Anri -- Boogie Woogie Mainland |
As I mentioned in a comment to JTM about his fine article on "The Anri", as he was posting it, I was just listening to Anri's(杏里) "Boogie Woogie Mainland", her 12th album released in May 1988. JTM was stating how the singer had wanted to shift from pop idol to a more summery-themed chanteuse and did so in the early 80s, thanks to folks like Sho Kajioka(梶岡勝) and Toshiki Kadomatsu(角松敏生). Well, for me, the late 80s was another period of change for Anri, and I think "Boogie Woogie Mainland" was the album that perhaps started things off for this third phase in her career. The album that preceded this one was a ballad compilation released in November 1987, "Meditations", and I thought it was well-titled since I felt that this was a final musing or a goodbye on that half-decade period of music which included "Surf City" and "Last Picture Show".
Well, over 6 months later, "Boogie Woogie Mainland" was a further evolution in her music. The summer themes were still there but now there was even more of an importation of American R&B brought into the mix, thanks to Jerry Hey's horn arrangements and Anri's deeper work in the production of her music. The singer took care of the composition of all of the tracks while Yumi Yoshimoto(吉元由美)wrote all of the lyrics and Yasuharu Ogura(小倉泰治) held the reins for the overall arrangement. And it was obvious that Anri wanted to show her love for popular music of the USA. "Boogie Woogie Mainland" takes things from the aerobics studios of Tokyo to places like Venice Beach in LA. As if to march in this new phase, the title track launches things off with a tight snare and percussion as the background chorus of Joey McCoy, Howard Smith, Jon Lind and Sarry Dworsky, and Hey's horns swoop in. The Third Age of Anri roars in like a lion, and makes quite an impact especially since 1988 was the 10th anniversary of her debut single of "Olivia wo Kikinagara"(オリビアを聴きながら). My old radio program, "Sounds of Japan" even gave me my first taste of the album by devoting one of its shows to it (I would finally buy it several years later).
"Boogie Woogie Mainland" was able to sell close to 400,000 albums and was the 17th-ranked album of the year, peaking at No. 2 on the Oricon weeklies. And this musical launch pad would go further into her next albums, such as "Circuit of Rainbow" and "Mind Cruisin". Also, both Anri and Yoshimoto would branch out and help other singers such as those who JTM mentioned in his article. An infusion of energy indeed.
For some reason, this reminds me of an old Toyota commercial. |
Thanks J-Canuck for posting this follow up post for ANRI on her 『Boogie Woogie Mainland』 album. I agree this album has a lot of great songs like the one's you mentioned - 「最後のサーフホリデー」 and 「サマー・キャンドルズ」 but I also liked some of her other tracks like the funky 「私だけのジョーカー」 and the melancholy 「エッジ・オブ・ヘヴン」 which harken back to her early 80s ballads.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I would've liked to have featured some of the other tracks. "Boogie Woogie Mainland" really put Anri into R&B first gear.
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