Megumi Satsu -- Je m'aime

In the last few days, I was made aware of a singer that I had never heard before by the name of Megumi Satsu/薩めぐみ (1948-2010). According to her bio on J-Wiki, she was labeled as a chanson singer but having come across some of her videos on YouTube, I think there was more to her than just that one label. When I started this blog back in early 2012, I not only wanted to talk about the songs which I've enjoyed of my past and present, but also converse about new singers and songs that I've been lucky to encounter. I certainly expected that in fields like City Pop and enka but never thought I would find something new in the Chanson label. In fact, the only singer that I knew in that genre was Fubuki Koshiji（越路吹雪）.

As I told the fellow who had introduced me to the late Ms. Satsu via her music, I received a number of musical impressions from the stylish chanteuse. It wasn't just chanson or the fact that she sang mostly in French. Genres like New Wave, avant-garde and techno also washed over me, and then I was reminded of singers such as Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）and Miharu Koshi（コシミハル）in the 1980s, although their music still had an anchor in Japan. Megumi Satsu was definitely someone in a class all by herself.

Looking at her videos, her visual style was also quite striking. For her release of "Je m'aime" in 1980, I was intrigued since that was about the same time that I was introduced to some of the more out-there music videos from America and the UK with folks such as Klaus Nomi, Nina Hagen and the band Visage. And yep, she was certainly different from anyone that I had known about from that year in Japanese pop music.

Considering that I've only known about this very unusual singer for just a few days, I don't think I can really give any useful insights on Ms. Satsu until I do a bit more exploration. However, there is a Wikipedia entry on the singer and also a website dedicated to her.