An interesting thing about these Checkers. As Fujiya Fujii (藤井郁弥） and company went forward in their careers, they were able to get dressed in fashion that made them cute AND dangerous at the same time. Which end the pendulum swings, I'll leave you to decide.
In any case, the band's 10th single, "Song for USA" was something that I picked up on a compilation tape of Japanese pop music that I bought at Wah Yueh. From early in their career, the Checkers brought their blend of Miki House-ish New Romantic fashion and 50s Sha-Na-Na-esque American pop to television and the concert stages all over Japan. And I think "Song for USA" was that epic sayonara ballad to that style before heading into a more mature and funkier direction.
Written by Masao Urino（売野雅勇） and composed by Hiroaki Serizawa（芹沢廣明）, and released in June 1986, for all the times I heard "Song for USA" on that tape, I was surprised to realize that a movie with the same title came with it. I managed to catch it on video (borrowed it from someone) although, admittedly, I don't remember much about it, aside from the fact that along with the Checkers themselves, veteran actress Atsuko Asano（浅野温子） was in there as a photographer. Somehow, at the finale, the guys find themselves in a church in New York City where they perform the theme song.
Going into the lyrics and hearing the triumphant music, as I mentioned at the top, this was a swan song of sorts. Serizawa's melody seems to push up the Checkers' musical style, especially with that sax interlude, kinda like a farewell fanfare. And Urino's words hints at a passing of an era; there are phrases referring to old friends fading into the waves of time, and asking everyone to come over and sing the same song together....perhaps for one last time. And maybe the song was also a tribute and thank you to America for allowing the band to adopt that old style of pop music from over half a century ago. But I'm just musing aloud here.
"Song for USA" hit the top spot on Oricon and just missed out from getting into the Top 10 of the year, reaching No. 11. The band also got another stint on the Kohaku Utagassen that year to perform the song.
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| From the "The Checkers Best" |
Song For USA was one of my favourite Checkers albums, and it was the last one featuring songs written by Hiroaki Serizawa. Although I appreciated that the band probably wanted to explore their own style and write their own material, I really like their early songs (mostly written by Serizawa).
ReplyDeleteAs a side note, Song For USA was covered in Cantonese as "乾一杯". I believe it was one of the rare times when a Checkers song was covered, compared to say Anzen Chitai, whose singles were practically all covered by Hong Kong singers in the 80s.
Yes, I did notice that as the decade wore on, Checkers started to divert away from their 50s doo wop style into something more urban contemporary along the lines of "One Night Gigolo". Quite the interesting contrast between Checkers and Anzen Chitai.
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