I've been a fan of Japanese popular music for 40 years, and have managed to collect a lot of material during that time. So I decided I wanted to talk about Showa Era music with like-minded fans. My particular era is the 70s and 80s (thus the "kayo kyoku"). The plus part includes a number of songs and artists from the last 30 years and also the early kayo. So, let's talk about New Music, aidoru, City Pop and enka.
Credits
I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Junko Yagami -- Senorita （セニョリータ）
Junko Yagami（八神純子）has been known for bringing in some of that Latin influence into her music since her debut in the mid-70s. And even in 1989, she continued that trend by coming up with this lovely uptempo tune, "Senorita". Written and composed by Yagami with help from her husband, John Stanley, on the lyrics, this was her 25th single released in March of that year and also a track on her album, "Love Is Gold".
I was also able to get this video of a Chinese singer covering the song in its entirety. Strangely enough, I actually saw this performance on one of the Chinese-language cable channels that I had back in Ichikawa. Very nice to see it again on YouTube. If someone can tell me who the singer is, I'd be very grateful.
The Hong Kong singer is called Cally Kwong (鄺美雲). She was the runner-up of Miss Hong Kong 1982 and that's how she entered the entertainment business. If my memory serves me right, during the beauty contest, each contestant had to prepare for a little performance to "show her talent". For example, piano, violin, dancing, gymnastics etc. Cally chose to sing a song and got noticed by a producer/executive in a record company. That's how she became a singer. She's certainly not a top singer, definitely not someone like Anita Mui. But she's certainly a celebrity that a lot of Hong Kong people know about. I think she's withdrawn from the entertainment scene in the 90s and has been running her own businesses since then, one of them being jewelry.
I don't know about this song until now. It's not among her famous songs.
Thanks kindly, Larry, for the quick response. It certainly does help, and I'm grateful for the video since it's the only full version of the song that I could find.
The Hong Kong singer is called Cally Kwong (鄺美雲). She was the runner-up of Miss Hong Kong 1982 and that's how she entered the entertainment business. If my memory serves me right, during the beauty contest, each contestant had to prepare for a little performance to "show her talent". For example, piano, violin, dancing, gymnastics etc. Cally chose to sing a song and got noticed by a producer/executive in a record company. That's how she became a singer. She's certainly not a top singer, definitely not someone like Anita Mui. But she's certainly a celebrity that a lot of Hong Kong people know about. I think she's withdrawn from the entertainment scene in the 90s and has been running her own businesses since then, one of them being jewelry.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about this song until now. It's not among her famous songs.
Hope it helps.
Thanks kindly, Larry, for the quick response. It certainly does help, and I'm grateful for the video since it's the only full version of the song that I could find.
ReplyDelete