Yoichi Sugawara/Voce Angelica/Chieko Baisho -- Wasurenagusa wo Anata ni（忘れな草をあなたに）

From Amazon

 

Tonight, "Uta Con"（うたコン）had an expanded special episode featuring all of those seishun songs but in the beginning, things went a little serious with emcee Shosuke Ichikawa（市川昭介）making an announcement. And I'd been expecting that he would announce the passing of longtime lyricist Jun Hashimoto（橋本淳）to whom I also paid tribute last night. But then I was surprised to find out that the announcement wasn't for Hashimoto but for singer Yoichi Sugawara（菅原洋一）who had passed away on May 31st at the age of 92 from malignant lymphoma.

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It was quite the shock although I knew from his recent appearances on "Uta Con" up to last year that he had become frail in his old age and needed some support when going on stage. Along with those "Uta Con" appearances, I got to know him through my early viewings of NHK's Kohaku Utagassen that I started watching from the 1981 edition. He had appeared a total of 22 times between 1967 and 1988. The above video has him on the Japan Record Awards I believe, as he's singing "Kyo de Owakare"（今日でお別れ）.

I also remember him singing songs such as "Amant" and "Shiritakunaino"（知りたくないの）, these grand standards and songs with that bit of Latin flavour in there. During those early viewings of the Kohaku, I saw Sugawara as a veteran pillar representing the more Western side of music in comparison to the enka stalwarts of Haruo Minami（三波春夫）and Hideo Murata（村田英雄）.

Here is another one of his grand and sorrowful songs, "Wasurenagusa wo Anata ni" (Some Forget-Me-Nots For You) which was his November 1971 single. Written by Ryutaro Kinoshita（木下龍太郎）and composed by Hiroshi Eguchi（江口浩司）, it's another kayo kyoku of impending heartbreak as one of the soon-to-be erstwhile couple implores the other not to forget the old and beautiful times they had together. And perhaps in a way, this could be one song to represent Sugawara departing this Earth. My condolences go to Sugawara's family, friends and fans.

Incidentally, "Wasurenagusa wo Anata ni" was initially created in 1963 and recorded by the all-female vocal group Voce Angelica（ヴォーチェ・アンジェリカ）that had a run between 1960 and 1990. Made up of six women, they were famous for their renditions of Japanese folk songs and children's songs. 

In August 1971, a few months before Sugawara's version of the single, actress-singer Chieko Baisho（倍賞千恵子）released her own languid version of "Wasurenagusa wo Anata ni".

C'est si bon! Those French titles

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Over the years, I've come to believe that there has been a long love affair between France and Japan, culturally and diplomatically speaking. The French seem to have enjoyed manga, anime and cosplay for decades; some of the first anime I saw back in Canada were in French thanks to CBLFT-25. Meanwhile, the Japanese have often gone ga-ga for all of that haute couture and cuisine. I think even the late French president Francois Mitterand once had a dog named Sumo.

Well, the idea was only percolating in my mind over the last several hours but I was thinking for my next Author's Picks, I would bring over some of that kayo kyoku with French titles. But these songs aren't covers of French originals...just tunes whose singers and songwriters thought that a title in French would be c'est si bon. And so, without further ado:

(1981) Circus -- Petit Dejeuner ~ Nichiyoubi no Choushoku（日曜日の朝食）

(1981) Taeko Ohnuki -- la mer, le ciel

(1982) Yoichi Sugawara & Silvia -- Amant （アマン）

(1983) Miharu Koshi -- Petit Paradis

(1987) Akemi Ishii -- C'est La Rose

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young -- Teach Your Children

 

Going a little long today but I wanted to finish with a special Sunday Reminiscings of Youth. As one commenter under the above video has mentioned, "We’re losing too many legends". With a sense of melancholy, I agree. On January 18th, the music world lost David Crosby of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young at the age of 81. 

To be honest, I've only known David Crosby as that old man with the flowing white hair and moustache, so it was fascinating to see him as a young fellow with The Byrds. To me, he struck me as a family's coolest and dude-iest uncle or grand-uncle; the type of guy, for good or for bad, who let a teenager secretly have a first sip of a beer or a first drag on a cigarette even when the parents may not like that. And more often than not, when I've seen him on the news, it's usually for some sort of demeanor that he had committed.

