Credits

I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.

Saturday, March 25, 2017

Yuko Asano -- Hanbun Aishite (半分愛して)




I've seen Yuko Asano(浅野ゆう子)mostly as an actress and as a regular presence on commercials so it was pretty surprising to hear her singing something like this. I mean, I've already written on a couple of songs from her early aidoru period that I had already been aware about through all sorts of retrospectives on TV.

But little did I know that she even tackled the smooth sounds of City Pop/J-AOR which her 17th single "Hanbun Aishite" (Love Me By Half) falls solidly into. Released in 1980, Asano channels Junko Yagami(八神純子)very well through this song penned by lyricist Chinfa Kan(康珍化)and composer Tetsuji Hayashi(林哲司)who are veterans at the genre. Had no idea that she could croon a tune like this. It makes for a nice evening down by Tokyo Bay. I can only wonder what other City Pop delights she came up with at the time.

5 comments:

  1. This is great; thank you - I only knew her through your posting of Sexy Bus Stop (which has made the shortlist for my next vinyl record order). She has a very clean and listenable voice on that song, but I had no idea she also could handle c-pop, acted, or, uh, looked like that ... I think I need that air freshener.

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    Replies
    1. Hi, T-cat.

      Yeah, it's quite the different voice for her; didn't realize that she sang anything from the air freshener-friendly genre of City Pop. :)

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    2. this is way "too" Kalasins than "City Pop".

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    3. Can you explain Kalasins to me?

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    4. Heillo.. I was the person ask the question "this is way "too" Kalasins" than city pops". Kalasins is refer Classic.. our Malay word mean Klasik that is borrowed from English when Malaysia (Malaya was British colony and including Canadian-American army in this nation during WORLD WAR 2 Japanese era.). I have seen you post Asanou Yuko that make you fallen in love with her. haha. You can call my stage name Kuong instead. because I got my Facebook named Kuong Chung. a Retro person in 21st century. :)

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