Yukiko Okada -- Soyokaze wa Peppermint（そよ風はペパーミント）

 

Today is August 22nd 2022 and as such, it would have been 80s aidoru Yukiko Okada's（岡田有希子）55th birthday. To commemorate the occasion, we have one song to display here on "Kayo Kyoku Plus".

"Soyokaze wa Peppermint" (Peppermint Breeze) was the B-side to Yukko's April 1984 debut single, "First Date"（ファースト・デイト）. Written by Shun Taguchi（田口俊）and composed/arranged by Masaaki Omura（大村雅朗）, "Soyokaze wa Peppermint" makes for a pretty interesting contrast with the Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）-penned A-side in that Okada sings about the anxiety of that titular first date, and the arrangement also displays that nervousness. Meanwhile, the B-side is quite the footloose and fancy-free story of a self-confident lass biding her time as she waits for that potential boyfriend to finally make his confession known

Not sure where the peppermint and the breeze come into play but since both are considered to be refreshing things, there is something of the refreshing optimism here in "Soyokaze wa Peppermint". I think that there is also a certain raw element in Yukko's vocals alongside the burgeoning talent which makes the song an adorable aidoru tune. By the way, the singer is apparently cavorting in Switzerland in this video below. To be honest, seeing that smile below, I really wish that we could have seen many more instances of it in the years between then and now.