Yumeko Kitaoka -- Ikujinashi (いくじなし)

I’ve already written about my favourite song recorded by Yumeko Kitaoka (北岡夢子) before, which is the longing-filled and youthful ballad “Mou Ichido Aetara” (もういちど逢えたら). In fact, I like this song so much that I’ve chosen it as one of the two J-Pop tunes for Kayo Kyoku Plus’ special collaboration with JTOP 10 last year.

Today, though, I’d like to highlight other song by this somewhat obscure aidoru. Released in July 1988 as the coupling song to her second single “Kokuhaku” (告白), “Ikujinashi” is certainly not what we can call a-side material. On the other hand, I find the catchy synth arrangement very captivating, even if some singing notes are kind of rough to the years at some points. Maybe rough is not the right word, but there’s something very childish in the way Kitaoka handles the melody here. And I really mean childish, but not in the ambiguous way that many female aidoru sing. Anyway, it can merge well with the playfulness and almost summery vibe of the Euro-tinged arrangement if you are in the right mood.

“Ikujinashi” is typical late 80s aidoru affair, but that can be said about any of Kitaoka’s songs, since she did not record or release anything very outstanding. I like her well enough, though, and even bought a cheap compilation of her singles and coupling songs, which I treasure a lot.

Lyrics were written by Ayuko Ishikawa (石川あゆ子), while the music was composed by Tetsuji Hayashi (林哲司). As for the arrangement, Hiroshi Shinkawa (新川博) was the responsible.

My Kore! Lite - Yumeko Kitaoka