Eri Fukatsu -- Approach（アプローチ）

 

I haven't really watched J-Dramas in a long time so thespian Eri Fukatsu（深津絵里）will always be Detective Sumire Onda（恩田すみれ）from "Odoru Dai Sosasen"（踊る大捜査線...Bayside Shakedown） to me. Even her early turn as one of the girlfriends from the JR Bullet Train Xmas series with Tatsuro Yamashita's（山下達郎）"Christmas Eve" playing in the background places second to her role as the oft-frustrated police officer at Bayside Station.

People who have been following the 80s aidoru scene for some time have probably realized that Fukatsu had begun her show business career as an aidoru, and it wasn't until some years following her turn on "Odoru Dai Sosasen" that I realized that fact, too. For her to head into the acting direction has been perfectly fine with me, but it would have been interesting if she had continued with the singing because I think she did have a pretty fine voice back then; one YouTube commenter stated that it was very stable. Yeah, I know that it's not the most gushing of compliments but when we're talking about aidoru...

Anyways, at one point in the singing portion of her career, when she was performing under her real name of Eri Fukatsu as opposed to her earlier aliases of Rie Takahara（高原里絵）and Rie Mizuhara（水原里絵）, I believe that she made that transition from aidoru to straight pop. I just don't know which category this particular November 1989 single, "Approach", falls under. It is a well-delivered song about making that final choice for a love partner with that hint of urban contemporary. Ayuko Ishikawa（石川あゆ子）wrote the lyrics and Jun Sato（佐藤準）came up with the melody.

V.A. -- I Love Dance Number [September, 1990]

Recently, I’ve found a compilation called “I Love Dance Number [September, 1990]” in a Brazilian online marketplace. Comprised of singles released in 1989 and 1990 by female pop singers signed to Victor Entertainment (ビクターエンタテインメント), most of them aidoru, I knew right away that I had to buy it… and it was cheap, which is always a good thing.

The artists were quite diverse, ranging from famous aidoru such as Noriko Sakai (酒井法子), Kyoko Koizumi (小泉今日子) and Yoko Oginome (荻野目洋子), passing through some middle ground names like Saki Takaoka (高岡早紀), to a good portion of obscure singers (that’s the fun of these compilations, by the way). Musically, despite the word ‘dance’ in the title, it also offered a good variety of genres, from rock, American pop, aidoru-pop, some exotic stuff and even a more laidback Japanese-style ballad (not enka, but something middle-of-the-road).

Before talking about some of the songs, here's the complete tracklist:

01) ダイヤモンド☆ブルー (酒井法子)

02) 好きだから (久我陽子)

03) La La La… (小泉今日子)

04) ギャラリー (荻野目洋子)

05) Wet Wet (葉山レイコ)

06) 独立戦争 (鈴木彩子)

07) ボクはパワー (相原勇)

08) フリフリ天国 (高岡早紀)

09) 恋のハレルヤ (渡辺めぐみ)

10) アプローチ (深津絵里)

11) 微笑みを見つけた (酒井法子)

12) 見逃してくれよ! (小泉今日子)

13) 悲しくてやりきれない (松本伊代)

14) イフ・ウィ・ホールド・オン・トゥゲザー (長山洋子)

15) ユア・マイ・ライフ(荻野目洋子)

The compilation starts in a good note with the summery “Diamond Blue” (ダイヤモンド☆ブルー) by Noriko Sakai, a song I could totally see AKB48 recording nowadays, or maybe five years ago. Following, there’s the obscure “Suki Dakara” (好きだから) by Yoko Kuga (久我陽子), which, as a friend pointed out to me earlier, could have been the ending theme to a shoujo/magical girl anime at the time, thanks to its overall dreamy and romantic feeling. Unfortunately, though, the video above only showcases a small bit of the song.

