Naoko Kawai -- Hurricane Kid（ハリケーン・キッド）

 

I found out some minutes ago that former 80s aidoru Naoko Kawai（河合奈保子）will be celebrating her 59th birthday tomorrow on July 24th, so of course, many good wishes to her. Realizing that it's been over 40 years since the 1980s, it's still a surprise to know that Ms. Kawai will just be a year away from celebrating her kanreki. To me, she'll always be the eternally snaggle-toothed smiling teenybopper in the fluffy white dress.

As such, let's go with a Naoko song to start this Saturday edition of "Kayo Kyoku Plus". On May 31st 2015, I did the article for her June 1st 1980 debut single "Ohkina Mori no Chiisana O-uchi" （大きな森の小さなお家）. I did mention back then that it was a scorching-hot day and it's turning out the same here today in Toronto.

Well, I've got the B-side to Naoko's Single No. 1 today, and it's "Hurricane Kid". Created by the same team behind "Ohkina Mori no Chiisana O-uchi": lyricist Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）and composer/arranger Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）, it's got the same jaunty and friendly beat as its A-side, albeit with a some added electric guitar. This time, though, the story has a young high school girl looking probably like a 1950s poodle-skirted Lori Beth Allen as she dates the titular Kid, judging from the mention of a lightning bolt on the back of his jacket. The wonderful thing is that although I've only heard this particular song just a few times, it's still got that happily familiar Naoko-ness in the delivery.