Cherish -- Bijutsukan（美術館）

 

First off, my compliments to YouTuber Glasbo for his video of the Art Gallery of Ontario. I have to admit that I haven't visited one of Toronto's big highlights in nearly fifty years. My Grade 6 class visited the AGO in 1976 on a field trip, and I remember that the tour included a class activity which involved us splitting into pairs with one partner going into a huge black fabric sack and molding each other into some sort of Henry Moore-esque sculpture. I don't think that would wash nowadays.

Anyways, that preamble ramble was for the song of this article, "Bijutsukan" (Art Gallery) by the folk duo Cherish（チェリッシュ）. A track from their 1973 album "Cherish no Chiisana Koi no Monogatari"（チェリッシュの小さな恋の物語...Cherish's Little Love Story）, it's a wistful song beautifully sung by the pair as they describe a woman making her way to the titular art gallery to assuage some of those melancholy feelings after a romantic breakup. Well, at least it's cheaper than running away on a train to the Tsugaru Strait. 

Written by Daizo Saito（さいとう大三）and composed by Shunichi Makaino（馬飼野俊一）, it's a lovely song for the broken hearts with the boss drumming of 70s kayo, shimmering strings and an electric guitar. I also love the cover for the Cherish album with Yoshitaka and Etsuko Matsuzaki（松崎好孝・松崎悦子） sitting in what looks like one corner of an old art gallery. Nice 70s threads, too.

The Works of Kisaburo Suzuki（鈴木キサブロー）

From Discogs

It's been a while since I've done a Creator article and the name Kisaburo Suzuki had been spinning around in my head for a while, so I've decided to pay tribute here. He's one of those prolific musician-songwriters that has created so many songs for so many singers that he's at the level of the question "He wrote THAT?!".

According to his J-Wiki profile, Suzuki（鈴木喜三郎）was born in the city of Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture in 1952. At the age of 15, he started learning the guitar and ukulele from his older brother and began becoming inspired by the works of the legendary B.B. King. In 1972, he made his way down to Tokyo and from the following year, he backed up a lot of singers including Masatoshi Nakamura（中村雅俊）, Akira Fuse（布施明）and Naomi Chiaki（ちあきなおみ）. A few years later in 1977 following an encounter with lyricist Osami Okamoto（岡本おさみ）, he set about to become a composer. Then in 1980, Suzuki would pick up his first award for providing Kenji Sawada（沢田研二）with "Sakaba de DABADA"（酒場でDABADA）.

With the probable exceptions of enka and Mood Kayo, Suzuki has covered all of the genres in Japanese music including anison and aidoru tunes. When I finally started paying attention to the songwriters in the industry, my impression of Suzuki was that he was quite the master at coming up with pop melodies in the 1980s which combined shimmering orchestra strings and wailing electric guitar. Mariko Takahashi's（高橋真梨子）"See You Again...Kaze ni Kuchitsukete"（SEE YOU AGAIN ・・・風にくちづけて...Kiss The Wind） was one of the first examples of this that I had ever heard and it was the first composition by Suzuki that I ever came across. However, there was one notable exception to the tradition of strings and guitar, and that was for one of Akina Nakamori's（中森明菜）biggest hits, "Desire". Anyways, the following is just a mere sample of what he has created.

(1983) H2O -- Omoide ga Ippai （思い出がいっぱい）

(1981) Saburo Tokito -- Kawa no Nagare wo Daite Nemuritai (川の流れを抱いて眠りたい）

(1981) Ruiko Kurahashi -- Last Scene ni Ai wo Komete （ラストシーンに愛をこめて）

(1986) Akina Nakamori -- Desire

(1982) Toru Watanabe -- Yakusoku (約束）

(1982) Cherish -- Come On, Sunshower (カモン・サンシャワー)

(1982) Mariko Takahashi -- See You Again...Kaze ni Kuchitsukete （SEE YOU AGAIN ・・・風にくちづけて）

Cherish -- Yume - Shinkirou（夢・蜃気楼）

 

The duo Cherish（チェリッシュ）consisting of Yoshitaka Matsuzaki（松崎好孝）and Etsuko Matsui（松井悦子）have been their known for their adorable folk hit, "Tento Mushi no Samba"（てんとう虫のサンバ）from July 1973. However, they've been around since 1968 and according to J-Wiki, they're still around.