Like I mentioned earlier, besides Noriko Sakai, the other two big stars on this compilation are Kyoko Koizumi and Yoko Oginome. While Nori-P was still a relatively new aidoru in 1990 and, therefore, still seeking her true big break (it would eventually come in the form of her many acting roles in trendy dramas and, musically, “Aoi Usagi” [碧いうさぎ]), Kyon Kyon and Oginome were already past their prime (both girls also branched out into acting, but I think they were bigger as aidoru singers in the 80s). In the case of Yoko Oginome, even if the edgy “Gallery” (ギャラリー) wasn’t something completely fresh or different from her 80s streak of Euro-oriented singles, I think it was still able to showcase a more mature side of her.

One of the things I liked the most in this compilation was how adventurous a couple of the songs sounded, even if the ending result came out as a little awkward at times. Like Yoko Kuga’s “Suki Dakara” before, it’s unfortunate that just some seconds of “Wet Wet” are available on YouTube, since this song by sexy aidoru Reiko Hayama (葉山レイコ), with its heavy sexual mood, is one of the most unique songs compiled here (the song begins in the 1:47 mark, by the way). The other strange song is the lysergic and almost psychedelic “Furifuri Tengoku” (フリフリ天国) by another sexy aidoru, this time our beloved Saki Takaoka. The link for this song is not available to me here in Brazil, but maybe it’s open to other countries.

Between “Wet Wet” and “Furifuri Tengoku”, one can listen to “Dokuritsu Sensou” (独立戦争), the anthemic arena-rock style debut single released by Saiko Suzuki (鈴木彩子), and, while I wouldn’t rank it as one of my favorites, it’s nice to have something like that in the compilation, since those were the days when Pink Sapphire, Princess Princess (プリンセス・プリンセス) and other all-female rock bands were booming in Japan.

Like I said earlier, even though there’s ‘dance’ in the title, the compilation also offers some slower songs, like Eri Fukatsu’s (深津絵里) beautifully arranged “Approach” (アプローチ) and Iyo Matsumoto’s (松本伊代) “Kanashikute Yarikirenai” (悲しくてやりきれない), which could be seem as something close to a more traditional Kayo song (it’s actually a cover of a song of the same name by The Folk Crusaders [ザ・フォーク・クルセダーズ]). Regarding Matsumoto, long gone were the “Sentimental Journey” (センチメンタル・ジャーニー) days, so she was also way past her prime here, and “Kanashikute Yarikirenai”, one of her final singles, wasn’t even released in 1990, but in the year before, 1989.

“Hohoemi wo Mitsuketa” (微笑みを見つけた) is Noriko Sakai’s second offer, and I like how it comes later on the CD, since it goes well with other mellower songs, like the two mentioned before. Besides Nori P’s cute vocals, I think the nostalgic arrangement combined with the melody results in this type of warm song that connects well with the heart. Unfortunately, though, I can’t give much praise to Kyoko Koizumi’s “Minogashitekure yo!” (見逃してくれよ!), even if acknowledge its quirkiness and fun style. It’s an okay song, but not one of favorites here. In fact, Kyon Kyon got the short end of the stick, since her two featured songs, the other being the slow reggae “La La La…”, were quite weak, in my opinion.

Our final song is “You’re My Life” (ユア・マイ・ライフ) by Yoko Oginome, and I think it’s a good way to end the compilation. Next to Yoko Nagayama’s (長山洋子) “If We Hold On Together” (a cover of a Diana Ross’ song of the same name), which I didn’t include, “You’re My Life” is the most direct American-style song here, and that’s basically because it was composed by an American rock musician called James Christian. Other than that, it does sound like your typical watered down FM rock ballad, and while I have nothing against it, it’s funny to see Oginome pull something like that off. Also, it’s another song that was originally released in 1989, and not in 1990.

Eri Fukatsu -- Yokohama Joke （YOKOHAMAジョーク）

Just by chance, I was able to encounter this video of a few figures who have become even more famous in Japan recently. The footage comes from about 25 years ago with the first several seconds being that of then-broadcaster Yuriko Koike（小池百合子）who I used to see in passing while I was channel surfing. She was the first host of TV Tokyo's "World Business Satellite" nighttime business news program.

