“Jounetsu no Arashi” by Saijo Hideki (1973)
“Jounetsu no Arashi” (情熱の嵐) or “Storm of Passion” was the fifth single from the then-teen idol Saijo Hideki, released on May 25, 1973. While not Hideki’s biggest hit (that would be the 1979 single “Young Man” which I will cover at some point) it is arguably the song most associated with Hideki’s early teen idol period and one that is still very fondly remembered today. It’s been covered by everyone from popular enka singer Hikawa Kiyoshi, the legendary rocker Kuwata Keisuke, punk band The High Lows, and just about every garage rock and bar band from Okinawa to Sapporo.
Hideki debuted in 1972 with “Koi Suru Kisetsu” (“恋する季節” lit. Season of love), a sugary sweet teen idol song written by the great Kayokyoku songwriter Tsutsumi Kyohei. “Koi Suru Kisetsu” was written and intended to be performed in the same style as the other big teen boy idol debut song that year--a song also written by Tsutsumi Kyohei--Go Hirmoi’s “Otoko no Ko; Onna no Ko”. These songs were both cheerful, light, bouncy, pops intended to be sung by raw singers with limited range and who had more charm than skill. Both songs were equally catchy and both singers performed well. So why did Go Hiromi end up being nominated for a New Artist Award at the Nihon Record Taisho in 1972 while Hideki walked away with nothing?
To my ear, what separates these songs are the vocals. Go Hiromi sounds like he’s been given a challenge and is racing to meet it while Saijo Hideki sounds like he’s holding himself back.
But Hideki’s next few singles, written by Suzuki Kunihiko, a jazz musician turned pop composer, take that initial teenybopper sound and add some more complex textures to the melody, allowing Hideki to really stretch his wings. These songs gained some momentum but it wouldn’t be until his fifth single, “Jounetsu no Arashi”, that the idol known as the “Wild 17 year old” would erupt into the mainstream consciousness with his first (but certainly not last) hit. It was his first song to crack the Top 10 in the Oricon singles charts and ended up being the 40th best selling song of the year.
The promotional event for the song doubled as Hideki’s first anniversary fan meeting and the event involved Hideki greeting his fans at Unesco Mura (a now defunct amusement park outside Tokyo) while descending from the heavens on helicopter, clinging to a rope ladder, dressed in a fabulous white bell bottom trousers/toga top ensemble. “Wild 17” indeed!
And the song lived up to the hype.
Suzuki wrote “Jounetsu no Arashi” to play to Hideki’s strengths both as a singer and as a live performer. It’s a bombastic, brass filled banger. Hideki himself was a drummer with an excellent sense of rhythm and phrasing and he navigates the twists and turns of the melody like a pro. Each syllable is precisely placed and articulated. There’s no gliding into notes or mushy words or weak line endings here. Hideki races forward through the verses dragging the band with him before punching out the title phrase like he’s playing the final round in NES against Mike Tyson. JO-ou-NE-tsu no A-ra-shi YO--
The song is intoxicating; it’s pure rock and roll.
The live performance is accompanied by both a dance and an audience fan chant written by Suzuki so that everybody in the country would remember Hideki’s name. And they did.
The lyrics by the great Taka Takashi capture the burning passion.
If you desire it
I’ll give you my life
If it’s for love, I’ll hand my heart over to the devil
And I won’t regret a thing
When performed live, the audience chants “Hi-De-Ki” with the beat after the first two lines of the verse--even in the cover versions. Just click on the Kuwata Keisuke cover linked above for a great example. The entire country still remembers his name.