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

Saori Minami - Jyunana Sai (1971)

Artist: Saori Minami / 南沙織
Title: Jyunana Sai / 17才
Released: June 1, 1971
Oricon Peak Rank: 2
B-Side: 島の伝説

(download)


Saori Minami was at the forefront of a shift in the early 1970s towards giving attention and exposure to artists at younger ages, usually around 14 to 16 years old. Prior to that, in the 1960s and before, it is expected for singers to start around that age, but only reach their stride by the time they were in their late teens or early twenties through a few years of climbing up the ranks. However, with the growing trends of youth culture getting a stronger influence in Japan, their new stars now had to hit the ground running, thus giving rise to the first generation of "idols".

Saori's debut single "Jyunana Sai" (Seventeen Years Old) is appropriately titled, as she was to turn 17 the month after the single's release date. On first listen, it is clear that composer Kyohei Tsutsumi was heavily influenced by "Rose Garden" by country singer Lynn Anderson from the year before. The story goes that with Tsutsumi in charge of writing the music to Saori's songs (as was also soon becoming a trend for songwriters and lyricists to be tasked to write songs almost exclusively for a suite of artists), he asked her what she liked to sing, and "Rose Garden" was her answer, thus he gave her his own way of writing a "Rose Garden"-esque song. Paired with Mieko Arima's coastal-themed lyrics, the song rose to 2nd on the Oricon charts winning a couple prizes from the Japan Record Awards and Kayo Grand Prix for that year. The song soon became one of her standards, as well as a standard in the Japanese songbook, inspiring many other songwriters in the coming years to use 17 as a special age in their songs, reinforcing the prevalence of teenagerhood that was sweeping the nation. Saori Minami's strong start in her singing career set a high bar for future singers who wish to make their mark in music.


(22nd NHK Red White Song Competition [第22回NHK紅白歌合戦])

17才 (Jyunana Sai)

Music: Kyohei Tsutsumi / 筒美京平
Lyrics: Mieko Arima / 有馬三恵子

誰もいない海
二人の愛を　確かめたくて
あなたの腕を　すりぬけてみたの
走る水辺のまぶしさ
息も出来ないくらい
早く　強く　つかまえに来て
好きなんだもの
私は今　生きている

青い空の下
二人の愛を抱きしめたくて
光の中へ　溶けこんでみたの
ふたり　鴎になるのよ
風は大きいけれど
動かないで　おねがいだから
好きなんだもの
私は今　生きている

あつい生命にまかせて
そっとキスしていい
空も海も　みつめる中で
好きなんだもの
私は今　生きている
私は今　生きている . . .