Kanako Wada -- Tenderness

As I mentioned in my first entry on Kanako Wada（和田加奈子）a week or so ago, her very first album, "Tenderness", released in 1986 has remained just an LP record. It was never even converted into cassette tape, let alone CD. I'd bought my own copy from Wah Yueh just on a whim and because of the cover showing a pensive young Wada sitting on what looks like the desert floor.

To be honest, after playing it on the old record player for the first time, I frankly thought that that was $28 I could've used on something else. Some of the songs just struck me as being a bit too much of the generic synthesized power pop that was being dumped on the airwaves amongst a number of aidoru that have come and gone during the 80s. So after a few more listens, I put Kanako in the corner. But some years later, after I came across her "Dreamin' Lady" from a Japanese commercial, I actually started to appreciate her stuff at the turn of the decade.

"Passing Through" has been the only song from this album to make it onto any Best compilation by Wada. You might say it's kinda like Pat Benatar-lite: the electric guitar/synth/drum combo, and in the official video, Kanako is singing away in a leather jacket with the necessary pop-rock gravitas. Music was provided by Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）with lyrics by Neko Oikawa（及川眠子）.

http://raregroove.shop-pro.jp/?pid=94296941

(excerpts only)

(Ah, did find one track "Radio ga Kowareta Yoru"/Radio がこわれた夜"

The Night the Radio Died)

The rest of the album consists of songs that I hadn't heard in 25 years, so I'm basically listening to them for the first time.... again. Again, a few of the freshly uploaded songs on YouTube still come off as being unremarkable but there are some others such as this one, "Twilight Dinner" that I've started to appreciate a bit more because of the passage of time, and the fact that Wada hadn't quite fit into my still-developing ears for Japanese music of that time. By the same token, I'd given Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子） the boot initially as well. Yasuhiro Kido and Kumiko Aoki created this one.

"Jealous Girl" is the first track on Side-A created by Ken Sato（佐藤研）and Akira Ohtsu（大津あきら）. A dynamic start to "Tenderness", I think the horns sound as if they were borrowed by Earth Wind & Fire.

http://gigaplus.makeshop.jp/meguru0813/music/japanese/440/feedback.mp3

(excerpt only)

"Feedback" is the only song that I had originally liked from "Tenderness". It's the final track, and though Kanako's voice seems a bit uncertain and threatens to be overwhelmed by the melody at times, I enjoy the Latin beat and the feeling that Wada is on some sort of musical voyage. Tsugutoshi Goto was responsible for this last song with Keiko Aso（麻生圭子）behind the lyrics.

Ah, finally a YouTube video that I can embed (for now). This is "Toki ni...Hagurete"（時に。。。はぐれて...Missing Out Sometimes） which is Track 2. One of the reasons that I wasn't initially impressed by Wada was that I didn't think she had the strongest vocals for songs that didn't really stand out. And unfortunately, the above performance kinda showed that. Tsugutoshi Goto（後藤次利）composed this one with Yoshiaki Sagara（さがらよしあき）providing the lyrics.

On re-discovering "Tenderness" on YouTube, I also found out that Wada has made a small comeback recently, after retiring in 1991. According to J-Wiki, she made an appearance at some sort of surfing event in Chiba Prefecture back in 2010 singing a couple of cover songs. Then, she came out to the same event almost a year later where she sang one of her old hits. You can see it below.

Twenty years later, it sounds like she still has the chops.

(full album)