Junko Ohashi -- DEF (Side B)

 

Last week, I provided an article covering Side A of the late Junko Ohashi's（大橋純子）1988 album "DEF" and so today, I'm following up with my thoughts on Side B. So far, it's got a good mixture of the various urban contemporary genres in there. Also, just to let you know, I've realized that my copy of the album, which I had purchased literally decades ago, is different from the track arrangement in future releases, so my copy is going with the track list showing for "DEF" on Amazon Japan while probably your copies have the arrangement shown on Discogs. In addition, as noted last week, the trio of lyricist, composer and arranger handling the album mostly involves Goro Matsui（松井五郎）, Ken Sato（佐藤健）and Nobuyuki Shimizu（清水信之）for the most part. Any other songwriters will be noted for each track below.

Side B of my own copy begins with "Madoi no Wicked Woman"（惑いのWicked Woman...The Wicked Woman of My Illusions） which has been described as a nice slice of urban funk but I can also hear some of that sophisticated pop as well. This time, the lyricist is a fellow by the name of Tsurezuregusa（徒然草）which is obviously a pen name but it's also the title of an ancient collection of essays by the monk Kenko. Nothing about nature or humourous incidents in this song though which is all about that fateful encounter with a mystery lady on the dance floor. Basically, I gather that this is the urban Japanese version of two ships passing each other in the night.

Track B2 is the soulful ballad "Tooi Hohoemi"（遠いほゝえみ...Distant Smile） which has the main three songwriters listed above but with Junko's husband, Sato, handling chorus duties this time, while singer-songwriter Masayuki Kishi（岸正之）is taking care of the melody. Meanwhile, the overall arrangement was by Keiichi Oku（奥恵一）for a tune of wistful reminiscing over a past romance. Another lovely performance by Ohashi and the piano in there has had me remembering many an 80s love song from America.

If somehow, the anime "Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai ~ Tensai-tachi no Ren'ai Zunousen"（かぐや様は告らせたい〜天才たちの恋愛頭脳戦〜）had been willing to include insert songs not sung by the God of Love Songs, Masayuki Suzuki（鈴木雅之）, himself, this particular track by Ohashi, "Burlesque ga Oniai"（バーレスクがお似合い...Fit for a Burlesque）, could have been a candidate since it involves a lot of the love and games that was going on in the first season of the series. As it is though, it's a cool blend of City Pop and funk, thanks to composer Hideya Nakazaki（中崎英也）with Hiroshi Yamada（山田ひろし）behind the lyrics. 

"Mayonaka no Distance"（真夜中の距離...Midnight Distance） is a smoky and haunting funk tune with some thumping percussion (which then gets passed onto the keyboards) about a mysterious and dangerous tryst at the bewitching hour. As noted in Yukinojo Mori's（森雪之丞）lyrics, there is a Don Juan making his rounds which most likely means that there will be some major heartbreak at the end. Again, Nakazaki took care of the melody.

The final track, "Yume no Tobira"（夢の扉...The Doors to a Dream）, is unsurprisingly a quieter song (at least initially) to finish off "DEF" with. This time, Yasuhiro Abe（安部恭弘）is on board to provide the gently undulating music surrounding the aftermath of a couple's eventful night in bed. The aforementioned Oku took care of the string arrangements for some added dramatic bossa nova oomph to the climax (no pun intended). If there had been a longer coda, it would have been for the afterglow cigarettes.

Gotta say that I largely underestimated "DEF" all these years. One Gibbs slap to the back of my head. I gather that I wasn't quite ready yet but I am now. Hopefully, Ohashi's fans have been celebrating her life and career and music at the one-year anniversary of her departure.