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.

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Naoko Kawai -- Unbalance (UNバランス)


"Unbalance" was Naoko Kawai's(河合奈保子)14th single from September 1983. I first heard it at the Kohaku Utagassen from that year, and noticed it had more of a disco beat when compared to her 1981 Kohaku entry "Smile For Me". But then again, when I go over the first several years of Kawai's career, I notice that she dabbled into a few other genres such as Mariya Takeuchi's(竹内まりや) bobby-soxer ballad style and the AOR from her 1985 album, "9 1/2".


As for the disco beat, well, according to J-Wiki, composer Kyohei Tsutsumi(筒美京平)was probably inspired from Donna Summer's "She Works Hard For The Money" which came out the same year. Masao Urino(売野雅勇) was behind the lyrics. It peaked at No. 4 on the Oricon weeklies and ended the year as the 64th-ranked song. It also appeared as a track on Kawai's 7th album from October 1983 titled "Half-Shadow"(ハーフ・シャドゥ)which went as high as No. 2.

I don't know...I always look at that title and just end up wondering about the balance of power in The Security Council at the United Nations for some reason.




Ah, by the way, Marcos V. was very kind to have provided a follow-up for "Unbalance" right here.

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