<figure id="attachment_406356" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-406356" style="width: 4485px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="b5385add"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/12/a6c1ce46e858a82bb8769311cc6b49d9.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-406356" class="wp-caption-text">Kida Tharoori poses in front of &#8220;Crab Doraku&#8221; (February 26, 1993 issue).</figcaption></figure>
<p> 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.</p>
<h3><span class="strongInContent"> Even a cat can write a melody.</span></h3>
<p> On May 14, at the age of 93, composer Kida Tharoor passed away at his home in Osaka City. He was known as the &#8220;Naniwa no Mozart&#8221; (the Mozart of Naniwa), and was the author of many commercial songs that everyone must have heard at least once.</p>
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
<p> 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 &#8220;most elegant&#8221; 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.</p>
<p> 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 &#8217;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 &#8220;Kashimashi Musume.</p>
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
<p> He produced many famous songs, saying, <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;If it&#8217;s just a melody, even a cat can write a melody</span>. She did not know how many songs she had composed during her lifetime, but she claimed to have composed &#8220;5,000 songs,&#8221; but it is said that she may have composed as many as 5,000 songs.</p>
<p> Among Mr. Kida&#8217;s works are &#8220;Kani Doraku,&#8221; a commercial song with the lyrics &#8220;Tore tore, pichi pichi pichi,&#8221; and &#8220;Aara yo! (Nissin Foods), and &#8220;Oyama Yuenchi&#8221; (Oyama Yuenchi). Kida also wrote the theme songs for TV programs such as &#8220;Seikatsu Sho Hyakka&#8221; (NHK) and &#8220;2 O&#8217;clock Wide Show&#8221; (Yomiuri TV), as well as &#8220;Aho no Sakata no Theme,&#8221; the theme song for comedian Toshio Sakata&#8217;s stage music.</p>
<p> He also wrote the theme song for the TV program &#8220;Detective! Night Scoop&#8221; (ABC) as &#8220;Chief Advisor&#8221; from 1989 until just before his death. The producer gave him the title &#8220;Naniwa no Mozart&#8221; in 1990.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" The &quot;Blood Sound&quot; of Kansai People"></div>
<h3><span class="strongInContent">It sold better than Madonna&#8217;s album.</span></h3>
<p> This magazine interviewed Kida Tharoor in the February 26, 1993 issue. The article was titled &#8220;From Osaka! Genki Music&#8221; that is selling like hotcakes right now, the article reported that &#8220;Naniwa no Mozart: All About Kida Tharooro,&#8221; a compilation of Kida&#8217;s works, had been on sale since November 1992 and was selling like hotcakes.</p>
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
<p> The record store commented, &#8220;At <span class="strongInContent">one point, 600 copies were sold in one day,&#8221;</span> which may or may not have been true. Jun Miura, a big fan of Kida&#8217;s <span class="strongInContent">music</span>, praised the Kida sound <span class="strongInContent">, saying, &#8220;It&#8217;s like the &#8216;blood sound&#8217; or blues of Kansai people.</span> Kida himself commented on his CD as follows.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The music being played in Tokyo is nothing more than a bunch of dre and dre,&#8221; 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.&#8221;</span></p>
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
<p> Mr. Kida said on March 29, &#8220;Detective! Night Scoop&#8221; 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.</p>
<p> The funeral was held in accordance with Mr. Kida&#8217;s wishes, and was attended by his relatives only.</p>
<p> We pray for the repose of his soul.</p>


 Yutaka Asai

 In Memoriam '24] Taroh Kida, known as "Naniwa no Mozart" (Mozart of Naniwa), composed many commercial songs and theme songs for TV programs that everyone has heard before. There was a moment when he was "more successful than Madonna.

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

Access Ranking