From Sanspo this morning, they released the results of the 艶華-Enka- poll. The main topic of this article seems to be if Akina will cover a 森進一 song which I have never heard before. The controversy seems to lie with the intro of the song which was unscripted, and hence caused a commotion when it was released with the song writer. Apparently 森進一 made a decision to mouth some words in the intro to the discontent of the songwriter. The songwriter believes that due to Akina’s previous successful imitation of 森進一’s husky voice in 「夜ヒト」 prompted fans to vote for the song. However, let’s not forget that it’s No. 27.
The staff connected with the production of the album seem to think that it does not suit the theme of the album because they did say that she was going to cover the most popular songs from the poll, but the final decision lies with Akina.
I have read on Minoru World’s BBS a month ago that they didn’t like it, and it’s placed No. 27, far down the list, so let’s hope that Akina doesn’t sing it. Let quality stride over publicity because we don’t need another 「夜霧よ今夜も有難う」.
Here is the actual link: Sanspo
森からバトンタッチ！？あるぞ中森明菜版「おふくろさん」
えっ、明菜が禁断の「おふくろさん」を歌う！？ ６月２７日にポップス歌手として初めて演歌のカバーアルバム「艶華」を発売する中森明菜（４１）が、森進一（５９）の代表曲「おふくろさん」を収録する可能性があることが１５日、分かった。
明菜は先月１２日からカバーしてほしい楽曲をファンに呼びかけるネット投票を行い、先月末に終了。２万３３１４件の投票があり、ベスト３に入った石川さゆり「天城越え」（２９３３票）、坂本冬美「夜桜お七」（２６４０票）、森昌子「越冬つばめ」（２４８５票）の収録を決めた。
上位ランク曲はこの３人の曲をはじめ、故美空ひばりさんや故テレサ・テンさんら女性の楽曲が大勢を占めたが、異変も起こっていた。森の「おふくろさん」が１０４１票の２７位にランクされていたのだ。
ネット投票を募集したのは、森が同曲のイントロ前に無断でせりふを足した問題で、作詞家の川内康範氏（８７）から歌唱差し止めを言い渡され、連日この問題が報道された時期と重なる。「昔、明菜がテレビ番組でサビの部分を真似していたことがあった」という投票意見があり、明菜ファンと演歌ファンが敏感に反応し、得票に拍車がかかったようだ。
制作スタッフの間では「今回のアルバムには合わないんじゃないか」という意見がある一方で、「ファンが望んでいるのなら」と収録に前向きな声も。日本音楽著作権協会ではオリジナルバージョンの歌唱規制はしていないため、問題はない。最終的には明菜が決めるという。
川内氏のマネジャーはサンケイスポーツの取材に「最終決定ではないようなので、先生の耳には入れない」と断った上で、「先生は森進一氏以外の人がオリジナルバージョンを歌うことには問題がないという考え。特に問題はないのではないか」と話している。収録曲は今週中に決める予定で、明菜の決断次第では大いにありそうだ。
| 中森明菜に歌ってほしい演歌楽曲 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 順 | 曲名 | 歌手 | 票数 |
| １ | 天城越え | 石川さゆり | ２９３３ |
| ２ | 夜桜お七 | 坂本冬美 | ２６４０ |
| ３ | 越冬つばめ | 森昌子 | ２４８５ |
| ４ | 川の流れのように | 美空ひばり | ２３５１ |
| ５ | 舟歌 | 八代亜紀 | ２３４２ |
| ６ | 津軽海峡冬景色 | 石川さゆり | ２３１０ |
| ７ | 氷雨 | 佳山明生 | ２２０１ |
| ８ | 愛燦燦 | 美空ひばり | ２１９５ |
| ９ | 無言坂 | 香西かおり | ２１８７ |
| １０ | 雨の慕情 | 八代亜紀 | ２１５６ |
| １１ | 北の宿 | 都はるみ | ２１４７ |
| １２ | つぐない | テレサ・テン | ２１４５ |
| １３ | 時の流れに身をまかせ | 〃 | ２１２９ |
| １４ | 喝采 | ちあきなおみ | ２１１８ |
| １５ | 悲しい酒 | 美空ひばり | ２１１０ |
| １６ | みだれ髪 | 〃 | １０９９ |
| １７ | 人生いろいろ | 島倉千代子 | １０９１ |
| １８ | おもいで酒 | 小林幸子 | １０７６ |
| １９ | 石狩挽歌 | 北原ミレイ | １０７４ |
| ２０ | 雪國 | 吉幾三 | １０７０ |
| ２７ | おふくろさん | 森進一 |
１０４1 |
The report also suggested that songs of 美空ひばり and テレサ・テン were very popular in the poll, but they seemed to miss the fact that 石川さゆり and 八代亜紀 had two songs in the Top 10, just like the 紅白 poll previously where Akina was the only artiste with two songs in the Top 20, but rarely rated a mention in any newspapers but they chose to report that both 聖子and 百恵 had three songs in the Top 100.
