Hidemi Ishikawa -- Kanashimi no Blizzard（哀しみのブリザード）

 

Well, along with the bear incursions, the weather was becoming rather belligerent throughout Japan last week with some very intense rainstorms and hail coming down like meteorites in a sci-fi flick. Some of the footage looked as if a blizzard had suddenly blanketed entire regions.

And with that segue, I give you "Kanashimi no Blizzard" (Blizzard of Sorrow) which was the third single by 80s aidoru Hidemi Ishikawa（石川秀美）from October 1982. The setting is actually a hot summer seaside but young Hidemi's heart is filled with a raging snowstorm after suffering a major breakup with a guy. You can thank Kaoru Asagi（麻木かおる）for the lyrics.

I learned something interesting regarding Ishikawa's beginnings as an aidoru and perhaps this might have been true for many aidoru. Composer Yuuichiro Oda（小田裕一郎）was responsible for Ishikawa's first four singles including the No. 29-ranking "Kanashimi no Blizzard", and apparently, he got the first three done even before the lass made her debut in early 1982. In fact, there were discussions on which of the three would become Single No. 1: a song with a refreshing melody, one with a sentimental atmosphere and one more with a so-called London sound. 

Well, the refreshing one "Yousei Jidai"（妖精時代...Fairy Age） became the debut single (I'll have to cover that one soon enough), the sentimental one "Yu-re-te Shonan"（ゆ・れ・て湘南）was the follow-up, and then that London sound ended up as "Kanashimi no Blizzard" (although Oda had preferred Single No. 3 as Single No. 1). I guess that London sound was represented by the (possibly synth) horns although first listening to the song, I would never have guessed it being influenced by swinging London. Overall though "Kanashimi no Blizzard" is quite the peppy and distinct tune with some quick key changes and though Ishikawa's delivery is very "aidoru", it's still quite the fun thing to listen to. In fact, I think it has a kissing cousin in the form of Ginji Ito's（伊藤銀次）"Cherry Night" even though that song wouldn't come out until 1986. By the way, Makoto Yano（矢野誠）provided the arrangement. 

Hidemi Ishikawa -- Hey! Mister Policeman（Hey! ミスター・ポリスマン）

 

One of the more common catchphrases and situations in anime at one point, the "moshi, moshi...keisatsu desu ka" (Hello, is this the police?) was definitely the existential salve for one character to erase the presence of a more troublesome character. If a 911 response in Toronto were only that quick nowadays...

Anyways, the preamble ramble this time is for Hidemi Ishikawa's（石川秀美）5th single "Hey! Mister Policeman" which first made its presence known in May 1983. Written and composed by Kyoko Matsumiya（松宮恭子）, perhaps she was inspired by The Marvelettes' "Please Mr. Postman" in terms of the title and the catchy rock n' roll arrangement by Kazuo Otani（大谷和夫）. As for Matsumiya's lyrics, I'm not sure whether Hidemi-chan is calling for a cop to stop a particularly pesky (and perhaps wealthy) suitor from following her or perhaps she's asking for the officer to stop the guy himself from moving his eyes to other female targets other than her. 

According to the J-Wiki article for "Hey! Mister Policeman", it was Ishikawa's first single to get into the Top Ten of Oricon by placing in at No. 10. Furthermore, according to the aidoru's then-manager, everyone had been so busy that they didn't have enough time to take a suitable photo for the single jacket. While everyone was wringing their hands at this situation, Ishikawa and company went down to Guam for filming during which they ran into a local police officer, so taking advantage of things, Ishikawa was able to get some cute photos with the cop. There was the bright idea about using one of those Hidemi-and-cop shots as the jacket, but they simply weren't in time for the first production run of the record. Basically, the result was that "Hey! Mister Policeman" ended up with two different single jackets that you can see in the video above. I guess all involved made do with one of those initial photos after all.

Hidemi Ishikawa -- Watashi wa Otona（私はオ・ト・ナ）

 

There are always those times when children think they are grown-ups or want to show that they are grown-ups by putting on make-up or clothes that are way too big. Of course, the parents get all gushy and smiley. Then, the kids actually do grow up and the parents may have different reactions.

That was the impression I got while I was listening to Hidemi Ishikawa's（石川秀美）December 1983 3rd album "Semi-Sweet" and specifically one track, "Watashi wa Otona" (I'm An Adult). Ishikawa was actually around 17 when she recorded this so I'm assuming that the protagonist in the song is someone going through the rebellious stage and storming out the house. 

Written by SHOW and composed by Yuuichiro Oda（小田裕一郎）, this is a somewhat out-of-the-ordinary aidoru tune with the slightly spooky background chorus, the Dazz Band-like synths in there, and the rumbling percussion contrasted with the squeaky vocals of Ishikawa. Not sure whether Oda and the other producers were trying to show off their aidoru's persona in "Watashi wa Otona" as someone insisting of her adulthood despite the fact that she certainly didn't sound like an adult but the effect worked on me.

Men Without Hats -- The Safety Dance

 

Happy Canada Day and all that! I'm hoping that my fellow Canadian viewers of KKP are enjoying their July 1st from coast to coast to coast. Of course, being a statutory holiday today means that I've got a special round of Reminiscings of Youth.

This all starts with my regular bus ride to high school all the way back in 1982. One of my classmates hopped onto the TTC and saw me. We often commuted together and he always nattered on something irrelevant like one of those "Seinfeld" side characters. This time around, he asked me whether I had ever heard of this song called "The Safety Dance" and proceeded to speak out the first verse:

We can dance if we want to

We can leave your friends behind

'Cause your friends don't dance

And if they don't dance

Well they're no friends of mine

He was rather obsessed about those lyrics as I recall. Anyways, it was some time later when this Montreal-based band called Men Without Hats who had recorded "The Safety Dance" showed off their music video.

In the years to come, whenever I have seen the video, I always wondered whether my university's Society for Creative Anachronism had anything to do with it. Anyways, this was Men Without Hats' 2nd single released sometime in that year of 1982 and at the time, I wasn't all that impressed with it. I guess I was no friend of theirs.

But then as I got more into extended remixes and began hearing them on Saturday night radio broadcasts, I realized that the remix version of "The Safety Dance" sounded pretty good with the focus on the underlying rhythm, the famous bleeping riff (I'm not trying to be profane here) and the singers spelling out "SAFETY". After that, I became a convert to the cause. America became even more of a convert than Canada did in its initial release, since Billboard recorded it reaching No. 3 while in Canada, it didn't even crack the Top 10...it just scraped by at No. 11.

"The Safety Dance" is also one of the best pop culture examples of turning a negative into a positive. Songwriter and singer Ivan Doroschuk had apparently been ousted from a dance club for doing some pogoing or slam dancing one time which he felt was rather unfair. So, in what would perhaps be a form of revenge and therapy, he created "The Safety Dance". As a personal aside, a bunch of us tried some pogoing at a university dance. The results were unfortunately mixed and painful...especially when I jumped in to move my weight around. But in any case, Doroschuk's creation became his band's most famous song...something whose popularity and fame has continued right to this day.

