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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, August 17, 2020

Yoko Oginome -- Natsu no Stage Light(夏のステージ・ライト)


Commenter Jim Laker reminded me of this song on the last article I did on 80s aidoru Yoko Oginome(荻野目洋子), and it was good that I got to hear this one again after so long.


"Natsu no Stage Light" (Summer Stage Light) was another track on Oginome's 4th album "Raspberry no Kaze"(ラズベリーの風...Raspberry Wind) released in April 1986. I first heard this one in my U of T days while I was watching an ancient VHS tape of her adventures in Los Angeles during some sort of concert montage.

Written by Reiko Yukawa(湯川れい子)and composed by singer-songwriter Yoshiyuki Osawa(大沢誉志幸)with arrangement by Hiroshi Shinkawa(新川博), "Natsu no Stage Light" is maybe one of the most upbeat lullabies that I have heard. That's not a bad thing at all. The upbeat aspect is obvious...some of that guitar work has made me wonder whether "Natsu no Stage Light" was a prototype of a Being song, and there's even some hints of "Georgy Girl" in there. I think the lullaby part comes in through Oginome's softer vocals as if she were reassuring some nervous kids that everything was going to be all right.


I think the above is actually from that concert montage itself. As for Yukawa's lyrics, I had first thought that "Natsu no Stage Light" was about the usual innocent romance during the hot season. However, I now believe that it's more of the "romance" between Oginome and her die-hard fans whenever they attend her concerts. It would make for a wonderful way to end each of her shows.

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