Morton Gould -- So In Love/Night and Day

Wikimedia Commons

This week's Reminiscings of Youth will be a little more unusual and involved so please bear with me today. For one thing, this really ought to be one of those Reminiscings of Babyhood articles actually, but I'll explain as we go along.

For citizens and international residents of Japan of a certain age such as myself, there was the weekly Sunday night Hollywood movie of the week on TV Asahi that lasted for decades since the 1960s. So, folks could watch anything from that decade to something more contemporary like a Steven Seagal action flick but it had to fit within the tight two-hour slot with commercials...which often meant that the movie had a fair amount of footage slashed out. Annoying as heck, but that's the way it was. 

The host of "Nichiyou Youga Gekijo"（日曜洋画劇場...The Sunday Western Movie Theatre） for most of its time was the avuncular and dapper movie critic and tarento Nagaharu Yodogawa（淀川長治）. He always showed up at the beginning of the show to introduce the film and then wrap up with his thoughts about it for a few minutes before signing off with "Sayonara, sayonara, sayonara". 

Then, there were the ending credits for "Nichiyou Youga Gekijo" which had stills or slow-motion footage of the movie just presented while this really dramatic and melancholy-sounding song played in the background. In fact, I found the music so sad that I was more than happy to switch the channel. I wouldn't find out until literally several days ago that the piece was a Cole Porter standard called "So In Love" as interpreted by conductor and arranger Morton Gould.

"So In Love" was a song used in one of Porter's famous musicals "Kiss Me Kate" from 1948. It was also used in the 1953 cinematic adaptation, but Gould's interpretation was presumably from 1951. Now that I've heard the whole thing above, I have a better view of it as something more epic and moving. Japanese commenters have complimented it as being very nostalgic since they used to watch the Sunday movie of the week when they were younger.

But "So In Love" hadn't been the main target for my ROY ROB this week. That was merely a happenstance stumbling discovery. Actually, it was for another Porter classic "Night and Day" which had been created in 1932. I remember getting to see it performed on the 2004 "De-Lovely", the Porter biopic musical starring Kevin Kline where I could glean some more insight into what the song was about.

Now, I realize that there have been many renditions of "Night and Day", sung and instrumental. But the reason that I started all this was that I remember the very first rendition that I heard of this song and it was by the aforementioned Morton Gould through his 1961 record "Kern/Porter Favorites" although that track later showed up on our "RCA 50 Years Of Hits In Stereo" that I wrote about last October. 

According to his Wikipedia article, Gould was a master of interweaving different musical genres into formal classical structure without losing any of the main elements from either the adopted genres or the original song. Gould had a few more contributions to my family's "RCA 50 Years of Hits In Stereo" which were "Brazil" and "Blues in the Night" and I note that he was epic and playful with those.

With "Night and Day", he showed that same verve for grandness. His take took the ultimate song of pining away in love and made it into his own overture movie. To me, his "Night and Day" sounds like a romance between two people rudely interrupted by war with the happy and grateful return interpreted as this huge orchestral rush. And it just happened to be a song that I heard often enough as a kid on the old RCA stereo.

So, let's see about some of the major singles of 1961 in Japan.

Kyu Sakamoto -- Ue wo Muite Arukou (上を向いて歩こう)

Yujiro Ishihara & Junko Makimura -- Ginza no Koi no Monogatari （銀座の恋の物語）

Hitoshi Ueki -- Suudara Bushi (スーダラ節）

Birthdays for May 28th

 

Well, just like that segment on "Entertainment Tonight", let's go with some birthday announcements for two singers who are still around and one composer who did leave this mortal coil several years ago.

(1940-2020) Composer Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）

(1961 ~ ) Singer-songwriter Midori Karashima（辛島美登里）

(1968 ~ ) Singer Kylie Minogue

Akira Kobayashi/Bonny Jacks/Hiroshi Wada and Mahina Stars -- Hokkikou（北帰行）

Wikimedia Commons

I went out for lunch for the second time in as many days, and this time around, we didn't have to combat some very violent weather although the skies remained stubbornly gloomy for most of the day. However, I was grateful not to have my face hit with rain and winds coming in at Mach 1.

Back at home, I got to see the usual "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新BS日本の歌）and I actually heard an Akira Kobayashi（小林旭）song that I hadn't heard before. Titled "Hokkikou" (The Return North), it struck me as being one of those kayo kyoku dealing with heartbreak and the aftermath of taking that trip elsewhere to recover from the emotional trauma.

