Seiko Matsuda -- Hoshizora no Story （星空のストーリー）

I never purchased my own copy of Seiko Matsuda's（松田聖子）11th album, the somewhat enigmatically-titled "The 9th Wave" (June 1985), but I did borrow it from a friend for about a week back in my university days. It was rather interesting seeing that tropical visage of Seiko-chan with blue sky and azure sea on the cover...I wondered if she went the full Okinawan. A couple of hit singles came from it: "Boy no Kisetsu"（ボーイの季節）and "Tenshi no Wink"（天使のウィンク）.

However, I actually wanted to talk about a non-single track from that particular album since it has stuck in my head all those years. When I listened to "Hoshizora no Story" (Starry Sky Story), I thought one thing: would this be what a police procedural theme song by Matsuda would sound like? The song fades in ominously as if the intrepid detective and the intimidating criminal mastermind were slowly ambling to their final confrontation on a fog-shrouded dock in the big city. And then a barrage of urgent strings, heavy bass and tight drum roll in and out like a getaway car while the familiar high-pitched voice of Seiko chimes in. 

For an aidoru who I always relied upon for that Yuming-penned romantic ballad or cute boy-meets-girl upbeat tune, "Hoshizora no Story" was quite an aural revelation. As it was, Etsuko Kisugi's（来生えつこ）lyrics talk about a couple going through a bit of an adventure. I just wonder if it was the circa 1980s Earthbound version of the star-crossed lovers running away from and battling dark forces just to stay together. As for the dramatic music, that was supplied by late 70s New Music wunderkind Shinji Harada（原田真二）of "Time Travel" fame.

As I mentioned at the top, "Hoshizora no Story" was a track on "The 9th Wave" but the album itself managed to hit No. 1 on the Oricon weeklies and was the 12th-ranked album of the year. I will have to get my own copy of it pretty soon.