Within the last few minutes, I just finished an article on Miharu Koshi (コシミハル) as the New Wave gamine as she sang the rather bizarre "Petit Paradis". Therefore, to serve as comparison to that later 80s technopop incarnation of her, I give you her first version (as 越美晴) when she was the City Pop princess somewhat similar in tone to Junko Yagami（八神純子）.
Case in point, here is her 4th single from 1979, "Kardia no Umi" (Sea of Kardia). I've seen this video on YouTube fairly often but never got to profile it until tonight. Listening to it, quite the comparison can be made with what the aforementioned Yagami was singing at about the same time which was music with this dynamic Latin fervor. It would also fit in with the small boom in kayo kyoku that was also happening involving songs taking the listener to foreign lands. If I'm not mistaken, the Kardia in the title refers to some region near Greece. And I gotta say that Ms. Koshi was looking rather glamourous on the cover of the 45" there....it could have been taken right on a balcony overlooking the Aegean.
This was honestly one of the chic 45" covers I've seen! Love the song too!
ReplyDeleteHi, Raffy!
DeleteYes, Koshi did cut quite a striking figure on her covers. Aside from her cover for her album "Tutu", I wasn't all that keen about her New Wave look but when she got me back as a fan when she started taking on a more French appearance for her European music.