It's been given the affectionate mention in cartoons on either side of the Pacific.

There was even a Men Without Hats conversation channel on Conan!

Heck, even movie and TV dance compilation videos have used it. "The Safety Dance" may have become the most famous Canadian song to be utilized on social media. Wouldn't it be nice if the song got some coast-to-coast-to-coast tributes tonight?

In any case, since I couldn't find out in which month "The Safety Dance" was released, let's just go with July 1982 to find out some of the singles that were released back then.

Aming -- Matsu wa (待つわ）

Hidemi Ishikawa -- Yu-re-te Shonan（ゆ・れ・て湘南）

Akio Kayama -- Hisame （氷雨）

Hidemi Ishikawa -- Strawberry Shake（ストロベリー・シェイク）

 

It was often the time when I went to diners like Lick's here in Toronto to partake in the food and drink including the all-favourite strawberry milkshake in those tall tin cups. Always had mine with a topping of whipped cream.

So I can't be surprised that there was a Japanese aidoru tune titled "Strawberry Shake" since all things aidoru are sweet and frothy by design. This was the opening track on Hidemi Ishikawa's（石川秀美）July 1984 4th album "Summer Breeze"（サマー・ブリーズ）, and yeah, the titular drink must have been very refreshing during the usual torrid Japanese hot season. The lyrics by Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）though seem to talk about a young lady's deep ardor for that special guy.

Prolific composer Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）was behind the music for "Strawberry Shake". Especially in those 1980s, it was often the time that Japanese composers borrowed hooks from other songs in Japan and elsewhere. I've heard and seen that in other tunes, but this is perhaps one of the few times that Hayashi may have been influenced by two different songs. The jazzy intro and opening verses by Hidemi come right from Elbow Bones and the Racketeers' hit "A Night in New York" from late 1983 (and yeah, a much later tune had its influence from that one), but then when we get into the chorus, it sounds just like Mariya Takeuchi's（竹内まりや）"September" from 1979, a song that both Hayashi and Matsumoto worked on.

Hidemi Ishikawa -- Kokuhaku Go-hyaku Mile（告白500マイル）

 

It's been a little over a year since I posted an article by 80s aidoru Hidemi Ishikawa（石川秀美）and that was for the track "Easier" which got onto her July 1986 8th album "Pastiche". I went slightly pop philosophical in that one and wondered aloud or in print about when an aidoru tune is really a City Pop or J-AOR song in terms of "Easier" but in the end, my Labels for the song still included "Aidoru" and "City Pop". 

The same goes with this song that I only found out about in the last day or so. "Kokuhaku Go-hyaku Mile" (Confession 500 Miles) is a track on Ishikawa's December 1986 9th album "Blanche", and it's another City Pop zinger powered by wailing electric guitar, that boppy bass and rumbling synths. Written by Akira Ohtsu（大津あきら）and composed by Kisaburo Suzuki（鈴木キサブロ）, it's got the aidoru going really funky which almost strangles her vocals at points but overall, it's a nice urban contemporary night tune through the streets or highways of any Japanese city.

Hidemi Ishikawa -- Easier

 

Listening to this song, the question that came to mind was "When did an aidoru stop being an aidoru according to her discography?". It's kinda like that even older question that was impinging on my brain years ago, "When did kayo kyoku switch to J-Pop?". I have my own answer to the second question, but I know that people have their own varying opinions.

In any case, the reason that I posed the first question was that on hearing Hidemi Ishikawa's（石川秀美）song "Easier", I had to wonder whether this was really an aidoru tune anymore. The fact that it was written and composed by a fellow named David Andrew Scott (according to the JASRAC database) did have me tending toward the negative. What also kept pushing the needle into the "No" range was that "Easier" really does go down easy as something that would be heard in the City Pop or AOR genre. The keyboard work and the wailing guitar has me thinking more West Coast than Tokyo studios for aidoru, in which case, I think that Ishikawa can join Momoko Kikuchi（菊池桃子）in her early twin-tailed career as a singer of teenybopper tunes and City Pop classics. One final point is that by the time Ishikawa had recorded "Easier", she was in the industry for about three years; from what I've seen of other 80s aidoru who've been around for that long, other genres including straight pop have come calling. Still, to cover all the bases since I don't know Ishikawa's discography nearly as well as I do some others, I will throw in the Aidoru tag in Labels.

"Easier" was a track on Ishikawa's July 1986 8th album "Pastiche".  Returning to that first question, it has me thinking about some of the other A-list aidoru such as Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）and Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）. When did they make that big step from aidoru to pop superstardom?

Hidemi Ishikawa -- Hito Natsu no Dekigoto（ひと夏の出来事）

 

Happy weekend! It certainly feels like summer is coming to our home and native land...should be hitting 23 degrees Celsius today, the highest temperature so far in Toronto this year and I've already turned on my fan behind me. 80s aidoru Hidemi Ishikawa（石川秀美）has the right idea...it's time for fishing.

Under the circumstances, although summer is officially still 5 weeks away, I think with how warm and sunny things are out there, perhaps we can jump the gun and proceed with a summery aidoru tune by Ishikawa called "Hito Natsu no Dekigoto" (One Summer Happening). This is a track from her debut album "Fairy"（妖精）released in September 1982, and it was composed by the late Yuuichiro Oda（小田裕一郎）and written by Jun Kuroe（クロエジュン）. Kuroe just happened to be Oda's pen name when he had his lyricist's cap on.

Well, when it comes to Ishikawa's vocals...well...she does sound like a newbie aidoru.😏 However having said that, she is surrounded by a pretty funky and perhaps hybrid beat in that it has that bit of City Pop (although not quite enough for me to categorize it as so) and somewhat more of an appealing technopop sheen. The synthesizers are the thing that has had me enjoying "Hito Natsu no Dekigoto" more than I should.

Marcos V.’s Special Selection: Love Letter to Brazil

 It seems long ago, but I took this picture in Rio de Janeiro in February 2019.

Brazil is not in its strongest moment right now, since it’s going through lots of hardships, and I’m not talking only about the COVID-19 situation, which, per se, is already very worrisome. Anyway, even though things are bad and there’s little to nothing to celebrate, I still like to remember how my country is special, since it’s a good way to continue moving forward. Also, I believe music is a great way to celebrate different cultures, just like we usually do here on Kayo Kyoku Plus, so here’s my “Love Letter to Brazil”, which is basically a selection of Japanese songs somehow connected to Brazil, even if indirectly.

Mako Ishino -- Omoikkiri Samba (思いっきりサンバ)

There’s plenty to like in Mako Ishino’s (石野真子) discography. The cute crooked teeth aidoru from the very late 70s and early 80s even had her share of hits, like the aidoru-like “Haru La! La! La!” (春ラ!ラ!ラ!) – which, by the way, wouldn’t be out of place in Seiko Matsuda’s (松田聖子) discography – or the catchy unrequited love-themed “Shitsuren Kinenbi” (失恋記念日), but it’s the dazzling “Omoikkiri Samba” that fits this list with its mixture of samba, disco and aidoru pop. Released in February 1981, it may not be one of Ishino’s most noticeable singles, but I never resist how bouncy it sounds.

