About a month ago, I wrote up my first profile on Mika Nakashima's（中島美嘉） "Yuki no Hana"（雪の華）, and as much as I loved that ballad and as much as it has arguably become a theme song of hers, I also remember a number of her other songs that I've enjoyed. Her debut song, "STARS", falls in that category.
Released in November 2001, "STARS" is a mellow R&B ballad that reminds me of some of the songs that Misia and Toko Furuuchi（古内東子） have sung. I remember seeing the official music video for the song on "Countdown TV", and viewing this young ethereal lady (all of 18 years of age) singing in a way that took me back to the way R&B ballads were sung in the days of Earth Wind & Fire and DeBarge. Not quite sure why I never got the original single, but "STARS" is well represented on that BEST album of hers on my shelf.
The song was written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and composed by Daisuke Kawaguchi（川口大輔）who has also collaborated with singers such as Miki Imai（今井美樹）and Asako Toki（土岐麻子）. It peaked at No. 3 on Oricon and eventually became the 34th-ranked song of 2002. The album version is also available on her 1st album, "TRUE", which was released in August 2002. It hit the top spot on the album charts and became the 8th-ranked disc of the year, hitting the million mark. "STARS" was also used as the theme song for a Fuji-TV drama, "Kizu Darake no Love Song"（傷だらけのラブソング...Battered and Bruised Love Song) which also included Nakashima as one of the stars (no pun intended).
Thanks J-Canuck for this great post on 中島美嘉. I definitely preferred her longer haired look of the past compared to her current blonde short-haired look. Ever since her acting debut with 『NANA』(ナナ) in 2005, it's almost like she became one with her character 大崎ナナ, taking on a more rocker personality and look. While her strength has always been in ballads, she's also come out with some very nice up tempo songs as well. Didn't realize that she has a lot of tattoos as well - a star on her left wrist, the words 『Trust Your Voice』 on her right wrist and a picture of a lotus on her hip.
ReplyDeleteHey, JTM. Thanks for the comments.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I have to say that I probably would go with her longer-haired look as well. I remember the leadup to the movie version of "NANA" as well on TV.
The one thing I've liked about Nakashima is that she has liked to try out different genres. A little bit into her career she tried out some jazz/fusion. Would love to see if she can do a bit of that again.