Mami Koyama & Columbia Yurikago Kai -- Wai Wai Koushinkyoku（わいわい行進曲） ~ Farewell to Akira Toriyama（鳥山明）!

 

It was late last night when I got the first tweets that mangaka extraordinaire Akira Toriyama had died on March 1st at the age of 68 due to an acute subdural hematoma. Those first tweets then turned into a flood of shock, grief and gratitude from anime and manga fans for his works over the past number of decades. His stature in pop culture was such that he received at least ten minutes of tribute on the main NHK newscast, only preceded by a report on the State of the Nation address by President Biden. News broadcasts around the world including our own news channel here in Toronto noted Toriyama's passing. 

Of course, "Dragonball"（ドラゴンボール）will be stated alongside his name. That was his magnum opus for fans in Japan and elsewhere. However, as I have noted in previous postings of songs associated with his works, his earlier masterpiece, "Dr. Slump"（ドクタースランプ）will always be my favourite manga and anime by him. As with "Dragonball", there were a ton of characters surrounding the main ones of robot or android Arale-chan（アラレちゃん）and her creator Senbe Norimaki （則巻千兵衛）as they got into their hilarious scrapes in basically peaceful Penguin Village. The humour was cute and crude at the same time and I will never ever forget Arale's unique way of making her own soft-serve ice cream. Plus, there was also the long-running question of whether the essentially decent but pervy Norimaki would ever earn the love of young and beautiful teacher Midori Yamabuki（山吹みどり）...happily for all concerned, the answer was yes. 

When my family got its first VCR in 1983, one of the first video tapes that we rented from Nippon Video was a couple of episodes of the anime "Dr. Slump". However, I wasn't as attached to the anime as I was to the original manga that Toriyama had published between 1980 and 1984. It remains the only manga in my home where I've gotten the complete collection and I actually enjoy the drawings there better than in the anime version. I not only have to thank Toriyama for introducing me to another fascinating wing of pop culture in Japan but I also have to give my gratitude to my host sister in Nara for recommending "Dr. Slump" when we were being shown around in the city in the summer of 1981 with her buying me Volumes 5 and 6 in the 18-volume collection.

I've already posted articles on the first opening theme of the original anime series and one of the ending themes (did not know that the first version of the anime lasted so long between 1981 and 1986). Well, I'm now providing the second opening theme by Arale-chan seiyuu Mami Koyama（小山茉美）with help from the children's chorus group Columbia Yurikago Kai（コロムビアゆりかご会）, "Wai Wai Koushinkyoku" (The Wai Wai March). Released in 1985 as a single, it was written by Asuna Kawagishi（河岸亜砂）and composed by Shunsuke Kikuchi（菊池俊介）. On the Oricon Children's Song chart, "Wai Wai Koushinkyoku" scored No. 38 in the 1985 yearly rankings.

My condolences to Toriyama's family, friends and his millions of fans around the world. バイチャ!

Ichiro Mizuki and the Columbia Yurikago Kai -- Bokura no Mazinger Z（ぼくらのマジンガーＺ）

 

A little earlier today via Twitter, commenter Francium 11 was kind enough to show her vaunted Texas breakfast since she's from that area in the United States. Everything is big in the Lone Star State (I really have to try their Sweet Tea) so I professed my envy to her and noted that though I used to inhale breakfast buffets in the past, I can no longer do so. Going into my gastronomical nostalgia, a bunch of us from university went to a Szechuan hot pot place in Scarborough, one part of Toronto, one Monday night and six folks including myself managed to devour close to forty plates worth of beef in one sitting. That's a lot of protein!

Just around lunchtime today, the longtime NHK program "Sarameshi",（サラメシ）which whimsically focuses on what regular folks have for lunch, did their occasional feature at the end of the episode paying to a tribute to a recently departed celebrity and their favourite lunch. Today's celebrity was the Emperor of Anison, singer-songwriter Ichiro Mizuki（水木一郎）who had passed away on December 6th 2022 at the age of 74. He apparently was a great fancier for sukiyaki-style shabu-shabu at a Shibuya restaurant, so instead of swishing slices of beef in a clear flavourful stock, he preferred the dark sukiyaki tare.

