It happened now and then that an ingenue entered the revolving doors to the 80s aidoru industry and proceeded to pull off a one-and-done before disappearing back into normal Japanese society. And the way that the description by YouTuber nothingmuch') puts it, Chie Saijo（西城千恵）was one of those young ladies.
The channel also mentions the following: "...she would be one of the last idols (and well, artists in general) that debuted under Yupiteru - as their record department would eventually go bankrupt by the end of the year with this ending up as her only release...however, there is a report under the name Chie Takahashi (as the remark about her is about her debut in July under the same label - it's most likely her real name, but I'm unsure) that she was born on April 21, 1962."
You can read nothingmuch's whole report from this link, but basically the above is most of the information gleaned about the lass. The one single, "Omoide Tazunebito" (In Search of Memories), was released in July 1984, and as written and composed by singer-songwriter Kyoko Kosaka（小坂恭子）, who has her own entries on KKP such as her 1975 "Omoide Makura"（想い出まくら）, this is quite the refined creation for an aidoru with a stately string-led melody that makes me imagine a nightclub in Akasaka rather than a cute cafe near the high school. I could even consider it a form of New Adult Music.
Agreed, this sounds more sophisticated than the average aidoru debut. Fantastic song with strong vocals and a really rich arrangement. I love hearing and reading about these one-off discoveries.
ReplyDeleteHello, Robert. Yeah, it was just the one-off but I think they deserve love as well. Not sure where she went after this.
DeleteYet another intriguing mystery from the Japanese music industry!
ReplyDeleteHi, Brian. I don't think it would be that much of a mystery. Just one of those ladies who tried, found out that it wasn't worth the time and suffering, and opted to go for a regular life.
DeleteThanks for showing this one! A commenter later told me that she was still active in the industry as a karaoke guide vocalist by the '90s, though under a variation of her real name (高橋千惠 instead of 高橋智恵).
ReplyDeleteIt was a blind buy, so I was happy I really loved both sides. There was a snippet in a random online shop that had a sample that stopped right before the chorus, so I'm happy I took the plunge and got it!
Hi, nothingmuch;). I've seen those karaoke guide videos over the years on YouTube. They do help so good on her. It's good that you're taking a chance on these relatively unknown singers. I was doing a bit of the same when I was living there. Sometimes, I hit paydirt (Sing Like Talking, for example) and sometimes I don't.
DeleteYeah, it's been a lot of hits and misses for the past four years, though I'm pretty happy with my newest additions. I'm stopping for a bit though due to overall fatigue from chasing them... plus things just got too expensive as of late, I must admit. I hope I'll be able to resume obtaining more by the end of the year though!
DeleteI hear you. I've taken a break myself due to the expense, but it can be hard during the Holidays. 😊
Delete