Yu Hayami -- Answer Song wa Aishuu（アンサーソングは哀愁）

 

I can actually say this for the first time since I returned to Canada from Japan for good back in late 2011. Today is feeling like torrid Tokyo summer weather. It is majorly like swimming in atmosphere outside. All I can say is that I'll be glugging down a lot of water and other refreshments today and probably tomorrow, too.

Back in the day, popular music had hit songs which inspired other singers to come up with so-called answer songs to essentially rebut the original songs' message. For example, Shogo Hamada's（浜田省吾）1980 "Tokyo"（東京）can be seen to be the bleaker response to Kenji Sawadas's（沢田研二）all-is-wonderful "TOKIO" from the same year (you can listen to both songs on "Tokyo Songs").

One of the earliest Japanese pop songs that I ever heard since I realized that I was actually loving to hear them was Hiromi Go's（郷ひろみ）July 1982 "Aishuu no Casablanca"（哀愁のカサブランカ）which was the cover of Bertie Higgins' "Casablanca". I only found out recently that aidoru Yu Hayami（早見優）had released an answer song to that Go song as her 3rd single from October that year. Titled "Answer Song wa Aishuu" (The Answer Song is Filled with Sorrow), it was created by a different set of songwriters: famed lyricist Yu Aku（阿久悠）, composer Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）and arranger Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）. And yet, there is a similarity with this and "Aishuu no Casablanca" in terms of the overall melody and there isn't really any rebuttal at all within Hayami's song. It's actually more like commiseration on the loss of love. The two tunes can get together at a bar and drink down their sorrows like buddies. In any case, Hayami's third single reached No. 38 on Oricon and was a track on her sophomore album "Image" from November 1982 which hit No. 15 on the album charts.

Kyoko Koizumi -- Hitori Machikado（ひとり街角）

 

Well, first off, I should recognize the fact that 80s aidoru and actress Kyoko Koizumi（小泉今日子）celebrated her 60th birthday earlier this year. Hopefully, her kanreki has gone well. 

Less than a month ago, I featured Kyon-Kyon in techno dance mode through her 1989 song "Micro Wave"（マイクロWAVE）. Today, I'm heading back to her early days as an aidoru with her third single "Hitori Machikado" (Alone on the Corner) which was released in September 1982. I'd been accustomed to hearing Koizumi as this rather sassy-sounding teenybopper so hearing "Hitori Machikado", a song of being alone once again with only a seashell brooch as the final symbol of a former relationship, was interesting because the lass sounds less sass and more conventional high-falutin' aidoru.

Written by Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）and composed by Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）, I'm never going to turn down a disco beat in an aidoru tune and it's got those fleet-footed strings that occupied many of such a tune. "Hitori Machikado" peaked at No. 13 on Oricon. Another piece of trivia is that this single was Koizumi's first truly original song since the first two singles including her debut "Watashi no 16-sai" (私の16才）were actually cover songs of previously recorded tunes by other singers.

According to the J-Wiki article on the song, it picked up a number of awards including a Gold Prize at the Shinjuku Music Festival for that year. During the finale of that festival though, Koizumi was pelted with a raw egg which hit her on the head by some disgruntled person in the audience. Apparently, Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）, who had been the runner-up for the Gold, immediately came to her assistance.

Midori Utsumi/Keiko Shimazaki/Hiromi Iwasaki -- Omoidasanaide（思い出さないで）

 

When I was thinking up the article for this song, I was reminded of one of the more hilarious scenes from the anime "Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai"（中二病でも恋がしたい）when Yuuta happened to remember how he had confessed his love to one girl through the deathless line "Love you forever...". Yup, he had every right to give himself a massive concussion for remembering that one.

But to the topic at hand. Commenter Jim Laker added a recommendation to my article "Midori Songs" in which I commemorated Greenery Day during Japan's Golden Week holidays by providing a few songs by singers whose given names were Midori. Well, I was given another Midori...actress, singer and TV personality Midori Utsumi（うつみ宮土理）who I used to see quite regularly on her own shows as well as a guest on other programs. She's in one KKP entry via a duet with her husband, the late Kin'ya Aikawa （愛川欽也）, for the 1978 novelty tune "Man Man March"（マン・マン・マーチ）.

