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).

Mami Yamase -- Starlight Serenade（スターライト・セレナーデ ）

 

It's been a good long while since I've seen former 80s aidoru and tarento Mami Yamase（山瀬まみ）on Japanese television because it seems that TV Japan and the new Jme don't have the programs that feature her. She was always known for that strangulated voice which I've always thought was more of an affectation for show business rather than her real voice. And I believe that in recent years, the squeakiness has possibly mellowed down.

For that matter, it's been five years since I posted the last Yamase article onto "Kayo Kyoku Plus". That was for the zany "Go!"（ゴォ）from 1989 which took more advantage of her stage speaking voice. However, as mentioned in that article, her earlier aidoru tunes had her sounding much more pleasant and creamy. In fact, I got another demonstration of her singing prowess through her 7th single from September 1987, "Starlight Serenade" which also served as the second opening theme for the mecha anime "Kikou Senki Dragonar"（機甲戦記ドラグナー...Metal Armor Dragonar）. 

Composer Daisuke Inoue（井上大輔）and arranger Kazuo Otani（大谷和夫）went for a loud-and-proud pop/rock arrangement that could be considered to be Pat Benatar-lite. Meanwhile, Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）provided lyrics about pining for that hero out there while reminiscing about more innocent times when the lad was still within arm's distance. And Yamase sounds like she was channeling her inner Ayumi Nakamura（中村あゆみ）singing this.

Marcos V.'s short selection of 80s female aidoru singers

Eri Nitta -- WHO?

Apple excerpt only

Starting off this list with Eri Nitta’s (新田恵利) awkward, but surprisingly captivating baby voice, “WHO?” is a bouncy and serviceable Eurobeat song released in 1988. Even though I still feel Nitta’s voice was a joke, I actually find it full of personality here, and the chorus is quite catchy as well. Nothing groundbreaking, but it deserves a listen, even if just for the fun.

Minako Honda -- Tokyo Girl

(The lower video is for those who
couldn't see the upper video due to availability
limitations.)

It’s been just a few days since I talked about Minako Honda’s (本田美奈子) English language “OVERSEA” album here on the blog, but now I want to highlight one of her Japanese songs, and a rather rare one, called “Tokyo Girl”. Released as the coupling song to her single “Help”, in 1986, “Tokyo Girl” is a very nice pop song, and I just love the way Honda almost dramatically sings “You are Tokyo girl…” and “I am London boy…”, or the opposite, during the choruses. I can’t help but sing along with her.

Mami Yamase -- Aishuu no Barcelona

(cover version)

When I see the name Mami Yamase (山瀬まみ), it’s her wacky and punky persona that comes to mind. However, before committing to this particular style, her career started in a more traditional aidoru route. And even during her “normal” days, she was still able to surprise us with things like “Aishuu no Barcelona” (哀愁のバルセロナ), a dramatically sung track with a cold and ominous Euro/synthpop arrangement included in the album “PRIVATE EDITION”, from late 1987.

Rumi Shishido -- Cosmic Rendezvous

Just like Mami Yamase, Rumi Shishido (宍戸留美) also recorded traditional aidoru pop before doing her more experimental stuff, and her debut single, “Cosmic Rendezvous” (コズミック・ランデブー), is probably the best example of it. Released in 1990, I just love the mess that is the cute-faced Shishido singing this aidoru/Techno Kayo tune while showing her long legs in a Moritaka Chisato-esque (森高千里) outfit and doing a choreography with a stick.

Eriko Tamura -- NEXT

The talented and voluptuous Eriko Tamura (田村英里子) is the aidoru behind today’s final song. Called “NEXT”, this over-the-top song is probably my favorite in all her discography, and the reason lies on the devastatingly dazzling Carnival-esque synth arrangement that permeates most of it. Other than that, well, Tamura can’t dance properly, but her awkward choreography is what makes the video so endearing in my opinion. “NEXT” was the coupling song to her single “Honki” (真剣), released in 1989.

Mami Yamase -- Go!（ゴォ）

I can probably say that tarento Mami Yamase（山瀬まみ）may be the Queen of Variety Shows considering the lineup of programs that she's been on in Japanese TV. She used to be the regular panelist on the currently running NHK information variety program "Tameshite Gatten"（ためしてガッテン）, and at the time I wrote my first article on her, she had still been on the show but a couple of years ago, she decided to call it a day and "graduated". And unfortunately, none of the other programs that she appears on are provided by TV Japan, so she's been missing on my family's screen since 2017. Incidentally, she may still be the Icon of Insect Repellent since she's been the spokesperson for Kincho for the longest time as you can see above.

When I was still in my first stint at university in the 1980s, I had heard about Yamase as that squeaky-voiced aidoru but never heard her songs. However, when I was in Gunma at the turn of the decade, I was watching the late-night show "MTV Japan" early on Saturday morning and finally caught this bizarre video featuring her. At the time, I would have said that this belonged to any of those music channel programs which specialized in the weird and wonderful music videos.

This was indeed my first encounter with Yamase singing a song, and it happened to be "Go!", a tour-de-force tune that may have been inspired by a demented circus. I really couldn't say that it was an aidoru song...at least, not a run-of-the-mill one, anyways. Bringing in pop, rock and ska into a whirling dervish of an arrangement, I also had the opportunity to see the music video in my darkened room. Whatever you do, don't watch this in a darkened room.

