Viva Chiba!
In honor of Chiba-san’s 80th birthday, here is a very rare album from the early 70’s of him singing various songs. It is my most prized record in my collection, as it is not only an absolute rarity, but it was signed by the man himself when I met him.
Unfortunately I do not have the tracklist right now, but once I have it, I will post it here.
Now I’m going to answer two questions that will most likely be asked:
Where did you get the record?
I got it off of Yahoo Japan Auctions a few years ago, and after a fierce bidding war, I finally got it for around $45, although it was more due to me using a buying service (for those unaware, YJA on its own doesn’t do international customers). My only advice to those who want it is to check often on YJA; it comes up from time to time.
How did you meet Chiba, and how was he like?
I met him at Chiller Theatre in April 2018. I seriously couldn’t believe he was actually there, as he hardly ever makes US appearances, and even those are across the country from me, so when I heard he was going to be at Chiller Theatre which is around 2 hours away from me, I absolutely had to go. He is a great, very sweet man, although he doesn’t speak a lot of English. When I brought up the record for him to sign, he was obviously very happy to see it, especially from someone who is young (I was 16 at the time of meeting him). Overall, he’s an absolute gentleman, and that experience made me gain even more respect for him.
WACOCA: People, Life, Style.