Devil Masami -- Moetsukiru made（燃えつきるまで）

 

When I first wrote about professional wrestler/singer Devil Masami（デビル雅美）earlier in March, I pointed out that her "Star Jazz Waltz" from the end of 1985 was quite the remarkable mellow urban contemporary tune. That was also the case for her "J" song which I have yet to find on YouTube, although it is the first Devil Masami tune that I'd heard back in my university days.

Let's turn the clock back a few more years then. I discovered her debut single "Moetsukiru made" (Until It Burns) which was released in December 1982, and it's about as different in arrangement from "Star Jazz Waltz" as one can get. For one thing, it sounds as if Keiko Fuji（藤圭子）had decided to tackle something along the lines of a tokusatsu theme tune. However, as would be the case for a Japanese wrestler deciding to get behind the mike instead of an opponent, I think this is her theme song since it describes her role in the ring as a villain (I believe the Japanese term is "super heel"), taking on all comers in big bad Tokyo on her own terms.

Written and composed by Kaoru Kuramitsu（倉光カオル）, it's quite the grand musical entrance for Devil Masami with those trumpets ringing out their pearly tones like some epic fanfare preceding the entrance of a legend. 

From what I gleaned from her J-Wiki article, Devil Masami retired from the industry in 2008. She then returned to her hometown of Kita-Kyushu in Fukuoka Prefecture to become the night manager of a supermarket. After that, she was scouted out by the president of a pickled vegetable company to become a manager of one of the shops. That shop closed its doors for good last month.

Devil Masami -- Star Jazz Waltz

 

A few years ago, I wrote about a popular women's wrestling tandem known as Beauty Pair（ビューティ・ペア）consisting of Jackie Sato（ジャッキー佐藤）and Maki Ueda（マキ上田）who also released some songs. Then afterwards, although I can't think of the name right now, there was also an aidoru who decided to change her career and go into the wrestling world as she still put out singles.

But way before this blog, and in fact, back in my university days in the 1980s, I'd bought a compilation tape from the Chinatown record store Wah Yueh which had a plethora of J-Pop tunes, and one of them was by a singer by the name of Devil Masami（デビル雅美）nee Masami Yoshida（吉田雅美）. With that name, I'd assumed that this was some sort of hard rock singer but instead her rendition of the song "J" was actually quite tenderhearted. Still I had assumed that singing was her main profession and it wouldn't be until many years later that I realized that Devil Masami was a professional wrestler who started out in All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling. The other interesting point was that the Fukuoka Prefecture-born wrestler had a pretty darn fine voice for singing and not just for "J", as I know now.

In fact, Devil Masami has a small discography of 5 singles (of which "J" was the final one) and 1 album titled "Rain of Tears" produced by Mark Goldenberg. Released in December 1985, one of the tracks is "Star Jazz Waltz" which is quite the polished and classy mellow tune, and again I'm impressed by her delicately husky and elegant vocals. In comparison with her nom de guerre, she certainly doesn't sound devilish here; quite the opposite, actually.

"Star Jazz Waltz" was written by Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつこ）and composed by Katsu Hoshi（星勝）, according to the JASRAC database, and though I'm not quite sure about the jazz part, it does have that waltz-like lilt in the arrangement. I'd even say that this could fit the Quiet Storm sub-genre. So, I'll have to see if I can track down "J" now.