Credits

I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.

Monday, November 21, 2022

Taeko Ohnuki -- Sunao ni Naritai(素直になりたい)

 

I just selected this Taeko Ohnuki(大貫妙子)song out of the backlog on a whim, and as it turns out, it was pretty prophetic since we're only a week away before the famed singer-songwriter celebrates a birthday on November 28th.


With a lot of fans often focusing on the early part of her solo career in the 1970s and early 1980s (and it's also a time period that I adore as well), it's still nice when I can explore beyond that heyday. As such, I've discovered this pretty peppy number written by Ohnuki and composed/arranged by Takeshi Kobayashi(小林武史)for her 15th studio album "Drawing" released in February 1992.

Ohnuki and Kobayashi provide a funky pop tune in "Sunao ni Naritai" (I Want to be Honest) which I can also say has some of that 90s City Pop essence. One other thing that I've noticed in Ohnuki when I compare her singing from the mid-80s onward to that vital period between her Sugar Babe days and her collaboration with Ryuichi Sakamoto(坂本龍一)up to the mid-1980s is that her voice, though still high and unwaveringly clear, has become a little richer and lower. It's almost as if she realized that she could ease up a tad and relax that precious larynx of hers. I think that it makes for an interesting contrast within her very long career. As for "Drawing", it peaked at No. 14 on Oricon.


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