Hiroshi Itsuki - Yokohama Tasogare (1971)

Artist: Hiroshi Itsuki / 五木ひろし
Title: Yokohama Tasogare /
よこはま・たそがれ
Released: March 1, 1971
Oricon Peak Rank: 1 (1 week)
B-Side: 男が泣くとき

(download)

While this was the debut single for Hiroshi Itsuki, it certainly wasn't the first time the man entered the music world. He sang under his birthname Kazuo Matsuyama during the mid-1960s with middling results, which led him to change production companies twice (from Columbia to Polydor to Minoruphone), and don two stage names in the process (Yoshikazu Ichijo [一条英一] and Ken Mitani [三谷謙] respectively) in an effort to remake his image. He performed his final overhaul in 1970, settling on his current stage name, and things thereafter went far better than he would imagine.

The lyrics for "Yokohama Tasogare" (Yokohama Twilight) describe disjointed scenes of fleeting romance, giving the port town an aura of dark mystery. Hiroshi's strongly masculine vocal clarity lends to that imagery, where it may find itself comfortable in smoky bars and clubs. While it saw a spring release, the song took its time to gain traction in the charts, and finally experienced its brief reign at the top during summer of 1971. It also earned a nomination for "Best Song" in the 13th Japan Record Awards and granted him a spot in the Red-White Song Competition. Even though he would later, like Mori Masako in the previous entry, become a fixture in Enka, his early career was more hybrid in nature, singing Enka-quality songs with more pop styled arrangements. This gradual shift towards orthodox Enka is not unusual and rather common, and we'll see this effect as we both delve later in their careers and discuss other artists who've gone through that same path.

よこはま・たそがれ (Yokohama Tasogare)

Music: Maasaki Hirao / 平尾昌晃
Lyrics: Yoko Yamaguchi / 山口洋子

よこはま たそがれ
ホテルの小部屋
くちづけ 残り香 煙草の煙り
ブルース 口笛 女の涙
あの人は 行って行ってしまった
あの人は 行って行ってしまった
もう帰らない

裏町 スナック
酔えないお酒
ゆきずり 嘘つき 気まぐれ男
あてない 恋唄 流しのギター
あの人は 行って行ってしまった
あの人は 行って行ってしまった
もうよその人

木枯らし 想い出
グレーのコート
あきらめ 水色 つめたい夜明け
海鳴り 燈台 一羽のかもめ
あの人は 行って行ってしまった
あの人は 行って行ってしまった
もうおしまいね