And yet, I also knew him and the rest of this iconic folk band with those exquisite harmonies coming through the radio as a kid, although I can't consider myself a dedicated fan. But whenever one of their songs came on that SONY, I knew exactly who they were. One of those songs was "Teach Your Children", a May 1970 single and a track from CSN&Y's March 1970 album "Déjà Vu". 

Considering the times and circumstances that we're currently living in, "Teach Your Children" still packs a punch despite the short time of a little under three minutes. Perhaps it's a gentle prod or admonishment to folks to teach the generation after and even the one before about the various societal messages in quality as well as in quantity. The spoonful of sugar that helps this medicine go down is the welcoming country swing and perhaps the brevity of the song.

In Canada, "Teach Your Children" went as high as No. 8 on their RPM Singles chart while in the United States, it peaked at No. 16. All my condolences to Crosby's family, friends and fans.

So, what were winning the prizes at the Japan Record Awards for 1970?

Grand Prize: Yoichi Sugawara -- Kyo de Owakare（今日でお別れ）

Best Performance: Hiroshi Uchiyamada and The Cool Five -- Uwasa no Onna（噂の女）

Best New Artist: Mari Henmi -- Keiken（経験）

The Carpenters -- Merry Christmas, Darling

 

A few weeks ago, I started off the annual Xmas segment of "Kayo Kyoku Plus" with the jazz version of "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town" via Tony Bennett in the weekly Reminiscings of Youth article. Well, once again, I'm going with something Xmas-y for this week's ROY and though it was released when I was but a wee lad, I didn't actually get to know about it until I was well into adulthood. In fact, I was on my second tour of duty in Japan.

From Wikipedia

Over the years, I've said that jazz, Charlie Brown and Norman Rockwell go great with Christmas. I can also add The Carpenters. I mean, look at that cover for Richard and Karen's October 1978 "Christmas Portrait" album. It absolutely rocks Rockwell well (yes, I'm being cute here), although the cover was actually designed by Robert Tanenbaum based on a 1960 Rockwell painting, according to the Wikipedia article.

As I mentioned above, I first heard "Merry Christmas, Darling" by The Carpenters somewhere and sometime during my life in Ichikawa, and quickly opted to track down "Christmas Portrait" at one of the major CD stores in Tokyo. What I hadn't known is that "Merry Christmas, Darling" wasn't a 1978 creation by the duo but a song that was first released as a single in November 1970! The history behind it goes even further back according to the Wikipedia article which was itself based on a Randy Erickson article printed in "La Crosse Tribune" back in 2005:

The lyrics were written in 1944 by an 18-year-old Frank Pooler, which, according to him, were about a love interest he had at the time. 22 years later in 1966, when he was choral director at California State University, Long Beach, two of his aspiring music students, Karen and Richard Carpenter, who were beginning to have success as a local band, asked him (their favorite professor) if he had any ideas for holiday songs. According to Pooler, they had become tired of the standard holiday songs they were singing. Pooler gave them the lyrics of the song he had written from years before, and told them he did not think much of the original melody. According to Pooler, Richard wrote a new tune for the lyrics—the tune currently used—in 15 minutes. Four years later, in 1970, the Carpenters first recorded and released it as a single.

Always love a song with an interesting story. In any case, the combination of Pooler's lyrics and the new melody by Richard (and The Carpenters are considered to be music legends in Japan) were magic made in heaven, especially in my old stomping grounds because the story sounds perfectly made for Japanese audiences. I've heard a number of J-Xmas tunes (such as "Midnight Flight: Hitori Bocchi no Christmas Eve") over the years which involve the melancholy plot of being apart during the Yuletide with only the mutual Xmas wishes between a couple tying them together, and the same thing is happening here with "Merry Christmas, Darling".

I've read that the 1978 version in "Christmas Portrait" is slightly different in terms of Karen's lyrical preferences but basically the melody and arrangement are the same. Anyways, "Merry Christmas, Darling" is another go-to standard in the run-up to December 25th for me, and even listening to some of their versions of the Christmas classics through "Christmas Portrait", Christmas and Carpenters go together like candy and cane.

