Recently,
I’ve been rediscovering Miho Nakayama (中山美穂). Until a few days ago, as I owned just the
comprehensive singles collection called “Perfect Best” (2010), it’s been years
since I last heard her albums. Now, I was finally able to get her classic "CATCH THE NITE" album.
Miho
is an interesting aidoru who in the second half of the 80s, more exactly from
1985 to 1990, released a string of successful singles and albums, ranging from
pure early 80s-styled aidoru-pop to Eurobeat, R&B and City Pop. Also,
besides an accomplished career as a pop aidoru, girl was surely busy around
1987~1988 shooting dramas, doing lots of concerts, promo events and even
starring in a Famicom game. In my opinion, she was never the most talented
singer out there, even though she surely had the cute looks and hit it big with
songs like the Euro-oriented “WAKU WAKU Sasete” (WAKU WAKUさせて) or the
gorgeous ballad “You’re My Only Shinin’ Star”, this one written and composed by
City Pop master Toshiki Kadomatsu (角松敏生).
Speaking
of Kadomatsu, he worked with Miho for the first time in 1986, during the
recording sessions of her “Summer Breeze” album, to which he contributed three
original songs, one of them being an early – and still very raw in Miho’s vocal
delivery – version of “You’re My Only Shinin’ Star”. Then, in 1987, Kadomatsu
went back in studio with her, but this time as the producer of the entire
project later called “CATCH THE NITE”.
Opening
the album, there’s a short instrumental piece with a heavy synth bass and a
dreamy synth melody that connects right away with “MISTY LOVE”, our true proper
song, and the first showcase of how Miho matured really quickly from the cute
aidoru that sang harmless things like “C”, “BE-BOP-HIGHSCHOOL” and “Iro White
Blend” (色・ホワイトブレンド) into
a performer capable of owning Kadomatsu’s polished brand of electronic disco.
The
same can be said about my personal favorite, “TRIANGLE LOVE AFFAIR”, but this
time with a sassy arrangement full of horns and an equally committed Miho
Nakayama on vocals. In fact, not just the horns, but the full arrangement is
top notch with all the keyboard sounds and the pleasant summery percussion in
the chorus. Finally, on a side note, this song is one of the two or three songs
that were not directly written or composed by Kadomatsu for the “CATCH THE NITE”
album, even if it still sounds like something he would do (he was the producer
of the album, so he probably had a hand on it as well, or the people involved
emulated very well the overall sound he was going for).
Our
first slow moment of the album, “SHERRY” is a beautiful and almost hypnotic mid-tempo
funk carried by Miho’s silky sexy vocals. A true standout song that I couldn’t
remind until I listened to it again in the last few weeks. Shame on me!
Back to the disco floor, this time in the form of
the Euro-oriented “CATCH ME”, this is the only single released prior to the
album, and curiously Miho’s first single to reach the top position in the
Oricon chart. In my opinion, even though far in popularity from some of the
aforementioned go-to 80s hits in Nakayama’s discography, like “WAKU WAKU
Sasete” and “You’re My Only Shinin’ Star”, “CATCH ME” is pretty good with how
urgent and strong it sounds – a courtesy of the amazing synth work (the
descending arpeggios in the chorus almost kills me every time) and the steady
drum beat. Also, even though this was the first song by Miho Nakayama I’ve ever
listened to almost ten years ago, it was only last week that I noticed how Kadomatsu
seemed a little bit inspired by “Fascinated”, a hit song by Freestyle American girl
group Company B, when composing “CATCH ME”, since both songs share a very
similar chord progression at times.
“Kabin”
(花瓶), my
last highlight, but also the album’s final song, is a beautiful masterpiece. If
this ballad wasn’t enjoyable enough per se, when we think it’s almost over, a
magic piano keeps playing and Miho, backed by background singers, returns for a
glorious ending with a new melody altogether. It’s a surprising feature and the
kind of touch Kadomatsu surely wanted to include to elevate an already great
song. Also, as in most of the album, Kadomatsu somehow made Miho sing in a
somewhat soulful way here, which is something I couldn’t imagine while
listening to the squeaky aidoru she was less than a year before.
Released in February 1988, “CATCH THE NITE” reached
#1 on the Oricon chart, selling 349,000 copies, which made it the #20
best-selling album of the year.
Hello, Marcos.
ReplyDeleteGood to hear from you. It's been a while for a Miporin article so it was good to have one from an expert. She definitely took things up a notch, thanks to Kadomatsu's abilities. That Overture before "Misty Love" sounded downright Perfume-like!
I remember Company B's "Fascinated" since that was a popular tune at the discos my friends and I frequented back in our university days. I didn't realize that it had influenced a Nakayama number. But I have to admit that my favourite number is "Kabin" since it does remind me of some of that 70s soul from my childhood.
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DeleteHi, J-Canuck.
ReplyDeleteYou like how much I like to discover this kind of crossover between Japanese songs and their Western counterparts. At the same time Kadumatsu was working with Miho in the "CATCH ME" single, he also did the arrangement of Naoko Isamu's cover of Paul Lekaki's "Boom Boom". So, it's possible to hear a connection between "Fascination", "Boom Boom (Let's Go Back To Your Room)" and "CATCH ME". We can hear similarities in the arrangement of all three songs.
But I'm with you this time. "Kabin" is also my favourite from the album, even if it's a ballad. Such a beautiful work, and Miho did very well too.
I've been getting into Miho's music myself lately, funnily enough.
ReplyDeleteIf you liked Catch The Nite, I recommend her album Mind Game.
The Drum Machine used in CATCH ME is the Yamaha RX7 (or RX5).
ReplyDeleteYamaha RX-5/RX-7.
ReplyDelete