Noriyuki Makihara -- SPY

Watching the NHK music-variety show, "Banana Zero Music"（バナナ♪ゼロミュージック）the other night, singer-songwriter Noriyuki Makihara（槇原敬之）appeared and brought out his 12th single from August 1994, "SPY" to be analyzed by the hosts and guests.

I haven't heard from Mackey for quite a while so when I was listening to "SPY", I was reminded of what a pure voice the fellow has. "SPY" is still not in my Top 3 favourite Makihara singles but it was interesting with the analysis of the lyrics by the "Banana Zero Music" crew since it was about a man catching sight of his girlfriend and deciding to surreptitiously follow her, much to his ultimate heartbreak. Ironically, the official music video seems to take the opposite tack of a woman tracking her target for even worse ends. The spy theme is also not lost on Makihara since there is a slightly twangy guitar in there although I would never mistake the song for anything from James Bond or Peter Gunn.

"SPY" was the third No. 1 hit for Makihara and his final one to date as it sold about 860,000 copies. It is also included on his 5th album "PHARMACY" which came out in October 1994 and was also a No. 1 hit and a million-seller. The single itself would end up as the 25th-most popular song of the year. Finally, "SPY" was the theme song to a TBS comedy-drama "Otokogirai"（男嫌い...Manhaters）about a group of four sisters who have some major grudges against men.