Of course, it all depends on where you live, but earlier this morning, Torontonians had another opportunity to catch the latest blood moon up in the sky. Sleep was more of a priority for me so I was happy enough to witness the phenomenon via television.
In keeping with the lunar theme, I would like to introduce "Tsuki no Muse" (Moon Muse) by 80s aidoru and actress Narumi Yasuda（安田成美）. Some days ago, I received a comment from someone underneath the article I provided for her April 1984 sophomore single "Tropical Mystery"（トロピカル・ミステリー）and they told me about the Ryuichi Sakamoto-esque（坂本龍一） feeling imbued in the B-side which is "Tsuki no Muse".
Well, whenever anyone tells me about a song that I had never heard that has a Sakamoto-esque feeling, I do listen. And indeed, "Tsuki no Muse" is different from the Fashion Music-ish "Tropical Mystery" in that there is a whimsical technopop arrangement that reminds me of what the late great Professor did back in those days with synthesizers, but the crazy thing is that it was the same three fellows behind the A-side that were responsible for the B-side: lyricist Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）, composer Masaaki Omura（大村雅朗）and arranger Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）. Many thanks to that commenter.
Great song from Narumi. This is my favorite track from the album, which happens to have been produced by Yukihiro Takahashi. He also has writing credits on half of the songs, along with a couple for his YMO bandmate Haruomi Hosono... but no contributions from the Professor!
ReplyDeleteAhhh, so there was some YMO influence after all. 😁
DeleteThis is a very interesting song, but it Narumi's voice takes some getting used to.
ReplyDeleteYeah, let's say that if I were asked whether Narumi was a great singer, I would answer that she's a fine actress who could occasionally sing.
Delete