Harumi Yoneda -- Uwasa no Naka de（うわさの中で）

 

Harumi Yoneda（米田晴美）is another one of those obscure singers about whom I've had to pull information from a couple of sites. From one blog, I found out that she had probably started her career as an early 1970s aidoru only to make another beginning as an enka singer from 1977 while still a teenager. But then, Yoneda changed course again to follow a more New Music path, something apparently that had been quite unprecedented back in the day, although in recent years, enka singers such as Kiyoshi Hikawa（氷川きよし）have done just that.

Then from a March 2018 tweet, I found out that the topic of this article, "Uwasa no Naka de" (Among The Rumours), was Yoneda's 5th single released in August 1980. Written and composed by singer-songwriter Hiroko Taniyama（谷山浩子）, "Uwasa no Naka de" is a minor-key Fashion Music tune regarding a woman who loves a man and refuses to let him go despite her not-particularly-favourable status within the community. She wouldn't mind leaving the area but the hint is that her paramour isn't as willing.

Yoneda's delivery is tenderhearted and has enough emotion on her sleeve for me to think of Miyuki Nakajima（中島みゆき）, but the melody also has me getting nostalgic for the balladry of Ami Ozaki（尾崎亜美）.