Mari Ashibe -- Mimosa Iro no Koi（ミモザ色の恋）

 

Ahh...before I finish off Wednesday on KKP tonight, I do have to inform you that the past couple of days have been rather unprecedented in my humble city of Toronto. One of its nicknames for the city has been The Big Smoke because a lot of other cities have been given than name as well due to the usual smog that would envelop a growing metropolis. However, we really do have a ton of smoke around us now and maybe into the weekend. That is the case thanks to some major forest fires in Northern Ontario and Quebec pumping a lot of that stuff our way and also into the United States. Our sunsets have been rather mimosa-coloured.

Well, just by coincidence, I've got a song with the title of "Mimosa Iro no Koi" (Mimosa-Coloured Love). Hopefully, it's more intoxicating than suffocating as it is in Toronto. But regardless, it's quite the dramatic tune and maybe with that mandolin-sounding instrument in there, maybe it can also be considered an exotic kayo, that late 1970s subgenre of kayo kyoku which sounds like a trip through a faraway nation. Judy Ongg's（ジュディ・オング）"Miserarete"（魅せられて）is one example.

The interesting part is that it's sung by Mariko Ashibe（芦部真梨子）or as she was known early in her career, Mari Ashibe（芦部真梨）. I say interesting because thus far her file here on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" has had her singing tunes in the City Pop style going further into the 1980s. But I did mention in my very first article for her, "Highway Dancer"（ハイウェイ・ダンサー）, that according to a certain blog that she may have begun her career as an aidoru. Her debut single was indeed "Mimosa Iro no Koi" which came out into the stores in 1982, and yep I can believe that it would be heard as an aidoru tune from those days as well. But it is quite a refined song because of its creation by lyricist Kazumi Yasui（安井かずみ）and composer Kazuhiko Kato（加藤和彦）, plus there is some jazz in there too which possibly foretold Ashibe's switch to that genre under the new stage name of Reina Muramoto（村本玲奈）.

Anyways, I'm going to bed wondering how much of a campfire I'm going to end up smelling like when I return from grocery shopping tomorrow.

Mariko Ashibe -- Garasu no Kamen（ガラスの仮面）

 

Earlier today, NHK's morning variety show "Asaichi"（あさイチ）devoted its truncated time (the Diet is having Question Period these days) toward manga which has had a deep impact on people.

Amazon.jp

One such manga is the 1976 "Garasu no Kamen" (Glass Mask) about a young girl willing to go the distance to become a stage actress. One woman featured on the show adored the manga so much that she opted to get away from her delinquent way of life and pursued an acting career for several years before settling down. 

In April l984, an anime adaptation was put on NTV and I have to admit that the opening credits are honestly quite creepy with Maya Kitajima's（北島マヤ）frozen mask of a face (maybe that's the point; I've never read the manga) as she's prancing about in her blue swimsuit. Suddenly, images of that Darren Aronofsky film "Black Swan" come to mind.

However, I've got no problems with the opening theme "Garasu no Kamen" since it mixes together a combination of City Pop supplied by singer Mariko Ashibe（芦部真梨子）and Frank Stallone's 1983 hit "Far From Over". And of course, with the opening credits and the melody, "Flashdance" also pops up in the memory. Masao Urino（売野雅勇）supplied the lyrics while Gouji Tsuno（つのごうじ）came up with the snazzy music with Kazuo Otani（大谷和夫）handling the arrangement (my compliments on the horn section).

Ashibe is already profiled here through a couple of articles based on two tracks from her one-and-only album under that name (she has gone by Reina Muramoto（村本玲奈）, jazz singer, since 1986), "Street Scandal"（ストリート・スキャンダル）.

Mariko Ashibe -- Private Friday（プライベート・フライデー）

 

From Tower Records

A few years back, I contributed an article regarding Hyogo Prefecture-born Mariko Ashibe（芦部真梨子）and her lone 1984 album "Street Scandal"（ストリート・スキャンダル）, and I did mention that I was slightly disturbed by the front cover. Calling The Equalizer!

fromjapan.co.jp

Yahoo.jp

However, looking at the inside of "Street Scandal", it appears that Ashibe held her own quite well, and in fact, she even had the wherewithal to relax on the cool night pavement later on. No idea where the assailant's body ended up.

To join her "Highway Dancer"（ハイウェイ・ダンサー） as the album representative on KKP, I give you "Private Friday" this Friday. With lyrics by Akira Ohtsu（大津あきら）who also wrote "Highway Dancer", the City Pop melody was provided by Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）, and with those tight horns including a solo saxophone, images of Anri（杏里）and Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）come flying along with the breezy feeling of driving along Tokyo Bay. Ashibe's vocals also remind me to a certain degree of Meiko Nakahara（中原めいこ）.

I don't usually lap up a song from YouTube that has just been uploaded on the same day since it seems a bit hasty and vulture-like, but the channel belongs to my near namesake Kayo Wave Plus and I've just read that they will be scaling back on their contributions due to various circumstances. The channel has had a lot of good songs put up there over the years and so it will be too bad that it will be slowing things down. However, I wish Kayo Wave Plus all the best in their future endeavors and thank them for the good music thus far.

Mariko Ashibe -- Highway Dancer（ハイウェイ・ダンサー）

Tis the first Friday of the year, so perhaps it's time for some City Pop once more. Maybe there are still folks out there on both sides of the Pacific who still need to drive off some of that nervous Holiday energy.

Commenter roelm remarked on my recent article on my choices for 1980s City Pop albums that there was a new discovery in the form of this singer who had aspirations as a jazz chanteuse but also did her fair share of anison and urban contemporary material. Her name is Mariko Ashibe（芦部真梨子）, and according to this Japanese blog, she had started out as perhaps an aidoru in 1982 (although the photos of her on the blog had her looking not so much as a teenybopper singer) under the name of Mari Ashibe（芦部真梨）, then Mariko Ashibe and over to Reina Muramoto（村本玲奈）and then just Reina before going back to one of her previous names. According to that same site, Ashibe had also participated as a personality both on TV and radio.

roelm was kind enough to tip me off on this first track, "Highway Dancer" from her debut album as Mariko Ashibe, "Street Scandal" (1984). A bit of a worrisome album cover although we know that there are many more far more problematic covers, but "Highway Dancer" is quite the tonic for City Pop fans with that slap bass and pretty terrific riffing horns. And considering that Ashibe may have debuted as an aidoru in 1982, she made a quick transition into funk and boogie.

I was able to glean from the picture of the record in the video that the lyricist was Akira Ohtsu（大津あきら）but the composer's name was too difficult to pick out. Did some searching through Yahoo.jp and finally found out that he was a fellow named Kenzo Shikuma or Shiguma（志熊研三 ）. Also, according to this record website, guitarist Makoto Matsushita（松下誠）had a hand in the album's development.

As well, I was informed that "Highway Dancer" may have gotten some inspiration from a 1981 dance song called "Gonna Get Over You" by Canadian singer France Joli. Yes, we in the Great White North can boogie, too. Keeps us warm.