It used to be the case that no matter what walk of the Japanese entertainment life one trod, once a certain level of fame has been achieved, that person simply has to cut a record of some sort, level of singing ability be damned. That was true for Manami Hayakawa（早川愛美）. Born in Tokyo in 1967, she was working in a Takadanobaba fashion health facility (a massage parlor which offers those "joyful conclusions") one summer in 1985 when she was somehow brought into the geinokai via late-night TV programs such as "All-Night Fuji". Her rise in popularity led to her being considered a sex industry aidoru which then led her into pin-up modeling and porn. She was even voted Miss Video Boy in both 1985 and 1986 for the magazine of the same name.
And although it was just the one May 1987 single, Hayakawa has the record (no pun intended) for being the first Japanese adult video actress to release a record on her own (according to a 1987 issue of "Video Boy" via J-Wiki). "Roppongi Scandal", which was written by Natsumi Watanabe（渡辺なつみ）and composed by Takeshi Ike（池毅）, is a rock n' roll romp whose basic rhythm seems to echo that of another Roppongi-themed song, Yoko Oginome's（荻野目洋子）"Roppongi Junjouha"（六本木純情派）from the previous year. Meanwhile, the B-side, "TO-NIGHT" (from 3:15) has a slightly more Eurobeat arrangement. Ike was also the composer here while Toru Shizuka（静香徹）took care of lyrics. For both songs, Hayakawa doesn't sound too bad at all for an aidoru.
In 1990, Hayakawa announced her retirement from show business.
Wow, she beat Ai Iijima to the punch! Man, "All-Night Fuji," what a late night show that was, along with "Gilgamesh Night." That actually reminds me, there was another late night program called "Midnight in Roppongi" on TV Asahi that was influenced by "All Night Fuji."
ReplyDeleteI know these programs are long gone but even if they were still around, I know Jme probably wouldn't carry them over here, LOL!
Yeah, I was a bit surprised myself at Hayakawa being the first AV actress to cut her own record but apparently Iijima wouldn't release her own single until 1993. I had also thought there were other AV actresses who had made records earlier in the decade but I guess they were actually movie actresses who just had steamy scenes in otherwise regular movies.
DeleteThat would indeed be fun if TV Japan or Jme had tried to bring "Gilgamesh Night" or even "Tonight" over to North America. We probably would no longer have streaming Japanese TV. :)
You are right 早川愛美 isn't a bad singer at all I can actually think or worse singers out there.
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