If Akina will only cover one song per artiste, then we can strike off 津軽海峡冬景色, 愛燦燦 and 雨の慕情 from the Top 10, leaving space for 北の宿 (I think they made a mistake here because the title of the song should be 北の宿から), つぐない and 喝采, which would be perfect for the 「Version A」 and then Akina can record her desired song 「みちづれ」 as the bonus song for 「Version B」. I am selfish and I think that she should record 喝采 definitely because she likes the song and it suits her to a T. There you go, the decision is made for you Akina!
(and quit smoking too!)
I also think that ２万３３１４件 is actually a very encouraging figure since they do not allow people to multi-vote. I like most of the Top 20 and happy to see that quite a few of our recommendations have made it, though I have also not heard a few of them, which will make it interesting. As to how Akina will finally settle on the setlist is yet to be decided but I am sure it will be highly anticipated by all of us.
thanks for the updates. Jamez!
Thank you very much for the update.
In my opinion, I don’t think Akina should use all top ten in this album. Some less popular can be a winner since it’s not as familiar and no comparison.
I assumed that this can be a three part projects like Utahime so Top 10 should be seperated into three albums. If not, album no.2 will be considered as ‘less popular songs’ and no3 will be ‘non popular songs’
Can’t wait to see Akina’s decision….. very exciting!!!
"Kassai" is a nice one, i remember there is a mandarin version with the same title sang by Taiwanese Feng Fei Fei in the 70′s.
This is the official announcement:
http://www.universal-music.co.jp/akina/result.html
Apparently, she’s definitely recording the Top 3.
i have a bad feelin on that, everything seems so rush
Firstly, to Ray, the release date has apparently been extended for another week (see 27th June in the above article). Sometimes, recordings only take a few days to a week maximum for most artistes, so it is not unusual to "rush" like this. It is the planning that takes a longer time. Basically, I believe Akina had this idea for some time and would have a team working on it, so technically, it should be fine.
One should strike the iron while it’s hot. Since the publicity is still high and Akina is on a roll, I don’t think it is a bad idea. Without any concerts to divert her attention away, what else do you think she could be doing everyday in the past month? I certainly hope not drinking and smoking.
Thanks to Jerry for posting the link to the official site. UJ needs to pay a little more attention to detail. The tenth song "雨の募情" should be "雨の慕情" and like I pointed above "北の宿" should be "北の宿から". Looks like I am not only one who spotted the error.
I like Patrick’s idea but I think the decision to have a second series will bank on the reviews and the success of this, so if she is only going to release one eventually, then I think she should record all the popular numbers. Look at what "Vocalist" did for 徳永英明. All the songs he chose were really modern and popular. Unlike unlucky 柏原芳恵 who made the mistake of choosing really obscure songs for her cover album.歌姫II had the most popular songs on it as well, hence its greater success. The publicity helps but basically if a non fan wants to buy a cover album, they want to know the songs in it, because it reduces the risk factor.
Anyway, Akina will be making the decision this week and apparently, she will be picking from the Top 20. So, it should be interesting.
夜桜お七 ーー＞ a bit hard to imagine Akina to sing this one…さくら、さくら。。。
yes jamez, perhaps you’re right.
just dont take me wrong, i’m just naturally having higher expectation on akina (well, we all do, don’t we?!). and i’m actually more worried about the music arrangements rather than akina’s vocal recording.
Yeah, I have the same concern as Ranbi. I can’t also quite imagine Akina singing the first phrase " Sakura Sakura"……
If Akina did choose this song, it will be up to Akira Senji San to make it more appealing.
Don’t worry, Ray. I understand how you feel. They did say that they were not going to divert too far from the original, so like 歌姫II, they are probably just going to slow the tempo down a little and orchestrate it.
夜桜お七 is pop-enka, and the sakura bit is a little "obiang" (as in old-fashioned bad), but I think the song is rather unusual but nice. Akina will probably make that bit sound more "classical" than enka.