Natsuko Yamamoto -- Hachi-gatsu no Fuan（八月の不安）

 

Indeed, it is August, and yep, it is feeling somewhat hot and humid outside and inside. The ancient fan is still doing its best to keep me cool.

As such, I've been keeping this particular song in storage until the month was ready. Greetings to Chiba Prefecture-born Natsuko Yamamoto's（山本奈津子）"Hachi-gatsu no Fuan" (August Worries) which is a track on her one and only album from November 1984, "19/20".

Yamamoto isn't listed on J-Wiki as a singer but as an actress and a TV personality, and perhaps that isn't too much of a surprise since her voice wasn't particularly the greatest, especially in the higher registers. In fact, her debut at the age of 18 in show business took place in a roman porno in June 1983 and a number of her roles were in the softcore porn industry, although she also appeared in at least a couple of TV dramas under the name of Atsuko Saito（斉藤厚子）during that decade.

With Mirai Minegishi（嶺岸未来）providing the lyrics, "Hachi-gatsu no Fuan" has a funky bass-and-horns arrangement thanks to composer Fujimal Yoshino（芳野藤丸）, so I'm guessing that the song straddles the line between City Pop and aidoru pop. As for Yamamoto, she got married in 1988, retired from showbiz and then later got divorced after which she started up an aromatherapy salon. However in 2005, she returned to acting.