Although Utsumi's J-Wiki article doesn't give the occupation of singer to her...just tarento and actress, she did release a number of singles over the decades, and to be honest, she has a pretty nice voice. Anyways, Jim told me about one of her singles which came out in 1977 (it was just before "Man Man March"), and in fact, it was her debut single "Omoidasanaide" (Don't Remember Me). A bittersweet kayo ballad arranged by Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）, the lyrics related a plaintive request about not remembering a past romance since the breakup still hurts like heck. There's something about the song as well that reminds me of Toi et Moi's "Dare mo Inai Umi" (誰もいない海）.

Now, the song was written and composed by Daisaburo Nakayama（中山大三郎）and Utsumi's first foray into recording music was actually a cover of the original by Keiko Shimazaki（島崎恵子）who has no information on J-Wiki or elsewhere, it seems. However, her 1973 single "Omoidasanaide" has an even richer arrangement which has me thinking some of the folk-pop balladry from the United States at the time.

Hiromi Iwasaki（岩崎良美）also recorded her own contemporary cover of "Omoidasanaide" as her 29th single in September 1982 with Nozomi Aoki（青木望）acting as arranger (No. 18 ranking). There's not much to say here except that it's another typically wonderful example of Iwasaki balladry. The interesting thing is that the song had been recorded some years earlier when it was included as a track in Iwasaki's March 1979 album of cover songs "Koibito-tachi"（恋人たち...The Lovers） which peaked at No. 14 on Oricon.

Mami Yamase -- Hoshizora no Etranger（星空のエトランゼ）/Michael Ondo（マイケル音頭）

 

I've heard of the manga "What's Michael?" before and apparently it deals with the adventures of a rather unique portly cat whose name is not Garfield. But that's pretty much all of it. I only heard recently that there was even an anime done between 1988 and 1989.

Aidoru and tarento Mami Yamase（山瀬まみ）was given the assignment to sing the two sets of opening and ending themes for "What's Michael?". The first of these songs that I encountered was the first ending theme "Hoshizora no Etranger" (Starry Sky Stranger) that was written by Ben Uozumi（魚住勉）and composed/arranged by Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）. Having a happy Eurobeat approach, Yamase once again shows that her singing voice is just delightful and very different from the somewhat strangulated spoken voice she used on screen for most of her time on television.

"Hoshizora no Etranger" was released as Yamase's 8th single in May 1988. On the B-side was the first opening theme for the anime, "Michael Ondo" (The Michael Folk Song) which was created by Uozumi and Makaino once again. Given a contemporized and especially playful version of a Japanese folk song arrangement, Yamase demonstrates a mixture of her singing voice and that spoken voice (or a lighter version of it).

Happy 10th, Uta Con!（うたコン）/Hideki Saijo -- Ai no Juujika（愛の十字架）

 

First off, Happy 10th Birthday to the NHK music show "Uta Con". I saw their episode last night and it was nice not only to see some of the highlights from the past ten years but also get a tour of how the magic works at NHK Shibuya. It's amazing how quickly the years fly by...I remember when "Uta Con" got the baton passed over to it from "Kayo Concert"（歌謡コンサート）back in 2016.

Now, "Kayo Kyoku Plus" had its tenth anniversary back in 2022 so I actually pulled out most of the guns to celebrate our grand project back then, and of course, you can take a look at some of that via "10th Anniversary Special: 10th Anniversary Songs". However, I still wanted to commemorate the "Uta Con" achievement so I've opted to present a few songs over the years that have had something of the number 10 involved in the titles. I'll admit though to being a little cheat-y with my choices. But the important thing is that I also have the opportunity to present a new tune onto the blog by the late great Hideki Saijo（西城秀樹）. Anyways, without further ado:

(1984) Akina Nakamori -- Jukkai (1984) (十戒 (1984))

(1986) Minako Honda -- the Cross ~ Ai no Juujika（愛の十字架）

(1993) SMAP -- $10

As noted above, I have this Hideki Saijo tune that has that 10-ish relationship (albeit through kanji association only). This is "Ai no Juujika" (Cross of Love), his 7th single from December 1973. Indeed, it shares the same title as Honda's song above but that's the only common denominator. It is otherwise a totally different animal.

