Kyoko Aso -- Hungaria Rock ~ Franz Lizst Twist（ハンガリア・ロック）

 

I would like to humbly thank the late Tony Bennett for his appearance in singing "Stranger in Paradise" originally from 1953. But did you know that this pop ballad was based on Alexander Borodin's "Gliding Dance of the Maidens" from the "Polovtsian Dances" in the opera "Prince Igor" (1890)? No? I wouldn't blame you. I had no idea about it myself until I saw the commercial for "120 Music Masterpieces" back in the 1970s when I was a child. My childhood was complete and the old guy's line about "Stranger in Paradise" became a punchline for many a late-night comedian.

Well, I'm putting my own contemporary twist on the above by first introducing pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii's version of "Liebesträume No. 3" (1850) by Franz Liszt. It's also known in Japanese as "Ai no Yume"（愛の夢）. I've heard this nocturne before many times but because I'm not a classical music fan, this is really the first time that I've had it identified for me. 

But did you know that "Liebesträume No. 3" was given its own twist into its own twist in April 1962 in Japan when teenage firebrand Kyoko Aso（麻生京子）recorded a rearranged version called "Hungaria Rock ~ Franz Liszt Twist"? Given lyrics by Kenji Sazanami（漣健児）and arranged by Hajime Hayashi（林一）*, Liszt got lit and made into a twist with the accompaniment of Toshiro Hamamizu and his Gay Stars（浜水俊朗とゲイ・スターズ）. The percussion is really cooking here.

There's not much information on Aso unfortunately, From one site, I found out that she hails from Tokyo and that she was all of 19 when she applied her raspy voice to "Hungaria Rock". She was also captain of her basketball team back in high school.

*Not totally sure of the pronunciation of this name.

Asami Kobayashi -- Suna ni Kieta Namida （砂に消えた涙）

 

Happy Easter to everyone! I no longer have those huge chocolate bunnies or Easter eggs anymore due to concerns over my health, but the family got together last night to partake in a tofu matcha cheesecake. It was definitely the lightest cheesecake that I've ever had.

https://music.apple.com/jp/album/hatsukoi-no-melody-asami-kobayashi-otogura-series/720367363

(excerpt only)

My first KKP article today deals with a cover of a song that had started out being recorded by the Italian singer Mina in 1964 as "Un buco nella sabbia" but was brought over to Japan to be given Japanese lyrics by Kenji Sazanami（漣健児）and then released by The Peanuts under the title "Suna ni Kieta Namida"（砂に消えた涙...Tears In The Sand） in 1965. I'd actually written about the song several years ago and it has been covered a bunch of times after that by folks such as Yukari Ito（伊東ゆかり）.

Not too long ago, I also discovered that one of those covers of "Suna ni Kieta Namida" had been done by singer-actress-model Asami Kobayashi（小林麻美）very early in her career. Her take is located on her February 1973 debut album "Ochiba no Melody"（落葉のメロディー...Melody of the Fallen Leaves）, and while it retains that wistful 1960s pop ballad feeling that would bring to mind to a kayo-obsessed fellow like me singers such as Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）and Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）, Kobayashi's take also has that typically early 1970s aidoru let's-go-catch-some-butterflies innocent arrangement, thanks to the flute and strings. For those folks (also like myself) who've known her for doing that haunting cover of Gazebo's "I Like Chopin" a decade later, it's been quite the revelation.

Mieko Hirota -- Kodomo janai no（子供ぢゃないの）/Nebusoku nano（寝不足なの）

Received some sad news via commenter Sentimental Vika earlier this morning that singer Mieko Hirota（弘田三枝子）had passed away on July 21st at the age of 73 due to heart failure, although the announcement wasn't made until the 27th. I hadn't known until I read the comment and I haven't seen any news announcement footage via YouTube which is somewhat unusual when it comes to the death of a Japanese celebrity. I had only written up the most recent article with Hirota a little over a month ago regarding her 1967 song "Nagisa no Uwasa"（渚のうわさ）.

I'm not very knowledgeable about the discography of Hirota but usually when her name comes to mind, her 1969 hit "Ningyo no Ie"（人形の家）is the song that pops up. As well, my image of her has always been the one that appeared when that song first made its presence known...the long-tressed 22-year-old woman with that smoky air of mystery.

