Megumi Satsu -- Give Back My Soul

For me, Megumi Satsu（薩めぐみ）was quite the iconoclast. Although she started out as a regular kayo singer in the late 1960s, she transformed into not only a chanson singer but also into this chanteuse that couldn't be readily categorized. I bring you "Give Back My Soul" which was released in 1986 as an illustration.

If Sally Bowles from the famed musical "Cabaret" had been born Japanese decades ago and become a chanson singer before getting jaded over the years but still continuing her career, I think she would have been somewhat like Satsu as she is in this video. It isn't totally chanson despite the heavy French accent but it does have a certain je ne sais quoi avant-garde nature along with New Wave (especially that intro) thrown in, to boot. And as for the video, it would be something that I would have seen on an episode of "City Limits", that local 1980s late-night video program featuring some of the more intriguing and artsy creations.

The lyrics certainly aren't anything light and comforting. Satsu's protagonist is traumatized and lamenting her lot in life after suffering rape. Although "Give Back My Soul" has that sort of weird airiness that could leave the words up to any sort of interpretation, I think in this case, the situation is literal.

Megumi Satsu -- Silicone Lady

Last month, I was introduced to a most interesting lady and singer in the figure of Megumi Satsu（薩めぐみ）. As I mentioned in her debut article on the blog, "Je M'aime", although she was listed as a chanson singer, so far, I've seen her as someone who fully engaged her New Wave.

Case in point: her 1984 "Silicone Lady". I couldn't find the lyrics for this song that had me thinking of some of the more avant-garde music from Canada and the UK that I heard back in that same decade. However, according to one site, "Silicone Lady is a cheesy hi-NRG track with insane lyrics about a crazy doctor who gave birth to a female robot who tries to emancipate from his evil creator… ". Hmm...I wonder if it had been inspired by the Fritz Lang movie "Metropolis" in some way. In any case, growing up with music back in the 1980s, it does have that technopoppy appeal that had me interested in bands like The Spoons and Visage.

Megumi Satsu -- Je m'aime

In the last few days, I was made aware of a singer that I had never heard before by the name of Megumi Satsu/薩めぐみ (1948-2010). According to her bio on J-Wiki, she was labeled as a chanson singer but having come across some of her videos on YouTube, I think there was more to her than just that one label. When I started this blog back in early 2012, I not only wanted to talk about the songs which I've enjoyed of my past and present, but also converse about new singers and songs that I've been lucky to encounter. I certainly expected that in fields like City Pop and enka but never thought I would find something new in the Chanson label. In fact, the only singer that I knew in that genre was Fubuki Koshiji（越路吹雪）.

As I told the fellow who had introduced me to the late Ms. Satsu via her music, I received a number of musical impressions from the stylish chanteuse. It wasn't just chanson or the fact that she sang mostly in French. Genres like New Wave, avant-garde and techno also washed over me, and then I was reminded of singers such as Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）and Miharu Koshi（コシミハル）in the 1980s, although their music still had an anchor in Japan. Megumi Satsu was definitely someone in a class all by herself.

Looking at her videos, her visual style was also quite striking. For her release of "Je m'aime" in 1980, I was intrigued since that was about the same time that I was introduced to some of the more out-there music videos from America and the UK with folks such as Klaus Nomi, Nina Hagen and the band Visage. And yep, she was certainly different from anyone that I had known about from that year in Japanese pop music.

Considering that I've only known about this very unusual singer for just a few days, I don't think I can really give any useful insights on Ms. Satsu until I do a bit more exploration. However, there is a Wikipedia entry on the singer and also a website dedicated to her.