How auspicious is this? I was thinking about putting up a Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）article and sure enough, I find out from Twitter that the original Ms. Noriko Kamachi（蒲池法子）is now celebrating her 56th birthday in Japan as I write this. I can envision her on some blue coral reef spending some time eating strawberries while reminiscing over sweet memories. OK...perhaps not the greatest inside gag there...
But perhaps I can provide a particular song performed by Seiko-chan that got a lot more attention than was expected.
Near the end of my first stint at university and just before I headed off to Japan on the JET Programme, I had bought her 15th album, "Citron" on audiotape at Wah Yueh. The album was released back in May 1988 and scored a No. 1 ranking. From what I remember of the tape was that Matsuda was going for a more American pop sound, perhaps along the same lines as Anri（杏里）going for a more American R&B sound around the same time. One of the songs that came out of "Citron" was "Marrakech".
One other tune was "Daite..." (Hold Me...), a heart-on-sleeve ballad with Seiko-chan singing about how passionately attached she is to the love of her life. A notable thing is that the song was created by legendary lyricist Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）and Canadian songwriter David Foster. Talk about two music titans across the Pacific coming together for one of the most famous aidoru of the decade. Listening to it, I thought it was very Foster-esque.
However, the other interesting bit of trivia happened when the singer appeared on "Yoru no Hit Studio"（夜のヒットスタジオ）to perform "Daite...". During the performance, her red dress started slipping off at her shoulders (and yep, the above video is of that). Luckily, there wasn't a wardrobe malfunction that would afflict Janet Jackson in the future but it did become the talk of the town for a short while. In fact, I found out about the situation years later from watching retrospective episodes and specials of "Yoru no Hit Studio", and apparently the "Daite..." performance has been a heavy rotation scene.
Watching the above video, I thought that when the dress started to slip, Matsuda looked a little shocked and perhaps even gave a wisp of a giddy smile. But professional trouper that she was, she used the situation to her advantage. Then again, I sometimes wonder if this had been an accident or a planned thing. So I'm uncertain whether the Queen Aidoru of the Early 80s ended up hugging or hitting her tailor. Regardless, now whenever I hear "Daite...", I'm always going to think of that "Yoru no Hit Studio" appearance.
Hi, J-Canuck.
ReplyDeleteI've totally forgotten about "Daite...", and it's a shame since the song is a great 80s power ballad coming from Seiko. It really sounds as something from the overseas,
but the emotional chorus, together with Seiko's beautiful vocals, are a great combination.
For me, it's really a standout tune from her late 80s phase, and probably the only one single, besides the fun "Marrakech", I truly enjoy. In fact, if I had to buy one of her late 80s albums, "Citron" would be the one. However, I'm probably OK with the compilation album featuring all her 80s singles I've bought last year.
Hi, Marcos.
DeleteThat famous "red dress" performance has helped in keeping the song in my sweet memories. :) Up to now, "Citron" has been the only original Seiko album post-first marriage that I've bought. However, I "inherited" a tape of Seiko's first US-released album "Seiko" with her looking like a heavy metal queen on the cover. I never touched it.:)
Adding my two cents about this matter.
DeleteOut of her post-1st marriage albums, I enjoy "Supreme" and "Strawberry Time". The former, in particular, I consider it one of Seiko's best albums in terms of overall consistency: the songs themselves aren't that great, but when considered as a whole, I enjoy the album. It's the one with "Ruriiro no Chikyuu".
I went to the extent to listen to all her discography, but I barely remember the stuff after 1990. I have a few songs I like. Some of them are kind of guilty pleasures like "It's Style '95", some were more or less popular like "Taisetsu na Anata", and there is a recent one I really love called "Wakusei ni Naritai".
Maybe someday I'll write about some of them in the blog.
Hi, Joana.
DeleteI think I borrowed "Supreme" from a friend of mine decades back. Considering that it was a post-marriage album, a couple of those songs including "Ruriiro no Chikyuu" sounded almost elegiac as if Seiko was truly trying to say goodbye.
There is one really bouncy number by her that came out after 1990 but I can't remember the title unfortunately. I will see if I can track it down. In the meantime, feel free to write about those Seiko songs you love. :)