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I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.

Monday, June 2, 2014

Yukiko Okada -- Kanashii Yokan (哀しい予感)


I was rather curious about some of the other singles that the late Yukiko Okada (岡田有希子)had released in the 80s, so I took a look at "Kanashii Yokan" (Sad Premonition). This has been labeled on this song's article on J-Wiki as an aidoru kayo, but the music by Mariya Takeuchi (竹内まりや)and arrangement by Masataka Matsutoya (松任谷正隆)struck me as something akin to City Pop partly because of that down-and-dramatic guitar and synth, especially the brief solo by the former. Takeuchi also provided the lyrics about Okada fretting that a puppy love is potentially going south, but that and her pretty-as-a-peach vocals reassured me that this was still an aidoru ballad, albeit one with a bit more adult contemporary heft.

"Kanashii Yokan" was Okada's 6th single from July 1985 and it managed to peak at No. 7 on the charts. It was also a track on her 3rd album, "Juu Gatsu no Ningyo"(十月の人魚...October Mermaid) which was released later in September.




2 comments:

  1. I really liked the direction she went with the singles since this one. First was a hard-hitting ballad (this one), next was a nice song ("Love Fair") that kinda reminded me of Madonna's "Like A Virgin" because of its riffs throughout the song, then finally her number-one single with Seiko, "Kuchibiru Network".

    I always felt that if "Hana No Image" was eventually released as a single at the time, it would've been at least a moderately sizable hit like it's predecessors.

    My top 5 released singles of her are pretty much the ones above, then her debut single "First Date" and "Dreaming Girl".

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    Replies
    1. Hello, nothingmuch;). Yeah, she really was on her way up as an aidoru and perhaps even a pop star in general. It's just too bad that it all ended so tragically.

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