So as such, I've decided to begin Tuesday's round of KKP songs with a Mizuki number. Last year, I wrote about what was arguably his most famous contribution to anime, the opening theme for the original "Mazinger Z"（マジンガーZ） which had its run between 1972 and 1974. The ending theme didn't have much change to the title with merely the addition of a first-person plural pronoun to create "Bokura no Mazinger Z" (Our Mazinger Z).

Once again, it was the powerful Mizuki joined by the children's chorus group Columbia Yurikago Kai（コロムビアゆりかご会）to sing this ending theme which not only sounded like a pretty boss downtown kayo but also something with a bit of samba swing. From what little I remember of the anime itself, Mazinger Z could do many amazing things; maybe doing the Watusi was one of them. As was the case with the opening theme, "Bokura no Mazinger Z" was also created by lyricist Kazuo Koike（小池一夫）and composer Chuumei Watanabe（渡辺宙明）.

It's Tuesday and it's Wednesday...doing the Watusi!

Ichiro Mizuki -- Mazinger Z（マジンガーZ）/Kamen Rider Christmas（仮面ライダークリスマス）

 

Unfortunately, this week has started with the news of yet another celebrity in the music industry leaving this mortal coil. I found out on NHK News this morning that the Emperor of Anison, singer-songwriter Ichiro Mizuki（水木一郎）, had passed away on December 6th due to lung cancer at the age of 74. Born Toshio Hayakawa（早川俊夫）in Tokyo, he was also affectionately known as the aniki or big brother, and I knew him for his appearances on various specials and other shows where he would put his all into his appearance and performances of the many anime and tokusatsu theme songs that he had recorded over many decades.

The first time I'd heard of Mizuki, it was through his recording of the opening theme song for the tokusatsu hero program "Chojin Barom-1"（超人バロム・1...Superman Barom-1）, a show that I watched as a kid visiting Grandpa's farm in Wakayama Prefecture back in 1972. However, I think that for a lot of his fans, the theme for the robot superhero anime "Mazinger Z", which came out in the same year, will be the one to remember.

I never saw the anime myself. My first exposure to Mazinger Z was through Marvel Comics when the hero was placed as one of the three "Shogun Warriors". But his iconic looks were such that he would always be instantly recognized on either side of the Pacific for those mecha fans.

Written by Fumihiko Azuma（東文彦）, whose real name was Kazuo Koike（小池一夫）, and composed by Chuumei Watanabe（渡辺宙明）, Mizuki was really putting some vocal acrobatics into "Mazinger Z", kinda like how the actual character was pulling off his moves against the bad guys, a snazzy disco tune which probably had the kids from 8 to 88 shouting along right with Mizuki.

Also in 1972, in a November episode of "Kamen Rider", the tradition of Christmas was broached and the insectoid tokusatsu superhero actually did his part to help Santa Claus out. Mizuki and the Columbia Yurikago Kai（コロムビアゆりかご会）children's chorus group recorded an insert song for the episode, "Kamen Rider Christmas" which has been done as the usual heroic march but with some of those jingle bells thrown in. Mamoru Tanaka（田中守）and Toshio Oka（丘灯至夫）were responsible for the lyrics while Shunsuke Kikuchi（菊池俊輔）took care of the music and arrangement.

It is a pity that Mizuki's dynamic performances in front of enthusiastic fans have come to an end. From what I've read on his Wikipedia profile, the singer had been more than willing to keep up the good fight and please all those who have appreciated his music over the years. My condolences to his family, friends and fans.

Isao Sasaki & Columbia Yurikago Kai -- Daikū Maryū Gaiking（大空魔竜ガイキング）

 

Another passing that I have to note, unfortunately. I was checking my Mixi account this morning when I came across the news that TV and film composer Shunsuke Kikuchi（菊池俊輔）had passed a few days ago on April 24th at the age of 89. Kikuchi was responsible for the music behind a number of anime, tokusatsu and cop series including the very first tokusatsu series that I'd ever seen "Chojin Barom-1"（超人バロム・1...Superman Barom-1）and the police series "G-MEN★75". He also came up with Meiko Kaji's（梶芽衣子）"Urami Bushi"（怨み節）, a kayo ballad that had also got into Quentin Tarentino's "Kill Bill".

Looking at his Wikipedia biography, a newspaper in his native Aomori Prefecture noted that if Kikuchi ever got onto a project, it would always be a success, and that same newspaper moreover stated that he was responsible for the pattern of having a heroic theme for the opening of an anime and a melancholy ballad at the end.

