Akiko Nakazato -- Aoi Mona Liza（蒼いモナリザ）

Hope you're having a good start to the weekend. It's relatively cool today although Toronto will be getting a little more residual summer heat next week, before things finally chill down for autumn. Sun worshippers won't be too happy but let's try to enjoy what's left of the summer before the end.

I've noticed that over the past several days or so, a fair number of songs that originated in 1988 have been getting posted on the blog. Nothing intentional about that. It's just that is how these songs have come out from the backlog and not from any crazed desire to show off the kayo from Showa 63.

Anyways, back in early August, I introduced singer Akiko Nakazato（中里あき子）to the blog with her "Do You Wanna Dance?" from 1989. Well, here is a track from her earlier October 1988 2nd album "Mr" (pronounced "Meru"...initially thought that handwritten title on the album cover looked like a couple of wayward worms) titled "Aoi Mona Liza" (Blue Mona Lisa). Just from listening to "Do You Wanna Dance?" and then "Aoi Mona Liza", Nakazato did enjoy singing those thumpy R&B tunes. Maybe she was into some of that New Jack Swing or dance club songs. Ayuko Ishikawa（石川あゆ子）took care of the lyrics while Ritsuko of the sister duo Milk was the composer. City Pop stalwart Kingo Hamada（濱田金吾）produced "Mr" and Nakazato's remaining three albums.