It was an idol past his prime who revolutionized the music industry
After becoming a popular lyricist and beginning to mass-produce hit songs, Aku Yu brought about the next innovation in the music industry with “Koi no Carnival,” which he wrote for the out-of-his-day idol singer, Yamamoto Linda.
The song was created with the aim of “transforming into an adult singer,” and was intended to be sung by a young, stylish woman in sexy costume and choreography, appearing on television screens.
The original project began when a young composer, Tokura Shunichi, who had recently graduated from Gakushuin University, was asked to compose a piece.
Tokura, who had been producing hit songs one after another, heard the name of the singer (Linda Yamamoto) and thought, “Oh, that lisping singer,” and was not very interested in her. He asked the agency he was affiliated with to “turn it down.”
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However, a few days later, Hitoshi Yoshida, who was a producer at Fuji Television at the time, came to see Tokura about the matter of Linda Yamamoto. Yoshida was a little concerned about Tokura’s reluctance, but he asked for his cooperation.
“As we talked, we began to feel like we might be able to do something by combining the images of television with music.”
Composing while imagining a video was a method he had never done before, but in most cases, Tokura composed and arranged the music at the same time. So, first of all, he thought about what kind of intro to make.
How can a sexy beauty make an entrance that will make an impact?
From there, he decided to use South American samba as the rhythm. He then officially accepted the job and asked the dynamic Yu Aku to write the lyrics.
Until then, it was normal to receive lyrics from a lyricist and then compose music to them. However, this time, he composed and arranged the music first, recorded the karaoke version, added a melody to it, and gave it to Yu Aku.
This technique became a regular feature not only in Linda Yamamoto’s projects, but also in her songwriting collaborations with Yu Aku. Rather than simply songwriting, she took on a producer-like role.
Then Aku Yu came up with the lyrics for a song titled “Love Carnival.”