Shoko Minami -- Tamerai no Whisper（ためらいのウィスパー）

https://www.flickr.com/photos/imuttoo/245850109/

Being a Sunday, I should be my usual more relaxed self but right now, it's the final day of the Winter Olympics and of course, that means that the Gold Medal game for Men's Ice Hockey is happening as I type this. Canada and the USA are battling it out and currently they are tied at 1-1. Canadians have confidence in their team but a few of them have also admitted to some jitters. What I wouldn't advise though while standing among a horde of hockey-crazed Canucks watching the game is whispering doubt along the lines of "But, what if we lose?". It won't look pleasant.

That's quite the segue into this song titled "Tamerai no Whisper" (Hesitant Whispers) which was sung by Shoko Minami（南翔子）, a name that I haven't talked about for a few years...at least, not since I posted her 1985 "Nagisa No Separation"（渚のセパレーション）. That had a rock vibe along the AOR side of things but "Tamerai no Whisper" which appeared on Minami's 3rd album from November 1986, "Sophisticated", is, as the album title would suggest, a more refined slice of sophisticated pop on the City Pop side of things. 

One commenter for the above video mentioned that as soon as they heard the intro, they figured that it was the Kisugi siblings, lyricist Etsuko and composer Takao（来生えつこ・来生たかお）, behind the creation of the song. I actually saw the songwriting list first but I still went "ah, naruhodo" on seeing those two. Those guys were indeed the masters of the smooth and refined melody that hint at champagne and caviar in Tokyo. Kimio Mizutani（水谷公生）also has to get his accolades as the arranger. Considering the year of release, "Tamerai no Whisper" sounds like the typical City Pop song of that time of the Bubble Era.

Well, back to the hockey game.🏒