In Memoriam ’24] When “Mozart of Naniwa” Kida Tharoor’s CDs “Sold Better than Madonna

Many celebrities sadly passed away in 1924. We look back at the activities of the past and remember the deceased, based on articles in past issues of this magazine.

Even a cat can write a melody.

On May 14, at the age of 93, composer Kida Tharoor passed away at his home in Osaka City. He was known as the “Naniwa no Mozart” (the Mozart of Naniwa), and was the author of many commercial songs that everyone must have heard at least once.

Mr. Kida was born in Takarazuka City, Hyogo Prefecture, in 1930. He was the youngest of six siblings whose father was a detective in the Investigation Department. He attended Kwansei Gakuin Junior High School, the “most elegant” school in the neighborhood, and in his third year of high school, he formed a tango band and played the accordion. Among the band members was Takuya Fujioka, a classmate from his college days.

Eventually, he began frequenting cabarets and clubs, and dropped out of college to become a professional pianist. While working as an arranger in cabarets and other venues, he began composing music in the ’60s, mainly for the broadcasting industry. The first time he composed a song was when he was 19 years old, and it was sung at a cabaret in Minami by Utae Shoji, who was the number one hostess at the time and later became a member of “Kashimashi Musume.

He produced many famous songs, saying, “If it’s just a melody, even a cat can write a melody. She did not know how many songs she had composed during her lifetime, but she claimed to have composed “5,000 songs,” but it is said that she may have composed as many as 5,000 songs.

Among Mr. Kida’s works are “Kani Doraku,” a commercial song with the lyrics “Tore tore, pichi pichi pichi,” and “Aara yo! (Nissin Foods), and “Oyama Yuenchi” (Oyama Yuenchi). Kida also wrote the theme songs for TV programs such as “Seikatsu Sho Hyakka” (NHK) and “2 O’clock Wide Show” (Yomiuri TV), as well as “Aho no Sakata no Theme,” the theme song for comedian Toshio Sakata’s stage music.

He also wrote the theme song for the TV program “Detective! Night Scoop” (ABC) as “Chief Advisor” from 1989 until just before his death. The producer gave him the title “Naniwa no Mozart” in 1990.

It sold better than Madonna’s album.

This magazine interviewed Kida Tharoor in the February 26, 1993 issue. The article was titled “From Osaka! Genki Music” that is selling like hotcakes right now, the article reported that “Naniwa no Mozart: All About Kida Tharooro,” a compilation of Kida’s works, had been on sale since November 1992 and was selling like hotcakes.

The record store commented, “At one point, 600 copies were sold in one day,” which may or may not have been true. Jun Miura, a big fan of Kida’s music, praised the Kida sound , saying, “It’s like the ‘blood sound’ or blues of Kansai people. Kida himself commented on his CD as follows.

The music being played in Tokyo is nothing more than a bunch of dre and dre,” he said. If this CD sells well, maybe in 10 years there will be good commercials in Tokyo. Until then, please order a commercial song from me, Mozart of Naniwa.”

Mr. Kida said on March 29, “Detective! Night Scoop” on March 29, he fell ill and was temporarily hospitalized. His health did not seem to recover even after he was discharged from the hospital.

The funeral was held in accordance with Mr. Kida’s wishes, and was attended by his relatives only.

We pray for the repose of his soul.