Yuki Uchida’s happy and upbeat song TENCA WO TOROU! ~Uchida No Yabou~ was another single off of that very first J-pop mix that I got and though at the time it barely registered (that’s what happens when you’re sandwiched between ZARD and Chisato Moritaka), years later when I happened to play the cassette again, I was amazed how great and FUN this little tune really was!
Taken from a wacky comedy drama called “Hanjuku Tamago” and starring Uchida herself as on of three goofy sisters trying to get ahead in life, with the other two sisters being played by actress Ritsuko Tanaka, ( SAY, whatever happened to her…?) a really young and cute Rie Tomosaka as the baby of the family and Hiroko Shino as the slightly daffy, sarcastic and long-suffering mother!
Tenca Wo Torou is one of those songs that REALLY matches the show and its’ wackiness, and after watching this clip of the show’s opening sequence once, I’m sure you’ll all agree with me!
I remember once when we all piled into a friend’s car on the way to the movies, and he began playing TENCA on his tapedeck. This made sense since he was the guy who made me that cassette tape with the Uchida Yuki song in the first place! Anyway, the song was blaring out and suddenly his wife turned and said, “I think Yuki Uchida is a REALLY pretty model and a VERY good actress… but I CAN’T STAND HER SINGING!! AHAHAHAHA, we ALL cracked up in the car on THAT one!!
However her singing skills (or lack thereof), Uchida seems to be having great fun with this song, as evidenced by her cute performance of it on that year's RECORD TAISHO. She seems to know it's a wacky song just for fun, and I love her inflections on the lines like "Maji Maji MAJI?!! "AHAHAHA! Lucky! Lu—u-u-cky!
