Y'know, this is one of Yoko Minamino's（南野陽子）singles that I hadn't ever heard before. Always nice to make a new discovery this late in life.
"Pandora no Koibito" (Pandora's Lover) was Nanno's 8th single from July 1987 and it was her 3rd consecutive single to hit No. 1 on Oricon, following "Rakuen no Door"（楽園のDoor）and "Hanashi Kaketakatta"（話しかけたかった）. It was the beginning of a long run of No. 1s for the aidoru which lasted for over two years from January 1987 to February 1989 when her 14th single "only" got up to No. 2.
It was quite pleasant listening to "Pandora no Koibito" because of its plucky melody and arrangement by Toshio Kamei（亀井登志夫）, who's been mostly known as a composer but has also been the violinist and vocalist for NASA, and Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）. The synths and strings working together almost take Nanno into the realm of Fashion Music. Meanwhile, Shun Taguchi's（田口俊）lyrics speak of a young lady with a major crush on a boy who she would love to open up to, but gosh darn it simply can't. Strangely enough, I watched a "Chibi Maruko-chan" episode tonight with a very similar plot line.
The song became the 28th-ranked single for 1987 and it's also a track on her first BEST compilation "NANNO Singles" which was released in March 1988 and went all the way up to the top of the album charts.
Nice, find! I had not heard this song either. It is an easy to listen to cute song, and Yoko sing it well. However, the lyrics do not really much up with her image. Even if she might have been a little shy I doubt that in prime she would ever have to worry about a guy turning her down. She has aged pretty well as is still an attractive woman but she was cute as a button when she was younger. I think I first saw her in the season of スケバン 刑事
ReplyDeleteYes, I think that Yuki Saito and the other heroines in "Sukeban Deka" have also done quite well, too.
DeleteI think your right and they still seem to be active in one way or another.
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