Akiko Murata -- Ki ga Tsukeba Mangetsu（気がつけば満月）

 

Just about a year ago, I came across this singer with an impactful voice by the name of Akiko Murata（村田彰子）who came out with one album in February 1996 titled "Find Out". Her "Watashirashikunakya!"（私らしくなきゃ！）, one of the tracks on "Find Out" was something that I had said was promising but wasn't quite up to her talents with that boomer voice, but it has grown on me over the months.

Her debut single from 1995 was "Ki ga Tsukeba Mangetsu" (A Full Moon, If You Notice) and it was also included on "Find Out" as the first track. Written by Yumi Yoshimoto（吉本由美）and composed by Shin Tanimoto（谷本新）, the arrangement is a mix of 80s or early 90s City Pop and some of that danceable R&B in those early 1990s as well. I notice that Murata's vocals are even richer here and the song, especially in the intro had me thinking of a true City Pop classic, Yuiko Tsubokura's（坪倉唯子） "Tsukanoma Yotogi Bito" （一瞬夜伽伴侶）. 

I've said it before and I will say it again. I will always appreciate finding out about these hidden J-urban contemporary singers with their slick discography even this late in the innings.

Akiko Murata -- Watashirashikunakya!（私らしくなきゃ！）

 

The mid-1990s were known for the Komuro Boom with songwriter-producer Tetsuya Komuro（小室哲哉）leading the way with his dance-pop sounds as applied to Namie Amuro（安室奈美恵）, Tomomi Kahala（華原朋美）, trf and the like. But there were other acts out there with their own styles such as Keizo Nakanishi（中西圭三）with his brand of soul-pop, AOR kings Sing Like Talking and cool UA.

The thing is, though, that I knew about these guys thanks to the media machine and Oricon charts, but as much as I've remarked that I discovered a whole treasure trove of formerly unknown City Pop stars from the 1980s, I think the same can apply to a number of singers from the 1990s.

Case in point: singer Akiko Murata（村田彰子）. Never heard of her until some months ago. Born in South Carolina, America, her very short J-Wiki entry mentions that she is known for a low voice with plenty of punch. Apparently at one music event, the late Ike Turner even praised Murata's abilities which were considered to be a step above a lot of other Japanese voices. One blurb on a page compared her to Annie Lennox and Alison Moyet.

Having said that, she released just one single and one album. Her February 1996 album "Find Out" contains the track "Watashirashikunakya!" (Gotta Be Me!), written by Satomi Arimori（有森聡美）and composed by Kazunori Sone（曽根一訓）. No doubt about the strong and soulful voice, and the song has got that jazzy dance beat to take things close to City Pop, although the impression that I got on first listening to "Watashirashikunakya!" is that the song wasn't quite up to Murata's talent level but it was promising.

The following year, Murata changed to her professional name to FOOL to release a single "Dance Tonight" and then later in 1998, she lengthened it further to FOOL & The Long Hairs with an indies album coming out.