Kyoko Koizumi -- GOOD MORNING-CALL

Oooh, wow! Blast from the past or what? I used to see Kyoko Koizumi（小泉今日子）perform this song all the time on those rental videos of "The Best 10" or "The Top 10".

"GOOD MORNING-CALL" was Kyon-Kyon's 25th single from March 1988...man, did she ever pump out the singles! I had no idea that it was Tetsuya Komuro（小室哲哉）who composed the song. When I was writing up "The Works of Tetsuya Komuro" last weekend, I did point out that his 80s contributions for female singers were of the hopeful and moving forward type. However, this one for the pixieish Koizumi was just plain sweet and cutesy like a particularly well-arranged Cinnabon...certainly Kyon-Kyon's adorable voice kept up the image. Listening to the synths, though, I should have figured that TK had something to do with it.

The song was also notable in that this was the first song that Kyoko actually provided her own lyrics for. And they were about waiting in great anticipation for her darling's wake-up call; I could just see the valentines popping out all over her. I can only assume that she was already living in her own place since I can also envisage the awkwardness if she were still living with the parents and one of them answered Loverboy's call (remember, the 80s were still far before the age of cellphones).

"GOOD MORNING-CALL" managed to hit No. 2 on Oricon and was the 49th-ranked song for 1988. It was also the campaign song for Knorr Soups, a company that she represented for some years. I used to buy the package fairly often since I was a sucker for their cream soup with added croutons. Yeah, it was probably as chemical as Cup O' Noodles but still...