Checkers -- Gizagiza Heart no Komori Uta （ギザギザハートの子守唄）

"Gizagiza Heart no Komori Uta" (Jagged Heart Lullaby) was Checkers' very first release (although it was the second song recorded by the young band). Right from the start, it had that 50s doo-wop style which made the boys famous (although lead vocal Fumiya Fujii once remarked that when he had first heard it, he thought it was enka....oh that Fumiya, what a card). This was another favourite at Kuri, and a heavy-rotation song by my old university friend in her apartment.

Written by Chinfa Kan（康珍化）and composed by Hiroaki Serizawa（芹沢廣明), "Gizagiza" was released in September 1983, and spent about 42 weeks bouncing about the Top 100 of Oricon, peaking at No. 8 and becoming the 20th-ranked song for 1984.

As for how Checkers got its name, someone on the production or managing staff got a brainwave via the fact that a number of the Western bands from the 50s and 60s had names that started with a 'C' and ended with an 'S'. Apparently, "Checkers" hadn't been taken, so the name stuck.