Fumi Hirano -- Uptown

 

I have to admit that I never watched a full episode of "Urusei Yatsura"（うる星やつら）but I know of how famous and popular it was back in the 1980s, and of course, there is the main character of Lum, played by seiyuu Fumi Hirano（平野文）. Awfully hard not to notice a floating young lady with blue-green hair in a fabric-sparse black-and-yellow striped outfit.

Hirano also released her fair share of albums and singles, almost all of them in the 1980s. The first of those albums was "Call me Funny Minx" released in March 1983. I haven't heard all of the album so I can't give a judgement on what genre or genres are covered there, but I can give some observations on one track "Uptown".

"Uptown" is one of those songs that is as tasty and juicy as a tenderloin steak done rare. It's an odd description to be sure, but it's just that I've had to give the song a few listens to get a handle. The first thing is that I enjoy that intro drum riff and then the keyboard coming in which reminded me of Melissa Manchester's hit "You Should Hear How She Talks About You" from 1982, so there is that West Coast pop thing, or so I thought. But then, as I get further into "Uptown", the melody takes on more of a New Wave vibe from the UK, and additionally, there are the vocal stylings by Hirano herself as she takes on an insouciant tone as if she's channeling a bit of Asami Kobayashi（小林麻美）. The Tokyo-born singer provided the lyrics.

The topper is that "Uptown" is a cover of the far-shorter original 1962 single by the New York-based girl group The Crystals. The group was responsible for other Phil Spector-produced hits including "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Then He Kissed Me".