Forgive me if I come across as being a little forward, but considering that it was with singer-songwriter Asami Kado（門あさ美）that I first read the term or genre Fashion Music, maybe I can peg the Nagoya-born artist as the Queen of Fashion Music, that particular subset of the 1970s New Music which gives off vibes of languid and luxurious living with a chaise lounge being the representative piece of furniture. Perhaps individual offerings of grapes can be the official food for the genre as well. Then again, the singer known as the Japanese Carole King, Mayumi Itsuwa（五輪真弓）, would be the more appropriate choice since she actually had been singing earlier than Kado.
Regardless, before I derail my train of thought, let's return to Kado once more. I did find this rather unusual if relaxing song written and composed by her, "Luna Iro no Iseijin" (Luna-Coloured Alien), from her March 1984 6th original album "Urara"（麗）. With arrangement by Yasunori Soryo（惣領泰則）, it comes off as a rather early-morning tune with that bit of wooziness. There is that feeling of City Pop wafting into the penthouse apartment but thanks to the background chorus and the general languidness of it all, I also get some of the old Fashion Music that Kado illustrated through early songs such as "Season".
The interesting thing is that there is nothing ironic or analogous about the title. Kado has written a story about actually meeting an alien who appears suspiciously like E.T., and it seems like it was a pretty romantic close encounter. And that's where I'll leave that discussion. In any case, "Urara" ranked No. 14 on Oricon's album chart. Urara also happens to be the name of an old student-turned-friend of mine when I was living in the Tokyo area. She even stayed a time in Toronto as a working-holiday student and I'm wondering how she and her husband have been doing over the past several years.
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