It was literally amateur night with my old Casio camera when I took this shot of the Yokohama skyline. Well, it was either that or I just had a little too much to drink at that Chinese buffet place.
Therefore, let us go to something more refined. Perhaps Yoshimi Iwasaki（岩崎良美）was still considered an aidoru when this 18th single of hers, "Kuchibiru kara Suspense" (Suspense from My Lips) came out in July 1984, but still, this song is fairly dramatic and sophisticated in its arrangement. For one thing, there was that common partnership during the 1980s with lyricist Chinfa Kan（康珍化）and composer Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）as the former's words talk of a possible sin playing out with a lady secretly coveting her best friend's boyfriend. With those keyboards, boppy bass and horns, Iwasaki can easily join the City Pop aidoru pedestal along with Momoko Kikuchi（菊池桃子）.
When I watch her performance in the video below, her voice and that certain tilt of her head remind me so much of her older sister Hiromi（岩崎宏美）.
I always felt like Yoshimi was more of a "New Music/AOR" type of artist since her debut and I think she was considered an idol because she did debut as a late teenager after all (but that's my two cents about that).
ReplyDeleteThis was a great single and I honestly think it should have way more popularity (considering "What's Love" and "Congratulation" from the same album are being played a lot these days).
P.S. I think you should listen to her fifth album, Kokoro no Atelier, from 1981. I would consider that her most AOR-ish album, especially "Ano Toki..." (Yoshimi has also proclaimed that as a favorite of hers in her CD-BOX).
Hello, nothingmuch;) and welcome to the blog. Thanks very much for your comments and no problems about your opinions. I've always thought that Yoshimi tried hard to get out of her elder sister's shadow by adjusting her music here and there. I'll have to check out that track from "Kokoro no Atelier".
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