Well, considering how late in 1970 the original single came out, I guess we can make our kayo comparisons through what won the Japan Record Awards that year. None of them, though, are Xmas-y in nature.

Grand Prize: Yoichi Sugawara -- Kyo de Owakare（今日でお別れ）

Best Performance: Hiroshi Uchiyamada and The Cool Five -- Uwasa no Onna （噂の女）

Best New Artist: Mari Henmi -- Keiken （経験）

Yoichi Sugawara -- Anata dake nano（あなただけなの）

 

As I mentioned in the preceding article with Junko Ohashi（大橋純子）, it was a pretty auspicious episode for "Uta Con"（うたコン）that I saw tonight. I loved the nearly full tribute to the kayo and I wouldn't mind some more of that in the future.

It was definitely poignant beginning with singer Yoichi Sugawara's（菅原洋一）"Shiritakunaino" （知りたくないの）and when I saw Kanji Ishimaru（石丸幹二）up on the stage, I'd assumed that it would just be him singing Sugawara's 1965 trademark tune since Sugawara is at an advanced age. But then the camera showed both Ishimaru and Sugawara sharing the stage with the latter in his usual dapper tuxedo. Sugawara almost looked like he was about to break into tears, and though I hope that this isn't the case even considering that he is 88, it seemed like that this could be his final time on TV. If it is, the veteran singer comported himself with aplomb.

Perhaps I can offer another song of his to finish off this broadcasting day of "Kayo Kyoku Plus". Another of Sugawara's famous songs was "Kyo de Owakare"（今日でお別れ）of which there are two versions, one done in 1967 and then the second try in 1969. I want to look at the 1969 version's B-side, "Anata dake nano" (It's Only You). A thematically happier song compared to the A-side, Sugawara is singing a love song to his beloved with an orchestra including lower brass, shimmery strings, the quintessential marimba and a lightly-played piano. Written by Keiko Oguro（小黒惠子）and composed by Koji Shimomura（下村耕史）, Sugawara recorded it with his usual splendidly tenderhearted and caressing voice.

Yoichi Sugawara/Takao Kisugi -- Kyo de Owakare（今日でお別れ）

 

Tonight on "Uta Con"（うたコン）, I heard a Yoichi Sugawara（菅原洋一）song for the first time in a long time, but it wasn't the veteran singer performing it but actor/singer Kanji Ishimaru（石丸幹二）behind the mike. 

Just from reading the title, "Kyo de Owakare" (Today We Part), I kinda figured that this would be a Mood Kayo involving those famous sayings of "Parting is such sweet sorrow", "We'll always have Paris" and "Two ships passing through the night". It's the type of ballad that Sugawara would hit out of the park like a Shohei Otani cannon.

Ironically, though, his first attempt at "Kyo de Owakare" in March 1967 was derailed by his own previous hit of "Shiritakunaino"（知りたくないの）from 1965 which was still so popular that folks kept on preferring to listening to the latter rather than the new kid on the block. Ouch! Incidentally, "Kyo de Owakare" was written by the late Rei Nakanishi（なかにし礼）, who also wrote for "Shiritakunaino", composed by Akira Ui（宇井あきら）and arranged by Hirotsugu Hayakawa（早川博二）.

Another saying that I will throw in is "Never say never", and a couple of years later when I guess the "Shiritakunaino" phase finally ended, it was decided to give "Kyo de Owakare" another go with another arranger, Kenichiro Morioka（森岡賢一郎）. The new version was released on Christmas Day 1969. Heck of a day to put out this sort of melancholy ballad but I gather that even back then, pop music in Japan around the Yuletide tended to go rather sad.

In any case, this time the new "Kyo de Owakare", which is most likely the one that is provided right at the top according to the B-side that was listed on the 1969 record cover shown in the thumbnail "Anata dake na no"（あなただけなの...Only You）, quickly became a hit for Sugawara. This time, it sold 300,000 records, earned a Japan Record Award and became the 8th-ranked single for 1970.

