Well, I've always seen Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）as the eternal 1980s aidoru even when she went for a more US pop sound in the latter half of that decade. I know that she has kept on releasing singles even well into this year (her 82nd, I believe) but for me, it's hard for me to shake that image of her bopping about in that distinctive hairstyle and frilly dress.
And yet, I've been aware that she has also released some lovely ballads into the 1990s. One of them is a song that I've only finally gotten to listen to in its entirety tonight, and that is "Anata no Subete ni Naritai" (I Want To Be Your Everything). You couldn't get more romantic than that title; wouldn't you want your significant other to say that to you?
This was Seiko-chan's 33rd single from August 1992 with lyrics by Seiko herself and melody by Ryo Ogura（小倉良）. And speaking about that melody, it sounds as mellow and Western as a David Foster love song. The only thing missing is a lodge out in the mountains at night with a couple snuggling in front of a fireplace. It might have been a summer release but there is something quite adult and Xmas-y about it.
And listening to this ballad, it did strike home that Matsuda's vocals had become quite polished by that point. No longer the aidoru, she was a full-fledged pop singer although J-Wiki for some reason has still categorized "Anata no Subete ni Naritai" as an aidoru kayo. She basically entered the same pop realm where folks like Akiko Kobayashi（小林明子）and Midori Karashima（辛島美登里）resided.
Although it seems as if Seiko's songs were no longer hitting the top of the charts all that regularly, this ballad didn't do too badly by peaking at No. 31. It was also a track on her 20th album "1992 Nouvelle Vague" which was released in March 1992 and hit No. 8 on the album charts. "Anata no Subete ni Naritai" was also played on the TBS drama "Otona no Sentaku"（おとなの選択...The Adult Choice）which starred the singer.
When I first heard this song, I immediately recognized its origin: it's a (plagiarized?) version of Stevie Wonder's 'Overjoyed'
ReplyDeleteHi there. You're not the only one to make that observation. Some of the Japanese fans who bought the single on Amazon and elsewhere have also noted that the verses directly utilize the main chorus from Wonder's "Overjoyed". Not a new phenomenon by any means when it came to coming up with Japanese pop songs in the 80s and into the 90s.
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