Yukihiro Takahashi -- Kanashiki Blue Colour Worker（悲しきブルーカラーワーカー）

(1952-2023)

 (from Amazon)

I end this broadcasting day on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" on a sad note unfortunately since there has been another Japanese musician who has left this mortal coil. Scott's "Holly Jolly X'masu" Twitter feed was the first source that I had read about Yukihiro Takahashi's（高橋幸宏）passing at the age of 70 on January 11th, but then I saw that in the last several hours, other accounts were posting their condolences and tributes to the singer-songwriter, drummer and producer. I knew that Takahashi had been suffering from a brain tumour but it was still a shock to hear about his death.

The Tokyo-born Takahashi was involved with a number of bands and other music projects ranging from the Sadistic Mica Band in the 1970s to METAFIVE in the 2010s. Of course, he had his own solo career, coming out with albums such as "Saravah!" in 1978. However, I will always know and cherish him as the drumming and singing member of the legendary Yellow Magic Orchestra which also had bassist Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）and keyboardist Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）. Takahashi was the one who composed "Rydeen" (雷電）, one of the trademark songs if not the trademark song for YMO and perhaps even a musical symbol for 1980s Japan.

In tribute to the man, I found this really happy-go-lucky December 1980 3rd solo single by Takahashi called "Kanaishiki Blue Colour Worker" (Blue Colour Worker). Written by Chris Mosdell and composed by his YMO partner Hosono, it's really a laidback pop duet stroll down the merry lane while it is dressed up in all of those synthesizers and technology. Takahashi's singing partner is none other than Sandii from Sandii & The Sunsetz and the two of them seem to be having a ball behind the mike. Also from Hip Tank Records, I found out that it was Kenji Omura（大村憲司）handling the electric guitar. "Kanashiki Blue Colour Worker" was also a track on his 2nd album "Ongaku Satsujin"（音楽殺人...Murdered by the Music） from June 1980 which peaked at No. 12 on Oricon.

Mosdell's lyrics might be hard to hear due to all of the techno stuff happening to Takahashi's and Sandii's voices, but I did find a YouTube commenter by the name of Arisu who was kind enough to provide them underneath the video. Just in case, though, I will also put them down below. My condolences go to Takahashi's family, friends and fans, and also to Sakamoto and Hosono along with all of those other musicians and singers that he worked with over the decades.

Walls of blue I'm walking through

Blinding my eyes

Flooding in behind

Washing away

The colour I see

The colour in me 

The colour I feel

The Blues 

Sometimes green carry knives of envy

The Blues 

Sometimes see red 

Keep it bottled in their heads

The Blues 

Sometimes green

The Blues 

Sometimes see red 

The Blues are colour blind 

To all but blue in their eyes

Walls of blue

Surprise you

Out of the blue 

(Blue is you) [transcriber's note: not included in the lyric book, going by what I hear]

Naked blue

Is a red letter

Written about you

(Blue is you)  

The Blues 

Sometimes green carry knives of envy

The Blues 

Sometimes see red 

Keep it bottled in their heads

The Blues 

Sometimes green

The Blues 

Sometimes see red 

The Blues are colour blind 

To all but blue in their eyes

Blue is silent 

Blue is golden 

The touch of blue

Leaves blueprints on you

[instrumental]

Walls of blue I'm walking through

Blinding my eyes

Flooding in behind

Washing away the colour I see

The colour in me 

The colour I feel

 

The Blues 

Sometimes green carry knives of envy

The Blues 

Sometimes see red 

Keep it bottled in their heads

The Blues 

Sometimes green

The Blues 

Sometimes see red 

The Blues are colour blind 

To all but blue in their eyes

Blue is silent 

Blue is golden 

The touch of blue

Leaves blueprints on you

[instrumental]

Blue is silent 

Blue is golden 

The touch of blue

Leaves blueprints on you      (rep x4)

As a PS, Takahashi was the YMO member that I saw the most on television during those early years in Japan. He used to host a late-night Friday entertainment news series called "AXEL".

Sunsetz -- An Antenna

 

Hope all of you are doing OK this Sunday. Here in Toronto, we've been having over 4000 new daily cases of COVID for a number of days now but we're hanging in there with the restrictions and the like. 

