Earlier this afternoon, I wrote up another article on the band GREAT3 for their song "Ruby" and remembered that when I penned their first article for "Summer's Gone", one of the members, Akito Katayose（片寄明人）, is the husband of model-turned-singer Chocolat. I also actually remember seeing her quite a lot on television in my early years in Japan doing commercials and performing songs so there is some of that nostalgia factor. From her J-Wiki article, her real name is Masako Katayose and she hails from Tokyo and apparently, she got her stage name of Chocolat from the fact that she shares the same name for the current Empress of Japan, Masako whose Yorkshire Terrier was named Chocolat.
Certainly not wanting to leave anyone out of the family, Chocolat is here tonight and here I have a song, "Blue de Happy ga Ii BLUE MINT BLUE" (Blue and Happy are Good) from her debut single (more like a semi-album considering that there are five tracks), "Chocolat A La Mode"（ショコラ・ア・ラ・モード）, released in May 1997. Written and composed by Hideki Kaji（加地秀基）, it's a nice sunny slice of Shibuya-kei which is the singer's regular genre. Perhaps listeners can be just as at home taking a comfortable stroll in Paris as they can doing the same thing in Tokyo. Through Kaji's lyrics, Chocolat lets it be known to a loved one who is feeling blue that the colour can also signify a lot of good things as well such as through clothing and the sea.
Just some warning with the music video...it cuts out briefly for a couple of seconds at around :37 but no worries. Anyways, the swinging guitars and harmonica and crackling percussion arrangement remind me of a Tomoyo Harada（原田知世）single that had been released in the same year, "Romance"（ロマンス）, and I think the music videos featuring both Chocolat and Harada are pretty similar in that they are enjoying a pleasant outing in the sun. Chocolat's debut peaked at No. 69, and a couple of months later in July, her 2nd single was basically another go at "Blue de Happy ga Ii BLUE MINT BLUE" with just the song and then the karaoke track.
One last piece of family-based trivia before I finish for the night. Chocolat has a twin sister named Heaco who was also a singer and a model. I will have to take a look at her discography as well in the near future, although it was a brief time in the recording booth...just between 1998 and 2000.
I like what I've heard from Chocolat. She has a great voice. She actually has two really great Christmas songs. The first is "'Til Tomorrow," from "Cloudy" (1998). The other is "Wonder Christmas," from 1999's "Fargo." After getting it, I found it's a cover of Lisa Mychol's "Lost Winter Dream," which is the title track from her 1990 album. Mychol's album was a big deal among the online Christmas music-collecting crowd several years back.
ReplyDeleteI just listened to her sister Heaco as well. She's pretty good, too, so I will have to put up a couple of her tunes before the year is out.
DeleteI think it was almost ten years ago that I bought her album One Too Many Chocolat on a whim, not knowing her or her music at the time, and fell in love with it. Her song Baseball & Elvis Presley from the album Hamster always makes me cry. Really nice to stumble across a writeup of her on here.
ReplyDeleteHello, cait and thanks for your remembrance about Chocolat. I did come across that title "Baseball & Elvis Presley" earlier today. With that title, I just have to explore that song.
DeleteGotta echo the sentiments of Scott and cait. Chocolat produced some excellent, memorable tracks very much in the Shibuya-kei vein. I picked up a couple of albums and was not disappointed. They can be readily acquired.
ReplyDeleteSounds good. I will have to see if I can get at least one album.
DeleteSellers usually have them available on Amazon or on other online shops.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised at how used copies are going for around $15-20, which isn't terrible. Is it really worth the asking price for a used CD + shipping? New copies are currently hovering around $40. Then again some import CDs go for over a hundred a pop. Ridiculous. Fortunately I picked them up for much less awhile back.
Used copies at about $20 or 3000 yen aren't too painful; I'd be willing to pay that much if the album is worthy but even then, $50 is the top price. Anything in triple digits is too rich for my blood.
DeleteMy relationship with Amazon Japan has not been the easiest. There have been a couple of times when the transaction wouldn't go through because my credit card company and Amazon.jp would insist that the other was responsible for security issues.