Skip to main content

The Alfee to End 31-Year Run of Osaka International Women's Marathon Theme Songs



At a Jan. 19 press conference in Osaka, Kansai Television CEO Sumio Fukui announced that rock band The Alfee, who for over 30 years have written and recorded a theme song for each edition of the Osaka International Women's Marathon, will sing for the final time at this year's 37th running on Jan. 28.



The Alfee began their string of marathon anthems with Osaka's 6th edition in 1987, producing memorable hits like "You Get to Run," "One Step," and the classic "Shining Run." Fukui expressed his gratitude to the band, commenting, "We cannot thank all the members of The Alfee enough for the 31 songs they have written for us."



At the same, Fukui looked to the future, saying, "In the marathon as well, as the Tokyo Olympics approach the selection process has changed and we have entered the days of a new generation. I hope to change our broadcast step by step as well and explore new ways to bring its excitement to the public. This step marks a clean break with the past in order to make that move forward."



Kansai Television will broadcast a special "The Alfee's 42.195 km Melody" program on Jan. 22. The three members of The Alfee will look back on their legacy and talk about the thoughts and feelings underlying each of the marathon theme songs they wrote for Osaka.



source article: https://www.daily.co.jp/gossip/2018/01/19/0010911931.shtml
translated by Brett Larner
Labels:

Comments

Brett Larner said…
Not an Alfee fan but you've got to respect them for holding that gig down for 31 years. Not many bands could pull that off.
January 20, 2018 at 11:13 AM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Fukuoka International Marathon Elite Field

The Dec. 1 Fukuoka International Marathon is the first of this winter season's big selection races for the home soil team for next year's Tokyo World Championships, and the domestic field is a great one. Kenya Sonota , 2:05:59 in Tokyo last year, and 2:06 men Yusuke Nishiyama , Yuya Yoshida , Kazuya Nishiyama and Daisuke Doi make up the main contenders to get a spot, with internationals Lemeck Too , Jie He , Bethwel Yegon , Vincent Raimoi , last year's winner Michael Githae , and Shaohui Yang perfectly positioned to add momentum to the shot at the 2:06:30 Worlds standard that they'll all be taking. 8 other Japanese men in the 2:07 to 2:09 range make it one of the most competitive Fukuoka editions in a long, long time. Last year Githae outkicked Yang by 1 second to win 2:07:08 to 2:07:09, Yang with a Chinese NR that was broken a few months later by He in Wuxi. Chinese men's marathoning has momentum right now too, and it wouldn't be surprising to see either He
Post a Comment
Read more

Koku Gakuin Wins National University Ekiden for First Time in Anchor Stage Turnaround

Last month's Izumo Ekiden season opener was unusually action-packed with turnovers in the lead on every stage and a dramatic showdown between anchors Kotaro Shinohara (Komazawa Univ,), Aoi Ota (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) and Kiyoto Hirabayashi (Koku Gakuin Univ.). All three schools were expected to be up front again at today's National University Men's Ekiden , and race-morning lineup changes unexpectedly put Shinohara, Ota and Hirabayashi against each other again on the 2nd-to-last stage of the day. Komazawa was immediately in trouble when its first two runners Kosuke Shimako and Shunsuke Kuwata tanked, falling to 16th. AGU was out front after two of the eight legs, with Hibiki Yoshida from Izumo 4th-placer Soka University giving him a run for it and both just missing the 2nd leg CR. AGU led the rest of the way, with a 33:03 CR for the 11.8 km 4th leg by Asahi Kuroda giving it a lead of almost 1:30 that it took another CR from KGU's Ayumu Yamamoto to cut back down
Post a Comment
Read more

High School Runner Hit by Car During Ekiden in Oita

On Oct. 27 in Kunisaki, Oita at a regional qualifying race for the prefectural high school ekiden, a male 2nd-year high school runner was struck by a car and injured. Although the athlete did not suffer career-ending injuries, the incident has raised questions about how it could have happened. A spokesperson from the prefectural high school athletics association said that there had been "a lack of adequate consideration" in the event's planning and that the association intends to consider its options for preventing the same thing from happening again. According to officials, the accident occurred along a narrow section of road which was closed in both directions for 320 m near the first exchange zone. A car driven by a local 86-year-old woman entered the course within the closed-off section from a parking lot reserved for race officials. When the runner tripped and fell after handing off the tasuki at the first exchange zone, his left leg was run over by the car which was
Post a Comment
Read more