I found a rather intriguing song by Sandii & The Sunsetz（サンディー&ザ・サンセッツ）although depending even on different pages of the same website, their 1981 album "Heat Scale" labeled the band as either Sandii & The Sunsetz or as just Sunsetz. Just for the heck of it, I will use the latter name.

"An Antenna" is one of the Side-B tracks on the LP, and one descriptor on Discogs labels the album as Leftfield, a category that points out that it's not easily categorizable, although New Wave and Synthpop have also been used to describe it. I think that Leftfield label could also be used when I listen to "An Antenna". It starts off with a patter of syn-drums and blippy bass before some twangy guitar enters the soundscape. Then, Sandii herself comes in with the rap surrounded by wisps of her own meowing background chorus.

Although it's obviously not the same song, I did get some atmospheric vibes of Blondie's "Rapture" which is why I did put up the New Wave tag although it doesn't come across to me as the usual New Wave that I remember from my youth (no mention of anyone eating cars). Despite the syn-drums, I don't think it quite comes under the category of Synthpop either. If I actually had the Label, maybe it would be a form of avant-pop. Sandii and Makoto Kubota（久保田麻琴）were the lyricists here and Kubota took care of the melody while Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）arranged everything.

Sandra Hohn/Yuji Ohno & Lupintic Five featuring Yoshie Nakano -- Love Squall（ラヴ・スコール）

 

Hope your weekend is getting off to a great start. Unfortunately, my province has had to be locked down for the next 28 days once more due to skyrocketing cases. Over 3000 and change in each of the past couple of days so I'm hoping that there is some light coming over the horizon eventually. 

On a happier note, it also looks like the blog's "Lupin III"（ルパン三世）file is growing as well. I found one of the ending themes for the second series of the legendary anime which had its run between October 1977 and October 1980. This is "Love Squall" that premiered from the 52nd episode so I'm surmising that this may have been in late 1978. This was sung by Sandra Hohn, which was another alias for Sandii of Sandii & The Sunsetz fame.

Sounding like a jazzy and snazzy accompaniment to a lazy cruise down the Riviera, the whimsical "Love Squall" is just the song that the title character would appreciate playing with a successful wooing of the buxom Fujiko. The horns including the saxophone and the silky strings all enhance the atmosphere of one classy caper somewhere in the south of France. Yuji Ohno（大野雄二）, the master behind the music of "Lupin III" was once again behind the music here with Sanaho Maki（槇小奈帆）providing the lyrics. "Love Squall" also made its presence known on the 1984 "Lupin the 3rd ~ Perfect Collection" album.

In 2011, there was another entry in the "Lupin III" franchise with "Lupin III ~ Chi no Kokuin - Eien no Māmeido"（ルパン三世 血の刻印 〜永遠のMermaid〜...Blood Seal of the Eternal Mermaid）, a TV special that was originally broadcast in December 2011, and with it came a cover of "Love Squall". This time, it was performed by Yoshie Nakano（中納良恵）, vocalist for the jazz/avant-pop group Ego-Wrappin', with Yuji Ohno & Lupintic Five, and although there is a good dollop of jazz in this version, too, the arrangement this time has more of a funky disco sheen, and there's even a repeated riff that has been lifted from Julio Iglesias' Spanish take on Cole Porter's "Begin The Beguine" from 1981.

Nakano and Ohno have collaborated before via "Lupin III". In fact, it was the actual iconic theme.

Sandii & The Sunsetz -- Where the Fire Still Burns

 

Yeah, I would agree with one commenter under the YouTube video for this song that there is something quite Kate Bush about it.

And I think that commenter is probably thinking about the lower tones that Bush can reach rather than the really high notes which is more a comparison to Akiko Yano's（矢野顕子）vocals. But this time, we're talking about Sandii & The Sunsetz' "Where the Fire Still Burns" from the band's 1982 album "Immigrants".

Perhaps it's a bit of a punny thing to say considering the title, but indeed the song is very smoky, exotic and exotica as Sandii herself seems to slowly wisp herself around the many stems in the bamboo forest as she sings about a lady trying to salvage something out of a relationship that may be running out of fire and time. David Sylvian provided the lyrics, the synthesizer and the backing vocals while Makoto Kubota and Kenichi Inoue（久保田麻琴・井上憲一）composed the mysterious and enticing music.