There are many of a certain age, including myself, who remember the "Force Five" collection of mecha anime which hit North American shores in the late 1970s, just before "Robotech", aka "Macross", did. The second entry in the series was "Danguard Ace" whose theme song had originally been recorded by the legend Isao Sasaki（ささきいさお）and composed by Kikuchi.

Well, Sasaki and Kikuchi were also together when they worked on the fifth entry in "Force Five", "Daikū Maryū Gaiking" (Divine Demon-Dragon Gaiking). Now, when it comes to the theme songs, the ones that I remember are the theme for the first "Starvengers", aka "Getter Robo G" in Japan (I'll have to do that one soon) and the one for "Gaiking". 

Simply titled "Daikū Maryū Gaiking", Kikuchi's theme was heroic and slightly disco at the same time, not surprising since the show premiered in April 1976. And it reflected the awesome concept of a gigantic airborne carrier shaped like a dragon which could spit out parts to create the mighty Gaiking. Now that was something worth waking up early for!

The "Force Five" shows didn't have the sung versions of the theme songs during the opening credits so all we got for "Gaiking" was the empty karaoke version and even then it was plenty epic. Yet, there is no one like having the original with the golden tones of veteran anison singer Isao Sasaki and the Columbia Yurikago Kai（コロムビアゆりかご会）at the mike. I'm sure that whenever Gaiking kicked major mecha butt, the theme would come roaring on and kids would be jumping up and down. Kougo Hotomi（保富康午）provided the lyrics with Kikuchi handling music and arrangement.

Honey Knights & The Misuzu Children's Choral Group -- TAC no Uta（TACの歌）

 

Ahh...it's truly a pity that I lost the single cover for the "Ultraman Ace"（ウルトラマンA）theme so many years ago. It was kakkoii with the tokusatsu hero front and centre performing that famous Ultraman pose with the right fist and arm outstretched toward the viewer while their left counterparts were coiled down, ready to strike themselves.

I wrote the article on the triumphant theme song for "Ultraman Ace" back in 2013 and mentioned that during our very first trip to Japan in 1972, my brother and I enjoyed the show of Ace battling the evil monsters with his array of beams while the defense organization connected with him, TAC (standing for Terrible Monster Attacking Crew), was helping out with its own arsenal.

Of course, it was Ultraman Ace that we came to see weekly but I gotta admit that I hadn't been aware that TAC had so many weapons and ships at its disposal to make the Thunderbirds take notice. I mean, the force had the TAC Falcon, the TAC Arrow and the Golden Hawk among other vehicles. What's not to admire?

TAC also had its own kickass song to match the one for "Ultraman Ace", simply called "TAC no Uta" (The TAC Song). According to J-Wiki, the original version had been recorded by vocal group Honey Knights（ハニー・ナイツ）with The Misuzu Children's Choral Group（みすず児童合唱団）but the video above apparently features a cover version with that same vocal group but instead of Misuzu, it's the Columbia Yurikago Kai（コロムビアゆりかご会）instead.

"TAC no Uta" was written by Kyoichi Azuma（東京一）and composed/arranged by Toru Fuyuki（冬木透）, the same duo behind the "Mirror Man"（ミラーマン）theme, and the song parallels the "Ultraman Ace" march in its progression with the opening grim trouble-is-brewing half before the major-chord winning latter half. Strangely enough, I think the "Avengers" theme may share some genes in that respect despite its decades-later creation.

My record with both the "Ultraman Ace" theme and "TAC no Uta" that my mother had bought back in 1972 may have been yet another more subdued cover since I don't really recollect hearing in my 45" Honey Knights' "wan dabadaba wan dabadaba" scatting which peppers the arrangement. Supposedly it was quite the thing for their scatting to populate a number of the tokusatsu themes they performed on, with the "Wan Daba" phenomenon even getting its own article on J-Wiki. I have to say that it does beef up the song quite a lot.

Mami Koyama & Columbia Yurikago Kai -- Arale-chan Ondo（アラレちゃん音頭）

Reminiscing over that summer trip to Japan in 1981 with my fellow Japanese Language School graduates, I remember shortly after checking into the Tokyo Prince Hotel near Zojoji Temple going out with the guys for some dinner. We ended up in some small home cooking place near the subway and all squeezed around a slightly rickety wooden table before munching down on some sort of don. On the telly on a corner shelf, there were the ending credits for some anime playing about which had some happy woman with big blonde hair (remember, those were the 80s) dancing ritualistically in a traditional yukata and geta.