Carlos Toshiki -- BRAZIL NIGHTS

“BRAZIL NIGHTS” is a song from Carlos Toshiki’s (カルロス・トシキ) “Emotional~Migigawa no Heart-tachi e” album (Emotional〜右側のハートたちへ), which was released in 1991 and marked the start of his solo work after the end of Omega Tribe (オメガトライブ). This jazzy tune is one of his solo highlights to me, and, even though Carlos was born in Paraná state, in Brazil’s Southern region, which is primarily known for German immigration (but also Polish, Italian, Japanese and many others) – therefore not a region with a strong samba tradition –, he ended recording some samba songs in Japan, like this one, probably because it’s Brazil’s representative music genre alongside bossa nova worldwide. The Portuguese lines in the chorus, though, are almost meaningless, but they’re charming in a strange way. Also, the energy is great (the pianist was on fire in the live performance above).

Hidemi Ishikawa -- Motto Sekkin Shimasho (もっと接近しましょ)

“Motto Sekkin Shimasho” is probably not directly related to Brazil or its music genres, but the title and how Hidemi Ishikawa (石川秀美) sings it, coupled with the Latin and almost Carnival-like rhythm, of course, is just something very Brazilian to my ears. I think what triggers this reaction are the “motto” and the “shimasho” words in the “Motto Sekkin Shimasho” title, which could be translated in a cold way as “let’s get closer”, in English, or “let’s get even closer” if we want to use and put some emphasis on “motto”. As I can see, and I can be wrong, since I’m not an expert in Japanese language, both “motto” and “shimasho” could turn this innocent, almost cold or neutral sentence, “let’s get closer”, into something not very innocent… and that’s how I always connect it with the Brazilian Portuguese. Let me explain: here in Brazil, we use a kind of baby talk and diminutive language (here’s a great BBC article discussing the subject), even in our daily life, to soften words, give them nuances and sometimes change their meanings. For example, Ishikawa’s “let’s get closer” means “vamos ficar juntos” in Portuguese, but for it to have the warmer meaning I think the “motto” and the “shimasho” are meant to in the original title, we would have to turn the “juntos” (together) into its diminutive version, which is “juntinhos”. It's a tender way of speaking, which shows affection and takes the load off some situations, even in serious talks. It's like the suffixes "-chan" or "-kun" in Japanese, or also a kawaii way of speaking that I know also exists in Japan, but here in Brazil we use for everything, not only for people, and in a very natural way. In the end, “vamos ficar juntinhos” (“let’s get together”, but using the diminutive version of “together”) would have a more romantic, and even sexier, meaning, just like I hear in the way Ishikawa sings it. Well, I ended talking more about language and my own interpretation of the song’s title in a confused way than of Hidemi Ishikawa herself, but that’s it. We all know she’s one of the quintessential 80s aidoru singers in Japan, and, regarding “Motto Sekkin Shimasho”, it was a single released by her in 1985.

Eliana -- Salsa Bonita (サルサ・ボニータ)

As the title already implies, this is obviously salsa, and not samba, bossa nova or any other Brazilian music genre, but the singer, Eliana (エリアナ), is actually Brazilian, according to the single’s liner notes, and she also mentions Brazil in the lyrics penned by Yukinojo Mori (森雪之丞). Anyway, “Salsa Bonita”, or “Beautiful Salsa” in English, is a very curious single released in 1980, but, unfortunately, I couldn’t find much information on Eliana besides the fact that her family name is Freitas, she was born in Rio de Janeiro, recorded this single after winning the Brazilian leg of a tournament called Horipro Talent Scout Caravan (ホリプロタレントスカウトキャラバン), and is, apparently, already dead (here's the link for this info). However, is she the cute girl on the cover? I don’t know… there are still so many unanswered questions about this single, so I wish I could find more about it.

Miyuki Utsumi -- Fire Dance (ファイヤー・ダンス)

Known for the hit song “Yopparachatta” (酔っぱらっちゃった), which I love in Ryuko Mizuta’s (水田竜子) voice, Miyuki Utsumi (内海みゆき) came to Rio de Janeiro in early 1990 to record an album called “Alô, Alô, Brazil!” (アロー,アロー,ブラジル!) under the wings of famous musician, and one of the founders of bossa nova, Roberto Menescal, probably trying to score a hit during the worldwide lambada fad. Released later in the same year as the coupling song to the “NASCI PARA BAILAR” (“I was Born to Dance” in English) single, and anticipating the aforementioned album, “Fire Dance” is a cover version of the Brazilian hit song “Fricote” (something like having a fit, or showing anger towards something/someone, in English), which was originally released by singer-songwriter Luiz Caldas in 1985. In general, when it comes to Brazilian music, international audiences are most familiar with samba or bossa nova, but not other music genres, so it’s surprising to see a Japanese artist recording an axé song, which comes from a specific region of the country, Bahia state, in the northeast region. In the end, since I already like the original version and its summery energy, this Japanese version with bits of Portuguese language sang by Utsumi and the background singers is really interesting to my ears.

Luiz Caldas -- Fricote

To finish, just out of curiosity, here’s the original version of Miyuki Utsumi’s “Fire Dance”, which is “Fricote” by Luiz Caldas. The video was shot in the beautiful Salvador, Bahia state’s capital city, and Brazil first national capital, from 1549 until 1763, when Rio de Janeiro took its place (since 1960, the national capital is Brasília) Like I said before, the song was originally released in 1985.

Hidemi Ishikawa -- Ai no Jumon（愛の呪文）

 

A little harder to track down those Halloween-based kayo when compared to the Xmas versions (although I will be throwing on a fairly epic one tomorrow on October 30th), but I did find one which may fit the bill in a way.

This would be 80s aidoru Hidemi Ishikawa's（石川秀美）16th single "Ai no Jumon" (Love Incantation) from September 1985. Despite the relative temporal closeness of its release to October 31st, Kyoko Matsumiya's（松宮恭子）melody doesn't really sound like a Halloween-type tune but the lyrics (also by Matsumiya) perhaps has a cute connection with Sabrina The Teenage Witch.

A young lady whose former beau has moved onto a new girlfriend is trying to perform her form of a hex to get back the old flame, and yeah, that's what the "Get back!" in the lyrics is trying to say and not telling him to back off (or some other word with "off"😆). Melodically, "Ai no Jumon" strikes me as an interesting mix of rock n' roll and synthpop along with an intriguing intro including that smoothly humming guitar. Jun Sato（佐藤準）was responsible for the arrangement.

There was no listing of how the song did on Oricon but it's included in Ishikawa's 7th album "I" which was released in December of that same year. Mind you, the Chiba Prefecture-born teen idol did make her one and only appearance on the Kohaku Utagassen with "Ai no Jumon". 

