I’ve
been listening a lot to Kahoru Kohiruimaki (小比類巻かほる) lately, and I mean A
LOT. Classics like “Dreamer”, “Tonight” and “Hold on Me” are insanely good, but
some hidden gems, like the funky “Heart no Parade” (ハートのパレード), for example, are also very
nice.
J-Canuck had already covered a lot of songs recorded and released by this great singer-songwriter
here on the blog, but I remember contributing an article with a song composed
by her, called “Last Graduation” (ラスト・グラジュエイション),
that was given to Minako Tanaka (田中美奈子)
to record in 1993. The thing is,
for some reason, Kohiruimaki penned great songs to Tanaka, even producing her album
“ROLL ON”. Luckily, another one of the singles released prior to this album, “Mou
Ichido ROLL ON”, appeared on YouTube last year.
Just as exciting as “Last Graduation”, and also
horn-driven like a good upbeat tune by Kohiruimaki must be, “Mou Ichido ROLL ON”
succeeds in making a good impression. We can almost hear Kohiruimaki singing it
instead of Tanaka, but I think she never recorded it, unfortunately. As for Tanaka,
she was never the greatest singer out there, but by 1993~94, during her singing
career’s twilight, she wasn’t an amateur anymore. In other words, she could
handle recording a song fairly well, and in a charming way (sorry, my standards
are not very high).
Released as a single in January 1994, “Mou Ichido ROLL
ON” was included in Tanaka’s fifth and final album, “ROLL ON”, from February of
the same year. Kahoru Kohiruimaki was responsible for the lyrics and music,
while Keiichi Ueno (上野圭市) did the arrangement.
Hi, Marcos. Hope you are doing well. Thanks for this Minako Tanaka song that I'd never heard about, especially since it was indeed Kohhy behind the music. It indeed sounds like a Kohhy song (especially with the brass in there) and those first few words out of Tanaka's mouth did sound as if Kohhy were singing it. I even tried to search for any hint that she covered it but alas you may be right...I couldn't find anything.
ReplyDeleteHi, J-Canuck.
DeleteThings are doing fine. I've already been in Christmas mode for two weeks, since the heat is not giving a break.
I don't know how or why Kohhy produced an album and contributed many songs to Minako Tanaka, but I'm not complaining here. The "ROLL ON" album is one of my favourites from the sexy aidoru/actress, right next to her debut album. And Kohhy's is totally responsible for that, since she took care of the project.