It’s
been a while since I listened to a gorgeous melody, and I’d never guess a
group like Tokyo Performance Doll (東京パフォーマンスドール), famous for their professional dance
routines in the early 90s, was going to grace me with one these days.
“Akiiro Concerto” is a song recorded by two TPD members, Miho Yonemitsu (米光美保) and Yuko Anai (穴井夕子), which was first included in the group’s
third album, “Cha-Dance Party Vol. 3, in november 1991. However, I only discovered
it in Yuko Anai’s solo album, “Yuko from Tokyo Performance Doll”, released in
January 1993.
About
the song, the only thing I know is that every time they start singing the melodic
“aki iro concerto” line, I just melt. And it gets even better when it interpolates
with the orchestral synths in the arrangement near the ending. Noteworthy, everything
here, from the second voice in the aforementioned “aki iro concerto” line to
the lively arrangement, is well executed. In all honesty, I could never think something
like that could come from TPD’s factory.
Recently,
the song has been performed by Fumi Oto (大藤史), also from TPD, in a piano ballad
version. The focus of this version is the strong melody, but also Oto’s
beautiful vocals. I’d love a studio version of this one as well.
Now, this last thing has nothing to do with the proper article, but I’ve
been listening to this song a lot in the past few days. It’s a Latin/Brazilian-styled
Italo Disco from Italian singer/composer/producer/keyboardist Stefano Pulga (from Italo
Disco band Kano) called “Welcome To Brasilia” (Brasilia is actually Brazil’s
capital, even though Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo are the most known major
cities). I’ve been in love with all the synths and the song’s groovy nature, so
that’s why I’m sharing it here... without any purpose.
(Sorry but the video has been taken down.)
Back to “Akiiro Concerto”, lyrics were written by Nonoko Jin (神野々子), while music was composed by Kazuhito Fujiki (藤木和人). As for the arrangement, Thousand sketcheS was
the responsible.
Hi, Marcos.
ReplyDeleteI've often mentioned his name in some of my articles over the years that "Kayo Kyoku Plus" has been in existence but there is something gloriously 60s Burt Bacharach in the overarching string synths. "Shuushoku Kyousoukyoku" is a very sunny song and Yonemitsu and Anai's harmonies are why we have stereo. :)
Comparing the original song and Oto's piano ballad cover, I think the former could be the official theme song for a J-Drama with the latter being the version used during one of the more introspective scenes.
When I listened to Stefano Pulga, I thought that this was a recent song but as it turned out, his "If" album came out in 1984! It has got quite a lot of brio to it!
Hi, J-Canuck.
DeleteIndeed, I remember reading about Burt Bacharach in some of your articles. However, I still had to listen to some of his stuff, which I finally did an hour ago, to just agree with you. "Shuushoku Kyousoukyoku", while recorded in 1991, offers a lot of early 60s elements. It also reminded me that, sometimes, when I'm listening to random J-Pop songs, my dad points out similarities to Motown and other genres from the past. I think that thi type of "sound rescue" is something the Japanese do very well... and probably even better than Americans nowadays.
You're right about the drama thing. Hikaru Utada's "Flavor Of Life" just came to my mind, as there were two versions of it for a drama, and one of them was the "ballad version".
Really, J-Canuck? haha. Stefano Pulga sounds so dated to me that I'd never think of it as a recent song. I love it, though.