Hidemi Ishikawa -- Stardate（スターデイト）

I guess that I really can place 80s aidoru Hidemi Ishikawa（石川秀美）alongside Momoko Kikuchi（菊池桃子）and Yoshimi Iwasaki（岩崎良美）among perhaps a few others as one of those teenybopper singers who enjoyed their plate of City Pop and/or J-AOR from time to time.

Case in point: "Stardate", a track from Ishikawa's 5th album "Secret"（シークレット）which came out in December 1984. I could make some creaky "Star Trek" jokes here but I will refrain from that. In any case, the point is that this is the second Hidemi song in a row that I've covered in the blog which has some of that urban contemporary feeling to it. Last time back in January of this year, I covered her "Mezame"（めざめ）, a horn-driven song with some City Pop vibes.

With "Stardate", it's more West Coast AOR maybe along the lines of TOTO or even Chicago during their 1980s period. Those guitars rather give the show away right from the beginning but as "Stardate" progresses, some of that aidoru arrangement comes through before the guitars come racing in for the refrain. Actually, it's the fine Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）who came up with the melody with Hirobumi Suzuki（鈴木博文）of the Moonriders（ムーンライダーズ）providing lyrics while Nobuyuki Shimizu（清水信之）arranged the whole thing.

I couldn't find the lyrics for "Stardate" but from what I could hear from Ishikawa in the refrain, I don't think that the title refers to any Federation time system but rather the singer's request to have that fling through the stars with her beau. Perhaps Captain Kirk can provide some good (perhaps R-rated) advice on that point (oops, I couldn't resist from letting that groaner out).

Hidemi Ishikawa -- Mezame（めざめ）

It's been a while since I've put up anything by 80s aidoru Hidemi Ishikawa（石川秀美）and I did find something nice and boppy earlier today.

So that I can say that it isn't only Momoko Kikuchi（菊池桃子）who cornered the City Pop/AOR market as an aidoru, Ishikawa also had her dalliance in the mellow and urban genres. And so I found "Mezame" (Awakening) which was her 9th single from February 1984.

The melody by the late Yuuichiro Oda（小田裕一郎）is pretty mellow in itself but having those snazzy horns in "Mezame" kinda brings the song onto the dividing line between AOR and City Pop. Jun Kuroe（クロエジュン）and SHOW provided the lyrics about a girl falling in love with a boy who may not be seen as the warmest lad in the school. Judging by the arrangement, though, the lass is probably aspiring for that date in swanky Aoyama.

None of Ishikawa's Oricon rankings have managed to get onto J-Wiki, but luckily I was able to track down a page here which was kind enough to provide them. "Mezame" got up to No. 8 on the singles charts which up to that point had been her best showing, although her most popular single ended up as her 13th single "Motto Sekkin Shimasho"（もっと接近しましょ...Let's Get A Little Closer）almost a year later when it got up to No. 4. "Mezame" sold a little over 117,000 records.

Looks like the song also got the Future Funk treatment a little over a couple of years ago by Mikazuki BIG WAVE（ミカヅキbigwave）.

Incidentally, you can also take a gander at Ishikawa's "Shadow Summer" which came out in 1986 and has more of an Omega Tribe（オメガトライブ）beat. That went as high as No. 18 on Oricon.

Hidemi Ishikawa -- Yu-re-te Shonan（ゆ・れ・て湘南）

The sudden passing of 70s aidoru legend Hideki Saijo（西城秀樹）last month caught everybody by surprise, including the above TV personalities. One person in the brief video above who was especially shocked was veteran Hirohide Yakumaru（薬丸裕英）, formerly one of the boys in 80s aidoru group Shibugaki-tai（シブがき隊）. He's the one in glasses seated at the far right of the guest panel.

His wife happens to be former aidoru Hidemi Ishikawa（石川秀美）, and there was another video that had later footage of that show in which Yakumaru related the fact that if it hadn't been for Saijo, his wife wouldn't have had that career as a singer 30+ years ago. According to a book titled "Hachi-juu Nendai Aidoru Collection"（80年代アイドルcollection...Eighties' Idol Collection）(via J-Wiki), when Ishikawa was a junior high school senior back in the summer of 1981, she entered a contest called "Hideki no Ototo/Imoto Boshuu Audition"（HIDEKIの弟・妹募集オーディション...Hideki's Younger Sibling Invitational Audition） which was looking for some new talent. The teenager ended up getting selected out of a total of 55,460 contestants. Saijo himself had pushed hard for Ishikawa's selection. Several months later, she would make her debut as an aidoru in early 1982.

Ishikawa's 2nd single was "Yu-re-te Shonan" (Sway Me, Shonan), a number that seems to hint at a bit of 50s and a bit of disco within the melody by Yuuichiro Oda（小田裕一郎）. Prolific lyricist Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）handled the story of summer love on the famous Japanese beach, and it's a comforting piece of musical nostalgia with the strings, bass and horns in there backing the high tones of the new singer.

Strangely, although there is no listing of how it did on Oricon on J-Wiki, according to the Yahoo Japan Q&A, "Yu-re-te Shonan" did modestly well by getting as high as No. 29, selling around 87,000 records. However, it did earn raves during awards seasons by getting at least three Best New Artist prizes from sources such as the Japan Record Awards.

Hidemi Ishikawa -- Stardust Train （スターダスト・トレイン）

It's been a while since I paid a visit to Hidemi Ishikawa（石川秀美）, proverbial 80s aidoru. So I came across "Stardust Train", her 8th single from November 1983. Not particularly the most notable aidoru tune I've ever heard but it's pleasant enough with some of that old disco beat, and I was interested in hearing some more of her discography since all these years, I really only knew her through her photographic appearances in magazines like "Myojo" and "Heibon".

"Stardust Train" was written by Machiko Ryu（竜真知子）and composed by Daisuke Inoue（井上大輔）. I couldn't find any information on how high it got on Oricon. It would be interesting to hear the original recorded version just to find out how good that horn section was.

Hidemi Ishikawa -- Shadow Summer

Hidemi Ishikawa（石川秀美）....a name and a face that I've always seen whenever I went down Memory Lane via those old issues of Myojo and Heibon. As Marcos mentioned almost a year ago in his playlist of 80s Eurobeat-inspired songs, the Kisarazu, Chiba-born singer had the cheeks to launch a thousand ships (no offense, Helen) along with some wonderfully twinkly eyes. And yet, despite all of the singers from the 80s whose works I've collected and heard, I had really never listened to a Hidemi song, aside from "Every Night" which was Marcos' contribution to his Eurobeat list.

So I vowed to myself that I would check out some of the songs from her 8-year discography (1982-1990), and thus came across "Shadow Summer". This was her 19th single from July 1986 and it was written by Masao Urino（売野雅勇）and composed by Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）. The reason I chose this one was Hayashi due to his reputation of crafting some swiftly soaring summery songs for folks like Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）and Omega Tribe.

