For my last article tonight and for that matter, the final article for September 2025, I'd like to refer you to an article I did a couple of years ago featuring actress Maiko Kawakami（川上麻衣子）. In her J-Wiki article, she is identified as an actress only, but she did put out her albums and singles between 1981 and 1984, and in fact, I highlighted her sophomore album "ÄLSKLING"（エルスクリン）from June 1983.
Well, another track from that album is here tonight and this is "Watashi to Iu Tanin" (That Other Person Known as Me). Written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and composed by Akira Mitake（見岳章）, the song follows that certain arrangement I've often heard from tunes by aidoru and other female pop singers of the 1980s; there is that footloose-and-fancy-free vibe with the plunky piano/keyboard rhythm as if the arranger...in this case, Hiromoto Tobizawa（飛沢宏元）...is following the daintily-dressed singer as she is skipping down the street while sporting a parasol. Ah, those were innocent times.
Maiko Kawakami's voice is clear and crispy but she sounds as if she is talking much more than she sounds like she is singing. Of course, I know she is singing. Anyway, she is a pretty interesting person. According to Wiki, she was born in Sweden and did schooling at Keio University via distance education. Now, while the J-Wiki article only identifies her as an actress, the English Wikipedia article on her does mention that she was an idol and released the song “ Byakuya no Sedai.”
ReplyDeleteThat's the interesting point of her singing-talking. I think quite a few Japanese singers and French singers have done that in the past.
DeleteIt just dawned on me there is group called ‘sing like talking’
DeleteYup, SLT is one of my favourite groups for its nice combo of funk, rock, jazz and City Pop.
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