Some days later, when we met up with the high school girls at Tezukayama High School in Nara for our 3-day homestay, our host sisters introduced us to the world of "Dr. Slump"（Dr．スランプ）by Akira Toriyama（鳥山明）, who's now much better known for the whole "Dragonball"（ドラゴンボール）phenomenon. After all of these years, I still prefer "Dr. Slump", and my entire collection of the original manga is occupying some dark corner of a cardboard box somewhere. I will make it my mandate to dig those out again.

Anyways, those ending credits belonged to the anime version of "Dr. Slump" as I would later learn, and the blonde woman was none other than Midori Yamabuki（山吹みどり）, Arale-chan's（アラレちゃん）teacher and later stepmother as she would finally...and somewhat inexplicably...get married to Arale-chan's creator and father, the well-meaning but bumbling and perverted Senbe Norimaki（則巻千兵衛）.

Considering that we graduates had gotten to Tokyo in the hot and steamy month of July, it was no wonder that the ending credits for the show switched over to something more festive, and the ending theme matched the typical summery environment for Japan which was the season of festivals. Therefore, each of the summer episodes ended with "Arale-chan Ondo" (Arale's Folk Song) with all of the characters gaily enjoying that festival atmosphere.

Heck, the seiyuu for Arale-chan herself, Mami Koyama（小山茉美）, led the song herself with assistance from the children's choir, Otowa Yurikago Kai（音羽ゆりかご会）. However, the choir was given the name Columbia Yurikago Kai（コロムビアゆりかご会）when it recorded theme songs for tokusatsu and anime since these were through the auspices of Nippon Columbia.

The video here was for the ending of the "Dr. Slump" movie. Minami Mitsu*（満都南）was the lyricist while Shunsuke Kikuchi（菊池俊輔）took care of the music. Kikuchi was also the fellow behind the first opening theme for the show, "Wai Wai World"（ワイワイワールド）.

*Not totally sure on the transcription of the name into English. Once again, if someone knows for sure, please let me know.

Yuuki Hide & Columbia Yurikago Kai -- Go Go Kikaider（ゴーゴー・キカイダー）

I've related over the time of this blog that I had that one month in Wakayama Prefecture in 1972, and that was where I got my education of sorts in the various tokusatsu programming that had the children enthralled. There was "Barom-1"（バロム・1）, "Kamen Rider"（仮面ライダー）and even a couple of representatives from "Ultraman"（ウルトラマン）.

Thing is, though, I never got to see this tokusatsu hero on telly during my summer in Japan or elsewhere, although I did get to read one manga about the android hero "Kikaider"（キカイダー）in the 1970s. His run on TV lasted between July 1972 and May 1973.

Although he won't beat Lieutenant Commander Data in terms of smoothness and elocution, Kikaider was another of those androids that you wanted by your side when justice was desperately needed. Mind you, Kikaider was quite a colourful fellow compared to Data.

Of course, any self-respecting tokusatsu hero needs that hearty opening theme song that melodically kicks all sorts of ass (hopefully just kaiju), and "Kikaider" is no exception. "Go Go Kikaider" was recorded by Yuuki Hide（秀夕木）and the Columbia Yurikago Kai（コロムビアゆりかご会）with the music by Chuumei Watanabe（渡辺宙明）having that mix of brassy kayo, Western twang and even a bit of psychedelic groove in the guitar. Series creator Shotaro Ishinomori（石森章太郎）provided the lyrics exhorting viewers and listeners to support their local android superhero.

Looking out for "Go Go Kikaider", I found out that Hide was the same fellow behind the recording of a beloved tree-based kayo a year later.

Kumiko Ohsugi -- Rock River e（ロックリバーヘ）

(That 2018 video has been taken down

but did find a 2016 sighting in Tokyo.)

I remember last Thursday when I woke up and was watching "NHK News at 9", and the top news story was about a wayward raccoon that improbably found itself in the urban jungle of Akasaka, Tokyo. Raccoons are simply not seen in that fancy neighbourhood (and at those prices, I'm not surprised...ba-duh-bum!) unless "Guardians of the Galaxy" was playing at a theatre there. I was also rather amused and bemused by all of the excitement surrounding the capture of this brand of Procyon lotor, as if it had been Mothra or Godzilla in the nets.

