I was rather curious about some of the other singles that the late Yukiko Okada （岡田有希子）had released in the 80s, so I took a look at "Kanashii Yokan" (Sad Premonition). This has been labeled on this song's article on J-Wiki as an aidoru kayo, but the music by Mariya Takeuchi （竹内まりや）and arrangement by Masataka Matsutoya （松任谷正隆）struck me as something akin to City Pop partly because of that down-and-dramatic guitar and synth, especially the brief solo by the former. Takeuchi also provided the lyrics about Okada fretting that a puppy love is potentially going south, but that and her pretty-as-a-peach vocals reassured me that this was still an aidoru ballad, albeit one with a bit more adult contemporary heft.
"Kanashii Yokan" was Okada's 6th single from July 1985 and it managed to peak at No. 7 on the charts. It was also a track on her 3rd album, "Juu Gatsu no Ningyo"（十月の人魚...October Mermaid） which was released later in September.
I really liked the direction she went with the singles since this one. First was a hard-hitting ballad (this one), next was a nice song ("Love Fair") that kinda reminded me of Madonna's "Like A Virgin" because of its riffs throughout the song, then finally her number-one single with Seiko, "Kuchibiru Network".
ReplyDeleteI always felt that if "Hana No Image" was eventually released as a single at the time, it would've been at least a moderately sizable hit like it's predecessors.
My top 5 released singles of her are pretty much the ones above, then her debut single "First Date" and "Dreaming Girl".
Hello, nothingmuch;). Yeah, she really was on her way up as an aidoru and perhaps even a pop star in general. It's just too bad that it all ended so tragically.
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