Singer, Datotsu no Blues from Shinjuku Scorpioza, 1968-1970

Singer, Datotsu no Blues from Shinjuku Scorpioza, 1968-1970

Maki Asakawa's Yoru ga Aketerara was released as a single on July 1, 1969, on Toshiba Ongaku Kogyo's Express label. It was numbered EP-1156, with lyrics by Maki Asakawa and arrangements by Kozaburo Yamaki. The title track was recorded live at Scorpioza, a small underground theater in Shinjuku, while the coupling track, "Kamome," with lyrics by Shuji Terayama, was recorded in a studio, a vivid contrast. The first release, known as a red seven-inch disc, left such a strong impression on the audience that it even defined their image later on.

The Scorpioza, where this song was born, was a small theater built in the basement of the Art Theater Shinjuku Bunka, and in December 1988, three consecutive nights of performances were organized, starting at the experimental time of 10 pm. It was composed and directed by Shuji Terayama. The progression, interspersed with readings and monologues, encouraged the songs to transcend mere tunes and resonate like a ritual to weave a single evening. The reputation that grew there spread as a local fever through the bars of Golden Gai and alleyways, and eventually crystallized into records.

The dawn that pushes open the door of the record is a low, smoldering voice that offers the image of departure, of boarding the first train. The narrative, in which escape and reawakening coexist, evokes a damp street corner at dawn. The band is restrained, taking large pauses, and moving forward as if listening carefully to the margins of the words. The listener is left to find his or her own footing as the last note arrives.

On September 5, 1970, the first album "The World of Maki Asakawa" was released, with another take of "When the Dawn Breaks" at the beginning of the album. The album was composed of a mixture of studio and live recordings from the Scorpio Theater, and the stage temperature cultivated at the Scorpio Theater rose from all over the disc. The original image of Maki Asakawa, which would later be described, was almost complete at this point.

By comparing the single and the album, the differences in the context in which the same song is placed can be clearly seen. The first release's feel of Scorpio's vividness is locked in, while the other take, placed at the beginning of the story of the album, is a cinematic introduction. The difference tells us that Maki Asakawa was a singer who redesigned the place for each work, and we can also see the meaning of the single version that was later re-explored in the edited version.

Listening to Yoru ga Akari Kara is also an act of touching the night air of Shinjuku, which the record captures, and reweighing one's own morning. Just before the buzz of the city fades into the distance, just before the first train approaches. Standing between the two, it is a time when I cannot yet name the outline of where I am going. It is this sense of time that continues to bring this song back to the present, even after more than half a century.