So I always related that song to her, but over the years I began to see references to the song in movies and dramas that didn’t seem like they were talking about Chisato at all. And then when Hip Hop Group "Funky Monkey Babys” came out, their music was SO different from Chisato’s that I KNEW they just COULDN'T have been named after her song, and that there must be some OTHER meaning to the words.
It then struck me that perhaps Funky Monkey Baby was NOT a Chisato Moritaka original tune and was the cover of an OLDER song? After all, one of Chisato’s BIG early hits was a cover of Saori Minami’s seventies' classic “Juanasai”! I had to find out!
Doing some research online, I was surprised to find that the song was INDEED a cover, a remake of a 1975 tune penned and sung by a Rock Group called CAROL, led by Rock n Roll Elder Statesman Yazawa Eikichi!
Downloading the MP3, I could see why Chisato had decided to cover it, such a cool, ROCKING tune with a steady pounding backbeat, and I was thrilled to find they even had a VIDEO of them performing, and Holy Smokes, they were VERY KAKKOI indeed!
Just as she was inspired by the artists before her, Chisato has continued to pass the torch down to the next generation as many of her OWN songs are covered by younger artists (like Aya Matsuura, C-ute, and Ichikawa Yui ), so much so that many don’t even realize the songs ARE covers - I saw some young artist on Youtube covering Chisato's awesome "Watarasebashi" and reading the comments, saw that a commentator posted, “This is a cover of an old Aya Matsuura song!” LOL!