This was Kobayashi's 31st single from October 1961, and to me anyways, this was a rather wistful tune for the tough guy actor and singer to tackle, but I think he did a great job with the song. Others apparently agreed since about a year later, "Hokkikou" became the basis for one of his movies.

But there's a bit more of a story behind "Hokkikou" than the fact that it is a bittersweet song about recovering from heartbreak. Written and composed by Hiroshi Uda（宇田博）a couple of decades earlier in 1941, the J-Wiki article on the song weaves a recollection of Uda as a high school kid being a rather aimless and rebellious youth which was quite the thing in a very militaristic Japanese society bent toward war. He'd gotten in trouble with the authorities for taking some romantic liberties with a young girl outside of school and was kicked out. "Hokkikou" was his written farewell for his fellow mates in the dormitory. It became quite the popular song since that point, but once the war was over, "Hokkikou" became a bit of a mystery tune for many years for some reason...Uda's name was somehow forgotten.

In the 1960s, the song became a favourite to be sung at the local cafes whether it be by featured artists or customers (perhaps a prelude to karaoke?). And then, the record companies picked up on it and as would often happen with songs from that time, there was a mad rush of sorts to have various artists record it for sale. For example, the vocal group Bonny Jacks（ボニージャックス）had released their version of "Hokkikou" back in July 1961, three months before Kobayashi's cover came out.

Sometime during 1961 as well, the Mood Kayo group Hiroshi Wada and Mahina Stars（和田弘とマヒナスターズ）also released their own languid cover of "Hokkikou" with their characteristic Hawaiian sound. From looking at the YouTube scroll, it certainly appears that many other singers have covered the tune over the decades.

Farewell, Neil Sedaka (1939-2026)

By AVRO via Wikimedia Commons

I'd thought that my previous article on Shiro Sagisu（鷺巣詩郎）would be the final one for February 2026, but I was very wrong there on realizing that the music world has lost a pioneer in pop music and someone who has had a presence on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" over the years. Singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka passed away at the age of 86 on February 27th.

From what I've read on his Wikipedia file, he was responsible for a huge number of hits for himself and other singers, especially during the 60s and 70s, and I recall hearing his voice through radio, on K-Tel commercials and TV appearances since I was a kid. In fact, the very first ROY article that I posted was a Sedaka creation for Captain & Tennille. But for his own records, I always remembered that higher and melodic voice of his.

With all of those Sedaka successes in the postwar era, it's perhaps no surprise that the Japanese, who were more than happy to provide their own cover versions of many American and British hits of the time, also took a fancy to Sedaka's own tunes. Here are the ones that have been plucked from the pages of KKP over the years.

(1960) Masaaki Hirao & The All-Stars Wagon -- Koi no Katamichi Kippu（恋の片道切符）

(1961) Kyu Sakamoto -- Calendar Girl

(1977) Hi-Fi Set -- Koi no Nikki （恋の日記）(from 3:35)

(1978) Masako Miyazaki -- The Hungry Years

One of my favourites by Sedaka though was "Laughter in the Rain" from 1974. It still gives me a chill when he sings the chorus out and it's a song that I definitely have great memories about. My condolences to his family, friends and many fans.

Songs for Respect-for-the-Aged Day

 

September in Japan has two statutory holidays: Keirou no Hi（敬老の日...Respect-for-the-Aged Day） on the third Monday and then Shuubun no Hi（秋分の日...First Day of Autumn）. For the former, there's the usual tradition of taking the folks out for lunch or dinner somewhere and probably there is a whole plethora of gateball tournaments across the country. Of course, being an official holiday and all, the TV schedule in Japan is all different today, so as we were watching NHK News this morning (down from the usual one hour to 30 minutes), my family was getting a little confused about whether Canada was having a holiday today (the next one for us in the Great White North is Canadian Thanksgiving next month).

Out of curiosity, I took a look for any kayo kyoku list online consisting of any songs that had an association with Keirou no Hi. There were quite a few out there and most of what I can give here has that theme of gratitude and enduring through the tough times.

(1961) Kyu Sakamoto -- Ue wo Muite Arukou (上を向いて歩こう)

(1974) Masako Mori -- Okaasan（おかあさん）

(1987) Chiyoko Shimakura -- Jinsei Iroiro（人生いろいろ）

(1992) Chisato Moritaka -- Watashi ga Obasan ni Natte mo （私がオバさんになっても）

A Tribute to Connie Francis (1937-2025)

Wikimedia Commons
via Jordan Keller

This is not the weekly scheduled Reminiscings of Youth article today but I still wanted to provide a tribute to singer Connie Francis who had passed away yesterday at the age of 87. In the late 1950s and into the following decade, her hits were popular enough that in 1960, she was considered to be the most successful female recording artist in many countries including Japan. She's had a great tie with this blog in that a number of female Japanese singers covered her tunes to success themselves, something that has been noted within the articles here.