Written by Takashi Taka（たかたかし）and composed by Kunihiko Suzuki（鈴木邦彦）under Koji Makaino's（馬飼野康二）arrangement, this is also the first time for me to hear Saijo's "Ai no Juujika", and from what I hear, it's a very early Hideki song of passion and angst. It's quite the cross for him to bear and I think he's even shedding a few tears in the concert audio above. All the better for the screaming fans to rush over to comfort him. Not surprisingly, the song hit No. 1 and finished 1974 as the 22nd-ranked single.

EVE -- Sugar Sugar

 

I figure that if I can get a Eurobeat song onto the blog last month, thanks to Yoshimi Yokosuka（横須賀昌美）, I can do so here in March as well.

And this time, it's by the group EVE that seemed to be omnipresent in the music world back in the 1980s since they popped up backing up a lot of other artists in the recording studio. This time, though, the Sisters Shinzato from Okinawa are front and centre with their second single as a group, "Sugar Sugar" which came out in August 1987. Written by two of the sisters, Clare & Leona, with Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）handling the arrangement under his nom de plume Mark Davis (man, he's been a busy man today after providing his services for the song of the previous article), I'm sure that he made Stock, Aitken & Waterman very proud with his Eurobeat tendencies. "Sugar Sugar" peaked at No. 77 on Oricon.

Issei Endo -- Kono Mama Truly（このままTRULY）

 

Well, spring officially arrived at 10:46 am this morning. The problem here in Toronto is that everyone got the memo except for spring itself. It's been a cold and dreary day with freezing rain intermittently falling as I type this.

Ahh...that is just meteorological life in the largest city in Canada. Anyways, let's go to something more hopeful and cheerful. The uploader for the above video stated that he first heard singer-songwriter Issei Endo's（円道一成）"Kono Mama Truly" (Just Like This, Truly) on some late-night TV commercial as a jingle for something alcoholic. Not a bad thing to hear in the overnight hours. I could actually happily fall back into La-La Land listening to this or stay up savoring the music in my head.

Yup, I do like "Kono Mama Truly" which was released as a single in January 1986 (kinda like the "Miami Vice" threads there, Issei), according to Discogs. The singer was behind words and music with Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）providing the arrangement which hints at some old-time wonderful Motown soul. Maybe it is truly meant to be enjoyed along with some libations.

Juri Hamada -- Anata ni Necchu（あなたに熱中）

 

It's been almost five years since I last put up a posting for 80s aidoru Juri Hamada（浜田朱里）. My last article on her was for the light and mellow "Sincerely" which was on her 3rd album, "Hitomi ~ Sentimental"（瞳・センチメンタル...Eyes - Sentimental） from December 1981. It's about as AOR as she could get as a teenybopper singer.

Well, about a year earlier, Hamada released her 2nd single "Anata ni Necchu" (Crazy About You) in October 1980. In the article for "Sincerely", I mentioned that producers everywhere were looking for the next Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵）when the real Momoe Yamaguchi happily decided to call it a career at the tail end of the 1970s, and Hamada had been one of the potential targets as the post-Momoe Momoe. With "Anata ni Necchu", I can see how the powers-that-be could have been pointing her into that direction with the addition of those wailing electric guitars for that rock music edge within the rollicking arrangement...much like how Momoe's music had sounded in the latter part of her career. 

Lyricist Shigesato Itoi（糸井重里）and composer Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）were behind the creation of "Anata ni Necchu" which only broke in at No. 100 on Oricon. Hamada didn't become the next Momoe (no one really did or should have) but those attempts to bring in the Momoe-esque latter 70s sound would shape the music for a number of early 80s aidoru such as Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）.

Chiaki Ogami -- Glass Shojo（ガラス少女）

 

Last month, I introduced brief-careered 80s aidoru Chiaki Ogami（尾上千昌）and one of her singles "Tokimeki Highway"（ときめきハイウェイ）from July 1983 which is so typically 1980s aidoru-tastic that it makes my memories shiver like an ice cream headache on certain head muscles (haven't felt one of those in a long time).

