Miharu Koshi -- Petit Paradis

Mike Myers from "Saturday Night Live" fame may have become internationally famous for being Wayne Campbell from "Wayne's World" and as the titular swinging secret agent from the "Austin Powers" franchise, but he also had another memorable character in Dieter, the host of "Sprockets", a TV show that folks like us in North America imagine to be the regular fare on German TV. Who among us SNL fans can forget Dieter's famous sign-off of "Now is the time on Sprockets when we dance!"?

I can't help but feel that Miharu Koshi's (コシミハル) video of "Petit Paradis" would have been the perfect inclusion in an episode of "Sprockets"...and I think the video was actually on a German TV show from what I saw. With that strange circus-like melody, Koshi's high-falutin' vocals in English and that over-the-top New Wave-y makeup, it wouldn't take much for Dieter to utter his famous compliment "You are so beautiful and angular, Miharu!" And strangely enough, he'd be right.

Nope, "Petit Paradis" is not one of my favourite tracks on her 1983 album "Tutu" which served to be a re-debut of sorts for Koshi as this New Wave gamine after her previous incarnation as a City Pop princess from the late 1970s. And yet, that video can still be rather magnetic. Plus, kudos to her for taking such a huge leap into a new musical direction.

Now, if you like, you can take a look at how she used to be here.