(1961) Where The Boys Are

Yukari Ito, etc. -- Boy Hunt （ボーイ・ハント）

(1962) Vacation

Mieko Hirota, etc. -- Vacation

(1962) Pretty Little Baby

Mie Nakao, etc. -- Kawaii Baby (可愛いベイビー）

(1959) Lipstick On Your Collar

Kyoko Koizumi, etc. -- Collar ni Kuchibeni（カラーに口紅）

The last pair with "Lipstick On Your Collar" is something that I hadn't covered but I have heard the Francis original before through the many commercials featuring her hit compilations on television when I was a kid. As with the other covers, 80s aidoru Kyoko Koizumi（小泉今日子）was among a number of other Japanese singers who have covered the song under the Japanese title of "Collar ni Kuchibeni". I had never heard of this one by Kyon-Kyon before because it was on a September 1983 album of hers called "Separation Kyoko" which was only available on audiotape although it has been available online since 2013.

There are probably at least a few more of Francis' songs that have been covered but in any case, I would like to offer my condolences to her family, friends and many fans out there.

Yukari Ito -- Sixteen Cubes of Sugar（16個の角砂糖）

Wikimedia Commons
via david pacey

 

There was a scene in "Superman" (2025) when Lois Lane was pouring a ton of sugar into her coffee which struck me as being a very Lois Lane thing to do. I've enjoyed my Tim Hortons double-double, but even I won't put that much sugar into coffee or tea. I did have a friend who was pushing Lane levels of sugar infiltration, though.

Anyways, my last Yukari Ito（伊東ゆかり）article was delving into her City Pop/J-AOR phase in the late 1970s/early 1980s but this time, I'm returning to her very early days as a teenybopper singer back in the early 1960s. To remind folks, Ito was one of a number of pop singers who put out as many Japanese covers of English-language hits as they did original kayo kyoku, and it turns out her 7th single from July 1961, "Pocket Transistor"（ポケット・トランジスター）had a B-side titled "Sixteen Cubes of Sugar". Written by Takashi Otowa（音羽たかし）, the pseudonym used by any employee at King Records to translate an English pop song into Japanese, and composed by Jack Keller with arrangement by Hiroshi Miyagawa（宮川泰）, Ito does her Connie Francis best on this spritely tune with the amassed energy of sixteen cubes of sugar. 

Now as I said before, Ito's "Sixteen Cubes of Sugar" was a cover of an English-language pop song that had probably been released as recently as just a few months before the cover. I'd imagined that it was indeed the aforementioned Connie Francis who had recorded the song, considering the vocals and style. However, the original...with the same title...had been done by American pop singer Brian Hyland who had earlier come up with the more famous kitschy number "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini".

Zek Dechine -- Shichinin no Keiji（七人の刑事）

 

My previous article was in the form of a tribute to the late screenwriter James Miki（ジェームス･三木）who passed away a few days ago. I learned that, after making the switch from singing to writing, he basically started his new career in 1969 with scripts for movies and television. Perhaps his first foray into the latter medium was an episode in the final season of the cop show "Shichinin no Keiji" (The Seven Detectives) which had its run between 1961 and 1969 on TBS.

I've covered my share of Japanese cop show themes throughout the history of KKP. The theme from the 1970s "Taiyo ni Hoero"（太陽にほえろ）is downtown funky while "Rhythm & Police" from the 1990s "Odoru Dai Sosasen"(踊る大捜査線）is a techno-ized version of an old Mexican song, and another 1960s police cop theme for "The Guardman"（ザ・ガードマン）is cool and jangly. Basically, every cop show theme has its own distinctive DNA.

The theme for "Shichinin no Keiji" is no different. Composed by Takeo Yamashita（山下毅雄）, it's jazzy and moody as if it had been lifted from some film noir taking place in Europe somewhere. What further adds to that foggy atmosphere is the bass humming and scatting by Zek Dechine（ゼーク・デチネ）who sounds like he's been through every alley and dark street on the continent of life with a side trip through the Soviet Union or a Warsaw Pact nation. As it is though, the theme seems to reflect the lonely and tough lives these detectives have to go through in the pursuit of justice. 

