Naomi Akimoto -- Bewitched

Can't quite remember which article I included this in, but I did make a "Bewitched" reference via the lovely Elizabeth Montgomery. I can say that my very early years had been spent watching episodes of the witch who just wanted to spend a grounded life with her darling Darrin, much to the chagrin of her mother Endora. Considering that I was born in 1965, it was the colour episodes that I got to know first but then later, I was able to see the very early shows in black and white.

That title has ingrained itself so much into my head as the representation of the one of the most remembered ABC sitcoms in my life that I couldn't help but think Samantha Stevens when I came across this song by Naomi Akimoto（秋本奈緒美）with the same title.

"Bewitched" is a track on her 3rd album "The 20th Anniversary" from December 1982, and Akimoto joins folks such as Yuko Asano（浅野ゆう子）and Jun Fubuki（風吹ジュン）as actresses whom I didn't know had past careers as singers. Yup, Akimoto is someone that I've known for her appearances in TV dramas, commercials and variety shows. But indeed, she started out as a jazz singer in that same year of 1982 according to her J-Wiki profile which makes me wonder whether "The 20th Anniversary" is mostly a jazz record. I say mostly because "Bewitched" is definitely in the City Pop vein of the body of Japanese pop music.

I had to use the Daemonskald method of tracking down photos of the actual record and was successful in finding out that Tomoko Aran（亜蘭知子）provided the lyrics while a fellow named Jim Reevs took care of the mellow melody. Nice touch especially with the harmonica; ever since I first heard Toots Thielemans on one of the tracks for the classic "The Dude" by Quincy Jones (which has the amazing "Ai no Corrida"), I've included the harmonica as one of the things that I like to hear for when it comes to 70s/80s urban contemporary on either side of the Pacific.

One other thought was that "The 20th Anniversary" was a pretty odd title for an album for Akimoto who was just starting out in the business. But apparently, the Nagano Prefecture native was only a few weeks away from her 20th birthday. Yup, she recorded a City Pop tune at the age of 19; not too shabby at all considering that she sounds quite mature. That must have been quite the tale she told at her seijinshiki: "Oh, and I've already recorded 3 albums!"

Hey, I managed to find a commercial with her.

Ah, what the heck. Here is "Velas" by Ivan Lins and performed by Toots. Enjoy the rest of your evening!