However, Hirota made her official debut as a fresh-faced teenybopper singer the better part of a decade prior back in 1961 with the Japanese-language cover of Helen Shapiro's "Don't Treat Me Like A Child" (by John Schroeder and Mike Hawker) when Hirota was only 14 years old. For that matter, according to its Wikipedia article, Shapiro herself was the same age when she recorded the original. The Japanese lyrics were provided by Kenji Sazanami（漣健児）and the title was "Kodomo janai no" (I'm Not A Child).

Like a lot of teenage singers in those days such as Yukari Ito（伊東ゆかり）, Hirota had that twin-branched discography in her early years: covers of overseas pop songs and homegrown fare created by Japanese songwriters. One of the former was her own cover of Connie Francis' "VACATION". For both Hirota and Shapiro, I've marveled at how incredible they sounded at 14 years of age. Perhaps the one Japanese pop singer that I can compare with them in terms of her boomer vocal stylings and debut is Misato Watanabe（渡辺美里）.

Hirota's first kayo single was released in June 1962, "Nebusoku nano" (I'm Sleepy), a giddy pop tune about not getting those 40 winks due to getting all hot and bothered over that boy she's fallen hard for. It's got quite the fun and jazzy beat, and Hirota gives some great brass in her vocals, although I'm not sure how local PTAs reacted on hearing those yawns on the record.😪 And it was the same duo behind the famous "Sukiyaki" song that was responsible for "Nebusoku nano", lyricist Hachidai Nakamura and composer Rokusuke Ei（中村八大・永六輔）.

I'll finish off here with Shapiro's "Don't Treat Me Like A Child". My condolences to Hirota's family on their loss. I am sure that there is a lot of her discography that I have to cover in the months and years to come.

Mariya Takeuchi -- Longtime Favorites

A few weeks ago, a bunch of us got together at a downtown pub to welcome back an old friend who's now living out in Vancouver with his family. That pub grub was sure plentiful and good. While we were all digesting away later, another old friend suddenly brought out some CDs that he no longer wanted, and the ones he gave me were Michael Jackson's "HIStory" and the one whose photo you see up there. I was a tad surprised and delighted since I was wondering how many more Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）albums I can collect.

I had made a wrong assumption about her "Longtime Favorites". I'd thought the album was a regular release that had come out in the 1980s or 1990s. Considering what a beauty Takeuchi has been all these decades, it's not easy to tell. Actually, it was released in October 2003 and it wasn't a regular original album but a special album of covers that answers the question "What songs had inspired Mariya when she was a kid?"

And for folks who have listened to the song stylings of Ms. Takeuchi like I have over many years, it is a valid question. This is a lady who started out singing this mix of urban contemporary at the time and numbers that hinted at the pop tunes of the 1950s and 1960s. I rather thought that she was perhaps channeling Connie Francis and Lesley Gore among others; perhaps the soundtrack of "Grease" was another inspiration.

Well, according to the tracklist, it looks like Takeuchi must have listened to music from America, Italy, France and the UK. One of my favourite songs from "Longtime Favorites" is the lovely "The Shadow of Your Smile" with Katsuhisa Hattori（服部克久）providing the strings arrangement to this classic so smoothly that Nelson Riddle is probably smiling down from above.

https://tower.jp/item/1028644/Longtime-Favorites%EF%BC%9C%E9%80%9A%E5%B8%B8%E7%9B%A4%EF%BC%9E?kid=pafvc

I couldn't find any separate videos for the individual tracks but above there is the link to Tower Records for the entire album (albeit only excerpts). The very first song is "You Don't Know" originally by Helen Shapiro in 1961 with the Japanese lyrics by Kenji Sazanami（漣健児）. As soon as I heard this track, I could go "Yup, indeed that is vintage Mariya."

Track 3 is "Where The Boys Are" (1961) originally by Connie Francis. If someone were to ask me which song could Mariya have sung as a girl in her bedroom, I would point out this one easily. She didn't have the exact same vocals as Francis, but close enough.

Then Track 7 is "Walk Right Back" (1961) by The Everly Brothers. But this time, it's Takeuchi and her husband Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）doing a playful version that could have been performed in front of friends in their living room at a party.