My neighbourhood here doesn't have too many raccoon sightings although we've got plenty of squirrels and one time, I did manage to see a porcupine almost crossing a street one night before a truck tragically ended its life. Raccoons tend to be more of an issue where my brother lives quite a ways up north since they do tend to go after the garbage bins and leave brown land mines as parting gifts. I guess in Japan, they must be seen as rare novelties especially in the big cities.

The raccoon sighting in Tokyo last week reminded me of the time when I kept hearing about this old anime from the 1970s involving a rather intelligent raccoon named Rascal. In fact, I was wondering whether the Japanese started just calling the Procyon lotor a rascal in the same way that we here call any sort of facial tissue Kleenex.

Actually, the raccoon is still referred in Japanese as araiguma and the anime in question is "Araiguma Rascal"（あらいぐまラスカル...Rascal The Raccoon）.  Based on the novel, "Rascal: A Memoir of a Better Era" by Sterling North, the anime was brought to Fuji-TV in 1977 and had its run between January 2nd and Xmas Day. I only know the show through clips on retrospectives, and so I only got to know the theme song "Rock River e" (To Rock River) very recently.

And to show how little I knew of the song, I kept hearing the opening chorus done in English and initially assumed that this must have been a full English version of "Rock River e" done for the dubbed versions that went overseas. In fact, after the initial intro by the St. Mary's Children's Chorus, singer Kumiko Ohsugi（大杉久美子）and another children's choir group, Columbia Yurikago Kai（コロムビアゆりかご会）, sing the Japanese lyrics.

"Rock River e" sure is a jaunty square dance-friendly tune (with a hint of disco) that was written by Eriko Kishida（岸田衿子）and composed by Takeo Watanabe（渡辺岳夫）who was in charge of the soundtrack for "Araiguma Rascal". It won the Golden Hit prize at Japan Columbia in 1977. Strangely enough, the song reminds me of the theme song from the far rowdier "Blazing Saddles".

As for Ohsugi, she has become even more famous for her rendition of the "Doraemon"（ドラえもん）theme song.

Isao Sasaki & Mitsuko Horie with Columbia Yurikago Kai -- Susume! Gorenger （進め! ゴレンジャー）

Today I spent the day with some friends for lunch and a movie, the latter being "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back" starring Tom Cruise. I had seen most of the first Jack Reacher movie on TV and wasn't particularly thrown over the moon with it, so it was nice that I actually enjoyed "Never Go Back" a bit more. However, I still thought the movie was rather paint-by-the-numbers. It could have been any of the episodes of "NCIS" with Jethro Gibbs played by Cruise instead of Mark Harmon.

As for my thoughts on the annual rash of superhero blockbusters, it was also as hit-and-miss as "Never Go Back". "Captain America: Civil War" was fine although the story became increasingly sadder, while the earlier "Superman v. Batman" was disappointingly dire. "X-Men: Apocalypse" was also another missed opportunity and I didn't even bother with "Suicide Squad" due to the unhappy reviews despite all of the hoopla of last year's filming of a pivotal chase scene down on Toronto's Yonge Street. I'm hoping that "Doctor Strange" will end this year on a high note and from what I've heard from the early reviews is that it will be good if not spectacular.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCBjB44jdwM

In a year when the thought of a superhero team on the Hollywood screen was probably a mere dot of out-there-in-left-field fantasy, I had heard that Japan concocted a live-action show of a group of five human superheroes in contrast with the lone warrior of Kamen Rider（仮面ライダー）and the gigantic Ultraman (ウルトラマン) along with the anime Gatchaman (ガッチャマン). The 1975 show was "Himitsu Sentai Gorenger"（秘密戦隊ゴレンジャー...Secret Task Force Five Rangers）, produced by Toei Company and televised on TV Asahi as the first of the long-running Super Sentai series. One of its descendants ended up getting over to America in the early 1990s and transformed into the "Power Rangers" series.

