Miho Nakayama -- Virgin Eyes

I hadn't been that much of a fan of Miho Nakayama（中山美穂）during her early days as an aidoru (1985-1989), although I had known about her through the various Myojo magazines, and had seen her appear on shows like "The Top 10" singing "You're My Only Shining Star". But then I discovered this little gem, Miho's 16th single, which had been released just some weeks before my arrival in Japan in July 1989. It didn't sound like the typical aidoru tune; it had that funky hook with a punchy horn section.

It sounded like Miporin was channeling Anri（杏里）....which indeed she was, since "Virgin Eyes" was composed by the summery singer herself, and written by Yumi Yoshimoto（吉元由美） who has written several of Anri's songs. Apparently, Nakayama had been a fan of hers from far back. Well, I became a fan of this song, so it became my second purchase of a CD in Japan....after Akina Nakamori's（中森明菜）"Cruise".

The song was also used as the theme for a movie which was released later in August titled "Docchi ni Suru no"（どっちにするの....Who's It Gonna Be?), starring Nakayama and Rie Miyazawa（宮沢りえ）. It peaked at No. 2 but spent a few months in the Top 20, and ended up as the 32nd-ranked song of the year. The song was also included in Nakayama's 9th album, "Hide and Seek".