Blog reader and friend Bill Everatt flagged this up.
Its the full TV theme from Thunderbirds in Japanese courtesy of You Tube!
It was released as a single too and the cover and sleeve pictures are fabulous, especially of the Zero-X! Here's part of the inside courtesy of Discogs. It looks like a small comic.
Bill sent me the link to Discogs, a record sales and reference site, where you can see all the record sleeve pictures. Here it is..
Here are the approximate lyrics from Bill.
Thunderbird
To Glowing Cosmic Blue Space
Dancing the breeze
Thunderbird
For the happiness of this night
Land on the sea
who can find the sky
That calling voice is S-O-S
Thunderbird
To Glowing Cosmic Blue Space
Dancing the breeze
THUNDERBIRD
Japanese lyrics by = Takita Jun
Composer = Barry Gray
Arranger = Hattori Katsuhisa
Singer = Royal Knights
What do you think readers?
The Japanese opening is wonderful, something we would never have had a chance to see and hear in the 1960s. The record sleeve is also beautiful. Thanks for the chance to see this.
ReplyDeleteNow that has made my day! I love foreign versions of pop culture classics, my fave is the Indian " I wanna hold your hand" by Ted Lyons and his Cubs, from the same film (that was also used in "Ghost World") Jan Pehecen Han ho is also totally bonkers!!-MJ Southcoast Base
ReplyDeleteIt is good guys isn't it. The Japanese adored Gerry!
ReplyDeleteWhat amazes me is how close they have got the sound and arrangement to the original Barry Gray Orchestra version. Clearly a labour of love!
ReplyDeleteI'd say it was an overdubbed vocal with additional music added- MJ Southcoast Base
DeleteHi MJ, at first, I actually thought it was an overdubbed version of one of the Barry Gray recordings, but it isn't. There is a studio technique which can be used to check this, which I tried because I was really that curious. There was absolutely no sync or phase in the comparison and furthermore, the orchestra in this version is not the same orchestra in any of the Barry Gray recordings.
ReplyDeleteThere are also subtle differences in the trumpet section. By 1968 when this piece was recorded, rudimentary multi-track recording was quite widespread throughout the world. My guess is the orchestra piece was recorded first, possibly edited from several takes. Then, as you say, the Royal Knights overdubbed their vocal on a separate track. The whole thing can then be mixed down however way you want it.
However, The Japanese are also known for their excellence in music performance. So its quite possible that this really is just a superbly performed all-in-one studio recording, mixed to perfection. [Petula Clark did it in 1964 with Downtown] The Royal Knights had been going since 1959, so they would be veterans of creating all sorts of vocal pieces.
I'd have loved to have been present when they did this, as Hattori Katsuhisa's arrangement of the track is the closest I have ever heard to an actual Barry Gray produced recording.