(Unfortunately, Takeuchi's version has been taken down,

but here is a cover by special guest Yukari Ito.)

My last track for tonight is Track 8 which is "L'Amore Ha I Tuoi Occhi" (1965) by Bruno Filippini. I have never heard of this song before but Takeuchi gives a romantically sweeping take. If there are any Italian readers here, perhaps you can inform me whether her pronunciation of the language passes muster.

I actually did write about one track from "Longtime Favorites" quite a while back which was another duet, but this time Takeuchi is paired with the late Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）to do "Somethin' Stupid" (1967).

Happily, "Longtime Favorites" peaked at No. 1 on Oricon and was the 48th-ranked album for 2003.

The Bishop Burger at
The Bishop and Belcher.
I was certainly the 2nd name after
downing this baby!

The Peanuts/Yukari Ito -- Suna ni Kieta Namida （砂に消えた涙）

I saw this performance not on this past week's "Kayo Concert" but the one the week before when the theme was on duets, so it was Yuuki Seguchi and Airi Suzuki（瀬口侑希・ 鈴木愛理）above (sorry, but that video has been taken down but here's Mieko Hirota's version) who performed this summery and sepia song titled "Suna ni Kieta Namida"（砂に消えた涙...Tears In The Sand）. I found out from the introduction that it was originally done by The Peanuts.

So it wasn't too difficult to find the YouTube video with The Peanuts' performance of "Suna ni Kieta Namida" from 1965. It is vintage Peanuts but what I found interesting about the song was the arrangement since it sounded like the type of tune that Eiichi Ohtaki（大瀧詠一）and Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）would perform a decade or so later. As I mentioned earlier, there is a laid back and summery vibe to the song that brings to mind those old "Beach Blanket Bingo" and "Gidget" movies that I used to see on Sunday afternoons. Strangely enough, I couldn't find the song as a single release but perhaps it was inserted into one of their albums.

In the same year that The Peanuts released the song, singer Yukari Ito（伊東ゆかり）gave her own version of "Suna ni Kieta Namida". I actually like this version even more than The Peanuts' take since it's even more relaxing. Ito's velvety voice also helps in that regard. Kenji Sazanami（漣健児）provided the Japanese lyrics, but as you can hear on this version, Ito sings part of the song in Italian.

The reason for this was that the song had first been sung by legendary Italian songstress Mina in 1964. "Un buco nella sabbia" was the title which meant "Hole In The Sand". The original songwriters were Alberto Testa and Piero Soffici.

Well, I did mention Mariya Takeuchi, didn't I? Just by happenstance, I discovered this old video of her and Kaguyahime's Kousetsu Minami（南こうせつ）doing their own sweet duet of the song. Not sure how long this will stay up, so savor the moment.

Mieko Hirota/Yukari Ito -- Vacation

May 1st: in Canada, it's just a regular day (although the debut of "Avengers: Age of Ultron" today pretty much launched blockbuster season with warp drive). In Japan, it's the early days of Golden Week, one of the major holiday seasons of the year over there. A lot of folks are heading out on vacation on the various planes and trains for those precious few days of leisure, but I do wonder if everybody needs a second vacation after going through the hell of the crowds during exodus and return. As for me, I always enjoyed my relative stay-cation; never went outside of Tokyo or Chiba in all of my Golden Weeks. Plenty of things to do and plenty of friends to see in my area.

So, to start off my contribution to "Kayo Kyoku Plus" for May, I've gone with the appropriate "Vacation". And yep, for those old-time music fans, it is indeed the cover of the Connie Francis classic from 1962 (and not the Go-Gos tune from the 80s). In my household, I heard the Japanese version as often as I did the original, but was never quite sure who sang the cover. In any case, there was an audiotape that my parents' played that had one of those brassy young ladies from the 60s belting out the tune.

I found out that it was both Mieko Hirota（弘田三枝子）and Yukari Ito（伊東ゆかり）who released their own cover versions in the same year that the original had come out. Ito was the one that I had first associated with "Vacation" since I knew that she often did covers of the old American tunes throughout her career. However, Hirota is the one who probably had the most successful version since it sold about 200,000 records after its release in November 1962. For Hirota, it was her second cover song after her take on Helen Shapiro's "Don't Treat Me Like A Child" which seems to be her debut single from 1961.

