Misato Watanabe -- Summertime Blues

Next to "My Revolution" in 1985, this is the song that I often remember Misato Watanabe（渡辺美里）for. Despite the title, the song is a happy paean to the hot season. Just hearing her belt out the title in the refrain makes me think of those sweltering days back in Gunma Prefecture.

"Summertime Blues"was released in May 1990 as her 16th single and peaked at No. 2 on the Oricon weeklies. It was included in her 6th album, "tokyo" a couple of months later. "tokyo"itself hit the top spot on the album charts a week after its release. The song was the first one that Watanabe composed and wrote.

A bit of Watanabe trivia. She is currently tied with Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）, Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）, and rock band B'z at No. 3 for having No. 1 albums annually (8 years in a row). No. 2 belongs to Ayumi Hamasaki（浜崎あゆみ）at 12 consecutive years and No. 1 goes to Yumi Matsutoya（松任谷由実） at 18 years.