Bonnie Tyler -- It's a Heartache

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I was watching the local news here when the breaking news hit the screen that singer Bonnie Tyler had passed away at the age of 75 today. Apparently since the information came out regarding her death, her 1983 hit "Total Eclipse of the Heart" has been getting a lot of looks. Tyler already has recognition on this blog for that very song and I'd been thinking of using today's ROY slot to give tribute to her 1984 "Holding Out for a Hero", but then, I realized that when I had posted Miki Asakura's（麻倉未稀）cover of the song, I basically treated the article also as a proto-ROY one.

So, I've gone back several years before her really large feathery hair music video days in those 1980s and back to her 1970s days to listen to her "It's a Heartache". Released on November 4th 1977 as her 5th single, this was created by Ronnie Scott and Steve Wolfe and I remember it as this genteel country ballad that got a lot of airplay on AM radio. And strangely enough, I only heard it on radio and never saw the face behind the song. At the time, I wasn't much for remembering names so I was surprised years later that it was indeed Bonnie Tyler who had sung this one although it should have been recognizable because of her famously husky voice.

"It's a Heartache" was a No. 1 hit in several countries including Canada and France. In the United States, it got as high as No. 3 while in the UK, it reached No. 4. 

Speaking of her husky voice, that all came about from a surgical procedure earlier to remove some nodules from her vocal cords. "It's a Heartache" was one of her first recordings following that surgery and from what I've read on the article for the song, her "new" voice made the song and most likely her entire career from that point onwards. Of course, I was interested in how Tyler had sounded in her first few singles before surgery so I pulled out her debut single "My! My! Honeycomb" from 1976. To be honest, I find her voice here to be a smoother version without the extra burr.

The Oricon rankings had their weekly report on November 7th 1977. So, what was up at the top of the list? Also, my condolences go out to Tyler's family, friends and fans throughout the world.

1. Pink Lady -- Wanted

2. Joe Yamanaka -- Ningen no Shomei （人間の証明）

3. Momoe Yamaguchi -- Cosmos (秋桜)

Bonnie Tyler -- Sayonara Tokyo（サヨナラ Tokyo）

 

Now you might be taking a look at the byline above and saying "Wait a minute! Didn't J-Canuck already give his due to Bonnie Tyler on Eclipse Day?". My answer would be "Indeed, yes!". However, when I was looking up stuff on Tyler for that article, I also found a single that she had released back in 1981 which apparently immediately preceded "Total Eclipse of the Heart", and it was only meant for Japanese audiences because it was made for the above commercial.

Yes, now I am always going to equate Tyler with Japanese vodka. And it's going to be so easy because her "Sayonara Tokyo" goes down as easy as that Suntory libation (hopefully). Right from the beginning, the arrangement is so AOR that it sounds a bit strange that it was used for an ad that's been set somewhere in the winter woods; mind you, "Sayonara Tokyo" was just given a very brief hear-through there. 

If anything, "Sayonara Tokyo" is something to be heard while that plane takes a fellow away from a winter-free Narita Airport, Tokyo and Japan for good. The vodka might be in there, too. Lyrics and melody were provided by singer-songwriter Yusuke Nakamura（中村裕介）and he's made a fine power ballad for Tyler here. Nakamura, who has also gone by the name Kintaro Nakamura（中村きんたろう）, also provided the music for "Tasogare"（たそがれ）recorded by Mai Yamane（山根麻衣）, another chanteuse with that mahogany voice.

Bonnie Tyler -- Total Eclipse of the Heart

 

Well, this is for the billions of people outside of North America who may not be aware of it, but tomorrow, there will be a total eclipse sweeping up through the continent with the Toronto area getting their look (not directly hopefully) at around 3:30 pm. Actually, though, I should say that Toronto will be receiving a partial eclipse (if the clouds don't invade and ruin things) and it's actually Niagara Falls across Lake Ontario which will be getting the 100% effect.

As a result, the Honeymoon Capital of the World has been the Total Eclipse Capital of the World for the past several weeks as folks have been inundating pretty much every hotel in the area with reservations. Supposedly, as many as a million people will crowd around the falls tomorrow necessitating a preemptive emergency declaration by the mayor to shore up resources to handle the eclipse-curious masses. 

To be honest, I'm not all that enthused about the event and despite assurances from our provincial government that measures are in place to hold the electrical grid and Internet service together during the big eclipse, I will probably be offline during the relevant time. It ought to be interesting to see things darken dramatically though.

