Seiko Matsuda -- Squall

In what was either a case of the worst timing or a case of a maintenance company and a property manager not using their collective brains, all of the cars in our underground garage had to be kicked outside for a power washing session of the concrete inside all day. This occurred on a day when the "high" temperature was -9 degrees Celsius and there was a huge dumping of snow. Let's say that it wasn't too easy for us to get our car back into the garage since the power washing guys were still at it at 6 pm tonight.

So, it's just the thing for me to start today's group of articles with Seiko Matsuda's（松田聖子）very first album released in August 1980, "Squall". Quite the ironic name today since that was what the Greater Toronto Area was under threat of...lots of snow squalls. However, "Squall" over here is all about the summer tropics for the debut of this future superstar aidoru of the 1980s. In fact, all of the tracks have that theme in mind, including her first two singles that have since become Seiko-chan mainstays, "Hadashi no Kisetsu"（裸足の季節）and "Aoi Sangoshou"（青い珊瑚礁）. In fact, the slogan for the album was "The scent of coral, the blue wind. This is now Seiko's season".

Therefore, for those fellow kayo fans in the colder parts on the Earth, have a listen to these songs that will hopefully put some summer heat into your heart.

By the way, all of the tracks were created by lyricist Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）and composer Yuuichiro Oda（小田裕一郎）including the first song, "~Minami Taiheiyo~ Samba no Kaori"（～南太平洋～ サンバの香り...~South Pacific~The Scent of a Samba）.

Matsuda has had a very long career and I'm not sure how other Seiko fans have split her various times up. Perhaps some of them have done it by decades, or maybe some fans have gone for the pre-(first) wedding Seiko in the early 80s versus the post-wedding years. I have also gone with the latter option, but I often think of that very early stage of her career when her vocals seemed to have a wider range. With "Samba no Kaori", her voice doesn't so much soar but is already up in the clouds squeaking away. That's not meant as a criticism incidentally...I've also liked this part at the beginning when she was just developing. As for the song itself, I like it because though it is an aidoru tune, it also possesses that summery AOR feeling. Considering that a couple of hours ago, I was scraping ice off the windshield like a maniac, I am most grateful for the sensation of summer warmth.

The second track is "Blue Angel"（ブルーエンジェル）which is a nice enough doo-wop tune although I think that the initial "doo-wa, doo-wa, doo-wa" is a bit heavy on the brakes. Seiko's vocals here are tending toward more on the deeper side at points, relatively speaking, and they remind me of her delivery on the B-side of "Aoi Sangosho", "True Love". When I listen to "Blue Angel", I can easily see Seiko in a poodle skirt and ponytail in the back of her boyfriend's Studebaker at Arnold's in Milwaukee ("Happy Days" reference there) waiting for a burger and malt shake.

One bit of trivia that I got from J-Wiki is that the late 80s aidoru Minako Honda（本田美奈子）performed"Blue Angel" on the NTV audition show "Star Tanjo!"（スター誕生!）as a junior high school senior.

The title track "Squall" looks like Seiko is confessing her love to the meteorological phenomenon itself...or it might be the case that there is some guy actually named Squall (an X-Man?) that she's fallen for. Anyways, this is indeed a Seiko tune that rather typifies my feelings of her tunes in the early days: racing and soaring with electric guitar and strings on the beach!

"Ku-gatsu no Yuugure"（九月の夕暮れ...September Twilight）is characterized by that disco beat and a somewhat more uncertain story of Seiko thinking of a past romance, maybe, as the seasons turn to the colder months. I can even feel a hint of Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）European flair in there, making me think that songwriters Oda and Miura can pretty much concoct a Seiko song in any sort of genre, maybe even enka although punk rock might be too much of a reach.

My final song for "Squall" is the final track, "Shiosai"（潮騒...The Sound of Waves）, a most appropriate way to end the first album for Seiko-chan since she probably wanted to take a breather following her first long stint in the recording studio. Like the first track "Samba no Kaori", "Shiosai" can also be thought of as another pleasant AOR number, but this time, the setting is nighttime and my imagination has the singer going to a beachside restaurant with her date for a romantic dinner. There's even a hint of the Doobie Bounce popping up in the arrangement.

Decided to include a performance of her singing "Shiosai" in 2015.

"Squall" hit No. 2 on Oricon, a pretty darn impressive showing for a newcomer. And of course, those first two singles, especially "Aoi Sangousho", helped Matsuda gained her footing on her way to becoming a superstar aidoru. My final thoughts on the album is that "Squall" was that kitchen for Seiko-chan and the songwriters, arrangers and producers to experiment with all sorts of musical recipes, coming up with some interesting dishes...a trend that continued in her second album "North Wind" which was released just a few months after her first album.