Akiko Nakamura -- Niji Iro no Mizuumi（虹色の湖）

 

The last time that I wrote about singer Akiko Nakamura（中村晃子）, it was for her 6th single "Taiyo ni Koi wo Shite"（太陽に恋をして）from May 1967, so this time, I'd like to introduce her 7th 45" release which came out later in October that year, "Niji Iro no Mizuumi" (Rainbow Lake).

With a cool intro consisting of snappy percussion and a bass, Nakamura sings about neglecting someone dear in her old hometown when she flew off to the big city, only to find out that he himself has gone elsewhere much to her eternal sadness. Created by the same tandem behind "Taiyo ni Koi wo Shite", lyricist Hiroshi Yokoi（横井弘）and composer Hirooki Ogawa（小川寛興）, the setting of the romantic hard lesson learned may have been out in the regional areas, but the sound feels very urban. In fact, "Niji Iro no Mizuumi" has been considered to be a solo Group Sounds effort.

Reaching No. 3 on the very young Oricon charts, the single would eventually become the 23rd-ranked single for 1968, selling around 800,000 records. Nakamura not only got invited to perform on NHK's annual New Year's Eve special Kohaku Utagassen for 1968 but she was also able to sing it in a movie that was released earlier in March of that year titled "Susume! Jaguars Kizen Jouriku"（進め!ジャガーズ 敵前上陸...Go Jaguars! Landing in the Face of the Enemy）. The flick actually starred Group Sounds band The Jaguars（ザ・ジャガーズ）but I gather that the producers wanted to kill two birds with one stone so they also put Nakamura in a major role, being able to put some more exposure on what was her first big hit in music with backup by the GS band themselves. The arrangement is indeed a bit more Watusi-able.