Natsuko Yamamoto -- Jounetsu wa Shoukyuushi (Oyasumi)（情熱は小休止(おやすみ)）

 

Once again, we've reached Hump Day in the middle of the week when a lot of the working or studying population are crying out for a little breather. Too far away from last weekend and too far away from the upcoming one, Wednesdays can be quite hard to take, but endure them we do.

Speaking of breathers, I give you "Jounetsu wa Shoukyuushi (Oyasumi)" (Passion's Taking a Little Break...Good Night), another track from Natsuko Yamamoto's（山本奈津子）lone 1984 album "19/20". Her previous two tracks featured here on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" were the cutesy City Pop "Hachi-gatsu no Fuan"（八月の不安）and the synthpop "Kuchibiru Scandal"（くちびるスキャンダル）. So it looks like we've got some variety in "19/20" here because "Jounetsu wa Shoukyuushi" seems more like straight-line pop.

From what I remember, passion has been a popular word in kayo kyoku titles and lyrics, so it's rather refreshing to hear that the emotion is blurting out that it's decided to go on a bit of a vacation. After all, even passion has to wind down its fire once in a while. Written by Yumi Morita（森田由美）and composed by Nobuo Tsunetomi（常富喜雄）, the bass and the synths are in there for sure but those representative instruments of City Pop and technopop aren't quite showing the flag, so to speak, in this particular track, maybe in reflection of what the title says. Even Yamamoto herself sounds like she's more than ready to take that nap on the chaise lounge.

Natsuko Yamamoto -- Kuchibiru Scandal（くちびるスキャンダル）

 

Back in August 2022, I posted an article regarding Natsuko Yamamoto（山本奈津子）, a singer and actress who had a brief career in entertainment during the 1980s before calling it quits in 1988. Her "Hachi-gatsu no Fuan"（八月の不安）from her lone November 1984 album "19/20" was a slice of City Pop with a hint of synthpop. 

I found another track from "19/20". "Kuchibiru Scandal" (Lip Scandal) is a track that takes things more fully into the technopop realm. The whimsical nature of the song made me think initially that either Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）or Akiko Yano（矢野顕子）or maybe even EPO had their hands in the arrangement and/or composition. It was all the more surprising that it was the same duo behind "Hachi-gatsu no Fuan" that took care of "Kuchibiru Scandal". Mirai Minegishi（嶺岸未来）was once again behind the lyrics while Fujimal Yoshino（芳野藤丸）, someone that I usually associate with the groovy City Pop realm, came up with the blippity-bloppity music.

This time around, the demands to have Yamamoto hit the higher registers vocally weren't nearly as great as they were for "Hachi-gatsu no Fuan", so the singer had a better handle on the delivery. Still, the song is quirky enough to be appealing as a good ol' 80s pop tune from Japan.

Natsuko Yamamoto -- Hachi-gatsu no Fuan（八月の不安）

 

Indeed, it is August, and yep, it is feeling somewhat hot and humid outside and inside. The ancient fan is still doing its best to keep me cool.

(Sorry but the video has been taken down.)

As such, I've been keeping this particular song in storage until the month was ready. Greetings to Chiba Prefecture-born Natsuko Yamamoto's（山本奈津子）"Hachi-gatsu no Fuan" (August Worries) which is a track on her one and only album from November 1984, "19/20".

Yamamoto isn't listed on J-Wiki as a singer but as an actress and a TV personality, and perhaps that isn't too much of a surprise since her voice wasn't particularly the greatest, especially in the higher registers. In fact, her debut at the age of 18 in show business took place in a roman porno in June 1983 and a number of her roles were in the softcore porn industry, although she also appeared in at least a couple of TV dramas under the name of Atsuko Saito（斉藤厚子）during that decade.

With Mirai Minegishi（嶺岸未来）providing the lyrics, "Hachi-gatsu no Fuan" has a funky bass-and-horns arrangement thanks to composer Fujimal Yoshino（芳野藤丸）, so I'm guessing that the song straddles the line between City Pop and aidoru pop. As for Yamamoto, she got married in 1988, retired from showbiz and then later got divorced after which she started up an aromatherapy salon. However in 2005, she returned to acting.