I've been a fan of Japanese popular music for 40 years, and have managed to collect a lot of material during that time. So I decided I wanted to talk about Showa Era music with like-minded fans. My particular era is the 70s and 80s (thus the "kayo kyoku"). The plus part includes a number of songs and artists from the last 30 years and also the early kayo. So, let's talk about New Music, aidoru, City Pop and enka.
Credits
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.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Hiromi Iwasaki -- Niagara
Just a little over an hour ago, professional daredevil Nik Wallenda of The Flying Wallendas did what he had always dreamed of doing: crossing over Niagara Falls via the high wire. I'm not sure if it got that much press beyond North America, but I'm sure if you check CNN or some of the other news sites, the story will be there.
But being the schmaltzy guy I am, I decided to dedicate this song to him since he did the stunt to inspire people not to give up on their dreams (plus the money couldn't be that bad either...nudge, nudge, wink, wink). Heck, I fulfilled my dream....I got to live in Japan for 17 years. And I'm fulfilling one now by working on this blog!
Anyways, Hiromi Iwasaki（岩崎宏美） is now in full chanteuse mode instead of the cute callow aidoru she was back in the 1970s. This is her 1983 cover of a Barbra Streisand tune (written and composed by Carole Bayer Sager and Marvin Hamlisch for Babs' 1979 album "Wet") that got onto her album of American standard covers titled "Disney Girl" that had been released in October of that year. It peaked at No. 20 on the album charts.
For comparison, I give you the amazing Barbra Streisand!
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Feel free to provide any comments (pro or con). Just be civil about it.