It's unfortunately one of those things when one can't transfer over a video from YouTube. Well, that's the case with the Wink cover of "Special To Me", but there are three videos of the song, including a concert version at YouTube. It was actually the 2nd song (the first being "Samishii Nettaigyo") by the duo that I'd ever heard after arriving in Gunma. And it is special to me since I kept hearing the song constantly because of its use as the campaign song for the Volleyball World Cup for that year via Fuji-TV. It was never released as its own single though but was a track on Wink's 3rd album, "Twin Memories" which was released in December 1989 and reached a peak of No. 2 on the album charts.
Now, why have I put an American singer up there? Well, Bobby Caldwell was the originator of the song all the way back in 1978 via his very first LP, "What You Won't Do For Love"; I'd only become aware of the original a few years after hearing the Wink cover, and since I was a huge fan of the man, I was pleasantly surprised by the old-fashioned disco pop roots. I've got Caldwell as an honourary kayo kyoku artist since along with this song, he has beautifully covered a Kazumasa Oda（小田和正） Xmas song (which I will profile next month) and did a duet with Mariko Takahashi（高橋真梨子）. Plus, Caldwell is even more of a legend in Japan than he is in the States.
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