The Genova -- Sakhalin no Hi wa Kiezu（サハリンの灯は消えず）

From Geography.name

 

Last Wednesday, I posted a 1962 song with the title of "Furusato wa Souya no Hate ni"（ふるさとは宗谷の果てに）, by Masao Kikuchi（菊地正夫）who would later take on the stage name of Takuya Jou（城卓矢）to even bigger success. Written and composed by Kikuchi's older brother, Jun Kitahara（北原じゅん）, the kayo kyoku was their paean to their birthplace, Karafuto Island, which had been taken over by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II and turned into Sakhalin.

Well, it looks like Kitahara's ardor for Sakhalin and perhaps Russia/the USSR in general continued forward for quite some time. Later in the decade, the songwriter took five young lads under his wing and whipped them into Group Sounds band The Genova（ザ・ジェノバ）. Led by bassist Shoji Sasaki（佐々木章二）, despite the band being named after an Italian city, their debut single in February 1968 was "Sakhalin no Hi wa Kiezu" (The Light of Sakhalin Will Never Die), once again which dealt with the love afar (well, not that far, geographically speaking) for the island or someone on the island. In fact, according to an Ameba blog, Kitahara would create a few more singles with that Russian theme in mind in what was called the Sakhalin Series.

Kitahara came up with the jangly melody while Kaoru Wakaki（若木香）wrote the pining lyrics. I noted some of that blog mentioning about Kitahara's rationale that Russian folk songs had been popular in Japan for a long time and so that particular sound would sell, but I never got any hint of underlying Russian music in "Sakhalin no Hi wa Kiezu". It struck me as being the usual GS song and it was a pretty successful one at that, selling approximately 100,000 records. But I don't know how long they lasted although the GS boom would fade out early in the 1970s.

Masao Kikuchi/Teruhiko Saigo -- Furusato wa Souya no Hate ni（ふるさとは宗谷の果てに）

 

Over eight years ago, KKP contributor and specialist on the early Showa Era tunes, Noelle Tham, introduced the late singer Takuya Jou（城卓矢）and his huge hit "Hone Made Aishite" (骨まで愛して) from 1966.

As Noelle mentioned in that March 2015 post, Jou was born Masaki Kikuchi（菊地正規）and when he debuted in 1958, he took on the stage name of Masao Kikuchi（菊地正夫）with just that small alteration of one kanji. One of his notable songs under that pre-Jou name was his September 1962 kayo kyoku, "Furusato wa Souya no Hate ni". (My Home is at the End of Souya).

To further explain, Souya is the name of a cape in Hokkaido which is the northernmost point of all of Japan. The song was written and composed by Jun Kitahara（北原じゅん）who happened to be Kikuchi/Jou's older brother, and for both brothers, "Furusato wa Souya no Hate ni" was in all likelihood a very personal song for them. It's a gallant tune with a bit of a country twang but it's also a kayo about lamenting the fact that neither Kikuchi nor Kitahara could go back to the land of their birth because they had been born on what was known as Karafuto Island（樺太）but it's currently known as Sakhalin after the Soviet Union had taken it over at the end of World War II. I'm not sure how the song did in the pre-Oricon era but I figure that there was nothing like a furusato kayo kyoku to get people into a sentimental mood and hitting the record shops.

Certainly, the fact that "Furusato wa Souya no Hate ni" was covered by a number of other singers and bands in the years since is probably a good sign at its popularity. For example, just when Kikuchi made that re-debut as Takuya Jou, Teruhiko Saigo（西郷輝彦）covered the song in 1966 as a tune belonging more in the Mood Kayo vein thanks to the chorus and that bluesy saxophone. Saigo also gave his vocals a more elegiac tone.

To finish off, I've embedded a video from Kuga's Travel, one of the channels that I subscribe to. A year ago, he made his own trip to Souya.

Teruhiko Saigo -- Juu-nana Sai Kono Mune ni（十七才のこの胸に）

 

The last time that I wrote about the late singer/actor Teruhiko Saigo（西郷輝彦）, who had left this mortal coil earlier in February, it was for his 1970s rocker "Rolling Stones wa Konakatta"（ローリング・ストーンズは来なかった）, a dejected paean to the fact that due to government intervention, Mick and his boys weren't allowed to continue their tour in Japan due to their connection with noxious substances.

