The original 5ch post reports that lyricist Akira Aku found the nonsensical title of Southern All Stars’ “Katte ni Sindbad” — the band’s debut single from 48 years ago — genuinely amusing. In the thread, posters traced how Keisuke Kuwata, once seen as fronting a novelty band, won people over with “Itoshi no Ellie,” and debated whether Kuwata, Motoharu Sano, or Takuro Yoshida was first to pioneer the distinctive style of cramming multiple syllables into a single note. Opinions were also split on the band’s more recent songs and their past live staging.
[Southern All Stars] “What IS this nonsensical song?!” — The Shock of “Katte ni Sindbad” 48 Years Ago, and Why Akira Aku Loved the Bizarre Title
Mon, 9/21, 11:10 AM
■ Source note: the title even Akira Aku found amusing
Watching Rei Ranran (annual income of ¥580 million) on YouTube beats watching Peace-kun at Omiya Park (a beloved but famously gloomy-looking hippo) any day.
6AnonymousSep 23, 2026 23:58
Kuwata in the '70s-'80s genuinely wanted to start a revolution and did — but from the '90s onward he's basically just coasting on autopilot.
I mean, I'm sure he still writes with a challenger's spirit even now, but — not that you should say this about a 70-year-old — when he does try something new these days, it just ends up being a bunch of boring songs.
7AnonymousSep 24, 2026 00:02
On the Southern front — they used to be super strict about illegal uploads so barely anything made it online, but lately their stuff is scattered all over YouTube.
13AnonymousSep 24, 2026 00:09
Re: #7 Kuwata himself has said Southern All Stars isn't part of the City Pop boom conversation.
8AnonymousSep 24, 2026 00:03
I think things changed a lot around the KAMAKURA era (their 1985 album).
17AnonymousSep 24, 2026 00:11
Re: #8 Right after that, Harabo (keyboardist Yuko Hara) went on maternity leave and the band was on hiatus for 5 years. Kuwata spent that time exploring new approaches with Kuwata Band and solo work.
11AnonymousSep 24, 2026 00:06
I only found out about this recently — had no idea what it was even about.
12AnonymousSep 24, 2026 00:08
Wasn't this a ripoff of something?
53AnonymousSep 24, 2026 01:26
Re: #12 A ripoff of comedian Ken Shimura's bit.
15AnonymousSep 24, 2026 00:10
At first they seemed like a novelty/comedy band, right?
16AnonymousSep 24, 2026 00:10
Re: #15 "Itoshi no Ellie" is what changed how the public saw them.
25AnonymousSep 24, 2026 00:23
Re: #15 Tatsuo Kamon (the parody-song comedian) did a version called "Katte ni Shindobatto."
18AnonymousSep 24, 2026 00:13
I could get it if they'd slapped on a goofy title after a few hits already under their belt, but doing it right from the debut single is wild.
19AnonymousSep 24, 2026 00:13
Any minute now the old guys who love bashing Southern All Stars are gonna show up.
20AnonymousSep 24, 2026 00:17
Since when did ghosts become seductive women with willowy hips, lol (seems to riff on one of the song's odder lyric lines)
22AnonymousSep 24, 2026 00:19
Before Southern All Stars came along, if you asked "what time is it now?" the punchline answer was "beef flavor" (an old TV comedy bit).
23AnonymousSep 24, 2026 00:20
If they'd gone with "Nagisa ni Shiyagare" instead (the title of their actual second single), it might not have been a hit — just doesn't have the same ring to it.
26AnonymousSep 24, 2026 00:23
The day after it aired on The Best Ten, that's all anyone at school talked about: "Did you see that?!"
31AnonymousSep 24, 2026 00:34
They suddenly dragged out a band that's already washed up — is something going on?
34AnonymousSep 24, 2026 00:41
Re: #31 You meant to say "a band that's already washed up," right? Yeah, I get it.
35AnonymousSep 24, 2026 00:44
Creepy writing, honestly.
58AnonymousSep 24, 2026 01:38
Re: #35 Thought the exact same thing. All that's left is a feeling of disgust.
38AnonymousSep 24, 2026 00:57
Their manager at the time thought the line "munasawagi no koshitsuki" ("hips that stir up butterflies") didn't make sense and suggested changing it to "munasawagi nokoshitsutsu" ("leaving the butterflies behind") — but Kuwata shot it down flat.
46AnonymousSep 24, 2026 01:13
Re: #38 When you sang it at karaoke in a snack bar, even the mama-san would join in and get the whole room grinding their hips. Back then people saw it as a song that got everyone hyped even without understanding a word of it.
54AnonymousSep 24, 2026 01:32
Up to that point, the norm in Japanese songs was one syllable per note, but "Katte ni Sindbad" crammed in two or even three syllables per note — and that's said to have revolutionized Japanese pop music. It's a completely standard technique now, though.
63AnonymousSep 24, 2026 02:03
Re: #54 That technique is Sano's thing. Kuwata's is more like one-syllable-per-note, just sped way up.
64AnonymousSep 24, 2026 02:06
Re: #63 It's Takuro Yoshida, lol.
73AnonymousSep 24, 2026 02:25
Re: #63 "Yakusoku shite kureta kimi" — he crams "yakusoku shite" ("you promised me") into just three notes, ♪♪♪.
69AnonymousSep 24, 2026 02:15
"Ree-ree-ree-re-re no ojisaaan♪" (the old TV jingle guy)
72AnonymousSep 24, 2026 02:24
Re: #69 "Ge-ge-ge-no-ge no Kitaro~" (the GeGeGe no Kitaro theme song)
74AnonymousSep 24, 2026 02:29
With Motoharu Sano, the track where I thought his way of fitting words to melody was amazing — forgot the title, but it's the one that lifted from Springsteen's "Rosalita."
78AnonymousSep 24, 2026 02:44
Re: #74 That's "Yoru no Swinger" ("Night Swinger").
79AnonymousSep 24, 2026 02:48
Inamanji?!
81AnonymousSep 24, 2026 02:57
Re: #79 "Beef flavor~" (the old Shiro Kishibe comedy bit).
Background and talking points
“Katte ni Sindbad” is Southern All Stars’ debut single, released in June 1978. Its nearly incomprehensible lyrics and title made a huge splash at the time. The original article’s main point is an anecdote that lyricist Akira Aku appreciated the song, though the thread never gets into the specifics of how he praised it. What actually got the thread going was the debate over who first pioneered the technique of packing multiple syllables into a single note — Kuwata, Sano, or Yoshida — a question that comes up often in Japanese music history circles, and one this thread didn’t settle either. One post claims Kuwata himself has said Southern All Stars isn’t included in City Pop boom discussions, but no primary source backs that up in the thread, so it remains unverified.
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