But going back to "Gorenger", I first saw this team on those thick children's readers that were sold in the front of the Furuya Japanese food shop in Chinatown, and boy, did I want to know about these guys. I was amazed by the costumes and the weapons that were miraculously stored in their masks such as the whip in leader Red Ranger's mask and the bow-and-arrow setup in Blue Ranger's mask. However, the 1970s were the pre-Internet, pre-VCR prehistoric age so the best I could do was read one manga involving the team when they were going up against a villainous skeleton with a long cape. Fairly disappointed was I.

Things are obviously quite different now, but when I finally got over to Japan again in 1981, there wasn't any mention of any Super Sentai series and my interest had already waned down to a nub by that point. Still, I could find that little bit of the Gorenger in action above.

Also, there is the theme song, "Susume! Gorenger" (Go! Five Rangers) as sung by Isao Sasaki (ささきいさお) and Mitsuko Horie（堀江美都子）with the chorus group Columbia Yurikago Kai (コロムビアゆりかご会). Of course with Sasaki, I've always seen him as the king of the songs used in the "Uchuu Senkan Yamato"（宇宙戦艦ヤマト）franchise, and Horie has also contributed one or two songs to the adventures of the Yamato. But I think this is the first time I've heard them sing a good ol' tokusatsu tune.

And what a heroic tune it is. There is the urgent first part before the melody gives way to something hopeful with the combination of horns and plucky electric guitar. I've heard "Susume! Gorenger" used in parodies of the Super Sentai format by various comedians over the years but never knew that it had been the theme song for the pioneer show. Shotaro Ishinomori（石森章太郎）wrote the lyrics while Chumei Watanabe（渡辺宙明）took care of the music.

Missed opportunity, to be sure. But at least, I get to see some of what made the show so popular with the kiddies and my parents were able to save a ton of dough and frustration toward me for demanding that I get one of the team costumes.

Also, have a look at JTM's playlist for tokusatsu theme songs since he also mentions about the ending theme for "Gorenger" among some of his other favourite tunes from the genre.

Masato Shimon with Columbia Yurikago Kai/Kome Kome Club -- Theme from "Gatchaman"(ガッチャマン）

I remember reading the original manga for "Kagaku Ninja Tai Gatchaman"(科学忍者隊ガッチャマン.....Science Ninja Team Gatchaman) back in the early 70s as a kid. At the time I was more of an "Ultraman"fan, so I didn't really give too much devotion to the bird-based superteam at the time. However, one night in the late 70s, I was watching a Buffalo NY channel, WKBW, when I saw a commercial advertising this cartoon. And much to my shock and awe, it turned out to be the characters from "Gatchaman"....named on this side of the Pacific as G-Force with the show being titled "Battle of the Planets". If I'm not mistaken, it was slated for every Thursday night at 7:30.

Of course, as has been the case for many an anime crossing over from Japan to North America, changes had to be made. In the case of "Gatchaman", that included a different instrumental theme song. However, instrumental versions of the original Japanese beginning and ending themes were used throughout "Battle of the Planets".

Anime song and children's song vocalist Masato Shimon（子門真人）, who would later become the singer behind one of the Oricon rankings juggernauts of 1975, "Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun"(およげ！たいやきくん....Swim Taiyaki!), sang the opening theme, "The Gatchaman Song", with a children's chorus group, The Columbia Yurikago Kai （コロンビアゆりかご会）as backup. His machine gun-like staccato delivery of the opening words "Dare da, dare da, dare da!"(Who is it? Who is it? Who is it?) is still recognizable even today, and the song carries that usual brass-and-strings infused urgency that accompanied Japanese superhero theme songs of that time.

The ending theme was titled "Taose Galacta"(倒せ！ギャラクター....Defeat Galacta) in which the Columbia Yurikago Kai did solo duties here. Galacta was the original name for G-Force's enemy of Spectra in "Battle of the Planets". As was also the case with ending themes for anime, "Taose Galacta"was a more gentler and folksier tune, and listening to it brought a lot of memories of my time traveling in Japan right in that year. I recollect that there was a jauntier, more military-sounding instrumental version of this song used whenever the Phoenix launched from its underwater base (I have to admit that I spent many an hour drawing that iconic ship).

Even with all of the changes, I really enjoyed "Battle of the Planets", although I do cringe at some of the 7-Zark-7 insertions.

November 1 2012: OK, I just had to put Kome Kome Club's version of the main theme here....had my hair standing on end, just with the horn section blasting those notes out!