Well, let's take things back to Saigo's teenage years in the 1960s and a few singles after his debut with "Kimi dake wo"（君だけを）. His 4th single was "Juu-nana Sai Kono Mune ni" (In My Heart At 17) released in August 1964. A haunting kayo (thank you, chorus) delivery resonantly by Saigo, written by Tetsu Mizushima（水島哲）and composed by Jun Kitahara（北原じゅん）, a teenage boy is contemplating the feelings of uncertainty although the source isn't made crystal clear. It could be due to the fact that he will be moving from his hometown to the big city to work for the first time or he is getting over his first big heartbreak. Both of those influences have filled early kayo numerous times.

As it turns out, the single was also the theme for a movie with the same title released in 1964 as well. In fact, "Juu-nana Sai Kono Mune ni" gave Saigo his first starring role. As I was looking at the footage and saw the scene in the hospital, my first thought was "Oh, man, his romantic lead is gonna end up dying there!" but that doesn't look to have been the case thankfully although the ending still seems bittersweet.

Aki Yashiro -- Ai Hitosuji（愛ひとすじ）/Sweet Home Kumamoto

 

I've got a twofer in this article regarding veteran singer Aki Yashiro（八代亜紀）who has just celebrated 50 years in her career. So many congratulations to her on this achievement.

The first song happens to be her 8th single from May 1974, "Ai Hitosuji" (Single-Minded Love). It's been categorized as kayo kyoku on J-Wiki, but I think that with the bluesy sax and the dramatic strings, it hits me like a Mood Kayo to be savored at some nightclub in Ginza. Plus, there's that smoky voice of Yashiro who gives a full-throated lament about being in love with someone she shouldn't because he might be one of those love 'em-and-leave 'em types.

Written by Kohan Kawauchi（川内康範）, composed by Jun Kitahara（北原じゅん）and arranged by jazz pianist Mitsuru Kodani（小谷充）, "Ai Hitosuji" was Yashiro's first single to hit the Top 10 on the Oricon weeklies by coming in at No. 10. It also earned her a second consecutive prize at the Japan Music Awards following "Namida Koi"（なみだ恋）the previous year, and NHK's Kohaku Utagassen came knocking for her presence for a second year to perform "Ai Hitosuji". It would become the 25th-ranked single for 1974.

The second for this twofer comes here right after I saw Yashiro on a recent performance on NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン）a few weeks ago. Covering Robert Johnson's 1936 blues song "Sweet Home Chicago", the singer gave her own special rendition paying tribute to her home prefecture via "Sweet Home Kumamoto". Hearing that Yashiro always loved jazz and blues, I think that this was something that she loved to record and it did get its chance to see the sun through her October 2015 album "aiuta"（哀歌...Sad Songs）, her first release of blues tunes. Hiroshi Otomo（大友博）provided the Japanese lyrics.

For comparison, here is the original by Johnson.

Teruhiko Saigo -- Kimi dake wo（君だけを）

 

Sad way to start off this week on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", but unfortunately another one of the bright lights in the kayo kyoku era has flickered out. Singer and actor Teruhiko Saigo（西郷輝彦）, one of the original Gosanke（御三家...The Big Three） of the 1960s alongside Yukio Hashi（橋幸夫）and Kazuo Funaki（舟木一夫）, passed away yesterday at the age of 75 in Tokyo from prostate cancer. My fellow KKP contributor Noelle Tham was the first to write about Saigo through what is arguably his most famous song "Hoshi no Flamenco" (星のフラメンコ) from 1966 which got him to perform it at NHK's Kohaku Utagassen in the same year as well as in the 1973 edition. The above video features that latter appearance which turned out to be his final of 10 appearances on the New Year's Eve special (although he would show up on the 1987 edition to help cheer on his buddy, Yuzo Kayama).

Saigo was born as Seiki Imagawa（今川盛揮）in Kagoshima Prefecture in 1947. After dropping out of high school in 1962, he hitchhiked his way to Osaka where he worked part-time and eventually became employed with the country and rockabilly band Gary Ishiguro & Sons of the West（ゲーリー石黒とサンズ・オブ・ウエスト）which usually toured around the Kansai region of the nation. It was there that he was able to enter a talent agency.

His debut single was "Kimi dake wo" (Just For You) from February 1964, just a couple of weeks after his 17th birthday. Written by Tetsu Mizushima（水島哲）and composed by Jun Kitahara（北原じゅん）, Saigo's first foray into recording coincided with the recent establishment of Crown Records in late 1963 so he was seen as one of the new crop of fresh young singers for the company. With that jaunty innocent arrangement and Saigo's rich and velvety vocals, "Kimi dake wo" was a hit off the bat for the singer and it managed to sell 600,000 records. Along with another hit from his 4th single in August that same year, "Juu-nana Sai no Kono Mune ni"（十七才のこの胸に...Seventeen in My Heart） , Saigo would also win Best New Artist honours at the Japan Record Awards at the end of the year, and even make his first appearance on the Kohaku to sing "Juu-nana Sai no Kono Mune ni".

