Emiko Nakayama -- Akiramechatta（あきらめちゃった）

 

I've been having a laugh at this video of former professional tennis player Shuzo Matsuoka（松岡修造）picking clams in the cold water while exhorting the masses to get off their collective duffs and fight for what's right. He can probably convince blood to come out of a stone and I would either be terrified and/or energized if I were ever a student under him.

Maybe singer Emiko Nakayama（中山恵美子）could have used a bit of that Shuzo tonic since she sang her 12th single under the title of "Akiramechatta" (I Gave Up). Released in June 1979, the song seems to reside in that comfortable middle ground of kayo kyoku although it flirts on the outskirts of technopop (thanks to that lone synthesizer bleeping throughout) or even City Pop (just something in the arrangement). There is even that attitude by Nakayama herself in her vocals that had me thinking about the languid Fashion Music as if her protagonist is simply giving up after a mere token of a try at something that she wasn't very interested in the first place...like a meaningful relationship, perhaps.

Yuuji Aoi（葵ゆうじ）was responsible for the lyrics while the melody was provided by Shigeru Iwaku（岩久茂）, who was one of the members of the folk group Aoi Sankaku Jougi (青い三角定規）.