Well, things have begun to slightly cool down here in my part of Canada after one of the warmer summers in recent memory (nothing to compare with Japan's summer, though). Still, it's still very nice out there and we're several days away from the official beginning of autumn.
That means that there is plenty of time for those last barbeque outings and beach trips to enjoy that last bit of sun and surf. Maybe then, we can do some vicarious summer partying with the trio Mi-Ke singing their New Year's Eve 1992 10th and penultimate single to date, "Namida no Vacation" (Vacation of Tears).
Reminiscent of Group Sounds and 1960s girl pop, there's even a loving tribute to Connie Francis' "Vacation" right at the beginning. Mi-Ke was entering their heyday just when I was leaving my stint on the JET Programme but I was still getting shipments of Japanese TV programs so I was totally in on their success as interpreters of one segment of kayo kyoku during those early 1990s. Despite the melancholy title, "Namida no Vacation" sounds like a pretty happy-go-lucky tune of the times with Daiko Nagato（長戸大幸）on lyrics and Tetsuro Oda（織田哲郎）on the music. It reached No. 19 on Oricon. The song also gave Mi-Ke their 2nd and final invitation to the Kohaku Utagassen following their appearance in 1991 for "Omoide no Kujukuri Hama"（思い出の九十九里浜）.
I love the outfits, but I wish the saxophone got a little more time in the song. Did you ever get to see Mi-ke live on t.v. back in their heyday?
ReplyDeleteHello, Brian. I saw Mi-Ke through videotapes of TV programs that my friends had sent me. In a way, it was kinda like the whole Atarashii Gakko no Leaders craze during 2023. For 1991, it was Mi-Ke's year but probably by 1993, they were pretty much done as a group. At least one of the trio did go on to have a solo career in music.
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