![]() |
| Wikimedia Commons |
I'd never heard of Chiemi Kai(甲斐智枝美)before but I saw the above video and decided to check it out. "Ite-za no Kare" (Sagittarius Guy) was the B-side to her 7th and penultimate single "Sasotte Runna"(誘って・ルンナ...Invite Me, Runna) which hit the record shelves in January 1982. Written by Kyoko Matsumiya(松宮恭子), composed by Tetsuya Furumoto(古本鉄也)and arranged by Shigeru Suzuki(鈴木茂), it's quite the swinging rock n' roll boogie for an aidoru tune. Considering one of the first words in the lyrics is Harajuku, I can guess that there was a shoutout to the whole rock n' roll scene there.
Kai hailed from Fukuoka Prefecture and got into show business by becoming the 29th Grand Champion on the audition show "Star Tanjo!"(スター誕生!...A Star is Born!)in 1979. She had been seen as one of the up-and-coming aidoru alongside other ingenues such as Seiko Matsuda(松田聖子)and Naoko Kawai(河合奈保子)in the post-Momoe Yamaguchi(山口百恵)era. However, among her three albums and eight singles released between 1980 and 1982, the highest ranking that any of her discography attained was No. 103 on Oricon, although she had her other duties as a tarento and actress.
In 1990, she retired from showbiz and got married to Toru Hasebe(長谷部徹)who was a studio musician and drummer for the fusion band The Square after which they had two boys. She became a housewife and helped out at a flower shop but kept in touch with her senpai, former aidoru and celebrity Ikue Sakaibara(榊原郁恵). However according to a Daily Shincho article, in July 2006, her eldest son who was in high school at the time discovered her hanging in the second-floor room of their house. It was suspected that Kai had committed suicide due to financial worries and health issues. She was 43 years old.

No comments:
Post a Comment
Feel free to provide any comments (pro or con). Just be civil about it.