"Kuroneko no Tango" ( ja, 黒ネコのタンゴ "Black Cat Tango";
originally it, Volevo un gatto nero "I wanted a black cat") is a
tango song recorded in 1969 by young children in Italy and Japan.
The original Italian version came last in the
Zecchino d'Oro competition on 11 March 1969.
It was written by "Framario" (Francesco and Mario Pagano), Armando Soricillo, and Francesco Saverio Maresca,
and was sung by four-year-old Vincenza Pastorelli.
In 2007, Pastorelli was arrested after an anti-prostitution operation dubbed "Gatto Nero" by
Carabinieri; her appeal against a three-year prison sentence was pending in the
Court of Cassation in October 2011.
Nippon Victor asked the leader of a Japanese school choir called "The Larks" to nominate a member to record a Japanese-language version of the song.
She chose her nephew,
Osamu Minagawa 皆川 おさむ (born 22 January 1963), whose recording was released on 5 October 1969. The song reached number one in the
Oricon chart, and sold 3 million copies,
making six-year-old Minagawa the youngest artist ever to have a million-selling record.
The Japanese lyrics bear no relation to the Italian ones beyond the central idea of a black cat. The Italian version is a
children's song in which the singer complains at being given a white cat instead of a black one.
The Japanese "black cat" symbolises the singer's flighty sweetheart, although Minagawa understood "Tango" to be the cat's name.
The song has been covered many times since 1969. The song was covered in Japanese by
Ami Tokito
is a Japanese female pop singer and gravure idol. She made her debut in 2005 Miss ''Young Jump'', winning Tsunku's honorable award.
She started acting as a child actress using her former stage names, Sachie Komatsu and Hikaru Asakura.
She feat ...
and in French by Japanese folk band めめ, both in 2005, and
Meg
Meg is a feminine given name, often a short form of Megatron, Megan, Megumi (Japanese), etc. It may refer to:
People
*Meg (singer), a Japanese singer
*Meg Cabot (born 1967), American author of romantic and paranormal fiction
*Meg Burton Cahill ( ...
recorded a cover of the original Italian song on her 2012 album ''
La Japonaise''.
Justin Mauriello's 2010 Japanese release ''
Justin Sings the Hits'' includes a version.
The song’s melody was used in a
Hebrew song originally performed by
Tzipi Shavit
Tzipi Shavit ( he, ציפי שביט; born April 1, 1947) is an Israeli actress, comedian entertainer, who is best known as a children's entertainer. She is sometimes described by the media as the "First Lady of Israeli entertainment."
Early lif ...
with words by
Yoram Taharlev, called "Kulam Halkhu LaJambo' " (Hebrew: כולם הלכו לג׳מבו "Everybody Has Gone to the Jumbo").
In Danish, the song is called “Min Kat Den Danser Tango” (meaning “My Cat Dances Tango”), in this case referring to an actual cat that dances the tango.
The song is on the 2014 album ''
Dream a Little Dream'' by
Pink Martini and
The von Trapps
The von Trapps (formerly The von Trapp Children) was a musical group made up of Sofia, Melanie, Amanda, and August (formerly Justin) von Trapp, descendants of the original Trapp Family Singers. They are the grandchildren of Werner von Trapp, who w ...
.
In 1995, South Korean music duo
Turbo released a Korean version of the song under the title "Black Cat Nero" ( 검은 고양이 네로 ). 25 years later the South Korean boy group
ATEEZ released a remake of the original Korean song after they won on South Korean music variety show "Immortal Songs: Singing the Legend, Immortal Song" with the song. They released the music video of the remake a day before Halloween featuring Kim Jong-kook (singer), Kim Jong-kook, one of the members of the original music duo.
See also
* "Dur dur d'être bébé!" 1992 French single by four-year-old Jordy Lemoine
References
Notes
External links
Volevo Un Gatto Nero (includes lyrics)Zecchino d'Oro official website
{{authority control
Oricon Weekly number-one singles
1969 singles
Japanese children's songs
Japanese-language songs
Tangos
Italian children's songs
Italian-language songs
Tango in Japan
1969 songs