Originally a song recorded in 1981 by the Irish girl group The Nolans, “Sexy Music” was covered by Wink in March 1990. If the original version, with all the violins, horns and powerful vocals, represents heat and energy, Wink’s version, full of synthesizers and smooth vocals, is cold and mysterious.
An interesting detail is to think about the song’s title, as Wink’s image, comprised mostly of 19th century Victorian clothes and apathetic facial expressions, is far from being considered “sexy” (maybe the lyrics could clarify some aspects about what sexy really means in the context of Wink and the “Sexy Music” song). Moreover, we can associate it with the original music video (you can watch it at the beginning), a true odyssey of dated visual effects, in which the girls are apparently in a parallel dimension performing “Sexy Music”. In spite of being dated, we can see the team’s effort to match Wink’s expressionless personas with the video’s vibe. And they surely had a strong impulse to be creative and effective, because Wink was a very popular aidoru duo during the late 80s/early 90s.
For the ones who, like me, loves live performances, here’s Wink performing “Sexy Music” on the amazing Yoru no Hit Studio.
To finish, here’s the original “Sexy Music” by The Nolans. It’s a great disco-pop song.
“Sexy Music” reached #1 on the Oricon charts, selling 329,090 copies (it was Wink's 5th consecutive #1 hit single, but also their last one). The single also reached #24 on the yearly Oricon chart for 1990. Japanese lyrics were written by Neko Oikawa (及川眠子), music was composed by Ben Findon, Mike Myers and Bob Puzey, and, for the arrangement, Satoshi Kadokura (門倉聡) was the responsible. "Sexy Music" was later remixed into a funkier tune for Wink's "Velvet" album, and was also included in a number of Wink's compilations. One of them is the great "WINK MEMORIES 1988-1996", which you can see a picture below. As for the original version of “Sexy Music” performed by The Nolans, it was released as a single exclusively in Japan in March 1981. Their version was a commercial hit, reaching #7 on the Japanese charts, with 270,000 copies sold.
Hi, Marcos.
ReplyDeleteGood to hear from you again. Yep, I guess the best way to describe Wink's performance considering the title would be....ironic? I remember the song during my time in Japan as one of the duo's touchstones in their heyday. I listened to the original by The Nolans, and yep it's certainly a bit more "muscular".
"Ironic" is quite a good word to describe the whole "Sexy Music" episode in Wink's career. Although I never quite understood it, I liked the result. It also introduced me to The Nolans, which is a nice disco group. I listen to both versions a lot, but Wink is always my favorite option when I have to choose. Unfortunately, "Sexy Music" was Wink's lat top hit.
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