Yoko Akino（秋野暢子）has been an actress, tarento and singer, but I've usually only seen her at the middle occupation because of her appearances on variety shows and commercials such as the one above. Looks like she's touting the wonders of consommé cubes while a doo-wop song is being played in the background.
Now, to be frank, Akino's discography only seems to consist of six songs which were released between 1977 and 1989. This one here is just her second foray behind the recording mike and it's the first song she'd released since that first song in 1977. Her 1985 "Ima wa Dakishimete" (Hold Me Now) has her partnered up with KINTA, the leader and drummer of the band Twist（ツイスト）which has been associated with rocker Masanori Sera（世良公則）.
How that partnership was generated, I don't know but I guess in keeping with that doo-wop tune for that Akino commercial, "Ima wa Dakishimete" also has an old-timey rock n' roll/pop feeling from the 50s or 60s. Neither of their vocals are in the awe-inspiring range but kudos to them for putting together this pleasant number; the lyrics were by Akino while KINTA took care of the melody. To finish off, "Ima wa Dakishimete" was the B-side to their single "Yoroshikattara Yon'nasai yo"（よろしかったらお寄んなさいよ...Feel Free to Drop By If You'd Like）.
Since I am guessing that Yoko Akino grew up in the 60's I wonder if this album was a way for her to reminisce or maybe even to relive a bit of that?
ReplyDeleteIt's possible but through other singers such as Kaoru Sudo and Mariya Takeuchi, there was an affinity for that 50s/60s sound in the late 70s going into the 80s, so it would have been fairly easy for producers and songwriters to have her try that style.
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