Seiko Matsuda -- Caribbean Wind

Kinda hard to imagine in this environment of cold and snow that several months ago, my family and I were in the sunny Caribbean for a vacation. That would be Jamaica in that photo taken from Deck 16 of the Harmony of the Seas.

Back in my university days, when I visited my Asian record shop in Chinatown, Wah Yueh, with the faithfulness of a monk going to prayer, I kept seeing an album on the racks which featured a guy and a woman riding a motorcycle. The lass in the back just happened to be aidoru Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）, and the LP was the soundtrack to a movie she did back in 1985 titled "Carib - Ai no Symphony"（カリブ・愛のシンフォニー...CARIBE, Sinfonia de Amor）, some sort of overseas romantic flick also starring Masaki Kanda（神田正輝）. Supposedly, it was their collaboration in the movie that led to the Super Aidoru of the early 1980s and one of the members of the Ishihara Gundan to matrimony (some 6 weeks later). I wasn't too happy about it since I was hoping that it would be Seiko-chan and Hiromi Go（郷ひろみ）. 

The theme song for "Carib" ended up as the B-side to Matsuda's 21st single, "Boy no Kisetsu"（ボーイの季節）. "Caribbean Wind" is another Seiko-chan ballad whose title and melody I had forgotten over the mists of time but as soon as I heard it once more this morning, the memories started coming back. Masaaki Omura's（大村雅朗）melody tones down the Caribbean aspect of it and brings up the soaring romance through the strings. More Lido Deck dancing than Jamaican beach stroll. I guess in a way the song signified the aidoru teen turning into the adult singer although she was already 23 by the time the movie was released. Veteran Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）provided the lyrics.

"Caribbean Wind" didn't show up on any original album but it has been included in a couple of Seiko's BEST compilations, "Complete Bible" and "Touch Me, Seiko II".