Miharu Koshi -- Tachiiri Kinshi（立入禁止）

 

I can say one thing about singer-songwriter Miharu Koshi（越美晴）. Going through her long discography, she doesn't bore you. Last month, I posted about her techno-polka "Madonna"（マドンナ）from 1991. Of course, as I mentioned there, she's run the gamut of the genres and I'm talking about a wide spectrum ranging from her debut single, the City Pop "Love Step" (ラブ・ステップ）from 1978 to her quirky technopop bop "Hashire Usagi"（走れウサギ）in 1985.

Well, I may have found yet another small niche in her music. Her 5th single was "Tachiiri Kinshi" (Entry Prohibited) from 1980. Written and composed by the singer, my impression of Koshi's music at that time was that she was going for that City Pop sound, but with "Tachiiri Kinshi", I found it more akin to the 50s-esque New Wave sound of Juicy Fruits（ジューシィ・フルーツ）. Even the cover of the single above in the thumbnail had her looking like she was the leader of an old-fashioned motorcycle gang. Lyrically, the song is about complaining about a woman who's being a huge tease but when things look serious, she puts up the shields.

"Tachiiri Kinshi" was also included in Koshi's 1980 sophomore album "On the Street MIHARU II". It would be interesting what the rest of the tracks sounded on that one.