I have to admit that I had never heard of this Hideki Saijo（西城秀樹）single before. However, it actually won the singer a Gold Prize at the Japan Record Awards in 1981. Hmm...I'll have to look into this one.
The simply-titled "Sentimental Girl" was released in September of that year as Saijo's 39th single. Written by Ryuuji Amagai（あまがいりゅうじ）, composed by Kisaburo Suzuki（鈴木キサブロー）and arranged by Kei Wakakusa（若草恵）, it automatically got my head bobbing due to that bouncy old-fashioned rhythm which reminded me of "Save the Last Dance for Me". The acoustic guitar intro sets things off right from the get-go as a good ol' rock-and-roller as Hideki sings about getting that much-desired young lass. The setting is a fall day so I figure that the guy is seeing if he can finally have his chance at wooing this lady who looks to be recovering from a fallen romance.
"Sentimental Girl" peaked at No. 17 on Oricon and sold about 98,000 records. So, maybe not one of Saijo's absolute greatest or most remembered hits, but still I made a nice discovery today.
Now, this was a nice little surprise! This song is apparently classified as city pop and is one I also had never head of before! Yet, it won a gold prize the Japan Record Awards in 1981!
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's what I was surprised about. It won that Japan Record Award and yet I never heard about it until I was actually searching through his discography on J-Wiki. It seems as if Saijo and others completely forgot about it. Mind you, he has so many other famous hits out there that fans have clamored for.
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