Another singer who can bring beautiful to melancholy is Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）, and he did his own cover of "Kyo de Owakare" for his December 2008 (23rd) album "Yoin"（余韻...Lingering Memories）. Apparently, according to the J-Wiki writeup for the album, Kisugi, also being a composer, had a great admiration for the melody. Toshiyuki Watanabe（渡辺俊幸）handled the arrangement here which possesses that feeling of baroque pop and a soundtrack from a 1960s romantic movie with a bittersweet ending.

Yoichi Sugawara -- Shiritakunaino （知りたくないの）

Tonight's theme on "Uta Kon" (うたコン) was about the heart of a man and a woman, usually after they've been ripped up, stomped on and generally destroyed. Well, OK, maybe I'm being a bit harsh on the description here.

However, there were a few ballads in which there was still a chance of recovery in the relationship, one of which belonged to veteran Yoichi Sugawara（菅原洋一）. I first wrote about him all the way back in early 2013 for his duet with Silvia, "Amant" (アマン). I believe I mentioned that the old crooner was once a mainstay on the Kohaku Utagassen with his renditions of jazzy Mood Kayo which stood out among all of the aidoru, enka and pop stuff that was going on during the rest of the show.

The ballad that he performed tonight was "Shiritakunaino", a heartfelt ballad about a fellow who doesn't care about the past of a woman he loves. On first listen, I thought that Sugawara was crooning that his love would still remain strong no matter what kind of trouble the lady had found herself before, but as it turned out, it was more about him pleading that she not remember any of her past affairs and just focus on the current one between him and her.

"Shiritakunaino" was actually a cover of a 1953 pop ballad, "I Really Don't Want to Know" created by Don Robertson and Howard Barnes. The Japanese version had its lyrics written by Rei Nakanishi (なかにし礼) and then released in October 1965 as a B-side to one of Sugawara's early singles "Koi Gokoro"（恋心...Heart of Love）. It may have been a B-side ballad but later in 1967, the song actually caught fire with listeners to the point that the crooner finally got his first invitation onto the Kohaku Utagassen that year (he would appear a total of 22 times on the New Year's Eve special until 1988). And for veteran Nakanishi, it was his first success as a lyricist.

After all these years, I'm still a sucker for these corny jazz ballads that would be the ideal accompaniment in an old-fashioned nightclub or bar. May I say that Sugawara is still doing fine at the age of 83?

The original song has been covered by a number of singers including Andy Williams and Elvis Presley but the most famous version according to Wikipedia is the one by the legendary Les Paul and Mary Ford as the husband-and-wife duo.

And hey, just for the heck of it, here's the couple's take on the classic "How High The Moon".

Yoichi Sugawara & Silvia -- Amant （アマン）

Another classic Mood Kayo duet, perfect for that bilateral karaoke session in the bar."Amant" (Lovers) has that exotic tango feeling, the katakana title and lyrics that pretty overtly talk of that overnight hotel tryst of a married couple....just not to each other. As with that other classic duet song, "Tokyo Nightclub", having a few drinks before hitting the mikes is always beneficial. And since it looks like any video with the original singers have been taken down, the above is of a very competent duo and their take on the song.

Written by Norihiko Sugi（杉紀彦）and composed by Koichi Morita（森田公一） (who had made melodies for a number of singers such as Mari Amachi, Agnes Chan and Ikue Sakakibara), the original singers behind "Amant" are the late Silvia (Rieko Matsuda...松田理恵子) and the veteran crooner, Yoichi Sugawara（菅原洋一）. Back in 1979, Silvia hit the top right from her debut with Mood Kayo group, Los Indios, and their song, "Wakaretemo, Suki na Hito"（別れても好きな人）in 1979.

Sugawara is a kayo kyoku veteran who debuted in 1958 and is still making appearances as he approaches 80 years of age this year. Since 1967, he had been a fixture on NHK's Kohaku Utagassen for 22 years, which included his appearance in 1983 with Silvia to perform "Amant". I just saw him a few weeks ago on the weekly "Kayo Concert" on the same channel, still looking debonair in his tuxedo. His speciality is singing the old standards (I recollect him singing "Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing" on one Kohaku) and kayo kyoku which have that Latin kick...which would put him squarely in the Mood Kayo genre.