B minor · Camelot 10A · 123 BPM
Ai no Corrida
by Quincy Jones
- 123
- BPM
- B minor
- Key
- 10A
- Camelot
- 81
- Danceability
- 6
- Acousticness
Chaz Jankel and Kenny Young wrote "Ai no Corrida" and Jankel first recorded it in 1980, including it on his self-titled debut album for A&M Records. Quincy Jones picked the song up the following year for his own 1981 recording, turning it into a top 30 hit in the United States.
The title drew on the Japanese release title of the 1976 erotic art film In the Realm of the Senses. Ai is the Japanese word for love, while corrida is Spanish for bullfight, though in Spanish youth slang the word carries another meaning entirely. The literal translation is often given as Bullfight of Love.
Jones's version earned the Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals in 1982. The producer was already a veteran by then, having come to prominence as a jazz arranger in the 1950s before producing hits for Lesley Gore and arranging for Frank Sinatra and Count Basie. Work with Michael Jackson on Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad lay ahead, as did the 1985 charity single "We Are the World", which he produced and conducted to raise funds for famine victims in Ethiopia. Over a seven-decade career he collected 28 Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Tony Award, along with nominations for seven Academy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards.
Ai no Corrida runs at 123 BPM, the tempo of house, disco and most club dance music. In classical terms it sits in allegro territory. A bar of 4/4 lasts 1.95 seconds, and a quarter-note delay is 488 ms. It is in B minor, Camelot 10A, which shares its notes with D major and mixes cleanly with E minor and F# minor.
We use multiple sources as part of our online research for the song story including Wikipedia.