Narumi Yasuda -- Tsuki no Muse（月のミューズ）

 

Of course, it all depends on where you live, but earlier this morning, Torontonians had another opportunity to catch the latest blood moon up in the sky. Sleep was more of a priority for me so I was happy enough to witness the phenomenon via television.

In keeping with the lunar theme, I would like to introduce "Tsuki no Muse" (Moon Muse) by 80s aidoru and actress Narumi Yasuda（安田成美）. Some days ago, I received a comment from someone underneath the article I provided for her April 1984 sophomore single "Tropical Mystery"（トロピカル・ミステリー）and they told me about the Ryuichi Sakamoto-esque（坂本龍一） feeling imbued in the B-side which is "Tsuki no Muse".

Well, whenever anyone tells me about a song that I had never heard that has a Sakamoto-esque feeling, I do listen. And indeed, "Tsuki no Muse" is different from the Fashion Music-ish "Tropical Mystery" in that there is a whimsical technopop arrangement that reminds me of what the late great Professor did back in those days with synthesizers, but the crazy thing is that it was the same three fellows behind the A-side that were responsible for the B-side: lyricist Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）, composer Masaaki Omura（大村雅朗）and arranger Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）. Many thanks to that commenter.

Narumi Yasuda -- Tropical Mystery（トロピカル・ミステリー）

 

Yeah, it's been tropical here for the past several days but we might get a break within the next several hours in the form of a thunderstorm which might bring some much-needed rain. Meanwhile, the air conditioner is going full tilt and I'm hoping that we won't be suffering any more micro outages or even worse due to an overload of the electrical system.

Speaking of tropical, I have a Narumi Yasuda（安田成美）song here for the first time in a couple of years on the blog. "Tropical Mystery" was the actress-singer's 2nd single from April 1984 and it was also included on her debut album "Yasuda Narumi" which was released on the same day as the single. 

The first time that I heard this one, I swore that the song had been created by singer-songwriter Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）just because of that bouncy whimsical arrangement that weaves between Fashion Music and regular pop. Ironically, Ohnuki's first time as an album producer was for Yasuda's 2nd album "Ginger"（ジィンジャー）in 1988. Another reason for the assumption is that "Tropical Mystery" sounds rather similar to Ohnuki's "Natsu ni Koi Suru Onna Tachi"（夏に恋する女たち....The Women Who Love In Summer) which came out the previous year.

However, the melody was actually composed by Masaaki Omura（大村雅朗）and arranged by Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）with Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）supplying the lyrics. Yasuda isn't the steadiest of singers but it seems as if her vocals match the whimsy and fantastical romantic feeling emanating from "Tropical Mystery" perhaps even more here than was the case with her most famous song "Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa" (風の谷のナウシカ), which is also available on "Yasuda Narumi".

Narumi Yasuda -- Sabishii Yasashisa（寂しい優しさ）

 

My main memory of actress Narumi Yasuda（安田成美）is her role in the Fuji-TV drama of the early 1990s, "Sugao no Mama de"（素顔のままで...Just the Way You Are) which was somewhat of a variant of the Hollywood flick "Beaches" with Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey. She had that attraction of the sweet and innocent woman in a tall and willowy form (although she's actually two inches shorter than me). Interestingly enough, I also saw her in another remake of an even more famous movie: "Roman Holiday" (via TBS) with some major tweaks to the characters although I could see Yasuda as an Audrey Hepburn type.

I wouldn't find out until some years later that Yasuda had been the singer of the theme song for one of Studio Ghibli's most famous movies "Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind" (風の谷のナウシカ). It's an adorable song as Yasuda's debut single although her label as an aidoru helped in accepting the fact that she was never a strong singer as nikala pointed out in the article for the song.

Apple excerpt only

"Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa" was indeed the lead track for Yasuda's debut album "Yasuda Narumi" which was released in April 1984, and looking at the songwriting information for the album, it looks like a mixture of Happy End and Yellow Magic Orchestra members was helping out. For example, lyricist Masao Urino（売野雅勇）provided the words for one track "Sabishii Yasashisa" (Lonely Kindness) which was composed by the late Yukihiro Takahashi（高橋幸宏）of YMO (he also produced the album).

