On September 10, 1966, ジャッキー吉川とブルー・コメッツ (Jackey Yoshikawa and His Blue Comets) released 青い瞳／青い渚 オリジナル・ヒット集 (Aoi Hitomi / Aoi Nagisa Original Hit-shū), also known as BLUE COMETS ’66. Twelve tracks, all original. The eighth was called ウェルカム・ビートルズ (Welcome Beatles).
Two months earlier, the Blue Comets had played at the Nippon Budokan while the audience waited for the Beatles.
That could have been enough: accompany singers, cover Western hits, stand close to history while four men from Liverpool occupied its centre. Instead, the Blue Comets returned in September with an album that mentioned the Beatles by name and covered none of their songs.
A Japanese Song Disguised as a Foreign Record
At the beginning of 1966, such a record was far from inevitable. The Blue Comets had grown out of the world of backing bands and instrumentals. Across their first three singles of the year, five of the six sides contained no vocals. The exception was 青い瞳 (Aoi Hitomi), composed by the group’s saxophonist and singer 井上忠夫 (Tadao Inoue), with lyrics by 橋本淳 (Jun Hashimoto).
Even that song had to enter the world in English.
Nippon Columbia’s CBS imprint was then reserved for records classified as foreign music. A Japanese-language original did not fit. Hashimoto rewrote the lyrics in English, and the single was released on March 20. A Japanese group had written its own song, only to see it dressed as an imported record before the label would let it leave the building.
The disguise worked. The English version sold more than 100,000 copies. A Japanese version followed on July 10 and passed 500,000, according to figures later reported by the group’s producer. Within a few months, the only vocal song among six single sides had become the one the label could no longer treat as an exception. Nippon Broadcasting
Between those two releases came the Beatles.
The Beatles Are Named. They Are Not Covered.
The opening programme at the Budokan began with Welcome Beatles, composed by Inoue with words by 安井かずみ (Kazumi Yasui) and performed with Japanese singers gathered for the occasion. The title leaves little room for ambiguity. Japan was welcoming the biggest group in the world.
Then the Blue Comets took the song home.
On BLUE COMETS ’66, 青い渚 (Aoi Nagisa) opens the album. The Japanese version of Aoi Hitomi begins side two, immediately followed by Welcome Beatles. The sequence holds the whole story: the song that had first needed English lyrics, the song written to greet Britain’s most famous band, and around them ten more pieces created for the Blue Comets.
The Beatles are named. They are not covered.
“Original” did not mean that the five musicians wrote everything alone. Inoue composed several of the album’s central songs, while professional composers and lyricists supplied others. The Blue Comets had not escaped the Japanese music industry, nor did they need to. What disappeared from these twelve tracks was the borrowed foreign repertoire. Nippon Columbia
They were not the first Japanese group to make that move. The Spiders had released an almost entirely original album in April. BLUE COMETS ’66 should not be burdened with a false historical first. Its importance lies in the speed of the change: from five instrumental sides out of six, to a Japanese-language hit, to an entire album of original songs before the summer was over.
Six months later, Inoue and Hashimoto would write ブルー・シャトウ (Blue Chateau). It became the Blue Comets’ defining hit and won the 1967 Japan Record Award. Japan Composer’s Association
But that future is absent from BLUE COMETS ’66. Listen instead to the beginning of side two: Aoi Hitomi, then Welcome Beatles. Japan thanks its guests. The Blue Comets keep the stage.