Here is Ito's version above. I'm actually not quite that surprised if it is indeed the case that Hirota's version outsold Ito's cover. There's quite a bit more oomph in the former's take on the Francis classic. Incidentally, Francis along with Gary Weston and Hank Hunter created the song which would be the singer's final Top 10 hit, but the Japanese lyrics were handled by the late Kenji Sazanami（漣健児）which was a pen name for Shoichi Kusano（草野昌一）.

(Sorry but the video has been taken down.)

After hearing the Japanese version on audiotape all those years, my family was able to catch the performance on videotape after purchasing our first VCR machine in the early 80s. And often was the case on those myriad predecessors of "Kayo Concert" that there would be a rendition of "Vacation". Above is another former 60s teenybopper singer, Mie Nakao（中尾ミエ）, taking care of things with a whole bunch of friends. In fact, I also assumed that Nakao had also been the original Japanese singer of the song, but I don't think she ever released her version of it. It certainly seems that she has adopted it in her arsenal on TV, though.

Of course, I gotta leave you with original by Connie Francis herself. We're not quite in vacation mode here in Toronto, but the weather this weekend will more than make up for it...especially after a long hard winter.

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N!

The Carnabeats/Mi-Ke/Ayako Kobayashi -- Sukisa Sukisa Sukisa （好きさ好きさ好きさ）

Sukisa, sukisa, sukisa                                     I love you, I love you, I love you
Wasurerarenain'da, OMAE NO SUBETE!!   I can't get you out of my mind, ALL OF YOU!!

It's been a grand while since I put up an article on a Group Sounds song, and I had thought that I put down all that I knew about the bands in that genre, but once in a while, something falls out of the folds of my cerebrum. Last night, it was this one.

The above lyrics are the prime ones that I remember from The Carnabeats' most successful song, "Sukisa Sukisa Sukisa". Way back when, I had thought that the tune was first provided by 80s aidoru rock band, CCB, since there was that high-pitched voice by the drummer yelling that last part of the lyrics I wrote above. I'd also assumed that it could have been the 70s family group, Finger Five. But I was wrong on both counts in terms of band and decade.

The Carnabeats（ザ・カーナビーツ）were formed from a fusion of folks from other bands in the 1960s. In 1967, Ai Takano (高野アイ...all of 16 years of age), who would become the drummer and vocalist, left The Freelancers for the purpose of creating a new band. In short order, he was joined by Jiro Kitamura（喜多村次郎）from another GS unit, Swing West, and another Freelancers bandmate Hiroshi Koshikawa（越川弘志）, along with (and I hope I've got the names correct) Keikichi Usui（臼井啓吉）and Tadao Oka（岡忠夫）. Initially, the lads had called themselves Robin Hood but once "Sukisa Sukisa Sukisa" was released as their launching single, the name was changed to The Carnabeats.

I've heard the name now and then over the decades, but I always thought of car navigation systems. But as it turned out, the probable derivation of The Carnabeats was from the Carnaby Sound that was part and parcel of the music of Swinging London in that same decade.

Speaking of the UK, the original version of "Sukisa Sukisa Sukisa" was from the British band The Zombies' "I Love You" that had been released in 1965. Chris White created the song and when it made the trip over to Japan, Kenji Sazanami（漣健児）provided the Japanese lyrics. Released in June 1967, Takano's delivery of those words apparently had the girls swooning and grabbing their faces in ecstasy. The Oricon charts were still yet to start but I'm pretty sure the song would have hit the top spot in a New York minute. Sales were between 1.2 and 1.5 million.

Sadly, Takano passed away at the age of 55 from heart failure in 2006.

"Sukisa Sukisa Sukisa" would not only echo through the decades via nostalgia tours by The Carnabeats, but through cover versions. One came out in November 1990 as the 4th and final single by singer-actress Ayako Kobayashi（小林彩子）.

However, the one cover version I remember was provided by Group Sounds tribute trio, Mi-Ke. Released in May 1991, their version (their 2nd single) was given a bit more of a urgent oomph through some of those 90s guitars. It got as high as No. 9 on Oricon.