The Works of Nobuyuki Shimizu（清水信之）, Part 2

 

Last Wednesday, I posted "The Works of Nobuyuki Shimizu"（清水信之）, Part 1 to pay tribute to this veteran musician and arranger. There were a lot of notable works so I'm going into a Part 2.

(1980) Mariya Takeuchi -- Fushigi na Peach Pie （不思議なピーチ・パイ）

Although his arrangement of EPO's cover of "Downtown" may be seen as his first work, he was also quite busy crafting Mariya Takeuchi's（竹内まりや）"Fushigi na Peach Pie" in the same year. As far as I and J-Wiki know, this song was the only Mariya tune that he helped on, but in doing so, he helped in cementing her early career as one of giving tribute to the girl pop of the 1960s.

(1987) Yoshitaka Minami -- Video City

As noted in Part 1, Shimizu did like his City Pop and that was also the case with Yoshitaka Minami's（南佳孝）"Video City". I've usually seen Minami as the ballad crooner so it was surprising to hear this modern contemporary pop equivalent of taking that spree through the wonders of metropolitan living. Shimizu pretty much threw the mix of consumerism and Bubble Era out there.

(1988) Junko Ohashi -- Nemurenai Diamond (眠れないダイアモンド）

Shimizu may have made Minami's "Video City" a welcome to the tourists coming to Tokyo, but his work on Junko Ohashi's（大橋純子）scintillating "Nemurenai Diamond" is an urban odyssey for the well-heeled and well-to-do on a Friday night when all things were possible and payable. This is one of the prime examples for the caviar-and-champagne wing of City Pop.

(1984) Chika Takami -- Kuchibiru Nude （くちびるヌード）

The aidoru genre also had Shimizu helping out. One example is Chika Takami's（高見知佳）"Kuchibiru Nude" from 1984 which was used as a commercial jingle for Shiseido. J-Wiki doesn't mention whether the arranger had done a lot of jingle production for companies, but he certainly made a catchy one for the famed cosmetics producer. With EPO composing the tune, "Kuchibiru Nude" has the EPO-tastic feeling along with the jangly vibe that I often associated Shimizu with in the early 1980s.

(1992) Eri Hiramatsu -- Heya to Y-Shatsu to Watashi （部屋とＹシャツと私）

Eri Hiramatsu（平松愛理）and Shimizu had been married to each other for about eleven years from the 1990s into the 2000s. Just before the relationship got very personal though, the latter had helped arrange the former's trademark tune as a slow and adorable waltz about the family life. 

(2001) Misia -- Sunny Day

Before my Labels for this tribute get completely stuffed, I'd also like to mention that Shimizu arranged a few of Misia's songs including the very catchy "Sunny Day". There's something contemporary and yet old-school about this one which suits me just fine. A melodic strut down the street on a sunny Sunday is how I would describe it. From EPO to Misia...that is quite the range, and of course, there are many other works that are listed in the Shimizu file on KKP.