Kaoru Nakahara -- Mou Ichido Ai Shitakute（もう一度愛したくて）

 

This article can probably come down under the banner of "Don't judge a book by its cover". Years ago on KKP, I posted an article on somewhat obscure singer-songwriter Kaoru Nakahara（中原薫）and her refined love song "Sabishigariya Futari Bocchi"（淋しがりやふたりぼっち）from 1995. As I mentioned there, I bought the CD single based on what I heard nightly on the late-night docu-vignette "Rooms" on Fuji-TV. It is basically the only song that I know of her and so my impression has been that Nakahara was a singer of ballads.

Well, twelve-and-a-half years later, I've gotten my education. Nakahara also released one (and perhaps her only) album in June 1996 titled "Dolce". It not only has "Sabishigariya Futari Bocchi" but it has this very upbeat track called "Mou Ichido Ai Shitakute" (I Want to Fall in Love Again). Written by Nakahara and composed by Yasushi Suzuki（鈴木康志）, it feels like a night out on the city set to a dance club rhythm. I even got some Cathy Dennis vibes. 

In the midst of writing up this article, I also got a bonus in terms of information and music. For one thing, according to one Ameba blog, Nakahara had once been known as aidoru Hiroe Sato（佐藤弘枝）about a decade previously. It's possible that Sato only released one single titled "Sepia Iro no Natsu"（セピア色の夏...Sepia Summer） in May 1985. Written by Hitoshi Shinohara（篠原仁志）, composed by Eiji Takino（たきのえいじ）under his pseudonym Hifumi Roku*（緑一二三）, and arranged by Makoto Kawaguchi（川口真）, the vocals by Sato/Nakahara are certainly very familiar and similar, and the song stands out for the use of a soprano sax and a galloping beat that sounds like something the late Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）would use.

Apparently, soon after the release of "Sepia Iro no Natsu", Sato pulled a disappearing act and wouldn't return for several years until she made her re-debut as Cola Hazuki（葉月コーラ） (she was singing for Coca-Cola ads at the time) in 1991. And then two years later, she changed her name to Kaoru Nakahara.

*That family name has a number of readings, so my choice is a guess. If anyone can confirm or correct me on the reading, please let me know.

Yasushi Suzuki & Mitsuharu Minamichi/Midori Satsuki -- Korokke no Uta（コロッケの唄）

 

One of my favourite dishes has been potato croquettes. They were easy to get in Japan because they are very popular there and my mother used to make them but they are rather labour-intensive and time-intensive to make so it's no longer that practical to get them from scratch anymore, although I wouldn't mind taking a crack at making them myself.

The croquette is another dish that was warmly welcomed into Japanese cuisine back in the late 19th century in the Meiji era, and another variety of the dish that has been another popular item in restaurants is the cream croquette. This one took a little more time for me to warm up to since the filling isn't potato but béchamel sauce with other ingredients including corn and crab meat. But once I did, they also became another popular item in my stomach.

Well, I've come up with another food-based kayo kyoku and it's known as "Korokke no Uta" (The Croquette Song). According to one Japanese-language blog, the song was first recorded in 1917 during the Taisho era with Taro Masuda（益田太郎）behind the lyrics while the composer remains unknown. Basically, it describes one man's loving but rueful admission that his wife gets nothing but croquettes for dinner. Yeah, I can understand...I do like my croquettes but variety is the spice of life, after all.

The above version is probably one that was recorded much later with singers Yasushi Suzuki and Mitsuharu Minamichi（鈴木やすし・南地みつ春）although I couldn't specify the year. Also, I'm not 100% sure of the proper pronunciation of the second person's family name and for that matter, for a person with a male first name, he sure sounds like a woman. Maybe someone better in the know than me can explain, although maybe the above version was performed by a different pair.

In October 1962, enka singer Midori Satsuki（五月みどり）released a single with the same title but it is actually a different song under the words and music by Kuranosuke Hamaguchi（浜口庫之助）. The arrangement is similarly whimsical but it goes a little more into an enka direction. The lyrics, though different, still talk about a couple and their oft-chosen meal of croquettes. However, the couple is definitely stated to be a newlywed pair so the new husband is more than accepting of his beloved's obsession with the dish.