Speaking of which, who the heck is Zek Dechine? I could only find his katakana reading and so I'm not sure if my romaji for his name is accurate. Secondly, I had never heard of this fellow before. It took quite a search online but eventually I found out through this Japanese blog that purports that Dechine hadn't even been a professional singer. It turns out that composer Yamashita knew this Jewish jeweler in Tokyo who apparently had a side gig singing at this Akasaka club that he frequented. Somehow, Yamashita persuaded Dechine to record the melancholy theme song for "Shichinin no Keiji" which ended up becoming a million-seller hit.

However, there's plenty of irony at the end of this one. It also turns out that Dechine ended up becoming wanted for fraud and fled Japan with an international warrant chasing him. The blog entry doesn't make clear whether he was caught or not. But just imagine: a criminal humming his way through a theme song for a cop show that ends up as a hit and possibly getting away with it.

Miki Nakasone -- Kawa wa Nagareru（川は流れる）

The Katsura River in Kyoto
from Wikimedia Commons 
by Basile Morin

 

I heard this for the first time on the latest episode of "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新BS日本の歌） the other day and the melancholy nature of this was very plain to hear.

"Kawa wa Nagareru" (A River Flows) started out as the B-side to singer and actress Miki Nakasone's（仲宗根美樹）4th single "Ame no Hanazono"（雨の花園...Rainy Flower Garden） when it was released in September 1961, but witnessing how much more popular "Kawa wa Nagareru" was with the listening audience, the single was released once more in November with the sides switched. A reflection of some sad times, Nakasone's stoic performance of the song as if she were too exhausted and depressed to even cry won over fans along with her haunting vocals. Written by Hiroshi Yokoi（横井弘）and composed by Seiichi Sakurada（桜田誠一）, it would become a million-seller by the end of the year and in the following year, she would be invited onto the 1962 edition of NHK's Kohaku Utagassen to start the show as the top batter.

As was often the case back then with hit songs, they inspired cinematic adaptations and "Kawa ga Nagareru" which was known in the West as "Okinawa Blues" was released in theatres from March 1962. Nakasone herself received second billing as part of the cast.

Born Katsuko Kuniba（國場勝子）in 1944, she and her parents fled their native Okinawa to Tokyo due to World War II. Nakasone would release a total of 86 singles and 9 original albums up to early 1974, although she'd already retired once in 1971 due to marriage. She would go through a couple of those and also suffered a number of financial crises in addition to the tragic loss of a son due to cancer. She herself would succumb to lung cancer early in 2024 at the age of 79.

Dance Kayo by J-Canuck

 

Partly inspired by my previous article on Naomi Chiaki's（ちあきなおみ）"Waltz"（円舞曲）and also thinking it would be nice to begin the work week with something a little different, I've opted to complete my Monday entries with some of the dance-titled kayo kyoku and J-Pop out there since it seems as if the Japanese also enjoyed cutting a rug if vicariously for most people.

(1948) Shizuko Kasagi -- Tokyo Boogie-Woogie （東京ブギウギ）

(1987) Akina Nakamori -- Tango Noir

(1986) Yasuhiro Abe -- Tennessee Waltz (テネシーワルツ)

(1981) Hiromi Go -- Oyome Samba （お嫁サンバ）

(1961) Sachiko Nishida -- Coffee Rumba （コーヒー・ルンバ）

Isao Sasaki -- G.I. Blues

 

I wasn't around when Elvis Presley had been enjoying his first several years of fame and fortune before he was drafted by Uncle Sam into the army. Can only imagine how many women screamed in despair at their idol becoming a military man, but he didn't do too badly at all. "G.I. Blues" the 1960 movie was one result.

I remember Isao Sasaki（ささきいさお）mostly for his grand contributions to anison for epics such as "Uchuu Senkan Yamato"（宇宙戦艦ヤマト）, so it was with some surprise years later that when the Tokyo native had first started out, he was all about his rockabilly, and as much as I have dubbed the lyricist to "Yamato", the legendary Yu Aku（阿久悠）, as the Irving Berlin of kayo kyoku, Sasaki was once given the nickname of the Japanese Elvis Presley.

Case in point: one of his earliest singles was his cover of "G.I. Blues" which came out in 1961. He doesn't do too badly and he actually does sound like Elvis if he had been fluent in Japanese. Let's try to imagine Elvis singing "Star Blazers". Unfortunately, I couldn't track down who came up with the Japanese lyrics.