And then following that, there is a scene from a game show with this cute and slim co-host chattily handling hosting duties. Her name is Renho（蓮舫）and I may have caught a glimpse of her now and then, and considering from my recent viewings of her on TV, I just went "Wow! Was that really her 25 years ago?"

Now for those folks who have been keeping up with the politics in Japan, Koike is now the first female governor of Tokyo (as well as a former Minister of Defense and Minister of the Environment) while Renho Murata has just become the new leader of the Democratic Party, the official Opposition Party against the ruling Liberal Democratic Party led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Considering that both Koike started her stint at "World Business Satellite" and that Renho began her career as a Clarion Girl in 1988, I decided to see if I could find someone who also made his or her singing debut in that particular year. Well, there were of course a number of young folks who climbed onto the stage and into the spotlight then but the one name that caught my eye was Eri Fukatsu（深津絵里）who is now a well-regarded award-winning actress.

She not only debuted as an actress in 1988 but she also started her short career as an aidoru with the release of her first single "Yokohama Joke" in October. A fairly loud song about a young lady venting about the guy she likes being with another lass, it does sound very 80s with those crashing metallic synths and drums. Looking at the video and the 15-year-old Fukatsu, though, I just kinda wondered whether she was musing "Ahhh....I guess I gotta pay my dues first, don't I?"

"Yokohama Joke" was written by Ayuko Ishikawa（石川あゆ子）and composed by Taro Kamon（鹿紋太郎...not too sure about the pronunciation of that last name）, and it later showed up as a track on her debut album "Applause"（アプローズ）which was released in February 1990. Strangely enough, Fukatsu also "debuted" again on the very same day as the release of "Yokohama Joke" under the name of Rie Takahara（高原里絵）with "Marionette Blue"（マリオネット・ブルー）.

The above is the trailer for a recent Fukatsu flick "Kishibe no Tabi"（岸辺の旅...Journey to the Shore）which came out in 2015.

Amazon.co.jp

Eri Fukatsu -- Kamisama Onegai （神様お願い）

A lot of TV and movie watchers in Japan know about actress Eri Fukatsu（深津絵里）. She's been doing commercials ever since she started in the business, including a famous one for Japan Railways featuring "Christmas Eve" by Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）.

And then there are all those TV dramas and movies she's performed in. For me, she'll always be the tough and acerbic police officer Sumire Onda in "Odoru Dai Sosasen"（踊る大走査線）. A few years ago, she even won the Best Actress award at the Montreal World Film Festival.

However, I didn't find out until rather late into the 2000s that Ms. Fukatsu actually had an earlier life as a singer. I was browsing in an old-and-used CD shop in Nakano when I came across these rather weathered CD singles with her name on it. I had to rub my eyes a couple of times to make sure but those were indeed the same kanji characters and although the face was a bit chubbier back then, it was indeed the popular actress. I had seen her singing a little something in a TV ad some time before then but never thought she had actually been crooning behind a microphone. There was some curiosity in me to purchase one of the discs but decided that my yen was better spent elsewhere. And besides, her J-Wiki article made it abundantly clear that she was an actress first and foremost. There was little mention of her being a singer (started out as an aidoru in 1988 under a couple of stage names) and her short discography was buried deep in the bottom.

Last week, I came across one of her songs on YouTube. Titled "Kamisama Onegai" (Please, God), it was apparently a track on her 2nd album from 1992, "Sourire", and the song is fairly interesting for that slight reggae beat, and the fact that it sounded faintly like a Little River Band song. However, I was more interested in hearing how she sounded. Perhaps Fukatsu doesn't really regret leaving the singing part of her career behind, but her vocals weren't too too bad in "Kamisama Onegai". They were quite light and playful, and she did sound like an aidoru trying to spread her wings further afield. Obviously, though, she has done much better being a thespian.

Being a pretty obscure song, I couldn't track down who had written and composed the song.