The lyrics were provided by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and Kikuchi's delivery didn't sound anything drastically different from her later hits. Her whispery vocals marched in step with the music quite nicely. "Seishun no Ijiwaru" was released in April 1984 and peaked at No. 13 on Oricon. It had some good staying power as it ended 1985 (!) as the 95th-ranked song. It also was a track on her debut album, "Ocean Side" which came out in September 1984. I remember it for the cover photograph of Momoko just floating on the sea in some blue-and-white striped bathing suit. I saw that album quite often whenever I entered Wah Yueh but never took the bait. Kinda regret that now.
I've been a fan of Japanese popular music for 40 years, and have managed to collect a lot of material during that time. So I decided I wanted to talk about Showa Era music with like-minded fans. My particular era is the 70s and 80s (thus the "kayo kyoku"). The plus part includes a number of songs and artists from the last 30 years and also the early kayo. So, let's talk about New Music, aidoru, City Pop and enka.
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Momoko Kikuchi - Seishun no Ijiwaru （青春のいじわる）
The lyrics were provided by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and Kikuchi's delivery didn't sound anything drastically different from her later hits. Her whispery vocals marched in step with the music quite nicely. "Seishun no Ijiwaru" was released in April 1984 and peaked at No. 13 on Oricon. It had some good staying power as it ended 1985 (!) as the 95th-ranked song. It also was a track on her debut album, "Ocean Side" which came out in September 1984. I remember it for the cover photograph of Momoko just floating on the sea in some blue-and-white striped bathing suit. I saw that album quite often whenever I entered Wah Yueh but never took the bait. Kinda regret that now.
Hi, J-Canuck.
ReplyDeleteI always remember Momoko Kikuchi as the almost whispery aidoru
who sang mostly City Pop songs. Maybe that's because I listened
more to her albums than to her pure aidoru-pop singles.
Although "OCEAN SIDE" is a great listen, I usually play "ADVENTURE"
a little more. As for "Seishun no Ijiwaru", I agree with you about the Omega Tribe vibe. It's something I expect to hear from them.
The song is not among my highlights in "OCEAN SIDE" (the bubbly "Evening Break" comes to my mind right now, but there are others, of course), but I hear a little bit of melancholy in it, which quite draws me into the whole vibe.
Hi, Marcos.
DeleteYeah, I'm still exploring the deeper stuff of Kikuchi beyond the singles hits she had. In fact, I've just purchased "Ocean Side" from Michael over on Facebook, so hopefully within a few weeks I can find out more about the album, including "Evening Break".