"Shadow Summer" does sound like an Omega Tribe song with those violins swooping in and thrumming bass. However, Hidemi's vocals are cottony-soft whispery...almost threatening to break apart at points. Nope, the aidoru doesn't have the strongest voice, especially compared when compared to the vocals of Akina but they still have an appeal to me...as does the song...as something representative of the aidoru from that decade.

Apparently, "Shadow Summer" was never released on an original album but is available on her BEST compilations.

Ishikawa released 30 singles and 12 albums before retiring from the industry after marrying Hirohide Yakumaru（薬丸裕英）of Shibugakitai（シブがき隊）fame.

Marcos V.'s 80s Playlist - Eurobeat Edition

Hi everyone. It’s my time to contribute with a list of some personal favorite Japanese songs from the 80s. I don’t pretend to waste many lines in the introduction, but some important characteristics of my list must be told before starting with the proper songs.

First, my main theme, eurobeat, is one of the key music genres of mainstream Japanese music during the mid-to-late 80s as it contributed with new musical and fashion aesthetics to the Japanese pop landscape. Based on that, my method in most of the entries is to introduce one special song and kinda tell a story related to the particular style of eurobeat of the song and, also, related to the performer. It’s an interesting exercise I’ve been developing in the blog since I started contributing earlier this year. This practice also helped me organize my ideas and conclusions, and I’m very grateful to JTM, nikala, Jari and especially J-Canuck for letting me write my confuse thoughts in this very special space.

Second, an important, and maybe secondary, characteristic of my list is that it’s only comprised of aidoru singers, with no single exception. Some of them might be perceived as being more aidoru than others, but, in the end, they’re all aidoru singers. This particular feature is secondary because, in no moment, I had the intention of doing an aidoru list. To be honest, most of the aidoru singers I chose to be part of my list would be out of any serious aidoru-focused list. That’s why I put emphasis on the eurobeat theme and not in the aidoru one. Summarizing, I see my list as a compilation of interesting fusion moments between aidoru and the eurobeat sound. Also, this post isn’t just about the songs. Sometimes I’m going to talk more about other things, like fashion or the transformation suffered by the aidoru world, than of the songs themselves. But the writing is ALWAYS based on the song, so try to understand what I’m talking about with the song and the video (when it’s available) in mind.

Third, I must warn that although my list is MAINLY based on eurobeat, some songs are not in this category. They are kinda shuffled with the others, but it’s not that difficult to identify them.

Last but not least, the reader must pay attention to one important thing. This list is, by no means, absolute. My main intention while selecting the songs was to construct a nice balance between singles (some of them hit singles, some of them not) and album tracks. This choice was very arbitrary, as I wanted to highlight some hidden gems over the well known singles and hit songs. With other acts, I simply chose to talk about famous singles.

Well, I ended wasting everyone’s patience with the introduction. Let’s just start this list and have a great time.

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10) Hidemi Ishikawa (石川秀美) -- Everynight

I always found very interesting how trends come and go. As the aidoru days were slowly coming to an end, some accomplished aidoru singers just decided to change their styles and adapt themselves to new trends, like the eurobeat trend that emerged after the mid-80s.

The beautiful and tanned Hidemi Ishikawa, owner of one of the cutest cheeks of the aidoru world, started releasing synthpop inspired songs around 1986 with a cover of the Pet Shop Boys sophomore single “Love Comes Quickly”. But “Everynight” is, for me, the best example of her eurobeat ambitions before retiring from the music scene in 1990 after a scandal involving pregnancy and rushed marriage. Typical unfortunate aidoru story.

Released in 1988, “Everynight” is different in sound from the "Stock Aitken Waterman" brand of eurobeat that became very popular in Japan one year after, in 1989, with Chisato Moritaka’s (森高千里) “17-sai” (17才), Wink’s “Ai ga Tomaranai ~Turn it Into Love~” (愛が止まらない), Minako Tanaka’s (田中美奈子) “Namida no Taiyou” (涙の太陽) and Eriko Tamura’s (田村英里子) “Shinken (Honki)” (真剣). That said, it was an early type of eurobeat more comparable with the Italo Disco sound that was starting to fade away in Europe in favor of House music.

About this subject, it’s interesting to note that while Italo Disco and eurobeat were decreasing in popularity in Europe, it was, at the same time, becoming even more popular in Japan (and in Soviet Union, but that’s not the point here). This process resulted in a natural change of focus as Japan virtually became the only Italo Disco importer during the late 80s and early 90s. Basically, Japan became the main cash cow to Italy’s disco producers, a phenomenon that constituted what I call Japan’s “first dance craze”. This phenomenon faded around 1992 and 1993 to resurge even more powerful in 1995 as the “second dance craze”, when Namie Amuro (安室奈美恵) conquered the charts with her eurobeat covers of Lolita’s “Try Me”, Veronica Sale’s “Season” and Sophie’s “Stop the Music”.

Back to the “first dance craze”, Italo Disco also faced competition from the English brand of eurobeat masterminded by Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW). Their main “product”, the cute little Australian singer Kylie Minogue, hit really big in Japan around 1988 and 1989. This instant popularity led to many Japanese covers of her hits, like the aforementioned Chisato Moritaka, which covered Kylie’s version of “The Locomotion” in her “Mite Special Live Concert” (見て ～スペシャル～ライヴ in 汐留ＰＩＴII 4.15.'89), and Wink, which covered many songs of the teen star, with “Ai ga Tomaranai ~Turn It Into Love~” being the most representative of them.

In the end, both Italo Disco and SAW’s artists were popular in Japan, while Italo Disco experienced a much more important role in the advance of eurobeat with the “Super Eurobeat” compilation series that started in 1990 and… well, it’s still going on in 2013.

In the case of Hidemi’s “Everynight”, its charm consists of the aggressive synths and the edginess portrayed by Hidemi’s vocals. Aidoru singers who started recording eurobeat songs during the “first dance craze” period had two options. First, the fluffy and sugary vocals combined with playful eurobeat melodies and, second, a more serious and clubby approach. Hidemi went with the second option here on “Every Night”, and it was a nice idea as she was kind of leaving the cute aidoru days behind.

All in all, I enjoy Hidemi’s “Everynight” a lot. It represents very well this transition from mildly successful aidoru singer into a more “dance diva” kind of singer that happened quite frequently during the late 80s.

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09) Eriko Tamura (田村英里子) -- Tsumetaku Shinaide (冷たくしないで)

Eriko Tamura is not a common artist in any list, but I had to include her beautiful “Tsumetaku Shinaide” in my list for one specific reason: the melodramatic melody combined with the orchestral synthpop arrangement offers a nice example of majestic pop sensibility that was common during the 80s. Of course Eriko’s voice (and pin-up beauty) was a nice treat too. I always think that she should have been a more successful aidoru based on her vocals, but some lackluster songs didn’t help her achieve the deserved fame. We must remember that the late 80s also represents the end of the aidoru era, and Eriko’s image was more suitable for the early-to-mid 80s than for the end of the decade. Despite that, her debut album, “May Be Dream” (released in July 1989), is a nice and polished selection of late 80s dance-pop/eurobeat songs. Based on that, the inclusion of “Tsumetaku Shinaide” in this list is my tribute to this great phase of her career.