Discovering her earliest tunes much later on, I realized that Yamase had a pretty nice and light voice, and I've realized that the squeaky delivery she's shown all these years whenever she's been on TV is a stage thing and not really how she sounds in "civilian" life. Therefore, I would say that "Go!" is more of her tarento voice gone haywire in a mad opera.

"Go!" was the first track on Yamase's 3rd album "Oyayubi Hime"（親指姫...Thumbelina） which was released back in November 1989. It was written by Kenzo Saeki（サエキけんぞう）or Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）depending on whether you look at J-Wiki or YouTube, but it was definitely composed by Tamio Okuda（奥田民生）of the band Unicorn. The album peaked at No. 39.

Speaking of "MTV Japan", seeing this video of Kenta Hagiwara and Dionne Mitsuoka simply brought back all those memories of watching late-night Japanese telly again. It was a rather odd experience in that I had known about MTV in America as the premier music video channel (yes, believe it or not, kids, it used to show only music videos), but in Japan, it was represented as an overnight show on TBS televised for a few hours going into the weekend.

Mami Yamase -- Modern City

I just got to see the veteran tarento Mami Yamase（山瀬まみ）on her regular NHK variety show "Tameshite Gatten"（ためしてガッテン）. Usually, the show is broadcast on Thursday nights on TV Japan, but since we are in the Holidays, tonight's episode was shown on Monday night as an extended year-end special.

Just a few days ago, I came across one of her old songs when she was a late 80s aidoru. Titled "Modern City", I was rather struck by this particular song which was actually the B-side to her 4th single from New Year's Day 1987, "Strange Pink". I mentioned once before that I've observed that a number of the aidoru tunes during this part of the decade had somewhat lusher and more exotic arrangements such as a more European twist as if Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）had come to the rescue.

The title "Modern City" had me intrigued enough as it was, but the actual song itself didn't strike me as being the run-of-the-mill aidoru tune. I gather that one reason would be the songwriters behind this one: lyricist extraordinaire Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）and singer-songwriter Yoshitaka Minami（南佳孝）with arranger Shigeru Suzuki（鈴木茂）at the helm as well. Quite the pedigree here. It's light and airy enough to be an aidoru song but there is also a bit more refinement with "Modern City" that could have brought Yamase into the straight pop category. And once again, Yamase's singing voice reveals that her squeaky speaking voice on various programs is a TV artifice.

Mami Yamase/Ami Tokito -- Melon Tameiki （メロンのためいき）

Ah, behold the textured musk melon. Y'know, I have appreciated the sloppy wet wedges of green that have appeared before me as a summer dessert over the years. I mean, they are juicy and refreshing and all, but melons have never really usurped my favourite fruits, apples and peaches. Nowhere close. But in Japan, the musk melon may as well be re-named as the God Fruit considering how much one can cost (all due respect to the King of Fruits, the smelly durian) in one of those well-to-do supermarkets below the department store in Tokyo. $100 a pop? That melon should be lined in silk when it gets put into that wooden crate. And I haven't even mentioned the various melon-based products such as melon sodas and melon bread that are so popular over there.

All that foreground to introduce "Melon Tameiki" (Melon Sighs), Mami Yamase's（山瀬まみ）debut single from March 1986. Yamase has been a regular figure on television since her aidoru days via variety shows and commercials, and she's notable for that babyish face and a speaking voice that sounds like Betty Boop with strep throat (supposedly an affectation in front of the cameras only according to J-Wiki). I've only known her as a tarento and for one song whose video got onto "MTV Japan", "Go" (a completely whackadoodle tune by Tamio Okuda of Unicorn screamed out by Yamase), so listening to "Melon Tameiki" was a breath of fresh air....or a sigh of melon proportions.

Written by Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）and composed by Yuming （ユーミン）under her aidoru-friendly Karuho Kureta（呉田 軽穂）pseudonym, Yamase has that slightly off-tune but pleasant enough delivery which characterized the average 80s aidoru. In fact, her singing voice sounds practically mellow when compared to how she has spoken. In a way, she sang it like how a wedge of musk melon would taste.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3aiecy

On Thursday nights here, TV Japan broadcasts "Tameshite Gatten"（ためしてガッテン）from NHK, a program that features the latest food trends and remedies from all sorts of ailments. The Saitama-born Yamase has been a weekly presence in our household as the one permanent panelist on the show. When she was an aidoru, I remember that she had a bit of a reputation as being somewhat flighty and sensitive (perhaps again just for the cameras) but on "Gatten", she's often been the more stable rock of reason compared to the vaudevillian male host.

Ami Tokito（時東ぁみ）is responsible for the first time that I ever heard the pop-culture term "Meganekko"（眼鏡っ娘...Glasses-Wearing Girl）. Born a year after "Melon Tameiki" made its release, I remember her popping up on the telly as this petite and ever-smiling teen in the spectacles. Again, like Yamase, I didn't know too much about her singing sideline, but she was appearing on the variety shows and in the magazines as a pin-up girl.

However, she did a cover version of the Yamase debut as one of the songs on her debut album from December 2005, "Sanagi no Bathrobe"（さなぎのバスローブ...Pupa's Bathrobe）. Considering how much she was flirting with the musk melon in the video, she probably was fully aware of the prestige of that particular fruit. And she didn't have a bad set of pipes on her either.