J-Canuck's Favourite Kahoru Kohiruimaki Songs

 

Seeing that I've recently been getting hooked on one particular Kahoru Kohiruimaki（小比類巻かほる）song again after a while, I've decided to start off this week's Hump Day with my favourite line of Kohhy tunes. For me, the period of time that I paid the most attention to her was from the late 1980s into the early 1990s, and even that segment can be divided into two: her early pop/rock years and then the R&B from the 90s onwards. All good stuff! As usual, I'm not putting them into any particular error.

Keep On Dreamin' (1995)

And we start off with that one song that I've been playing daily over the past few days. "Keep On Dreamin'" is one of the horn-and-string tunes that I've often accessed to get my mood back up and revved since it's such a cool jammer. I've already given my accolades in the original article, but suffice it to say that "Keep On Dreamin'" is one theme that is in need of a tongue-in-cheek cop or spy flick.

Mirage Mirror (1991)

Starting off with a synth riff that sounds somewhat ominous, "Mirage Mirror" then gives those bass addicts a fix that will probably last a good month before a 1990s City Pop melody showing that everything is good in Tokyo emerges. Let me remind all those out there that Kohhy's vocals are also an important part in every song.

Dreamer (1989)

I never said it outright in the article for "Dreamer" but I think that it was with this single that signified the transition of Kohiruimaki from pop/rock to R&B. So with all of those musical influences thrown in there, her 12th single may not have made much of a dent on the charts, but it still remains one of my favourites and a pop cultural touchstone for my time on the JET Programme.

Tonight (1988)

(9:20)

I wanted to include one ballad on the list and I'm going with "Tonight". As I mentioned in the article for her BEST album "So Real", Kahoru's 10th single was a theme song for a TV drama but it was also a polished love song among the skyscrapers of Tokyo. I give thanks to those strings, too.

Moving Action (1990)

(7:44)

As one commenter for this YouTube video has stated, this is the coolest track on Kohhy's 7th studio album "Distance" from October 1990. This was also her 16th single released on New Year's Day in 1991, and I'm just repeating myself here, but along with the above "Keep On Dreamin'", this is also another horn-driven funk fest that needed to have its own spy show although it did get used for a diamond commercial starring supermodel Linda Evangelista.

City Hunter: Ai yo Kienai de （愛よ消えないで）(1987)

There was no way that I was going to leave this one out. I think that as much as Ruiko Kurahashi's（倉橋ルイ子）"December 24" is the masterful combination of City Pop and Xmas, Kahoruimaki's inaugural opening theme for the animated debut of "City Hunter" is one of the classic pairings of anime and City Pop smack dab in the Bubble Era of thousand-yen cups of coffee and million-dollar golf club memberships. If there's an old-fashioned theme song for West Shinjuku, this is it.

Hold On Me (1987)

Finally, we come to the beginning...the very first Kohhy song that I ever heard and it turned out to be the one that first got the singer to the Kohaku Utagassen. One thing that I didn't mention in the original article was that it was the first time that I (or perhaps any of the audience at NHK Hall and beyond) ever experienced a camera operator swoop all over the stage to capture a participant's performance. "Hold On Me" was such a catchy tune that I was quite ebullient when I was able to get a J-Pop compilation album in Chinatown and discovered that the song was one of the tracks.

Yep, just seven tunes out of the many Kohhy songs of dynamism and balladry and it wasn't too easy to make the choices but these are indeed my favourites. Hopefully, you can let me know what yours are.