Momoko Kikuchi -- Broken Sunset

I re-acquainted myself with this Momoko Kikuchi （菊池桃子）song on one of my ancient compilation tapes from Wah Yueh the other day. "Broken Sunset" is her 7th single from February 1986, and was written by Masako Arikawa （有川正沙子）and composed by Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）, a couple of folks that I've often associated more with the City Pop side of things. Arikawa, for instance, was a great help on Akira Terao's （寺尾聰）"Reflections", the top best-selling album of the genre, and Hayashi has created tunes for the laid-back and summery Omega Tribe.

However, Hayashi has also composed songs for aidoru, and it seems as if he had made a lot of them for Kikuchi in particular. "Broken Sunset", another love gone wrong song, starts off sounding like a jingle-jangle 80s aidoru tune but then quickly speeds into something a bit more urgent. I still register it in my mind as aidoru because of Kikuchi's sweet breathy vocals but the arrangement has more dramatic oomph. And there are those strings flying away that remind me of some of Omega Tribe's discography. Moreover, strangely enough, those same strings strike me as being reminiscent of a few of Pet Shop Boys' more disco numbers.

"Broken Sunset" hit the top spot on Oricon almost immediately after its release and later became the 39th-ranked song of 1986.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fj0kGu8Aq7c

The above YouTube link has Kikuchi singing a bossa nova cover of "Broken Sunset" for her "30th Celebration Best" album from earlier this year.