Marcos V.’s special selection: Eri Nitta and Eriko Tamura

Eri Nitta (upper left) and Eriko Tamura (lower right)

Over the course of the quarantine, I’ve been listening to a lot of music, and not only Japanese or Western stuff in general, but also music from my own country, Brazil. Sometimes I just revisit artists, resulting in a very nostalgic journey, but other times I discover entirely new ones, which is always a thrill. A third case is also very common, and it happens when I revisit an artist I already knew some songs, but then decide to expand my knowledge of them listening to their discographies. With that third case in mind, that’s what happened to late 80s aidoru singers Eri Nitta (新田恵利) and Eriko Tamura (田村英里子), so that's why i decided to write about them today.

Starting off with the beloved and squeaky helium-voiced ex-Onyanko Club (おニャン子クラブ) member Eri Nitta, from “Fuyu no Opera Glass” (冬のオペラグラス) fame, here’s the infectious and summery “Manatsu no Kassouro” (真夏の滑走路), from her second album, “E-AREA”, released in September 1986. This piece, a straightforward aidoru pop song about love and summer, also offers a nice little bit of tension during the verses, thanks to the bassline. When it comes to the chorus, though, it’s pure aidoru bliss.

Not one of Nitta’s famous singles, but one of the most playful ones, here’s “Rock n’ Roll Love Letter” (ロックンロール・ラブレター), a cover of the 70s Bay City Rollers song of the same name that was released by her in July 1988 (the original is by Tim Moore, but Bay City Rollers made the song famous). Here, instead of the original pure rock arrangement, the listener is treated with lots of synths and some very Beatles-esque flourishes in the instrumental breakdown. The chorus is a winner as well and Nitta’s voice even sounded a little bit more restrained, which is unusual in comparison to the already mentioned “Fuyu no Opera Glass”, but also “WHO?”, the single released prior to this one.

Excerpt on Apple Music

My last offer from Nitta today is a more subdued one in the form of “Rakuen ni Tsurete Itte” (楽園に連れて行って), a song included in the “Ritardando” album, from April 1987. It’s not the type of aidoru song we could expect from Nitta, but that’s a very good surprise. There’s a hint of sadness in the song and the subtle Latin arrangement truly shines next to the harmonies. An unexpected, but true highlight in her not always ambitious discography. As a matter of fact, it also reminds me of something that fellow Onyanko Club member Sonoko Kawai (河合その子) could record for her amazing and sometimes artsy “Dancin’ In The Light” album.

And now, it’s time to bring Eriko Tamura to the front line, and the first song I’d like to introduce is “Joshuseki no perfume” (助手席のperfume), which can be found in her third album, “Behind the Heart”, from September 1990. Not unlike many of her songs, this one highlights a classier sound that I tend to associate with Tamura. I always feel that she had the talent and image to become more famous than what she did, but, unfortunately, it didn’t happen that way. Like I’ve written in many posts, the early 90s were not a very good time to be an aidoru like her. Anyway, we can always enjoy her legacy, even if it was a minor one (I still have to overcome my biggest trauma concerning Eriko Tamura, which was when I bought her debut album, “May Be Dream”, a couple of years ago and the CD arrived broken in half. To this day, I still have to buy another one).

“Locomotion Dream” (ロコモーション・ドリーム) was actually Eriko Tamura’s debut single, released in March 1989, and it showcases the cute, bouncy and almost Eurobeat-esque late 80s aidoru sound we know very well. I remember that, at first, when I was introduced to the singer around 2011, this song wasn’t one of my favorites, since, in my opinion, it was too simple and safe. Nowadays, even though I haven’t changed my view, I’ve learnt to enjoy it and the catchy chorus. The safeness is very effective and most aidoru’s debut songs are in that vein, which I now understand why, as it’s important to captivate the public with a cute and innocent song before recording more adventurous music. Anyway, “Locomotion Dream” is a great aidoru bop.

My final Eriko Tamura song is called “Domino”, and it was released as the singer’s fifth single, in April 1990. The strong piano in the intro sounds so much like Abba's “Money Money Money” that every time I play "Domino", it's Abba that comes to my mind right away, but then, just after the song progresses a little bit, I remember it’s actually Tamura and her fairytale brand of aidoru pop. Just like “Joshuseki no perfume”, “Domino” is a light and classy song, and both were part of the “Behind the Heart” album, which had an overall similar sound.