Ayako Miyashita/Bonny Jacks/Hibari Misora -- Awate Tokoya（あわて床屋）

 

In all of the years that "Kayo Kyoku Plus" has been around, I've done my fair share of Author's Picks based on certain themes that some of that kayo kyoku has covered such as food and particular regions. But I don't think I have ever encountered an old Japanese pop song that was based on the barbershop experience.

As a bit of an aside, I have to say that one of the many pleasures of living in Japanese society for about a third of my life thus far was going to the barber or hair salon. Was it inexpensive? By no means. My old barber cost me close to 3900 yen a trip and then when my girlfriend at the time introduced me to her friend's salon not far away from my station, that expenditure took things to about 5000 yen. But in both cases, they were worth every yen for me. From the haircut, the shampoo, the shave, the scalp massage and the styling to the seasonal servings of coffee or cold oolong tea, this was simply a regular trip for a haircut in Japan that would probably be considered a top-notch treatment at Truefitt & Hill in downtown Toronto.

By the way, the above video has an Avengers-like meeting between two popular YouTubers. HairCut Harry got to have his experience at the Yamaguchi Barbershop last year.

"Awate Tokoya" (Busy Barbershop) first saw the light of day about a century ago in 1923. Written by Hakushu Kitahara（北原白秋）and composed by Kousaku Yamada（山田耕筰）as a children's song, it was performed by Ayako Miyashita（宮下禮子）*. The lyrics talk of a couple of crabs in the wilderness operating their own barber shop serving customers such as a rabbit, and apparently the business is a thriving one.

Almost forty years later in April 1961, "Awate Tokoya" was brought into the NHK's children song series "Minna no Uta"（みんなのうた）as one of its earliest, if not its earliest, entry with a special brand of animation and the vocal group Bonny Jacks（ボニージャックス）giving a hearty rendition of the animal-based barbershop. Future electronic music master Isao Tomita（冨田勲）handled the arrangement.

Then in 1966, Hibari Misora（美空ひばり）gave her rendition of the song via a snazzy orchestra with a bit of Latin pizzazz and haircut-like percussion. I also picked up on some interesting keyboard work in there, too; not sure whether Tomita was already working with some of those electronics on Misora's version. Of course, others have covered "Awate Tokoya" over the decades.

*According to Jisho.org, there are multiple ways to say the first name. Ayako happens to be the first on the list, so if anyone out there can tell me the proper way to say the singer's name, please let me know.

Akira Kobayashi -- Kuroi Kizuato no Blues（黒い傷跡のブルース）

 

At the end of September, I posted "Top 10 Singles for 1961" and from there, seeing that singer Yukio Hashi（橋幸夫）had four songs on that list, I wrote on one of those hits, "Nankai no Bishonen"（南海の美少年）. Well, I am also intrigued by some of the other songs that managed to get onto the list, but I went beyond No. 10 and found No. 12.

The powers-that-be in Japanese show business must have been truly celebrating when they had Akira Kobayashi（小林旭）on the payroll. The actor and singer could bust heads and be all cool on the big screen but he could also more than carry a tune, often for his own movies. Heck, a lot of his songs at one point even carried the katakana version of his name in the title back in the day.

However, this one that was the 12th-ranked song on the list didn't. The April 1961 single "Kuroi Kizuato no Blues" (Black Scar Blues) is a jazzier-than-usual Mood Kayo tune during which you can practically hear the tumblers of scotch clinking in the background. With lyrics by Tetsu Mizushima（水島哲）, it's about a man thinking back to the night of his sad breakup with his lover three years previously as he's walking through the foggy night.

The above video has a good karaoke version of "Kuroi Kizuato no Blues" and I've put it up there because it has scenes from the movie that was created in homage to the single. It was released about half a year later and naturally, it stars Kobayashi involved in a romantic thriller. The composer for the song was John Schachtel who was a songwriter and a saxophonist, and it turns out the song as provided to Kobayashi was a cover for the 1960 original released by Henri de Pari and his orchestra under the title of "Broken Promises".

Shoji Suzuki and Rhythm Aces -- Jingle Bells

 

Happy Monday! I was actually going to post this one up yesterday but then I got distracted by Keisuke Kuwata & His Friends' "Kissin' Christmas: Christmas dakara janai"（クリスマスだからじゃない）and the story behind it.