Being honest, though, Eriko’s material is not the best example of 80s dance-pop, neither is “Tsumetaku Shinaide” an outstanding song that stood the test of time. At the same time, although her production team was clearly emulating a trendy sound in order to sell more records, the melodic pop sensibility that I talked earlier is very noticeable in this little romantic piece. In fact, Eriko sings it like a Cinderella. A beautiful song, indeed.

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08) Yuka Onishi (大西結花) -- Shadow Hunter (シャドウ・ハンター)

This song is probably the most out of place of the bunch, but I like it so much that I needed to include it in this list. On the other hand, it would not be so off in JTM’s list that was posted earlier.

Not an eurobeat or synthpop song, “Shadow Hunter” (released in February 1987) could be better placed in the early-to-mid 80s, during the start of the burikko aidoru era inaugurated by Seiko Matsuda (松田 聖子). It reminds me vaguely of some Kyoko Koizumi’s (小泉 今日子) hits around 1984/85. Also, the song has quite a dynamic with all the horns and the bouncy bass line. Its overall sound makes me think of some spy movie or series. In reality, it was a “Sukeban Deka III” (スケバン刑事III) related song, which may explain its live action sound and adventurous feeling.

Yuka Onishi was never the best aidoru singer, nor the most famous one, but the "Sukeban Deka III" exposure had quite a positive impact on her career (she was one of Yui Asaka’s [浅香 唯] sisters in the series). Around 1989, though, instead of switching to an eurobeat sound like many of her contemporaries, she invested in a rock sound with an aidoru approach. She was quite daring trying to compete with PRINCESS PRINCESS and other all-female rock bands. Even the talented Minako Honda (本田 美奈子) failed to be successful with a similar strategy.

Back to Onishi, she slowly retired from the music career, and eventually got nude in a photo shoot (1999). I must confess that it wasn’t nice to see a former 80s aidoru getting naked in exchange of some bucks. I felt bad for her, and seeing the photos I can almost assure she wasn’t happy at all. Or maybe I’m being too sentimental about my 80s aidoru.

Nonetheless, the young and cheery Yuka Onishi will always be in my memory singing “Shadow Hunter”. I bought an old Yuka Onishi CD just because of this song (I ended liking the whole CD, though).

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07) Megumi Hayashibara (林原めぐみ) -- Yoake no Shooting Star (夜明けのShooting Star)

Megumi Hayashibara is not a 80s singer. Although some rare and not memorable late 80s songs can be found in her discography, her major label debut as a singer was only in early 1991. On the other hand, she recorded one solid pop song in the 80s, “Yoake no Shooting Star”, an image song for the character Christina “Chris” MacKenzie (クリスチーナ・マッケンジー) from the anime OVA “Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in My Pocket” (機動戦士ガンダム0080 ポケットの中の戦争).

“Yoake no Shooting Star” is a nice song, but nothing spectacular. The arrangement is just straightforward pop with a loud and cool synth melody that tastes like 80s right from the beginning. But what make it stand out is Megumi’s vocals, which are strong, full of cheerfulness and charisma. Based on that, it’s interesting to notice that “Yoake no Shooting Star” was also Megumi’s first recording ever. According to her autobiography manga series, she had to sing the song at an event in place of Megumi Shiina (椎名恵). Firstly, though, she had to have her vocal range tested, and in that specific day, she was sick with a high fever, which resulted in horrible vocals. But a man from the King Records (キングレコード株式会社) label listened to her and, somehow, liked what Hayashibara delivered. Finally, it was decided afterwards that “our” Megumi was going to officially record the song, which she did (for the source of this story, click here). And that’s the story behind Megumi Hayashibara’s first recording in early 1989.

“Yoake no Shooting Star” got a spot in Megumi’s sophomore album “WHATEVER” (1992), and in two of her compilations, “VINTAGE A” (2000) and “VINTAGE WHITE” (2011). Also, Megumi seems to like the song very much because she often includes it in her concerts, like in the 2002 concert that is featured above. The arrangement is the original 1989 one (Megumi rarely sings with a live band in her concerts), but with Megumi’s live vocals.

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06) Aya Sugimoto (杉本彩) -- 13-Nichi no Runa (13日のルナ)

The late 80s/early 90s were a very curious moment of Japanese mainstream pop music. Some strange characters, like Chisato Moritaka and Minako Tanaka, were artistically created in this period, and with a sexy appeal that was buried since the late 70s. We all know that, overall, the 80s aidoru era was a time where the virgin and naïve aesthetics were an essential factor in the construction of female stars. Of course a very specific type of sexuality was present in this discourse, but it was different from what aidoru acts during a pre-Seiko Matsuda period, like Pink Lady (ピンク・レディー) and Momoe Yamaguchi (山口百恵), represented.

Although the aforementioned Chisato Moritaka and Minako Tanaka were sexy aidoru singers, Aya Sugimoto was more explicit and wild if compared to them. Her stage persona, directly influenced by Italian eurobeat singer Sabrina Salerno, was famous for some raunchy and over-the-top performances. For instance, Aya’s debut single, “Boys”, was a cover of Sabrina’s hit that became famous around Europe because of the explicit music video where she happily reveals her large breasts in a swimming pool (check this AMAZING video here. Unfortunatly you need to have a YouTube account because of some age restriction). And although Aya couldn’t go that far in Japan, her bouncy breasts were also a highlight of her dance-oriented performances.

As for “13-Nichi no Runa”, which was released in December 1988, I don’t quite remember when I discovered it, but I do remember that I became quickly addicted to its catchiness. And yes, I know Aya Sugimoto was a very bad live singer, but I just tend to ignore her lack of singing talent in favor of nice disco songs and some sexy appeal. Back to the song, like most of her other wannabe hits, it’s a nice example of the eurobeat/Hi-NRG sound of the late 80s. Her energetic performances were nice to watch too.

After reading a 2008 interview with Aya Sugimoto (for the interview, click here), I concluded that she acts like a self aware woman who was defending feminine empowerment back in the late 80s. In her words, “it would be difficult to wear clothes like that if it were not accompanied by a new kind of spirit”. Also, “when I [Aya Sugimoto] wore sexy clothes in the ’80s and the ’90s, it caused a stir”. These phrases induces the reader to believe that Aya Sugimoto was almost revolutionary at the time, which is kind of ambiguous as she was more like a sex toy teasing a male fan base than a female empowerment icon. Besides that, she really devoted her entire career in maintaining the status of a sexy symbol that defends sexual freedom.