Ogami and her songwriters, lyricist Ikki Matsumoto（松本一起）and composer/arranger Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）, were at it again for the B-side, "Glass Shojo" (Glass Girl). This song is a bit more fleet-footed thanks to those thrilling strings and the wailing electric guitar but it's still very much an aidoru tune of its time (especially with that off-tune plaintive delivery in the chorus), and I actually prefer it to the A-side.

Chiaki Ogami -- Tokimeki Highway（ときめきハイウェイ）

 

Ahhh...the early 80s aidoru arrangement: lots of wailing electric guitar and twinkling synthesizers, plus the adorably (or not) off-tune teenage singer herself. Found a new aidoru in the form of Tokyoite Chiaki Ogami（尾上千昌）who was a part of an aidoru septet called Shower（シャワー）in 1982. The group only released two singles and one album that year.

As for Ogawa, she released just one single herself in July 1983 titled "Tokimeki Highway" (Highway of Excitement). Written by Ikki Matsumoto（松本一起）and composed by Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）, the song fulfills my impression that I described in the first paragraph including the off-tune vocals. At least one of the covers for the single had her looking a bit like Yoshie Kashiwabara（柏原芳恵）. 

Candies/Michiyo Azusa/Rie Nakahara -- Gingakei made Tonde Ike!（銀河系まで飛んで行け!）

 

Let's see...during the 1960s original series "Star Trek", Captain Kirk had quite a few romantic dalliances throughout the three seasons the show was on NBC. Meanwhile, Spock also had his amourous adventures with a few guest stars from off the ship. But then, on the latest entry in the nearly 60-year-old franchise, "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds", which takes place in the pre-TOS decade, younger Spock has already been making out with three ladies, two of whom are his shipmates! For a half-Vulcan who's trying to keep hold of his emotions, he's a pretty randy guy! Love long and prosper indeed!🖖

My "Star Trek" preamble ramble was so that I could introduce this song which is part of a massive 5-LP box set, "CANDIES 1676 DAYS"（キャンディーズ1676日）, that was released in December 1977. Can you imagine a Candies fan getting this as a Christmas present? The tears of joy that would flood that living room floor! The set was put out there to commemorate the trio's singles and other songs ranging from their debut to the end of their farewell concert with the first three records containing those singles including B-sides while the fourth record has the ladies' cover versions of Japanese and English-language songs. Finally, Record No. 5 has new stuff.

One of those songs on the final LP happens to be "Gingakei made Tonde Ike!" (Fly to the Galaxy!) which is about one lass dreaming of her beau taking them away from all of the burdens of Earthly living and warping out to the end of the Milky Way. Kinda like the Enterprise. Written by Makoto Kitajo（喜多條忠）, composed by folk singer-songwriter Takuro Yoshida（吉田拓郎）and arranged by Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）, it's notable for its disco arrangement over a folky rhythm and what sounds atypically like a koto or a harp periodically dropping by to say hello. 

I can imagine the pitchman narrating the commercial for "CANDIES 1676 DAYS" and excitedly saying "Wait there's more!". Well, wait there's more! Michiyo Azusa（梓みちよ）gave her own more laconic cover of "Gingakei made Tonde Ike!" as her 42nd single in March 1978 with just a breath of rock in there. Then in September 1983, Rie Nakahara（中原理恵）also released her take on the song as a single; this one is notable for incorporating a country banjo and a synthesizer to create something that is still recognizably "Gingakei made Tonde Ike!" but on a rather bizarre level. Ichizo Seo（瀬尾一三）arranged this version.

Now, we finish up in this year. The original Candies version has been provided as the theme song for a CG anime titled "Ginga Tokkyu Milky Subway"（銀河特急 ミルキー☆サブウェイ...Galaxy Express: Milky Subway）. 

Mizue Takada -- Dakedo...（だけど…）

 

I don't consider myself a tried-and-true expert on the aidoru career of Mizue Takada（高田みづえ）but just from listening to her earlier material in the late 1970s, I've gotten the impression that at least melodically, she was getting some fairly galloping material to tackle.

