In another case of listening and writing about a few tracks from the specific album and then getting interested in the whole album, I finally got my copy of Meiko Nakahara's（中原めいこ）"Ni-ji made no Cinderella -FRIDAY MAGIC-" (Cinderella Til 2) from December 1982. Up to this point, I had already given my contributions to "Go Away", "Coconuts no Kataomoi"（ココナッツの片想い）and "Friday Magic".
Just like those tracks, "Ni-ji made no Cinderella" is basically a musical package of the party life in early 1980s Japan. There is that old saying about there being a million stories in the city. Well, judging from the above tracks and some of the others that I'm going to cover, they seem to represent a few of those urban stories during a night in Tokyo, perhaps Roppongi. All of the tracks were written and composed by Nakahara who, in a whimsical sense, could have been overlooking those stories while perched on that crescent moon as seen on the cover.
The partying starts off right from the first track "Fantasy", a story about tripping the light fantastic on a disco ball-glittered dance floor in some club such as the Lexington Queen. There's something pleasantly Earth Wind & Fire about Track 1 (aside from the fact that both artists share a number with the same title).
Track 2 is "Gigolo"（ジゴロ）about a woman who loves a man who loves her and a lot of other women, and the nail-biting insecurities that come with the knowledge. It's as disco as "Fantasy" but the arrangement also has that slip of melancholy in there.
"Pearl no Manicure"（パールのマニキュア...Pearl Nail Polish）has a bit more of a 50s pop ballad sound. Nakahara sings about lamenting over a lost love and whether she will ever put on that coat of that nail polish that her former beau liked so much.
"Koi no Yoin"（恋の余韻...Aftertaste of Love）takes things from raunchy Roppongi to classier Omotesando where a lady wants to take a breather from her lover so that she can savor/replay the wonderful time she has had with the lad. The music is still City Pop in my estimation (even has a bit of Doobie Bros. keyboard work) but without the disco ball. In fact, I would say that it even approaches EPO's breezy area of expertise.
The co-title track "Ni-ji made no Cinderella" finishes the album off as a mellow ballad celebrating a late-night dinner or drink in Prince Charming's apartment or even Cinderella's place. A nice way to bring Nakahara's 2nd release...and an evening...to a close.
So good!!! Does remind me of EPO's breeziness mixed with some early Junko Yagami on the slower tracks.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing! (^^)
"Fantasy", to me, resembles songs from classic American musicals. Other songs seem to hark back to jazz-era music. It was released in 1982 but aside from the production, the melodies seem to come from earlier eras.
ReplyDeleteroelm2