Saigo had been married to actress/singer Mari Henmi（辺見マリ）and they had a daughter Emiri Henmi（辺見えみり）along with musician Noritaka（辺見鑑孝）. His second marriage begat another daughter, actress/illustrator Uchuu Imagawa（今川宇宙）. My condolences to Saigo's family, friends and fans.

Jun'ya Kitagami -- Suki Suki Suki to Nankai mo（好き好き好きと何回も）

 

A couple of days ago, I wrote up an article on one of Katsuhiko Miki's（美樹克彦）early hits, "Kaiten Kinshi no Seishunsa"（回転禁止の青春さ）, from January 1966. Considering that I'd known him only for a Mood Kayo duet with Sachiko Kobayashi（小林幸子）much later in the mid-1980s, it was a revelation that he had once been recording the twist-and-rock music of the 1960s.

Well, it looks like I found something similar and I think it was that similarity which may have doomed this singer to relatively early obscurity. Jun'ya Kitagami（北上淳也）doesn't have a J-Wiki profile and I had to get my information from a Japanese blog page. He made his debut in 1965 with this twist-and-rock tune "Suki Suki Suki to Nankai mo" (Love Ya, Love Ya, Love Ya Times Infinity).

The title by itself garners interest but it's also Kitagami throwing out the title as often as he can that has been catching my ear. Plus, the music by Jun Kitahara（北原じゅん）, the same fellow behind the composition of Miki's "Kaiten Kinshi no Seishunsa", has that catchy rhythm which reminds me of the TV themes for "Batman" and "The Munsters". In fact, I think director Quentin Tarentino would love this one for one of his flicks and maybe even the B-52s would enjoy it, too. The lyrics were provided by Tetsu Mizushima（水島哲）.

According to that same blog page, "Suki Suki Suki to Nankai mo" got oodles of its own love on the music shows on television. However as for Kitagami himself, beyond his debut, he apparently wasn't able to stand out enough from the rest of his singing compadres including the aforementioned Miki and Teruhiko Saigo（西郷輝彦）and perhaps he did the slow fade out. Showa Pops Encyclopedia, in fact, only lists "Suki Suki Suki to Nankai mo" as his accomplishment, so he may have truly been a one-hit wonder.

Katsuhiko Miki -- Kaiten Kinshi no Seishunsa（回転禁止の青春さ）

Singer-songwriter Katsuhiko Miki（美樹克彦）, up to now, had only appeared within the pages of "Kayo Kyoku Plus" for one article, the duet that he helped create for enka legend Sachiko Kobayashi（小林幸子）titled "Moshikashite Part 2" （もしかして・パート２）from 1984. Mind you, the song became a huge hit for both her and Miki and as far I know, the article itself has garnered the largest amount of views on our blog (although admittedly, a lot of that is probably through the dastardly work of spam bots). However, that's all that had been written about Miki and that was all the way back in late 2012.

Therefore, it's right to point out that Miki shouldn't be only known as Kobayashi's partner in "Moshikashite Part 2". He hadn't been in the background simply creating music for other singers but he'd also had his time as a performer. In fact, this entertainer from Kyoto who had been born as Makoto Mekata（目方誠）in 1948 began his career right from elementary school in 1954 as a child actor featured in close to 70 movies according to his J-Wiki profile. Then, the singing element in his career got off the ground during either his junior high school or early high school days with the single "Transistor Sister"（トランジスター・シスター）.

Midway through high school, Mekata took on the stage name of Katsuhiko Miki in 1965 and debuted once more with "Ore no Namida wa Ore ga Fuku"（俺の涙は俺がふく...I'll Dry My Own Tears） which began a string of singles hits that also included his sixth single from New Year's Day 1966, "Kaiten Kinshi no Seishunsa" (Don't Look Back on Youthfulness). Written by Tetsuro Hoshino（星野哲郎）and composed by Jun Kitahara（北原じゅん）, the song has quite a bit of snazzy twist-happy arrangement which even includes Ventures-like guitar riffs just so that it can get on that Group Sounds or ereki boom of the times. Miki even yells out "GO GO GO, LET'S GO GO!" to get everyone doing those hip-swiveling dances back then.

The lyrics by Hoshino do exhort listeners to never release their youth and plow forward with the fun, but there also seems to be a thinly veiled message of a young fellow acting like a teen James Bond taking on various guises while loving and leaving the girls in an ever-lengthening trail. It's just a gas, man!