Takada's debut single from March 1977 is the fondly remembered "Garasuzaka"（硝子坂）which provided some romantic sturm und drang thanks to lyricist Takemi Shima（島武実）, composer Ryudo Uzaki（宇崎竜童）and arranger Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）. Well, her sophomore effort, "Dakedo..." (However...) from later in July continues some of the handwringing in love with Shima, Uzaki and Makaino helping out again to form out a fairly rollicking song. In fact, the overall rhythm reminds me of some of the drama from Hiromi Ohta's（太田裕美）"Saraba Siberia Tetsudo" (さらばシベリア鉄道）which wouldn't come out until a few years later in 1980.

"Dakedo..." was another Top 10 hit for the emerging 17-year-old singer as it hit No. 6. It finished the year as the 52nd-ranked single.

Yasuko Kuwata -- Moshikashite Dream（もしかして・ドリーム）

 

I began the Yasuko Kuwata（桑田靖子）file pretty early in the history of "Kayo Kyoku Plus", with her 4th single "My Joyful Heart" from 1984 getting onto the blog in the middle of 2013. Surprisingly, I have yet to write about her debut single "Datsu - Platonic"（脱・プラトニック）from early 1983 which seems to have been her most significant hit.

But until that day comes, I'm going to continue the Kuwata file with her 3rd single from October 1983, "Moshikashite Dream" (It Was All a Dream?). Created by the same team which took care of her first two singles including "Datsu - Platonic", lyricist Masao Urino（売野雅勇）, composer Hiroaki Serizawa（芹澤廣明）and arranger Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）, it comes off initially as an intrepid and fairly serious theme for a TV detective series in the 1960s until the chorus bursts forth into a major-key happy tune. Maybe that dream has actually turned into a reality? The song managed to peak at No. 71 on Oricon.

Mitsuko Horie -- Pure Morning（ピュア・モーニング）

 

The weather here in Toronto today is nothing like that shown above with the El Cid Hotel in Mexico. It was 0 degrees Celsius with a -7-degree wind chill and areas a few hours north of my city are supposed to  be getting their first dumping of snow over the weekend. On the penultimate day of this November, it's really feeling like a little bit of Christmas.

I'd been more of a night person than a morning person but at my wizening age, I no longer consider myself someone who's really all that chipper at any particular time of the day. However, it seems as if seiyuu and singer Mitsuko Horie（堀江美都子）might have been more of the latter. The last time I wrote about her was back in June 2023 when I posted her "Morning Rain", a pleasant City Pop concoction from her December 1981 mini-album "Micchi no Hitorigoto Club"（ミッチの独言倶楽部）.

Earlier in the year though, Horie released her 4th single in June, "Pure Morning". I guess she really had a thing for the AM hours. Written by Machiko Ryu（竜真知子）and composed by Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）, "Pure Morning" has more of a calming mixture of down-home City Pop and the ol' kayo kyoku thanks to that orchestra backing her up although there is some of that groove of the former genre. It almost sounds like something that Hiromi Iwasaki（岩崎宏美）would have tackled at the same time. The same song headlined her 2nd original album "Image" which was released a couple of months later and ended up as high as No. 54 on Oricon.

Azumi Inoue -- Star Storm/Yuube no Himitsu（ゆうべの秘密）

 

Of course, for all of the Studio Ghibli fans, the name Azumi Inoue（井上あずみ）should be pretty recognizable for her recordings of the theme songs for the classic "Tonari no Totoro"（となりのトトロ）late in the 1980s. But I wanted to also take a look at her very early material when she had begun her career as one of the many aidoru that went through the revolving door of Japanese entertainment.

Inoue (under the kanji of 井上杏美) made her debut behind the mike with "Star Storm" in April 1983. Written by Kayoko Fuyumori（冬杜花代子）, composed by Masashi Komatsubara（小松原まさし）and arranged by Kenji Omura（大村憲司）, the lass took on a slightly operatic tone in her delivery with this New Wave-ish tune. I like the overall song especially with the bass synth thrum and the wailing guitar. Not sure whether Inoue's first single made any significant dent on the charts, though.

