced song that has stayed in my memories for almost a half-century. However, the B-side is a completely different song. "Kikyou" (Homecoming) is a warm, folksy and calming tune about the old hometown and the feelings tied with it. With lyrics by Takashi Taka（たかたかし）, the song was actually composed as an instrumental known as "The Poet and I" from 1974 by Canadian pianist Frank Mills. I don't think there was much change in the arrangement during its transition from "The Poet and I" to "Kikyou" so Mills' original was a fine fit for kayo kyoku.