Up to now, Cherish has released 48 singles and 32 albums, but by the mid-1980s, the frequency of their releases was starting to lessen, and Album No. 29 was "Daydream", their first LP in five years which came out in 1986. One track that I found was "Yume - Shinkirou" (Dream - Mirage) and their sound for at least this song was dramatically different from the bouncy and upbeat "Tento Mushi no Samba", and naturally, the longer a group or singer keeps on going in their career, the more their sound evolves.

Written by Fumiko Okada（岡田富美子）and composed by Tsunehiro Izumi（和泉常寛）, "Yume - Shinkirou" fits the title of not only the track but also of the album. It really does have a hazy and dreamy arrangement with Matsui's soft and floaty vocals, and with that sudden engagement of that electric guitar going into the chorus, I was reminded of many a Hiromi Iwasaki（岩崎宏美）ballad in the early to mid-1980s when they were contributed as ending themes to that television mystery series. I'd be interested in listening to the rest of "Daydream".

Cherish -- Ochiba no Mori no Bansankai（落ち葉の森の晩餐会）

 

It was about nine years ago that I put up folk duo Cherish's（チェリッシュ）famous and amiable "Tento Mushi no Samba" （てんとう虫のサンバ）which was their July 1973 7th single. My, how time flies. 

Well, the B-side of the single is "Ochiba no Mori no Bansankai" (The Dinner in the Woods of the Fallen Leaves) which was taken care of by the same duo behind the A-side: lyricist Daizo Saito（さいとう大三）and composer/arranger Shunichi Makaino（馬飼野俊一）. Melodically speaking, it sounds just a bit more contemporary kayo than the folksier "Tento Mushi no Samba", but personal as well as professional partners Yoshitaka Matsuzaki（松崎好孝）and Etsuko Matsui（松井悦子）still bring their happy-go-lucky charm to their vocals.

All in all, "Ochiba no Mori no Bansankai" is a cheery and breezy tune that could any accompany any picnic on a Sunday. In fact, there's something about that title that has me thinking of that tea party in "Alice in Wonderland".

Cherish -- Kasukabe Samba（春日部サンバ）

 

When I went to visit Japan again in 2017, my friend Hiro and I got to go to a section in Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture called Koedo（小江戸）which features a lot of historical architecture including the building in the above photo. It apparently was a bank back in the day. But aside from that municipality, the only other city that I've visited in Saitama was the capital, Saitama City.

Indeed, I've heard of Kasukabe City in Saitama but alas I never had the opportunity to visit it. Apparently, it's home to the famous anime character of Crayon Shin-chan（クレヨンしんちゃん）and his family. By the way, the video is by the channel Virtual Walk/All Over Japan.

Earlier tonight on the news, the anchor reported that Carnaval has started up once more in Rio which I'm happy about, and that one of the first things to get under way was some sort of samba festival. So I thought that I could find something samba-esque among the kayo. 

Well, I did find "Kasukabe Samba" but it really doesn't sound like a traditional Brazilian samba at all. Still, it's very pleasant listening although I was surprised that this was actually a single provided by the folk duo Cherish（チェリッシュ）in 1990 as a promotion for the city of Kasukabe. The reason that I was surprised was that in spite of the release year, it certainly sounds more like something that came from the 1970s, around the same time that the duo's arguably most famous hit, "Tento Mushi no Samba" （てんとう虫のサンバ）was released. This was written by Akira Ito（伊藤アキラ）and composed by Shunichi Makaino（馬飼野俊一）.