Then, later in September that year, Inoue released her second single, a cover of Tomoko Ogawa's（小川知子） hit "Yuube no Himitsu" (The Secret From Last Night). This time with the arrangement of Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）, in comparison with the contemplative kayo kyoku nature of the 1968 original, Inoue's "Yuube no Himitsu" still retains its fragile beauty but it also has a sound of a 1970s aidoru tune with the only thing showing its 1980s origins being the flourish at the end. At the same time, though, I'm also reminded of Yoshie Kashiwabara's（柏原芳恵）hit "Haru Nanoni"（春なのに）which also got released in 1983.

Minami Hazuki & Shiro Aoi -- Koi wa Suteki na Showtime（恋は素敵なショータイム）

 

Ahhh....the Mood Kayo Avengers. Always nice to have at any drinking establishment on a Sunday night before we all have to put our noses to the grindstone once more the next day.

Glad to see some of the kayo kyoku veterans still around to make some really nostalgic yesteryear tunes. For example, it was only in the last week or so that I heard about "Koi wa Suteki na Showtime" (Love is a Splendid Showtime), a Mood Kayo released earlier this year with venerable Masao Urino（売野雅勇）on the lyrics about an alcohol-boosted ode to the bittersweet experience of love. Just-as-venerable Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）was behind music and arrangement for this fun and jaunty karaoke-friendly tune with a good dollop of Latin stirred in. 

But that's not all, as they say on those old commercials. "Koi wa Suteki na Showtime" reminds me of another Mood Kayo duet titled "Otoko to Onna no Love Game" (男と女のラブ・ゲーム）from 1986; the karaoke classic happens to have been composed by Makaino as well. Not only that, the male half of that duet is back to help out on this one: Shiro Aoi（葵司朗）. This time though, his partner is enka singer Minami Hazuki（葉月みなみ）from Niigata Prefecture. Hazuki, who has been in showbiz since 2009, not only lends her vocal cords to the proceedings but also her ability as a flutist (she can also play the accordion according to her J-Wiki profile). The song is officially her 5th digital single released in February 2024.

Nako Mizumura -- Suna no Onna（砂の女）

 

Welcome to another Hump Day on KKP! It's been a fairly dreary Wednesday so far here in Toronto. We're not getting soaked but neither are we getting any sun today.

To start off our middle-of-the-week session of "Kayo Kyoku Plus", we have another singer who's a mystery lady. I couldn't find a stitch of information about Nako Mizumura（水村なこ）outside of the fact that she did release some singles here and there, one of them being the 1971 record "Suna no Onna" (Woman in the Dunes). The melody by Yasumi Matsuo*（松尾安巳）with arrangement by Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）has that late 1960s and early 1970s kayo rumble that I've often associated the more upbeat songs with, and it was interesting when I saw terms such as "kayo soul" and "kayo disco" to describe it. Hmmm...maybe I should have used those in Labels right from the start. In any case, if anyone out there has any information on Mizumura, please let us know. Even the Yahoo Japan search engine couldn't give me anything. By the way, Mieko Arima（有馬三恵子）came up with the lyrics.

*That first name is an educated guess by me.

Natsuki Ozawa -- Christmas ni wa Maniawasetai（クリスマスには間に合わせたい）

 

The name Natsuki Ozawa（小沢なつき）has popped up in my head now and then, and I had thought that I already wrote about her somewhere and sometime on the blog, but such wasn't the case at all. I knew that she was an 80s aidoru and that was about it. Well, to add a bit more information via J-Wiki, her hometown was either Tokyo or somewhere in Nagano Prefecture and that she was brought into the entertainment industry in 1986 in Shinjuku by a manager working for the talent agency K-House, a company run by folk singer-songwriter Iruka（イルカ）and her husband.

Ozawa wore two hats during her brief but very busy early part of her career in the late 1980s. She was an actress and an idol singer with six singles and two original albums between 1987 and 1989. Her second single was "Christmas ni wa Maniawasetai" (I Want It By Christmas) which was written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）, the man behind Onyanko Club（おニャン子クラブ）, and composed by Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）. It's about a young lass pining for the target of her affections in another one of those one-sided love affairs and her wish is that he not only realizes her love but accepts it fully by December 25th. It's got that twinkly and crystalline arrangement hinting at that Xmas-y and aidoru feeling.