Aya’s concrete and apparent sexiness, like the tamer sexiness portrayed by Chisato Moritaka and Minako Tanaka, was one example of the transformations experienced by the aidoru category during the late 80s/early 90s. That strange transition of pure/virgin aidoru into a more sexualized type of aidoru is one of my favorite subjects and one that it’s not very discussed in the English speaking world. I, for example, consider singers like Aya, Chisato and Minako to be kind of ahead their time, just because sexy divas like Namie Amuro and MAX were yet to rule the J-Pop world. These three young ladies were not actual aidoru artists, but not out of this particular landscape either. And I just find kind of strange how everyone actually ignores the blatant sex appeal of these artists when constructing the J-Pop history. It gives the impression that the kawaii and virgin aidoru ideal model of the 80s gave space to the energetic and sexualized image of Namie Amuro in the mid-90s while nothing else was created between these two extremes. Based on that, I believe that Aya Sugimoto, for example, can be seen as a transition artist, or something like that. I’m also aware that this type of sexualized aidoru singer was not very successful, with the exception of Chisato Moritaka. The lack of success is probably a reason for their constant absence in the J-Pop history, and that’s understandable. It’s also important to remember that the fall of the aidoru category from the top of the entertainment world represented a niche division where different types of aidoru singers with a specific fan base in mind were created, and the sexy aidoru type was one of many new types that were trying to survive with a limited fan base.  Well, I’m not advancing in this territory now, but some other artists of this specific list are going to be used to talk a little more about this subject.

Strange theories aside, Aya Sugimoto is one of my many guilty pleasures. I just have a thing for cheap dance-pop music of the 80s and not so talented performers. As for “13-Nichi no Runa”, it’s not a groundbreaking song, but I remember how much I liked to study while listening to it and other Aya Sugimoto’s songs during my graduation years. She was probably the first “forgotten aidoru” I became a fan.

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05) Tomomi Nishimura (西村知美) -- Nemurihime (眠り姫)

I was in serious doubt if Tomomi Nishimura’s “Nemurihime” was the right song for my eurobeat list. This song was in a serious battle with Noriko “Nori-P” Sakai’s (酒井法子) “Wagamama Syndrome” (ワガママ・シンドローム) (you can listen to it here, if you want), but I ended up with “Nemurihime”. Basically, I chose it because of a more complex arrangement if compared to Nori-P’s “Wagamama Syndrome”. I like both, but I don’t think Nori-P’s song would add something new to this list. Besides being a catchy and straightforward pop song, “Wagamama Syndrome” didn’t offer significant twists and innovations.

Back to “Nemurihime”, it’s a 1989 eurobeat song with some interesting elements. Although I’ never been a true fan of Tomomi Nishimura, mostly because of her weak vocals, I liked her delivery in “Nemurihime”, especially when the ballad introduction gives place to the full synth arrangement.

One of the main characteristic of “Nemurihime”, and of Nori-P’s “Wagamama Syndrome” as well, was the mixture of a mildly cutesy style with a mysterious synth arrangement. In fact, it wouldn’t be out of place in a Wink album of the late 80s.

In the “Yoru no Hit Studio” live version presented above, a lot of the synths are not audible. Like in many “Yoru no Hit Studio” performances, the horns are actually taking the place of the synths. I only decided to post this performance because the song is played almost in its entirety, and, well… 80s, for me, is almost synonym of “Yoru no Hit Studio”. But trust me, “Nemurihime” is a cool eurobeat song, and not a full orchestra disco.

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04) Minako Tanaka (田中美奈子) -- Namida no Taiyou (涙の太陽)

Maybe I’m just a fool, but I like Minako Tanaka very much. I like her image, her beauty, her sound and her vocals a lot. No deeper reasons. Just like it. And do I know her entire discography? No, it’s rare. I only know her singles and some of her album songs, nothing more. But I consider myself a fan.

The first time I saw Minako Tanaka on YouTube singing “Namida no Taiyou” I just couldn’t stop thinking of Chisato Moritaka. It was the same style of music and a very similar image (Chisato’s image became a lot more extravagant and campy, though). But besides being a “copy”, I liked Minako’s vocals and beauty very much, which was a plus for her. Like I said above, I’m a fan, and I started considering myself one right after the moment I just described. It was around May or June 2011.

“Namida no Taiyou” was Minako’s debut single in 1989. Let’s just call it the eurobeat rendition of “Namida no Taiyou”, as the song was covered by a lot (and I really mean a lot) of different artists since it was originally recorded in English as “Crying in a Storm” (1965) by “Japanese-born-but-raised-in-England” singer Emy Jackson (エミー・ジャクソン) (for Emy's original version, click here). About that, I think Japanese eurobeat singers had a thing for turning non eurobeat songs into eurobeat. Chisato Moritaka did that with the classic “17-sai”, while Wink… well, Wink did that with so many songs that it’s hard to make a proper account. In fact, Minako Tanaka’s second single, “Be My Baby”, was also an eurobeat cover of an old classic.

Back to Minako’s version of “Namida no Taiyou”, I find it very energetic. The arrangement is not made of classy or laidback electronic sounds, but of loud, memorable and sharp synths. And combined with Minako’s girly vocals, the result was an interesting listening experience. The bridge is also something to keep an eye for (or ear, in this case) as the keyboard sounds are mixed with a robust bass that features a lot of slapping.

Minako’s version of “Namida no Taiyou” was not a big hit, reaching only #18 on the Oricon charts. To be honest, none of her songs would conquer the status of hits. She was just a sexy female pop singer that could hardly be labeled as an aidoru. Nevertheless, I thought she deserved a spot on my personal list.

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BONUS TRACK) Sophie -- SOFT TIME (RED MONSTER MIX)

“SOFT TIME” is just a bonus I decided to include in my “eurobeat” list before my top three songs. As it’s a classic 1989 eurobeat song which was included in the first volume of the “Super Eurobeat” series, the only thing that makes it an outsider is the fact that it isn’t a Japanese song, but the original Italian recording sung by Sophie (Elena Ferretti).

I first discovered this song in early 2011 when my Wink fanboyism was bigger than the stratosphere. Although I had had contact with eurobeat before in two different times, in special when I discovered Chisato Moritaka a year before, in 2010, I just didn’t became a fan of the genre before 2011. As I recall, Chisato got me into the overall aidoru world, and eurobeat was just a secondary factor for me at the time. It was really with Wink and their “Stock Aitken Waterman” brand of dance-pop (which was somehow called eurobeat) that I started listening to eurobeat more seriously, and “SOFT TIME”, a song I found listening to this first “Super Eurobeat” volume, still is my favorite song of the genre (I soon discovered that almost nothing really sounds like it, but that’s another story).

As for “SOFT TIME”, well…, the song is just amazing, and this “RED MONSTER MIX” I decided to include just take things to another level (it’s an official remix. I have it on CD). It’s not very different from the original in structure, but the slight changes are just amazing, just like when the synths in 6:13 mark are apparently going into a higher register, and then Sophie comes back with the chorus before the ending. What I also like is the common eurobeat practice of intercalating vocals with the arrangement, just like after the 4:53 mark. Finally, the vocals, just like the title, are very soft and beautiful, which contributes to the overall melancholic vibe of the song. In the end, it’s a killer song, for sure.

But let's go back to my top three songs...

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03) Miho Nakayama (中山美穂) -- Mermaid (人魚姫-mermaid-)

Nothing better than a song starting with very sharp 80s synths and a groovy bass line.

