I found out from Twitter friend City Pop One's account this morning, but today is Mari Iijima's（飯島真理）birthday, so all the happy thoughts go out to her.
Of course, as a seiyuu, Iijima had already hit the big time in anime with her depiction of Lynn Minmay（リン・ミンメイ）on the original TV series "Macross"（マクロス）. However, her official debut single as a singer was in association with a different anime. NHK broadcast a year-long series between April 1983 and March 1984 titled "Spoon Obasan"（スプーンおばさん...The Teaspoon Lady） based on Norwegian author Alf Prøysen's series of children's books known as "Mrs. Pepperpot".
The above video has both the opening and ending themes, "Yume Iro no Spoon" (Dream-Coloured Spoon) and "Ringo no Mori no Koneko-tachi" (The Kittens of the Apple Woods) which made up Iijima's first single, released in April 1983.
Both songs were written by the dream team of lyricist Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）and composer Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）. Listening to "Yume Iro no Spoon", Iijima's adorably breezy and high-flying vocals lead the calming-as-chamomile arrangement. Meanwhile, the B-side of "Ringo no Mori no Koneko-tachi" has a jauntier and playful beat as if depicting the kittens having their way with a huge ball of yarn. This particular song apparently even made it on NHK's children's song show "Minna no Uta"（みんなのうた）for a spell.
Being that I have been a fan of Iijima Mari ever since I heard 「愛・おぼえていますか」and 「Cecile no Amagasa」 at a very young and impressionable age this post of yours makes me very happy! She has been somewhat forgotten in Japan or rather she is no longer a household name.
ReplyDeleteMorning, Brian. Yeah, those are her two big hits. I'd like to think that although she's no longer in the spotlight, oldtimers like us still appreciate what she did for anison and anime in general.
DeleteShe is no longer in the spotlight in Japan, but she has continued to produce music through the decades and do some live performances. Somehow she earns enough money from whatever she is going to lead a comfortable life in L.A. I have no idea if she has had any other type of career in the states?
DeleteI took a look at her Wikipedia...nothing of consequence there. But her Ameba blog on her website stated that she's just lost an aunt and her LA Lakers lost again in the playoffs so it hasn't exactly been a happy birthday for her.
Delete