Mayumi Asaka -- Niji Iro no Yume（虹色の夢）

 

Since I began the Mayumi Asaka（朝加真由美）file back in 2023, I've learned that the Hokkaido-born entertainer had been a singer of City Pop and then jazz in the 1980s. She was also and remains an actress and according to her J-Wiki article, her first dramatic role was in a 1973 episode of "Ultraman Taro"（ウルトラマンタロウ）as heroine Saori Shiratori（白鳥さおり）when she was a teen.

Well, I guess we've come full circle then, because I am providing her very first single which was released in August 1973. Her name back then was rendered all in hiragana（あさかまゆみ）and stayed so for the first couple of years in her career before reverting to the whole kanji route. But getting back to that debut song, it was "Niji Iro no Yume" (Rainbow Dreams) and as the title sounds, the down-home country-style melody by composer Koichi Morita（森田公一）and arranger Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）is a very upbeat tune fit for an aidoru of that time although she hasn't been categorized as such on J-Wiki. However, I still get these Mari Amachi（天地真理）vibes after listening to the song a few times. Yu Aku（阿久悠）was responsible for the lyrics.

Mayumi Asaka -- My Heart Belongs To You

 

With my previous article being "Night Drive" for all those City Pop fans who want to take it out on the road in the evening, I guess this article can be about the nocturnal jazz while enjoying time at some intimate alley bar downtown. And it's from a source that I hadn't expected.

All this time, the Mayumi Asaka（朝加真由美）file on KKP was one that really consisted of tracks from one album; namely "Yasashii Kankei ~ Mayumi I"（優しい関係...A Gentle Relationship） from October 1981. It was indeed a City Pop release and Asaka was good for it. And J-Wiki only lists that album as her only album output in her discography. Well, strangely enough, the discography was lacking by at least one more album. In 1984, Asaka released her purely jazz album titled "Loving For...". Right from the start, we get "My Heart Belongs To You" with the singer and band providing a smoky version which deserves its own tumbler of scotch. Finally glad to add a totally new angle to the Asaka file.

Mayumi Asaka -- Toki yo Hohoende（時よ微笑んで）

 

The last time I wrote on actress-singer Mayumi Asaka（朝加真由美）was back last December when I posted the article for her "Hold On Me", a track from her lone album, the October 1981 "Yasashii Kankei ~ Mayumi I"（優しい関係...A Gentle Relationship）. Well, I've got another track here titled "Toki yo Hohoende" (It's Time to Smile).

Written by Tomoko Aran（亜蘭知子）and composed by Daiko Nagato（長門大幸）, it's another City Pop treat with the wailing electric guitar and the boppy bass, but there are also some interesting classical piano riffs ripping through the instrumental bridge. And Asaka's slightly husky voice keeps things within the urban contemporary. 

Mayumi Asaka -- Hold On Me

 

Just for the curious, the above is a shot of Mito Station at night. I stayed at the hotel right by the station after heading out of Oarai, the anime pilgrimage town for all things "Girls und Panzer".

One of the strange things about my two postings regarding actress-singer Mayumi Asaka（朝加真由美）is assuming that I first wrote them years and years ago. But crazily enough, the two of them that I've written about her so far only date back as far as 2023. In fact, my more recent article up to now was her "Sasowarete..."（誘われて...）from this May. Well, the mind does go a bit hinky after a certain age, but the excuse I'll use in my defense is that the music of Asaka is simply so nostalgic that my memories played a trick on me.

In any case, we have the country-blues of "Sasowarete..." and the City Pop of "My Endless Scene", both from Asaka's one-and-only album "Yasashii Kankei ~ Mayumi I"（優しい関係...A Gentle Relationship）, from October 1981. "Hold On Me" is also from that album but it was also the B-side of the singer's seventh and final single from January 1981, "Yasashii Kankei". "Hold On Me", not to be confused with one of Kahoru Kohiruimaki's（小比類巻かほる）classics, is an intrepid nocturnal City Pop entry with a boffo bass bopping away to Kazushi Inamura's（稲村一志）melody (and I'm assuming that it is him who is providing the background vocals) along with some spicy electric guitar. Asaka herself wrote the lyrics.

Mayumi Asaka -- Sasowarete...（誘われて...）

 

A couple of years ago, I posted an article regarding "My Endless Scene", a City Pop song recorded by actress/singer Mayumi Asaka（朝加真由美）as the first track for her one-and-only album, "Yasashii Kankei ~ Mayumi I"（優しい関係...A Gentle Relationship）, from October 1981. It's a relaxing slice of urban contemporary for all those high-rise dwellers and visitors.🌇

This time, in contrast to that Side A, Track 1 song, I have Asaka's Side B, Track 1 song. "Sasowarete..." (Enticed...). And I would like to emphasize the contrast since this particular number starts off with a brief soliloquy by the actress herself in a rainy milieu for the first several seconds before the melody by Daiko Nagato（長戸大幸）begins with a revelatory chorus which turns into a comely arrangement of lilting country and blues. With lyrics by Tomoko Aran（亜蘭知子）, "Sasowarete..." also has that reminder of a 1950s or 1960s ballad, especially with that saxophone solo in there. 

Mayumi Asaka -- My Endless Scene

 

I never heard of the actress and singer Mayumi Asaka（朝加真由美）but she has shown up on a couple of television jidai geki, "Abarenbo Shogun"（暴れん坊将軍）and "Mito Komon"（水戸黄門）among her many roles. She's also done her fair share of cheesecake photos, and the above brief commercial excerpt gives a quick taste of her sultriness. Born Hiroko/Masako Takeuchi（竹内容子）in 1955, she hails from Hokkaido and made her debut in show business through a soap commercial in 1971.

The music side of her career lasted between 1973 and 1981 with 7 singles and 1 album resulting from it. From that lone album "Yasashii Kankei ~ Mayumi I"（優しい関係...A Gentle Relationship） in October 1981 comes the track "My Endless Scene", which was written by Asaka and composed by Masanori Sasaji（笹路正徳）. As befitting that album title, the song is a laidback tune in the City Pop vein for sunrise or sunset or even an especially lazy afternoon. Asaka doesn't have the most expressive vocals but there is some nice smoke in them, and perhaps the song in general is a bit reminiscent of what Takako Mamiya（間宮貴子）would sing the following year.

But I do have to say that the cover for "Yasashii Kankei", as sexy as it may look, also makes me wonder whether Asaka while looking out the window was saying something like "Did that kid actually take off with my bike?!".