“Mermaid” is my favorite song by classy aidoru singer Miho Nakayama. Released in 1988, this summer gem is a funk/synthpop masterpiece. I just can’t get enough of the raw and sharp synths used in this song. As for Miho, her vocals became very mature around late 1987/early 1988, and that’s visible in “Mermaid”. She really did a good job with this one. It’s a pity she couldn’t deliver a high-level performance of it in live TV shows, although she nailed it in her 1991 concert (you can watch it here).

Besides being a very pretty young lady and a decent singer, I never found Miho very charismatic on stage. Her songs, on the other hand, were very nice during the 80s. Just like Wink’s “Samishii Nettagiyo” (淋しい熱帯魚), “Mermaid” is a very synth rich song, which is an important characteristic of the 80s. Unlike today’s American mainstream electronic music, which relies heavily in one or two synth hooks, mainstream electronic music in the 80s was, overall, more sophisticated (although raw and rudimentary in its sound). As synthesizers were one of the main new musical technologies of the decade, experimentation (and exaggeration) was at its peak. Nowadays, on the other hand, synthesizers are not used in a very creative way. Maybe the overall musical aesthetics changed a lot in the last thirty or twenty five years. Of course that’s just a personal feeling, but I thought it was nice to share my view.

Back to “Mermaid”, it earned Miho’s third #1 single on the Oricon charts. Also, it was released in the same day of her seventh album “Mind Game”. Although it wasn’t featured in the album, “Mermaid” is a nice start to the overall feeling and sound of this album, as both relies in a summery funk/synthpop sound. In that way, it works like an appetizer before the main dish. Some songs from the album, like “Strange Parade” (my favorite from the album. Check it here right after the 5:40 mark) and “Mind Game” (listen to it here), are even kind of similar to “Mermaid” in structure and arrangement, which is not a bad thing at all. All in all, I deeply recommend this one Miho album, “Mind Game”. It’s my favorite from her career.

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02) Chisato Moritaka (森高千里) -- Korekkiri Bye Bye (これっきりバイバイ)

Her name has appeared many times before in this list, but her real time was yet to come. She's the main artist now, and she holds the second position in my ranking.

First of all, I must confess that I have the bad, very bad habit of including this song in most of my “favorite songs” lists. And the poor Moritaka, a singer with an overall great catalogue, ends up being represented with this song, one she probably isn’t proud of nowadays. Cheap talk aside, I love this song very much. It represents Moritaka’s extravaganza at its best, both sonically and visually. We can really tell that after “17-sai’s” success, she went even far into the campy style.

With typical late 80s synths, “Korekkiri Bye Bye” is a very cheesy and horribly outdated song, or, in a more positive view, a straightforward shameless bubblegum dance-pop song from the late 80s (“Stock Aitken Waterman”, I’m looking right at you). The girl surely had guts to perform a song like "Korekkiri Bye Bye" dressed like… well, I don’t know how to describe THIS "fashion style", but it looks like a heroine from a cartoon, at least (and this was before “Sailor Moon”, for god’s sake). I’d really like to know what Moritaka and her fashion staff were thinking when they came up with this look.

“Korekkiri Bye Bye” can be found in Moritaka’s fouth studio album “Hijitsuryokuha Sengen” (非実力派宣言), which was released in July 1989. This particular album represents the start of Moritaka’s peak as an aidoru singer. To be honest, though, there’s quite a discussion about Moritaka’s status of an aidoru. As pointed out by Ian Martin, “she [Chisato Moritaka] existed in a strange sort of limbo between the end of the kayokyoku in the late 80s and the birth of J-Pop in the early 90s” (click here to read the full article). Also, Patrick St. Michel wrote that “the peak of her career happened after the golden-age of ’80s J-Pop, and just before acts like Namie Amuro and Ayumi Hamasaki became powerhouses across all of Asia” (click here to read the full article). As I agree with both of them, I understand that it’s difficult to call Moritaka an aidoru strictus sensus, but I can’t help thinking of her as such. That’s a tough dilemma.

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01) Wink -- Samishii Nettaigyo (淋しい熱帯魚)

Wink’s “Samishii Nettaigyo” could not stay out of my list. Although “Ai ga Tomaranai ~Turn It Into Love~” is a personal favorite, “Samishii Nettaigyo”, which was released in 1989, is not very far. Also, the plus of this song, or the reason why I chose to reserve a spot for it in my list, is that it’s a very influential pop song. Besides being a classic on its own, “Samishii Nettaigyo” has been covered by a lot of artists, like actress Nana Katase (listen to it here), 90s eurobeat girl group MAX (listen to it here), Hello! Project aidoru duo W (listen to it here), and also by Anglo-Irish girl group from the 70s The Nolans, which Wink also covered some of their songs like “Sexy Music” and “I’m in the Mood for Dancing” (by the way, The Nolan’s english version of “Samishii Nettaigyo” is called “Tidal Wave”. Listen to it here).

For me, personally, “Samishii Nettaigyo” also marks the real birth of Wink as a musical act on its own. I’m saying that because most of their earlier hits were Japanese covers of European pop/disco songs, while with “Samishii Nettaigyo” the duo started to make their successful path as a true act, and not a cover based act (they continued relying heavily in cover songs, but they also released a bunch of successful original tracks). Their songwriting team did that emulating the overall trendy synthpop/eurobeat sound of their time, and also combining it with Wink’s emotionless and vulnerable stage personas. The result was the great “Samishii Nettaigyo”, an upbeat but sad dance-pop song about an unrequited love and some water metaphors. Also, worthy of note are some specific parts of the song like the main synth melody, the instrumental breakdown with the melancholic synth notes and, of course, the catchy chorus. Overall, this song offers an amazing synth arrangement full of details and spacey sounds in the background (my favorite performance of this song is from "Yoru no Hit Studio" where three keyboard players were reproducing all the electronic sounds live. It was a dream to see a band with so much live synthesizers being played and just one guitar player. Something like the revenge of the synthesizers. You can check it here after the 5:40 mark). Making it even better, like a cherry at the top of the cake, the bass line is monstrously groovy. In the end, “Samishii Nettaigyo” surely deserved to be the smash hit it was and, also, the top song of my list.

As a funny story, one of my best friends says he can’t like Wink, especially this “fish” song (that’s how he calls it). The raw synthesizers are probably too much for him, and Wink’s lifeless stage personas don’t help at all. One day, after a discussion involving Wink, I put a Perfume concert, and he instantly said it was a lot better than Wink. But he’s a nice guy who watched the whole Wink concert in DVD with me some years ago simply because we’re friends.

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Well guys, that’s it for today. Thanks a lot for taking some time to read this long post. I just hope this selection introduces some nice songs and a couple of ideas I chose to develop as well. It was a very difficult, but pleasurable exercise. Of course I could change this list almost every day, but that’s just one bad consequence of “best of lists”: in the end, we are never truly satisfied with them. But I think it’s ok for now.

Happy New Year for everyone.

Marcos V., from Brazil.