Even alone will I recover my broken dreams

The blog post title is rather dramatic. This is no drama in this blog post, but the title is relevant.

First imagine this, a silhouette of a round circle, some tinny synthesizer music which progressively builds up with some drums as the circle rises and then to a climactic point when the the lights run red and there are some men wriggling on a stage.

That, my readers, is the opening of the original 1987 music video to TM Network's "Get Wild". Check it out here.

(Note, at 1:52, 2:01 - 2:07 is very near the outside of the building where my grandfather lived).

 
Oh my that music video has not aged well. Watching it in my younger years, it oozed coolness. Now when I watch it, it's laughable and I have so many questions like:

• why the random poses in the street?
• why did they let people walking into the frame of the video?
• why did Mr Utsunomiya bite into an apple and then offer it to that school girl?
  
• why the pointless staring at the camera?
• why were they trying to stare down that granny?!
• why Mr Utsunomiya's hand is bandaged?
• the boat scenes, were they supposed to be yakuza/triad exiles?

However, it's still fun to reminisce about these thing, especially he fashion, 1980's Hongkong and there were some scenes where TM Network were having fun.

The blog post title is a translation of of one of the last lines in "Get Wild":

ひとりでも
傷ついた夢をとりもどすよ

I liked the line so much that I think I used to use it as an email signature. That was 20 years ago.

The City Hunter connection

I first heard the "Get Wild" in Hongkong, probably at the end of 1991. I was in Hongkong for a week doing life admin. City Hunter which was airing at the time and "Get Wild" was the end song (ED) for what I later learned was the first series. I was actually more interest in City Hunter at the time and because what I heard was just the ED, it didn't do the song justice.

It wasn't until about 1992 when I was able to watch more episodes of City Hunter and listen to City Hunter soundtracks did I realise that I liked Get Wild. I don't know if this was intentional or coincidence but the track length is 3min57s, the same digits in Saeba Ryo's signature revolver. Of course "Get Wild" is not *just* the ED, it prominently features in that powerfully emotive and dramatic scene in City Hunter 2 episode 50 [さらばハードボイルド・シティー（後編）]

I actually did wonder if "Get Wild" and City Hunter was some perfect match or if one made the other popular. The City Hunter - Get Wild connection continued in

• City Hunter 3 episode 13 as an insert (INS)
  
• City Hunter スペシャル 緊急生中継!? 凶悪犯冴羽獠の最期 as ED
• City Hunter <新宿PRIVATE EYES> as ED
  

Thirty years on, it's still a great song and versatile for *that* dramatic moment. However, as also seen in City Hunter 2 episode 50 [さらばハードボイルド・シティー（後編）], the monologue at the beginning of "Chance" is also effective in those sorts of scenes.

Anyway "Get Wild" is certainly a popular song and it has lasted through the decades.

Wait...there was another "Get Wild" in a City Hunter animation: NAHO's "Get Wild (City Hunter Special `97 Version)" from City Hunter Goodbye my sweetheart.

Revisions and covers

This brings me to other versions of "Get Wild" whether it be by TM Network (or in its TMN phase) or covers by other artists. In 2002, I had compiled what I thought were the known versions of "Get Wild" by that time (Decade Run was such a disappointment). In 2017, 30 years after the original release, TM Network released Get Wild Song Mafia, a compilation of "Get Wild" revisions and covers.

Obviously a lot of time passed between 2002 and 2017. The number of revisions and cover made and changes in popular musical styles. What I have noticed is that TM Network got ridiculously techno in their constant revisions of "Get Wild 89" to the point where I feel like they *want(* to ruin the song. On the other hand, "Get Wild" covers stayed fairly faithful to the original, of course with notable differences.

What I really want this blog post to be about is the versions of "Get Wild" that I like most or the versions of "Get Wild" I consider to be important.

City Hunter Special `97 Version (NAHO)

This is my favorite version of "Get Wild". No other version comes close.

I heard this for the first time I think in about early 1998. It was the first non TM Network/TMN version I heard and the first by a female. It's full of rocker girl energy. It's hard to believe even this version is now over 20 years old.

I want to know more about NAHO but the best that I can find now is this.

Now the rest in no particular order:

Get Wild techno overdub (TMN)

I am not one for techno but I quite like the techno overdub. I first listened to this in 1995 and like after I heard "Get Wild 89" . In my opinion it is much better than "Get Wild 89" which I dislike. My only problem with the techno overdub is the siren at the beginning. It freaks me out when I am driving and this song starts.

Get Wild (Dave Rodgers) 

Another techno version which I don't mind. I do not know how I learnt of this version. What I like about this cover is that it is in English, and it works out well.

Get Wild (小室みつ子)

This is a fairly important cover, it's performed  by the lyricist Komuro Mitsuko. She has a different voice, which I think doesn't fit the vibe of the song but hey, it's interesting to hear the lyricist vision of for the song. My source of this is a legitimate CD-R re-pressing of Komuro Mitsuko's Simple Dreams, I can't remmeber if I bought this online from Tower Records Japan or HMV Japan though.

Get Wild (Clementine)

This is a recent discovery for me. This is another cover by a female, this time in French. Again although not the type of voice I think is suited for the song, it really works out well. It's quite a chill version.

Get Wild ver.0 (TMN Network)

Now, what puzzles me is why this was not included in Get Wild Song Mafia. Ver.0 basically sounds like a practice demo. It has vocal but no lyrics, it's interesting.

The future for "Get Wild"

I am almost certain that the original  "Get Wild" will forever be associated with City Hunter so if there are future City Hunter animations, "Get Wild" will no doubt be on the soundtrack.

Maybe I am getting old but I have been stuck with the old versions for a long time now and that's the way I like it. Mind you I really haven't concentrated on the more recent covers, but what I do now, is I do not like the TM Network itself is doing to "Get Wild". Maybe, just maybe I might be able to appreciate a future cover that is more to my musical tastes.