Reimy（麗美）may not have hit the heights of superstardom like some others, but she has had a good cadre of fans including me. To be honest, I have yet to come across a fellow Reimy fan in my travels through the world of kayo kyoku/J-Pop so I cannot compare notes but one of the reasons that I've enjoyed her music is that she has been willing to create music that won't necessarily guarantee Oricon success but will provide some interesting melodies and hooks to those willing to listen.
As I've mentioned before, during the 80s and early 90s Reimy Horikawa（堀川麗美）had three distinct periods: her early era as an 80s aidoru, then a brief intermediate time in America as a dance popster and finally coming into the 90s, she wrote and composed her own distinctive flowing style of pop. For me, this last period was the most appealing to me. My case in point for this article is "Daydream Fair", the opening track to her 1990 album, "Hashiru Soyokaze Tachi e"（走るそよ風たちへ....To The Blowing Gentle Breezes）which also contained a few more Reimy songs I've covered including the elegiac "Dear Tess".
There is something rather Kate Bush and Beatlesque about the whirling "Daydream Fair" which musically conveys a wonderland that any bored company droid would love to be transported to, even for a few minutes, from the drudgery of office life. I actually first heard it on a BEST album of Reimy's, "The Dream of It" from 1992 but after collecting most of her albums from her third songwriting period, I was reminded of it once again on "Hashiru Soyokaze Tachi e". I'm not sure if there ever was a music video for "Daydream Fair" but I would have been interested in seeing its interpretation.
Hi, fellow Reimy fan here. I believe I left a comment on an older article of yours about her. Anyway, I own four of her studio albums at the moment, and besides the reasons you've mentioned, I think she stands out for me is how she didn't stick to the same formula yet adapted to every style so well. "Hashiru Soyokaze Tachi e", even with its general laidback feel, doesn't have a song that imitates another.
ReplyDelete"Daydream Fair" sounds so vivid, in my opinion. I know, that's an oxymoron, but I can't help but feel like I'm taking part in a jolly carnival while listening to it. It's not a bombastic dance track, but it's catchy and memorable.
Ah, fellow Reimy fan....since I'm getting close to the half-century mark, please forgive an aging addled mind. :)
DeleteI think with "Daydream Fair", there is that feeling of just getting rid of those shackles of everyday society and live for the moment. That arrangement which sounds straight from Europe kinda helps encourage the message.