Fred Steiner -- Park Avenue Beat (The Perry Mason Theme)

 

Back on Monday, when I wrote up the piece on Hachiro Izawa's（井沢八郎）"Otokogasa"（男傘）, I made mention of the observation that there was a pounding on the piano keys in that kayo kyoku which reminded me of one of the earliest and most memorable television theme songs that I'd ever heard. I also stated that I would cover this today as this week's Reminiscings of Youth entry.

Well, here it is. Actually, this should be called a Reminiscings of Baby entry because when I was born, "Perry Mason" (1957-1966) was in its final season but of course, even back then in the age of black-and-white TV sets, there were the reruns so I got to hear the dramatic theme song over and over again. Perhaps my parents were into the legal series although I couldn't imagine that they could understand what was going on in Perry's courtroom. 

The theme song for "Perry Mason" by Fred Steiner turned up a lot of interesting tidbits...kinda like a typical episode of the show itself. For one thing, it's one of the few times that I've encountered a TV theme song that actually had a proper title and not just the "The Theme from (blank)". It was called "Park Avenue Beat" and a fellow Blogger blog "Ill Folks" gave its own story on the theme back in 2013 so have a look at that one.

Another good point about the theme was that it mixed the saucy R&B/jazz of the streets where a lot of the sordidness that Perry and his staff had to wade through existed with the elegant symphonic strings of the high life of fancy restaurants and dance halls which Perry also inhabited. I also think that "Park Avenue Beat" melodically traced the usual episode of "Perry Mason": it starts with an ominous trill and crash which could reflect a violent crime being committed and then it goes into the jazzy symphony as the burly Raymond Burr as Perry comes into the picture and investigates the heck out of the case before winning it by the end. Considering that glowering expression and his linebacker appearance (albeit decked out in one fine suit), I was surprised that I never saw Mason use his fists and that it was his mind and voice that he used as weapons.

We're talking about 1957 here today. What were the hits of that year?

Akira Wakayama -- Yorokobi mo Kanashimi mo Ikutoshitsuki（喜びも悲しみも幾歳月）

Haruo Minami -- Chanchiki Okesa (チャンチキおけさ)

Akira Wakayama -- Yorokobi mo Kanashimi mo Ikutoshitsuki（喜びも悲しみも幾歳月）

I've often used the above photo for a few articles on the blog for no other reason other than I couldn't find anything else suitable. However, I can finally say here that it fits perfectly for reasons that will soon become apparent.

On a recent episode of "Uta Con"（うたコン）, there was a montage of the old kayo for one segment and I saw this one fellow singing most heroically on a kayo show from long ago. I had thought it was some sort of wartime song to bring cheer to the troops and citizens.

However, I was quite wrong there. Instead, "Yorokobi mo Kanashimi mo Ikutoshitsuki" was the theme song for a movie of the same name which was translated as "Times of Joy and Sorrow" as it was titled in the USA and "The Lighthouse" in the UK. Released in 1957 and directed by Keisuke Kinoshita（木下惠介）, it was a years-spanning movie about a couple who start life together living in a lighthouse from the year 1932. As the American title will indicate, the movie goes into the ups and downs of their lives as they raise a family through the war and into the postwar years.

Just gleaning from the fact that those NHK morning serial dramas, which often feature stories spanning decades, have remained a TV staple all these years, I wasn't surprised to find out that "Yorokobi mo Kanashimi mo Ikutoshitsuki" became a huge hit. The theme song also became one for singer Akira Wakayama（若山彰）. The Hiroshima-born singer had once aspired to go into the field of opera but after doing some work as part of a backup chorus, he decided to switch into singing regular kayo. Perhaps his training would explain those exhorting vocals.

Wakayama had been singing professionally for about 6 years when he recorded the theme song which made him an overnight success. In fact, he ended up making an appearance on the Kohaku Utagassen for 1957 and would appear 3 more times in a row. Director Kinoshita's younger brother, Chuuji Kinoshita（木下忠司）, wrote and composed the song; and he often provided the music for several of the elder Kinoshita's productions.