I sometimes think that Kenji "Julie" Sawada（沢田研二）is the only Japanese Time Lord on Earth right now. Considering some of the forms that he has taken in his career, whether it be the 1970s streetwise pop troubadour, the early 80s J-Bowie glam rocker or the pale New Waver, just like Doctor Who, the singer has come up with some pretty interesting incarnations.
One fellow who contacted me reminded me of yet another 1980s song by Julie and yet another "regeneration" of his...that of the louche rock star. The song in question is "Megami" (Goddess) which was his 46th single from October 1986.
I remember the song since Sawada did indeed perform it at the Kohaku Utagassen of that year, and I'm sure that a lot of viewers and audience were wondering what would the Japanese pop chameleon be dressed up in that time. Well, I guess it was a lot of tresses, eye makeup and black leather as he gave his heartfelt ardor for the woman of his dreams who may just be well out of his league.
What was notable about "Megami" was the artsy arrangement by Chito Kawachi（チト河内）with those strings especially which made me imagine French castles and Marie Antoinette along with all of the political and romantic intrigue. Meanwhile, Julie was somewhere in the middle of all of that kerfuffle, only focused on his one and only unattainable lady. If the song and singer had been hits back in the 1960s, I'm fairly confident that a movie would have been made of the story.
The lyrics were provided by Yu Aku（阿久悠）and music by Takashi Sato（佐藤隆）. The song did modestly well by peaking at No. 47. I've come across a few examples on YouTube of a later updated version of "Megami" which takes on a more Latin hue.
the "Latin hue" was because he repackaged it for his "ACT Nino Rota" in 1991. Sawada's ACT series that ran for 10 years starting in 1989 did quite a bit of repackaging to some of his old hit songs but Megami took the most drastic change in my opinion. I like it.
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