1986 Omega Tribe/Yuko Ando -- Kimi wa 1000% （君は１０００％）

Well, we are in summer after all, aren't we? Time to get another one of the 80s summer bands on the blog here. Actually, when it comes to Omega Tribe, "Kimi wa 1000%"(You're 1000%) was the first song that I had ever heard by the band either under Kiyotaka Sugiyama（杉山清隆）or Carlos Toshiki. The tune was on one of those compilation tapes that I used to buy in Chinatown, but then I also started seeing the actual band performing it on those video rentals of shows like "The Top 10".

The original Omega Tribe under Sugiyama existed from 1983 to 1985 but with the different members heading into other musical directions, the band decided to break up with their final concert in December 1985. But then, not too long afterwards, a couple of the old band members got together with fresh faces, including the new lead vocal in the form of Carlos Toshiki Takahashi（カルロス・トシキ・タカハシ）, a Japanese-Brazilian who had started his career in 1982 with his single of "Lucia". And in May 1986, the new band, officially known as 1986 Omega Tribe, released "Kimi wa 1000%" as its debut single.

So, it was actually Carlos Toshiki that I had first heard as the vocal for the band before coming across his predecessor. Although Toshiki had a slightly higher if huskier voice than that of Sugiyama, the sound of the new incarnation didn't really change all that much if at all (I'm saying this as someone who likes their stuff but not as a die-hard fan, so if there are any of those fans out there who can distinguish the two bands, please chime in.). It still had the summery & relaxing feeling of lying out on the beach, when compared to TUBE's energetic romp on the sand and Southern All Stars' raunchy party atmosphere.

The re-launch of Omega Tribe looked very promising as "Kimi wa 1000%"went as high as No. 6 on Oricon, and would later finish the year as the 18th-ranked song of the year. The song also became a track on their album, "Navigator" which came out in July of the same year. It peaked at No. 2. By the way, it was written by Masako Arikawa（有川正沙子）who had been responsible for a number of the tracks on Akira Terao's（寺尾聰） No. 1 album of 1981, "Reflections", and composed by Tsunehiro Izumi（和泉常寛）.

May 26, 2014: Found out that songstress Yuko Ando （安藤裕子）had done a smooth jazz cover of "Kimi wa 1000%" as the coupling song for her 6th single, "The Still Steel Down" back in 2006.