Ryoko Moriyama -- Navigation

 

Still keeping on the Camellia Diamonds subject now that I released my Author's Picks on the songs used for their commercials, I also wanted to individually mention one other song that was also used for Camellia but hadn't been put on the blog previously. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the ad on YouTube but as I remember it, it featured a model in a white billowy dress in some desert looking distinctly nonchalant about her situation. As a substitute, I've put up a Bing AI image.

Playing in the background of all that sand was folk/pop singer Ryoko Moriyama's（森山良子）"Navigation", her April 1990 43rd single. One other reason that I wanted to have "Navigation" all on its own here was that the song was something that I had long searched for on YouTube to post onto KKP since I started the whole thing back in 2012. I'm happy to say that the search is over.

"Navigation" is truly one of the later examples of exotic kayo (or considering the time of release, it should be called exotic J-Pop?) considering most of that sub-genre popped up in the late 1970s. It feels like some very dramatic Middle Eastern adventure with a hint of South American tango. As was the case with many a Camellia Diamond jingle, I decided that I had to get the single. However, I went one better: I ended up purchasing the album that "Navigation" became a part of..."We Shall Overcome wo Utatta Hi" （"We Shall Overcome"を歌った日...The Day That I Sang "We Shall Overcome"） which was also released in the same month as the single. Incidentally, Takashi Tsushimi（都志見隆）and Yukiko Marimura（万里村ゆき子）were the composer and lyricist respectively.

Looks like Camellia didn't want to leave the desert all that quickly. Below is another ad from them featuring supermodel Linda Evangelista but the song is decidedly far more active. Welcome aboard, B'z!