Asami Kado -- Shiroi Isu（白い椅子）

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Over a decade ago, thanks to the special compilation album "Loft Sessions Vol. 1", I discovered to my delight that even before the beginning of her long and illustrious career which is approaching a half-century in longevity, Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）had provided a couple of pre-debut songs for us to savor. I wrote about those two more than a decade ago.

Well, I find myself in a similar situation now. Although singer-songwriter Asami Kado（門あさ美）isn't quite as famous as Takeuchi, the Nagoya native has also carved a niche her for herself and her fans which now include those from outside of Japan thanks to the City Pop boom of several years ago. She officially debuted in 1979 with "Fascination"（ファッシネイション）which I deemed a languid Fashion Music song as well as a City Pop tune.

However, I once again have discovered that Kado had put out at least a song before her debut, and it was through the Yamaha Popular Song Contest, known affectionately as PopCon for short. Her entry for that one was "Shiroi Isu" (The White Chair) and the song was included on the 1978 PopCon sponsored compilation album "Excellent Edition".

"Shiroi Isu" was written and composed by Akihiro Kado（門晃弘）, although I don't know for sure whether he was her husband or had any familial relationship with Asami. With the exotic kayo and City Pop coming out at the time, bossa nova was enjoying quite the resurgence in Japanese music, and "Shiroi Isu" was one such example. The singer would bring some of that bossa into her official career with "Fascination", but it's interesting how she sounded in her pre-debut "Shiroi Isu" with not a lot of that sultriness in her vocals back then. Also notable was that sudden shift into mystery funk at the end.