Nearly halfway through 2023, I posted an article for 60s teen pop singer Michi Aoyama（青山ミチ）who had come out with a plethora of singles but also experienced some incidents with the law. That first article was for "Shikaranaide"（叱らないで）, a Mood Kayo tune plumbing the lower register of her voice in 1968 when she was still technically a teenager.
Several years earlier in April 1964, Aoyama had released "Koi wa Subayaku" (Love is Quick) and back then, she sounded like the eager teenager behind the mike while doing the Twist. I think one commenter for the video above put it best when he/she described Aoyama as having a punchy voice. The lass sang the original title for it in her performance as well, but "Koi wa Subayaku" is the Japanese-language cover for "Short on Love" by Gus Backus which was first put on the record store shelves in 1963. John D. Loudermilk was behind the original words and melody.
I had not heard of 青山ミチ before, but with a search I found out pretty quickly why she had so much appeal for her time. She could sing and play the guitar, too! And, she was to say the least photogenic in her own way.
ReplyDeleteHello, Brian. Considering how plentiful her output was in the early years of her career, I think she was quite the popular singer. It's just too bad that drugs derailed things for her afterwards.
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