Of course, you ROY watchers have probably guessed correctly that for such an event, I just had to provide "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler as the special article. I was thinking of doing this on Eclipse Day Monday but just to be on the safe side, I'm gonna do it today. 

Tyler's magnum opus was first unleashed on the world in February 1983 in the UK (June 1983 in the US) and I remember "Total Eclipse of the Heart" thanks to that weird video that probably had psychology majors analyzing it for years. It and the song were on radio and TV for weeks and months on end when I was a high school kid. It got to the point where I was getting tired of hearing "Bright Eyes" and seeing the Children of the Corn standing at that academy. Still, hearing it again after so many years brought some good feelings and I think it has gone down as one of the biggest power ballads of the 1980s, especially thanks to Tyler's growly voice.

Considering its overwhelming popularity back then, I'm not surprised that "Total Eclipse of the Heart" managed to hit No. 1 in a number of countries including Canada and the United States. Most likely, there will be folks playing the song on their smartphones and other devices while the eclipse happens. I've already seen multiple comments under the various YouTube videos for the song regarding April 8th 2024.

Now, what was at the top of the Oricon list when "Total Eclipse of the Heart" was getting its time in the sun? The Top 3 are:

1. Masahiko Kondo -- Midnight Station（ミッドナイト・ステーション）

2. Seiko Matsuda -- Himitsu no Hanazono （秘密の花園）

3. Eisaku Ohkawa -- Sazanka no Yado （さざんかの宿）

Miki Asakura -- Hero（ヒーロー）

I knew that he hadn't been all that well recently, but it was still a bit of a shock to hear of Stan Lee's death yesterday. His name was trending all over Twitter and even his name in katakana was second only to that.

As the heart and soul behind the creation of Marvel Comics and now an entire cinematic universe, I was one of his customers as a kid. My first two comic books happened to be the Spiderman issue introducing The Punisher and an Uncanny X-Men issue featuring the flamboyant assassin Arcade. Since then, I had been buying up a lot of the X-Men and related comics all the way up to coming to Japan when my hobby quickly faded to nothing when I found out how much American comics cost in Tokyo.

Well, at least, I could live vicariously through Lee and Marvel again through the movies, and now I think the next Avengers movie will take on an especially poignant tone; even more so because Stan The Man filmed his final customary cameo there.

Anyways I thought I should give some tribute to Lee via "Kayo Kyoku Plus". To start off, being a kid of 80s music, I remember Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out for a Hero" quite well since I thought the music video was pretty darn cheesy and that opinion rather coloured my image of the song itself. To be honest, I still prefer her earlier "Total Eclipse of the Heart" which seemed to get heavy rotation on the music video shows.

Then, many years later, I bought a movie by Paramount Studios on VHS tape. I couldn't remember the movie but I certainly remembered the trailer preceding it which featured a highly-charged montage of the Paramount set of action and suspense movies in its library. Everything from "Apocalypse Now" to "The Untouchables" was being thrown at me at warp speed while a cover of "Holding Out for a Hero" was playing. Now I started appreciating the song better, and then I even heard it again during the funny climax in "Shrek 2".

Miki Asakura（麻倉未稀）has already made her appearance known on the pages of this blog, but I think that her cover of "Holding Out for a Hero" is arguably her most famous song for most folks who listen to 80s Japanese pop. And she does sound quite right for "Hero".

However, instead of being a part of a soundtrack for a movie which featured a kid who, gosh darn it, needs to dance in a town that has banned the art, Asakura's "Hero" was the theme song for a TBS drama "School Wars" about a tough-as-nails coach whipping a high school rugby team into shape.

Released as her 11th single in November 1984, about 7 months after Tyler's initial release, "Hero" became her 2nd-most successful hit selling a little over 180,000 records and peaking at No. 19 on the Oricon weeklies. It ended up as the 71st-ranked single of 1985 and ended up on her 7th album "Love Again" released in May 1985. Masao Urino（売野雅勇）provided the Japanese lyrics for Asakura's cover of the original Jim Steinman & Dean Pitchford creation.

I will finish off here by stating that I actually got to see Lee once at a Fan Expo held here in Toronto several years ago. I was actually waiting in line for my photo-op with George Takei of "Star Trek" fame when I started hearing this slow wave of gasps and then cheers. At first, I'd assumed that it was either Takei or Ian McDiarmid (Emperor Palpatine in "Star Wars") who had the next booth arriving, but it was actually Stan The Man himself walking down beside the lineups. He didn't get close enough for handshakes but he was more than happy to give off that infectious smile and wave heartily back to everyone.

Excelsior!