I found out about swinging jazz clarinet player Shoji Suzuki（鈴木章治）while I was listening to Scott's podcast "Holly Jolly X'masu" several days ago when he was profiling Suzuki's "Merry Christmas" album from 1963. His group back then was the Dixieland All-Stars and the Christmas stuff on the album did indeed sound like a Yuletide walk through New Orleans.

A couple of years earlier though, the Yokohama native had released a Xmas-themed album titled "Swingin' Christmas" with his Rhythm Aces. What leads off the album is the veteran chestnut "Jingle Bells" and sure enough, Suzuki takes the lead on his clarinet before giving way to the marimba and the piano. Everyone has their time to improvise but things are cut short and sweet at a little under three minutes.

Suzuki actually began his pro career as an alto saxophonist in 1947 and was a member of a number of bands until he led the Rhythm Aces. Depending on which article you read on J-Wiki or Wikipedia, the legendary swing man himself, Benny Goodman came to a Ginza club in 1951 or 1957 to listen to Suzuki and the Rhythm Aces perform and was very impressed with the band. Suzuki was releasing original albums between 1957 and 1992. He passed away at the age of 63 in 1995. Scott has just posted his latest podcast on the entire album, so have a listen to that through the link for the 1961 album above. As well, I posted a ROY article on Duke Ellington's iconic take on "Jingle Bells" last year so have a go at that one, too.

Yukio Hashi -- Nankai no Bishonen（南海の美少年）

 

When I posted the "Top 10 Singles for 1961" in the fading minutes of September 30th 2023, I couldn't help but notice the fact that singer Yukio Hashi（橋幸夫）had no fewer than four songs on the list. That was quite the achievement and the last time that I saw a single artist or band with as many as four songs on the Top 10 for a particular list was probably AKB48.

As such, I had to look into and write about at least one of those Hashi hits and so I went with No. 2 on the Top 10, "Nankai no Bishonen" (The Handsome Boy of the South Seas). Released in May 1961 as as his 8th single, when I first saw and translated that title, I envisioned some toned and tanned Polynesian kid having a ton of fun under the sun while wearing a grass skirt. But then, I heard the melody by Tadashi Yoshida（吉田正）and the lyrics by Takao Saeki（佐伯孝夫）, and realized that this was anything but a tale of tropical Nirvana.

Actually, the young man in the title refers to Shiro Amakusa（天草四郎）, a 17-year-old Japanese Catholic leader of the Shimabara Rebellion (1637-1638), the biggest uprising against the Shogunate in Japanese history. Also calling himself Geronimo and Francisco, the rebellion in what is now Nagasaki Prefecture involved fighting back against the policies enforced by the daimyo of Shimabara which included prohibition of Christianity. In the end, the rebellion was defeated and Amakusa and his thousands of followers were beheaded. So, I can imagine the militaristic and mournful melody of this song which has also been given the subtitle of "Shiro Amakusa's Song".

The above has fresh-faced enka singer Shin Aoyama（青山新）performing "Nankai no Bishonen" in front of the original singer himself.

Top 10 Singles for 1961

 

Hello there. I noticed that at this late hour, I currently have 89 entries for September 2023 and I really wanted to hit the 90 barrier. Therefore, I'm rushing this one in. I haven't done a rankings list in many a moon because I thought I pretty much exhausted the Oricon lists by year. However, I did find a listing for the Top 10 Singles for 1961 (and more) on this Hatena blog run by hitchartjapan based on a couple of pre-Oricon music journals, "Music Life" and "Music Monthly". I'm just surprised that Kyu Sakamoto's "Ue wo Muite Arukou" isn't in the Top 10 (it's down at No. 22!).

1. Yujiro Ishihara & Junko Makimura  Ginza no Koi no Monogatari

2. Yukio Hashi                                          Nankai no Bishonen

3. Mari Watanabe                                     Tokyo Dodonpa Musume

4. Mitsuo Sagawa                                     Mujou no Yume

5. Mahina Stars & Yukiko Tama            Kitakami Yakyoku

6. Hiroshi Inoue                                       Wakare no Isochidori

7. Yukio Hashi                                          Kutsukake Tokijiro

8. Frank Nagai                                         Kimi Koishi

9. Yukio Hashi                                          Okesa Utaeba

10. Yukio Hashi                                        Kiso Bushi Sandogasa

Hiroshi Inoue -- Tokyo Waltz（東京ワルツ）/Wakare no Tango（別れのタンゴ）

 

I've mentioned this to people and readers before but my favourite era in Japanese history isn't particularly the Muromachi or Taisho periods for example. Actually, the one group of years that has been interesting for me is the postwar era extending to the early 1970s because I had always wondered how Japan was able to rise above the ashes to become the 2nd-largest economic power behind the United States at one point. But before I end up wearing those rose-coloured glasses of romanticism, a lot of those years were ones of struggle and with the sudden ramp-up in industrialization once more, there was a heavy toll on the environment and health.

