Gotta say when actress/singer Kaori Momoi（桃井かおり）shows up in a commercial or on an album cover, she makes a presence. Even with my poorly-taken photo of her in an "Eye-Ai" article, she does have that certain je ne said quoi. I don't know whether she has ever appeared on the Kohaku Utagassen as a performer (I believe that she has appeared as a judge), but I think that she would have garnered quite some attention. If it's good, then she'll thank folks, if it's not, she probably wouldn't care and then she would go for a cigarette.
I think the first time I wrote about Momoi on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" was through her shibui duet with singer-songwriter Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）, "Nejireta Heart de" (ねじれたハートで）which was released as a single in July 1982. Well, in November of that year, she also released her 10th album "SHOW?" which also contained that single.
Kisugi, in fact, composed all of the songs on the album, and his sister Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつこ）wrote the first song on Side B of the LP, "Sparking Head" with Kei Wakakusa（若草恵）handling arrangements. Not sure what the sparking head is all about, but in terms of Takao's melody, it kinda wavers between City Pop and pop by my reckoning, and there is that wailing electric guitar that I always appreciate in a Japanese urban contemporary tune. The Discogs page for "SHOW?" doesn't specify but the guitarist could have been Fujimaru Yoshino（芳野藤丸）, Tsuyoshi Kon（今剛）or Toru Aoyama. I should also mention that I also like the piano with its funky City Pop rhythms.
Might I also point out that album cover? It's also so 80s and so Momoi.
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