Hiromi Go -- Suteki ni Cinderella Complex （素敵にシンデレラ・コンプレックス）

Hiromi Go's（郷ひろみ） Kohaku performance of his 47th single, "Suteki ni Cinderella Complex" (Wonderful Cinderella Complex) on New Year's Eve was the first time I came across it. Compared to his performance of the ballad, "Aishu no Casablanca"（哀愁のカサブランカ） at the previous festivities, Go was back in lively dandy mode as he made his way down the grand stairs on the NHK stage with a ton of ladies bracketing him, of course.

Released in May 1983, the single was written by Yu Aku（阿久悠） and composed by Off Course member Yasuhiro Suzuki（鈴木康博）. Heartthrob Go made for a perfect choice to sing "Suteki ni Cinderella Complex" as he declares his love for women and the love of the pursuit of them. As he sings "Without a Don Juan, there is no Cinderella", I could probably see him rubbing his hands with glee, although there may be a philosophical debate on whether that statement would be true or not.

In any case, Suzuki's melody is pretty interesting. The refrain is bold and joyous but there is a seam of sinister intent seemingly undercutting across the whole song. In a way, it might be musically describing a charming Latin Lover on the outside while on the inside, he's already lining up his next 5 conquests.

I also managed to get a copy of the song itself via one of those compilation tapes I bought in Chinatown. It managed to peak at No. 9 on the Oricon weeklies and became the 65th-ranked song for 1983.

PS: Suzuki made his own cover of "Cinderella" and the article is here.