Still, I've been able to get a glimpse and a feel for the Tokyo of the 1950s or 1960s thanks to visits to the Ramen Museum in Yokohama. The time warp walk around the city seems to make one's vision go sepia and the ramen is pretty darn good, too. 😋 I must thank the good people at Nippon Wandering TV for the above video.

But of course, this is a kayo kyoku blog and not a ramen one, although I imagine that there are far more of those than there are of mine. And perhaps filtering over the speakers in the mockup Tokyo underneath the ground floor of the museum is a September or October 1961 single by crooner Hiroshi Inoue（井上ひろし）depending on whether you go with the J-Wiki article on Inoue or YouTube uploader Ka Fu respectively. "Tokyo Waltz" is a Mood Kayo written by Sou Nishizawa（西沢爽）and composed by Itsuro "Raymond" Hattori（服部逸郎）and has the rich tenor of Inoue expressing a man's heartbreak within the Tokyo nightlife. The melody indeed takes on a sad and slow waltz.

The B-side is "Wakare no Tango" (Farewell Tango) which continues the themes of dancing and imminent romantic loss, but this time as the title says, the melody by Tadashi Manjome（万城目正）has a bit more of that Latin spice. Ko Fujiura（藤浦 洸）came up with the lyrics, and listening to the song, I can imagine a couple born of the nightlife in the megalopolis having one last teary cheek-to-cheek dance on the nightclub floor before having to part permanently.

The Randy Van Horne Singers -- Meet the Flintstones

 

Before "The Simpsons", there were "The Flintstones", that modern Stone Age family. It was a daily ritual for me and my brother as kids to watch the antics of Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble as they got through the daily grind in Bedrock while sometimes taking on side gigs which would usually end badly in front of their long-suffering spouses, Wilma and Betty respectively. Fred and Barney's favourite pastime of bowling wasn't lost on me since my father was also a fan of hitting the pins.

I always got a kick out of the snarky comments out of the animals that were used as appliances. Hanna & Barbera wouldn't get anywhere near the toilet though.

Of course, the other running gag on "The Flintstones" was how they brought on the celebrities and named them in their own hilarious way. The first time that I got to actually see Ann-Margret was through her appearance on the show as Ann-Margrock. And there were Stony Curtis and Cary Granite. If I had got onto the program, maybe my name would have ended up as J-Canucklestone.

A good chunk of my childhood was spent watching "The Flintstones" and I had assumed that I pretty much knew everything there was to learn about this program. But I was wrong. It was only in the last decade that I discovered "The Flintstones" had been the first animated program to get a prime-time slot on ABC; that's quite something considering that I had only seen Fred and Barney as afternoon cartoon characters.

On top of that, I only found out in the last few months that there had been a very different opening and closing sequence and a different theme song for "The Flintstones" in the first two seasons of its 1960-1966 run. The theme song used for both the opening and the ending was "Rise and Shine", a jazzy and upbeat instrumental by Hoyt Curtin. It was actually a song that I had heard as background music in the episodes but I never knew that it was the first theme. I also have to give thanks to YouTube and the uploader Steven Brandt for showing me the opening and ending credits for the very first time in my life.

Ah, as of Season 3, this was the opening credit sequence that greeted me after getting home from school or finishing off lunch. It was the swing jazz orchestra by Curtin and the Randy Van Horne Singers behind one of Western animation's most famous theme songs "Meet the Flintstones" right when Fred happily screams "Yabba-dabba-doo!" when work is done and it's time to head home. 

Although "Meet the Flintstones" wouldn't become the official theme until late 1962, Wikipedia has reported that its composition by Curtin along with Hanna & Barbera had taken place in 1961 so for this ROY, I'm gonna go with that latter year and find out what were the big hits in Japan during that time.

Kyu Sakamoto -- Ue wo Muite Arukou (上を向いて歩こう)

Mari Watanabe -- Tokyo Dodonpa Musume （東京ドドンパ娘）

Sachiko Nishida -- Coffee Rumba （コーヒー・ルンバ）

Nat King Cole/Johnny Mathis -- The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)

 

Man, what a quandary! Choosing between Nat King Cole and Johnny Mathis over who gave the definitive version of "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" is kinda like having to opt for either turkey or glazed ham as the main dish on December 25th. Maybe it's an easy decision for you readers but for me, I think that both versions of the 1945 Mel Torme/Robert Wells creation are absolutely brilliant.

