Late last month, I posted trf's "lights and any more" which was the opening theme to the 2007 anime adaptation of the long-running franchise "Wangan Midnight"（湾岸ミッドナイト...Bayshore Midnight）. It was an appropriately high-energy drink of a song sprinkled with some rock guitar.
Well, there was the early 1990s part of the franchise that was on video and in live-action. Specifically, there was "Wangan Midnight IV" which came out in 1993. The song that would finish the movie as you can check the time stamp for the video up on top was the official theme "Watashi wo Omoidashite ~ Raison d'etre" (Remember Me) by Kei Uehara（上原ケイ）. The soulful ballad was written by Masako Arikawa（有川正沙子）and composed by JADOES guitarist Kazumasa Denda（伝田一正）, and it was also part of an album titled "Wangan Midnight Flash Back ~ 8 Image Songs" which was released in 1994.
According to the Japanese music blog "Music Avenue", the album itself was produced by JADOES and it's basically the final product that the funk group created before disbanding. "Watashi wo Omoidashite" has so much nocturnal soul coursing through its veins thanks in part to that saxophone that pretty much everyone listening to it is obliged to lean against a brick wall (or an expensive sports car) outside at midnight and light up a cigarette while letting the curling smoke get reflected through the passing car lights. I also found out that Uehara is a stage name for Chizuru Urata（浦田千尋）who mainly acts and sings in musicals.
The cover of that album could have been used for Initial D!
ReplyDeleteYou can tell that she is a stage singer because she is very good, crisp and clean.
ReplyDeleteAlmost too good. No vocal idiosyncrasies that would identify her like say Epo or Minako Yoshida.
Hello, Robert. Makes me wonder if Ms. Uehara had been part of the Takarazuka troupe, although her stage name sounds a little too "common" for a former member.
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