I've noticed that on Yasuda's J-Wiki profile that she's been identified as an actress and a narrator but not as a singer. I promise that this will be the last time that I mention the observation that her vocal prowess left much to be desired back then, but there were a few times while listening to "Sabishii Yasashisa" that I had to cringe, even while knowing and liking my aidoru singers from the 1980s. For this techno-aidoru tune, it would have been interesting if Takahashi had actually covered it on his own since the song seems to fit his style. As it is though, I do like the arrangement by Takahashi.

Yasuda's debut album peaked at No. 53 on Oricon.

Narumi Yasuda -- Toumei na Orange（透明なオレンジ）

 

Welcome to the beginning of another work week. It has been a very frigid start and I know that for a fact because I had to go out for the grocery shopping earlier this morning, and if I'm not mistaken, there was only a single degree Fahrenheit out there (-17 degrees Celsius). So, it's plenty cold but for some good news, it seems as if my province of Ontario has decided to very slowly re-open the economy although Toronto won't be feeling the warmth for a couple of weeks yet at least.

Apple Link

(excerpt only)

It's quite hard to believe that September 2013 was the time when contributor nikala wrote up the only Narumi Yasuda（安田成美）article for what is arguably her most famous song "Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa" (風の谷のナウシカ) from the Studio Ghibli movie of the same name. I had heard that Yasuda had provided songs in the 1980s but my only memories of her involved her time as a full-time actress on dramas such as "Sugao no Mama de"（素顔のままで）. Yet, I'm more than happy to provide my own first Yasuda yarn.

As nikala stated in her article, aidoru-age Yasuda wasn't the strongest of singers but I certainly don't mind the arrangement surrounding her 3rd single, "Toumei na Orange" (Clear Orange) from July 1984. Composed by singer-songwriter Yoshitaka Minami（南佳孝）and arranged by Motoki Funayama（船山基紀）as a spacey technopop-jazz tune (I can pick up on the very brief "In The Mood" tribute), the lyrics by Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）tell the story of a coquettish mermaid entrancing the fellow who's been staring at her beauty, among other things.

"Toumei na Orange" didn't get onto either of her two studio albums but it was included on her first BEST compilation which came out in November 1984.

Narumi Yasuda -- Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa (風の谷のナウシカ)

Long before the Tokyo local Narumi Yasuda (安田成美) made a permanent switch to acting, she started off as an aidoru in 1984, putting out 6 singles and 2 albums until 1988. Her debut single was created as a theme song for "Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind" (風の谷のナウシカ), the film responsible for launching the mighty force that is Studio Ghibli. Yasuda herself has often been referred to as "Miss Nausicaa" because her ethereal voice reminded the listeners of the main character. Because I haven't yet gotten the chance to watch the film myself (it is on top of my "to see" list), I cannot speak of how the lyrics reflect any of the scenes there. One thing I can say is that it's one of my top favorite aidoru songs ever.

Written and composed by the team of Takashi Matsumoto (松本隆) and Haruomi Hosono (細野晴臣), the song emits the aura of girlish sweetness combined with a sense of wonder and mystery. Yasuda was never a strong singer and every live performance I've seen of this has been terribly underwhelming, but I can still vouch for her studio vocals being a perfect fit for the song's fantastical atmosphere. Hosono's presence is evident in that quirky melody and light techno synths throughout the verses, though it was actually Mitsuo Hagita (萩田光雄) who arranged the song. With a huge repertoire dating back to 1973, Hagita's approach was always along the lines of traditional kayo kyoku, which is what you hear in orchestral backing of the chorus. I still think Hosono was partly involved in the arrangement, just uncredited. The combination of those two elements is what makes this a classic techno kayo piece in the purest sense of the word. I have to say the best part is that flute that blows through the bridge like a gentle breeze before the triumphant strings launch the march of the chorus. Makes me want to look out the window at the blue sky hovering over green hills. In my case, it's the range of tall green mountains surrounding Gifu City.

The single "Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa" peaked at No.10 on Oricon weeklies and became the 63rd-ranked song of 1984, selling 209,000 copies total for the original release. It was also remastered 3 times in CD format in 1988, 2000, and 2004.

Source: Big Wave blog at www1.plala.or.jp