And to throw something out of left field at you, I think "The Christmas Song" and Tatsuro Yamashita's（山下達郎）"Christmas Eve" have something in common. To specify, both songs apparently came about as a counter-response to the season known as summer. Tats didn't particularly appreciate being brushed off as being merely a summer song singer so he lashed back with the J-Xmas song that has become a perennial tune to be played on TV and in the stores. Meanwhile, according to Wikipedia, "The Christmas Song" was born when Torme and Wells needed to beat back some torrid July heat by thinking and writing about cool thoughts. Not sure if the ploy worked in terms of any cooling effect, but it's safe to say that "The Christmas Song" has become far more eternal as a beloved Xmas number.

I'm going to start off with Johnny Mathis' version of the song since it was the first version that I had ever heard as a kid thanks to that Ronco LP "A Christmas Gift" with all of those chestnuts (pun fully intended) on it. Originally coming from his "Merry Christmas" album from October 1958, Mathis' dulcet delivery has had me tearing up sometimes in the past because of its wistfully magical and wonderful arrangement with the strings and the chorus behind him. This is the song that has people ensuring that they have fireplaces in their new homes.

For several years, Mathis' take was the only one that I knew but then I finally heard Nat King Cole's version on a jazz compilation of Xmas songs that I bought in Japan. The interesting thing is that the legendary Cole had recorded at least four versions of "The Christmas Song" starting from 1946 with the 1961 take being the most beloved version. Again, those iconic vocals are front and centre here but the feeling of his take is epic and intimate at the same with the strings helping out on the former while the jazz group feel takes care of the latter. It's like listening to it at Cole's own home Xmas party with good friends and family surrounding the piano.

Like a lot of eternal standards, "The Christmas Song" is just one of those tunes that was crafted so well that any professional singer and/or musician could send it out of the park if they were of a mind to do so. Jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi gave his version on the soundtrack for "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and even Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）has brought her own cover which I wrote about long ago. And all this came about because two songwriters didn't bother to hit the fridge to get some cold soda pop.

Anyways, going with the Cole version, what were the big hits in Japan back in 1961?

Kyu Sakamoto -- Ue wo Muite Arukou (上を向いて歩こう)

Yujiro Ishihara & Junko Makimura -- Ginza no Koi no Monogatari （銀座の恋の物語）

Hitoshi Ueki -- Suudara Bushi (スーダラ節）

Midori Satsuki -- Ohima nara Kite ne（おひまなら来てね）

I don't think that it's everyday when a budding singer suddenly has a breakthrough hit with their debut single, and that was certainly the case with enka singer Midori Satsuki（五月みどり）. The Tokyo-born singer and tarento debuted at the end of 1958 with "Ozashiki Rock"（お座敷ロック...Tatami Room Rock） but it didn't spark all that much interest.

A few more singles and a few more years passed without any spike of success in her career. But in 1961, famed composer/arranger Minoru Endo（遠藤実）approached Satsuki and told her that he's made a song that was just perfect for her, according to a 2019 article in the weekly magazine "Shuukan Gendai"（週刊現代）via J-Wiki. Endo sang some part of the song for her which got a rise from the singer who then begged to be allowed to sing it. 

The single was released in May of that year and it's titled "Ohima nara Kite ne" (Come If You Have Time). This song was actually sharing 45" single space with another singer's work...specifically, Ichiro Kanbe's（神戸一郎）"Seto no Koiuta"（瀬戸の恋唄...Seto Love Song）. While Endo composed this enka ballad, it was Jinichiro Kareno（枯野迅一郎）behind the lyrics involving a woman entreating a lover to come and visit her in person with the hint that perhaps he hasn't been over in quite a while. Perhaps the lady is a hostess at a nightclub although the arrangement and Satsuki's very historically traditional appearance could mean that the setting is perhaps centuries earlier.

Well, Endo delivered on what he had promised. "Ohima nara Kite ne" was the breakthrough song that Satsuki had been hoping for due to "...her adorably charming beauty paired with her fine vibrato" (translated from the J-Wiki article for the song). Approximately 18 months later, the singer would find herself performing the song on her first NHK Kohaku Utagassen appearance on New Year's Eve 1962, and it has become one of her trademark tunes.