However, things took a very dramatic turn in 1989 just when Ozawa had gotten her first leading role in a TV series. Filming stopped, the series was truncated and the star herself was dumped into a premature retirement. Unfortunately, there were rumours of an affair between her and her manager which led to a baby, but later on, according to a TBS talk show in the 2000s (via J-Wiki), Ozawa admitted that things had gotten out of hand in the handling of her career and that she was going to elope with her manager only for the manager to not show up at their meeting place. 

In the 1990s, Ozawa released a series of nude photo books before leaving show business a second time, but then from the early 2000s, she became a hardcore porn actress.

Jun Ariyoshi/Yoshihiro Kai -- Rendezvous（ﾗﾝﾃﾞﾌﾞｰ）

 

Those first few seconds had me wondering whether I was going to get a kayo version of a mariachi song. However, Jun Ariyoshi（有吉ジュン）quickly went into 1950s/1960s pop mode with "Rendezvous", her 2nd single from January 1977. Written and composed by Yoshihiro Kai（甲斐よしひろ）of the Kai Band（甲斐バンド）with arrangement by Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）, it's a spirited tune that had me thinking of good ol' Richie Cunningham and Lori Beth Allen. 

Ariyoshi's time in the limelight, though, was quite brief. A year after entering ballet school as a junior high sophomore, she became a regular assistant on the NTV show "Zen Nihon Kayo Senshuken"（全日本歌謡選手権...All-Japan Kayo Championship） before making her debut as a singer in 1976. She released a total of five singles up to 1978 and also had a few roles in TV dramas before she called it a day in 1979 and retiring from show business.

Kai himself covered "Rendezvous" himself many years later when he released his October 2011 album "Homecoming KAI BOOTLEG SERIES VOL. 1". This one has got a lot more rock in it along with a bit of hip-hop, thanks to rapper GAKU-MC.

Midori Hagio/Yoshiko Miyazaki/Keiko Masuda/Yumi Matsutoya -- Tamerai（ためらい）

 

OK, just to confirm...that is indeed a thumbnail photo of Yumi Matsutoya（松任谷由実）above and the song involved here is a Yuming-penned tune but not a Yuming-performed one in its entirety since an original Yuming tune has become rather scarce of late on YouTube. However, the legendary singer-songwriter looms large over the ladies that have also performed "Tamerai" (Hesitation).

First up is Midori Hagio（萩尾みどり）who's had a long career as an actress and TV personality but there has been no mention about her being a singer on her file in J-Wiki. In fact at this point, I only know of one 1977 single that she's recorded called "Dairen Bojou"（大連慕情...Yearning for Dalian）. The B-side is "Tamerai" and both songs were created by Yuming and arranged by Masataka Matsutoya（松任谷正隆）. The first several notes had quickly pegged this one as a tune by the Queen of New Music herself and it comes off sounding like a breezy 1960s love ballad of pining away. The lyrics describe a walk between a man and a woman who may be on the cusp of elevating their relationship to bona fide boyfriend-girlfriend but the lass is sulkily grinding her teeth because the lad has yet to commit.

Pretty much all of the songs that I've covered on Yoshiko Miyazaki（宮崎美子）have revolved around her 1981 album "Mellow" and just from my memories, my impression of that album has had me thinking technopop. However, Miyazaki's cover of "Tamerai" has the arrangement of how Yuming and her husband would have taken care of their own discography at that time: with a bit of rock anchoring the breezy pop.

Last but not least is Keiko Masuda（増田恵子）, aka Kei formerly of Pink Lady（ピンクレディー）. She gives a breathier performance of "Tamerai" which was her 2nd single from June 1982. Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）arranged things here but the arrangement is similar to that for Miyazaki's take. As for Yuming's own cover, you can listen to an excerpt at Apple. The song was a track on her 9th album from June 1980, "Toki no Nai Hotel"（時のないホテル）.