Yoshiko Miyazaki/Junko Yagami -- No Return

 

I've probably already made the same observation in a past article regarding actress, tarento and singer Yoshiko Miyazaki（宮崎美子）, so apologies in advance, but her singing back in the day had that certain creaminess in her delivery which reminds me of one of her contemporaries, Hiroko Yakushimaru（薬師丸ひろ子）. Her debut single was "No Return" from October 1981 and it could have surprised quite a lot of listeners in that she not only could hold a tune but could also hit the high notes fairly well after her first few years in show business as a pin-up model and commercial star. "No Return" was a Junko Yagami（八神純子）creation with Sonomi Ari（阿里そのみ）also co-writing the lyrics while Motoki Funayama（船山基紀）arranged the song as a contemporized version of a happy-go-lucky 1960s pop tune. 

Yagami herself would cover "No Return" as a B-side to her City Pop 13th single, the sultry "Summer In Summer ~ Omoide wa Suhada ni Yaite"（サマー イン サマー 〜想い出は素肌に焼いて〜）which was released in March 1982. Her version still had the contemporary touches but skewed a little more toward the traditional side of 1960s pop, thanks to Ichizo Seo's（瀬尾一三）arrangement.