Anri -- Cat's Eye

The first time I came across Anri（杏里） was on the 1983 Kohaku Utagassen where she performed "Cat's Eye". I just remember this very glammed-up singer just whizzing through the lyrics at warp speed, only catching the English phrases "passion fruit" and "wink at you". I mused about the philosophical depth of the expressions while I ate my New Year's osechi food later that day.

Of course, I would find out later that "Cat's Eye" has become one of the more beloved of anime themes for the eponymous series featuring a sister trio of gorgeous and leggy cat burglars. And for Anri, the song would make for a huge boost in her career. Five years since she started singing, her 13th single, released in August 1983, was at the No. 1 spot on the Oricon weeklies for 5 weeks straight from the end of September to the end of October, and would become the 6th-ranking song of the year. It sold 1.3 million records. And no doubt, it was probably a hit in a lot of dance studios and aerobics gyms!

A lusher more disco-y version was made for Anri's 6th album, "TIMELY!!"which was released in December 1983. There's a brief but intense bass solo by Tomohito Aoki（青木智仁） which would make the musicians on "Seinfeld" weep for joy.

By the way, "Cat's Eye" was written and composed by Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）and Yuuichiro Oda（小田祐一郎）, the same duo that had created "Aoi Sangosho"（青い珊瑚礁）for Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）in 1980.