Cherish/Teresa Teng -- Come On, Sunshower (カモン・サンシャワー)

If this photo of an ancient Canadian Tire tape looks familiar to you, that is because I used the same picture for my most recent Hiromi Iwasaki（岩崎宏美）article in which one of her songs was on an episode of "Sounds of Japan" that is on the tape.

http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm30032395#_=_

Well, there was another song on the episode....in fact, it was the song that started off the episode. It was called "Come On, Sunshower", the 33rd single of the duo Cherish (チェリッシュ) that came out in March 1982. Looking at a chart of their singles and their success at J-Wiki, it was obvious that their heyday was back in the early 1970s. The song didn't even chart on Oricon.

Still, I liked the really upbeat nature of the tune that was created by lyricist Kohei Oikawa（及川恒平）and composer Kisaburo Suzuki（鈴木キサブロー）. And I would have liked to have introduced the actual song to you via YouTube as well. The only thing is that no such video exists there or on any of the other sites. However, what has still made this article possible is the fact that a cover was performed by Teresa Teng (テレサ・テン) a couple of years later. If I read the description correctly, it is a Mandarin cover by the late singer but it is still unmistakably "Come On, Sunshower" since the arrangement hasn't changed all that much including a happy electric guitar.

There are quite a few Cherish tunes up on YouTube. I hope that this particular one does get its due someday (it finally did after several years of waiting).

Cherish -- Koi no Funade （恋の船出）

Remember last week when I informed you about all that renovation work upstairs? Well, they're still at it. In fact, today, the contractors dumped a whole bunch of detritus which increased noise levels significantly. At least, they had the common courtesy to warn us in advance, and to be honest, they have been following all noise by-laws.

So perhaps to ease a bit of my pain, some 70s folk may be just the tonic. Therefore, I cherish Cherish (チェリッシュ). The (future) husband-and-wife folk duo of Yoshitaka Matsuzaki and Etsuko Matsui （松崎好孝・松井悦子）made their fame with their cute-as-all-get-out "Tento Mushi no Samba"（てんとう虫のサンバ）in 1973, but I also like this wistful ballad titled "Koi no Funade" (Ocean Departure of Love). This was the B-side to their 12th single, "Ai no Period"（愛の終末...The End of Love）which came out in October 1974.

Haruo Hayashi（林春生）came up with the lyrics with the legendary Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）creating the music with that wonderful flute and strings. Another example of melodic chamomile tea here. I'm pretty much convinced that Tsutsumi was able to concoct fine music in any genre although I'm not sure if he ever came up with anything for X Japan (just kidding). He and Hayashi collaborated often on Cherish's songs and for this particular single, it went up as high as No. 24.

Cherish -- Tento Mushi no Samba （てんとう虫のサンバ）

It doesn't really sound like a samba, but "Tento Mushi no Samba" (The Ladybug Samba) is just one of those old-fashioned folk songs from Japan that just makes me wanna grab a butterfly net and head out into the fields (mind you, if I skipped around and did that at my age, that net should probably be around MY head). It's one of those tunes that has come in and out of my memories over the decades via the various retrospectives and commercials.

Back in 1968, Yoshitaka Matsuzaki（松崎好孝） started his band, Cherish, with three others in his hometown of Nagoya. The name of the group came from the 1966 song of the same name by the US band The Association that used to pop up on my AM radio back in the 70s and on Muzak speakers everywhere. In 1970, Etsuko Matsui（松井悦子）joined to make a 5-strong group with an official debut a year later with the song "Nanoni Anata wa Kyoto e Yuku no"（なのにあなたは京都へ行くの...But You're Heading To Kyoto）. However in 1972, Cherish became a simple duo with Matsuzaki and Matsui.

Their biggest hit was "Tento Mushi no Samba", a cheerful and skippy song about that wedding day in the forest. It became a million-seller peaking at No. 5 on Oricon after its release in July 1973 as Cherish's 7th single and would eventually become the 24th-ranked song of the year. Written by Daizo Saito（さいとう大三） and composed by Shunichi Makaino (馬飼野俊一...the younger brother of composer Koji Makaino), it has also become a popular song to be played at weddings, giving it a certain immortality. And perhaps the song sprinkled some further good luck to the duo....Matsuzaki and Matsui would get married in 1977.