Kuroneko no Tango
"Kuroneko no Tango" (Japanese: 黒ネコのタンゴ "Black Cat Tango";[1] originally Italian: Volevo un gatto nero "I wanted a black cat") is a tango song recorded in 1969 by young children in Italy and Japan.
The original Italian version came third in the Zecchino d'Oro on 11 March 1969.[2][3] It was written by "Framario" (Francesco and Mario Pagano), Armando Soricillo, and Francesco Saverio Maresca,[4] and was sung by four-year-old Vincenza Pastorelli.[2] In 2007, Pastorelli was arrested after an anti-prostitution operation dubbed "Gatto Nero" by Carabinieri; her appeal against a three-year prison sentence was pending in the Court of Cassation in October 2011.[5]
Nippon Victor[1] asked the leader of a Japanese school choir called "The Larks" to nominate a member to record a Japanese-language version of the song.[6] She chose her nephew,[6] Osamu Minagawa (born 22 January 1963), whose recording was released on 5 October 1969.[7] The song reached number one in the Oricon chart, and sold 3 million copies,[2] making six-year-old Minagawa the youngest artist ever to have a million-selling record.[8]
The Japanese lyrics bear no relation to the Italian ones beyond the central idea of a black cat. The Italian version is a children's song in which the singer complains at being given a white cat instead of a black one.[9] The Japanese "black cat" symbolises the singer's flighty sweetheart, although Minagawa understood "Tango" to be the cat's name.[6]
The song has been covered many times since 1969. The song with Japanese lyrics was covered by Ami Tokito in 2005, and Meg recorded a cover of the original Italian song on her 2012 album La Japonaise. Justin Mauriello's 2010 Japanese release Justin Sings the Hits includes a version.[10] The song has a Hebrew version originally performed by Tzipi Shavit with words by Yoram Taharlev, called "Kulam Halkhu LaJambo' " (Hebrew: כולם הלכו לג'מבו "Everybody Went to the Jamboree").[11]
The song is on the 2014 album Dream a Little Dream by Pink Martini and The von Trapps.
See also
- "Dur dur d'être bébé!" 1992 French single by four-year-old Jordy Lemoine
References
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External links
- Volevo Un Gatto Nero (includes lyrics) Zecchino d'Oro official website
