Hitomi Ishikawa -- Purple Mystery（パープル ミステリー）

Generally speaking, my basic knowledge of Hitomi Ishikawa（石川ひとみ）is restricted to that big hit of hers from 1981, "Machibuse"（まちぶせ）as written and composed by Yumi Arai（荒井由実）. So it's always nice when I discover some other good tunes by her.

I've just written about the NHK series "Anata no Melody"（あなたのメロディー）, a show that had a long run of 25 years which showcased the works of amateur songwriters being performed by some of the professionals. It was because of this song for this article that I found out about "Anata no Melody". Released as her 16th single in February 1983, "Purple Mystery" is this Latin-tinged pop tune that actually became one of the top songs from the show for that year. Reminiscent of some similar City Pop tunes from the 1970s, it's also remarkable for the fact that the songwriter behind this one, Susumu Kawagoshi/Kawagoe（川越進）, was just a high school student when he submitted this contribution.

One wonders if Susumu had been hanging around neighbourhoods such as Roppongi or Akasaka when he wrote and composed "Purple Mystery". Well, perhaps he shouldn't have but it's still a very nicely created slice of J-urban contemporary. Incidentally, a part of the lyrics were changed and the arrangement was handled by Masataka Matsutoya（松任谷正隆）, according to the liner notes in a BEST compilation CD-BOX by Ishikawa.