OT - need J. lyric to trad jazz song

[Rich Look]

This goes out to you musically-inclined yakkers.

I’m trying to find the Japanese lyrics to the old jazz tune “Darktown Strutters’ Ball”. I’ve found a partial recording on the soundtrack of the 1970’s film MASH, but the song is playing over a P.A. sytem in the background of a scene so it’s hard to catch many of the words. it would be great if I could a get a hold of a printed version of the full Japanese lyric. If anybody knows where I might search for this, please point me in that direction.

As a fall-back I have an mp3 of the MASH fragment which I can send to you (privately) to help me puzzle out what the vocalist is singing; it’s not very clear since the recording is over a P.A. in the background of a scene.

Thanks in advance.

--
Rich Look
Japanese Language Services
610 Julia Street, New Orleans, La 70130
Phone: 504-524-9857
Mobile 917-697-8077
Fax: 504-529-4178

[Marc Adler]

On Mon, Jun 1, 2009 at 4:07 PM, Rich Look <rich...@cox.net> wrote:

I’m trying to find the Japanese lyrics to the old jazz tune “Darktown Strutters’ Ball”.

What do you mean by "_the_ Japanese lyrics"? Is the recording in MASH of a Japanese version?

--
Marc Adler
www.adlerpacific.com
nirebloga.wordpress.com
mudawwanatii.wordpress.com
blogsheli.wordpress.com

[Alan Siegrist]

I think the Japanese jazz tune that was used in M*A*S*H (both the movie and the TV show) was called “Tokyo Shoe Shine Boy” (東京シューシャインボイ), here performed by Teruko Akatsuki (暁テル子).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC_jf6FUh-U

 

I am no jazz fan, but perhaps someone else can figure out how it might or might not be related to “Darktown Strutters’ Ball” (same or similar melody etc.).

 

By the way, you can listen to Tokyo Shoe Shine Boy in the original M*A*S*H movie here:

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3013083417/

 

Best,

 

Alan Siegrist

Carmel, CA, USA

[Andy]

Alan

You can download the M*A*S*H theme too.  There are seven versions that are downloadable here:

http://themes.wavethemes.net/themt-m2.htm

Andy

I think the Japanese jazz tune that was used in M*A*S*H (both the movie and the TV show) was called “Tokyo Shoe Shine Boy” (東 京シューシャインボイ), here performed by Teruko Akatsuki (暁 テル子).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC_jf6FUh-U

 

I am no jazz fan, but perhaps someone else can figure out how it might or might not be related to “Darktown Strutters’ Ball” (same or similar melody etc.).

 

By the way, you can listen to Tokyo Shoe Shine Boy in the original M*A*S*H movie here:

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3013083417/

 

Best,

 

Alan Siegrist

Carmel, CA, USA

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[Alan Siegrist]

I wrote:

 

I think the Japanese jazz tune that was used in M*A*S*H

 

Correction (sorry, I accidentally let that one slip too soon): “Tokyo Shoe Shine Boy” was not the only Japanese jazz tune sung in the movie (others included “Chattanooga Choo Choo” and “Happy Days are Here Again”). Perhaps someone can find the full sound track to see if “Darktown Strutters’ Ball” (or a Japanese cover version of it) also appeared. Maybe it will also have the name of the Japanese version if there was one.

[Rich Look]

THanks for the continuing off-topic discussion.
The Darktown song is definitely among the ones on there. Altman (the
director) used the device of a Radio Tokyo broadcast (something like
Tokyo Rose, except post-WWII) as a bridge between scenes; each time
it's a different song fragment. Darktown is only one of about 5 or 6.
There is a full film soundtrack, but it doesn't credit the little
radio snippets.
I've been cast in a zany show set in 1924 Tokyo and have to make my
entrance playing and singing in Japanese. I can always fake it, but am
trained for authenticity.

[Carl Freire]

At 3:37 PM -0700 6/1/09, Rich Look wrote:
>THanks for the continuing off-topic discussion.
>The Darktown song is definitely among the ones on there. Altman (the
>director) used the device of a Radio Tokyo broadcast (something like
>Tokyo Rose, except post-WWII) as a bridge between scenes; each time
>it's a different song fragment. Darktown is only one of about 5 or 6.

To flesh that out a little bit in case it's still not clear to
Marc--you haven't seen the "MASH" movie? really?--or anyone in a
similar situation, many of these songs are jazz-pop hits of the day
(Korean War, that is) except with the lyrics either translated into
Japanese or with a fresh set of Japanese lyrics set to the classic
old tune.

For further ref, a graf from the Wikipedia entry on the movie:

Mandel also composed incidental music used throughout the film. Also
heard on the soundtrack are Japanese vocal renditions of such songs
as "Tokyo Shoe Shine Boy", "My Blue Heaven","Happy Days are Here
Again", "Chattanooga Choo Choo", and "Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo"; impromptu
performances of "Onward, Christian Soldiers" and "Hail to the Chief"
by cast members; and the instrumental "Washington Post March" during
the climactic football game.

Cheers,
Carl
--

**********

Carl Freire
cfreire /[@]* ix.netcom.com
Tokyo, Japan

[Alan Siegrist]

Rich Look writes:

> The Darktown song is definitely among the ones on there. Altman (the
> director) used the device of a Radio Tokyo broadcast (something like
> Tokyo Rose, except post-WWII) as a bridge between scenes; each time
> it's a different song fragment. Darktown is only one of about 5 or 6.

That seems to be so. I found a listing of it here:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066026/soundtrack

Unfortunately, the information for that snippet of song is very sketchy:

| "The Darktown Strutters' Ball"
| (uncredited)
| Written by Shelton Brooks
| Sung in Japanese over the loudspeaker

Incidentally, as a fascinating bit of Jazz trivia, this song "The Darktown
Strutters' Ball" may have been the earliest commercially recorded Jazz song,
done in 1917 by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band.

> I've been cast in a zany show set in 1924 Tokyo and have to make my
> entrance playing and singing in Japanese. I can always fake it, but am
> trained for authenticity.

Is there some reason you need to sing this particular tune in Japanese? The
Japanese lyrics seem elusive. Why not try another better-known tune, or even
one of the other ones used in MASH?