Yoshie Kashiwabara -- Lonely Canary （ロンリー・カナリア）

I have to get this off my chest. As much as I like "Lonely Canary" by Yoshie Kashiwabara（柏原芳恵） (and I do like it a lot), a few decades back my friend and I were chortling somewhat at Yoshie-chan's pronunciation of the second word in the title which came out sounding like "cannery" as in the factory, and not the cute little birdie (yes, those were indeed tough economic times, weren't they?)

Kashiwabara's 22nd single was released on New Year's Day 1985 and was Miyuki Nakajima's（中島みゆき） 4th and last song she created for the Osakan aidoru. I was a bit surprised at the pedigree behind this ballad, since it sounds somewhat unlike the songs that I usually identify with Nakajima: alternately folksy and strong with purpose. "Lonely Canary" comes across as a 1950s Mickey-and-Bobby Jo tune complete with poodle skirts and drive-in theatre popcorn. I would have associated the song more with early Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）. "Lonely Canary" got as high as No. 9 on Oricon.