Kiyoshi Maekawa -- Otoko to Onna no Kakera（男と女の破片）

 

Y'know...checking through the Kiyoshi Maekawa（前川清）file, I realized that this has been solely Noelle's realm all these years. Although I have put up my fair share of articles for The Cool Five, Mae-Kiyo's old Mood Kayo group, I had yet to post anything by the singer solo. Hopefully, my fellow co-administrator will understand.

Well, what sparked me to post my first Maekawa melody was once again last night's "Uta Con"（うたコン）episode. Earlier today, I noted Yukari Ito's（伊東ゆかり）"Suteki na Cappuccina"（すてきなカプチーナ）and HIROMI's（ヒロミ）"Hachioji no Uta"（八王子のうた）which had also been performed on the show. Another one was the aforementioned Maekawa along his buddies, the vocal group Junretsu（純烈）, and together they performed "Otoko to Onna no Kakera" (Fragments of a Man and a Woman), which was the singer's 10th single from July 1991. 

Listening to the original recorded version above though, I really got that impression that "Otoko to Onna no Kakera", a ballad about loving each other so much and yet the necessity that the couple has to sadly break up, was the quintessential example of that hybridized genre known as New Adult Music. It's got the quivery emotion of an enka or a Mood Kayo but with the modern uptown arrangement of urban contemporary. Lyrics were provided by Toyohisa Araki（荒木とよひさ）while the music was composed by Takashi Tsushimi（都志見隆）. As usual, Mae-Kiyo looks as dapper as ever.