Sandii & The Sunsetz -- Sticky Music

Having this song reach either No. 8 or No. 11 on the Australian pop charts depending on whether you read the Wikipedia article on the band or the Hip Tank Records summary, this is something that can go into the same territory as Kyu Sakamoto's（坂本九）"Ue wo Muite Arukou"（上を向いて歩こう）.

Sandra O'Neale had released a number of singles in Japan since the mid-1970s, but "Sticky Music" was the first single as the vocalist of Sandii & The Sunsetz, the configuration that I've always associated the singer with. Even with the release year, there was some initial confusion but I can now safely state that it was released in 1984, according to the liner sheet photographed onto that Hip Tank Records page.

Written by Chris Mosdell and composed/arranged by Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）, both from Yellow Magic Orchestra, this is considered to be New Wave but I think that it can also go into the straight pop genre just from how laid back it sounds. Hosono even pops up in the very first scene from the music video. I gotta add that Sandii looks great in that black-and-red outfit as she silkily struts her stuff on the floor and through the mike.

According to the Wikipedia article on Sandii & The Sunsetz, the band probably got a lot of support and recognition due to their time in the UK with artists such as David Sylvian and then later touring with bands like Eurythmics, INXS, Blondie and the legendary David Bowie. Then, came their appearances in Australia which got "Sticky Music" high on the charts over there. Not sure how well the song did in Japan, though.

Speaking of that title, I had been wondering about how it came about. Then, I saw the official music video in which Sandii is providing some breathy commentary midway during the song. The sticky in "Sticky Music" is a pun on suteki（素敵）meaning wonderful or marvelous.

Sandii -- Idol Era

December 1st and right on cue...we've been getting hammered with freezing rain, ice pellets and perhaps some snow all day. Weather folks are telling us just to stay home today and I can believe it. I only stepped out to get the newspaper and it felt like I was marching through the wastes of the planet Hoth.

For your "Eating Pleasure" indeed. The band Sandii & The Sunsetz were just getting themselves together and off the ground, changing from The Sunset Gang of blues and West Coast rock into a synthpop act at the end of the 1970s. But before they started putting out records in this new form, Sandii released a solo album called "Eating Pleasure" in 1980.

The first time that I heard Sandii was through the catchy and chirpy Yellow Magic Orchestra "Absolute Ego Dance" in which she contributed some of the vocal effects alongside "R2-D2". So when I heard this lead track on "Eating Pleasure", "Idol Era", for the first time some months ago, the song right away smacked of YMO arrangement. And sure enough, looking up "Idol Era" on the JASRAC database revealed that it had been written by Chris Mosdell and composed by Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）.

With that old glompy techno beat, the rock guitar and Sandii's sultry vocals, I couldn't help but get that feeling of American band Blondie after listening to "Idol Era" a few times now.

Sandy O'Neil/Keiko Utoku & Fusanosuke Kondo/B.B. Queens -- Good-by morning（グッバイ・モーニング）

Earlier this afternoon, NHK's "Gogo Uta"（ごごウタ）was on and one of the guests happened to be a Chinese-born singer, Enrei（媛麗）, who gave this performance of a ballad titled "Good-by morning". Usually the program features a lot of enka and Mood Kayo, but this particular number was more on the pops side, and the way that Enrei sang it reminded me of some of the songs by 80s singer Ruiko Kurahashi（倉橋ルイ子）.

Thinking that it was a new song (and obviously not reading the songwriter information that usually pops up at the bottom of the screen), I decided to look it up on YouTube and J-Wiki. Although I couldn't find out anything about Enrei, I did discover that the singer was actually doing a cover whose origins were in the 1970s.

1976, to be exact. I saw the video that you see above and saw the singer's name as Sandy. But looking at the woman on the cover, I thought it could have been Sandii as in Sandii & The Sunsetz, a band that I had always identified as a New Wave group, certainly from the song that I had written about, "Battery" from 1986.

Indeed that Sandii and the Sandy for this song were one and the same (real name being Aya Suzuki/鈴木あや). Starting her career in show business as a pin-up girl in the early 1970s, she also released a few singles under the name Sandi Ai（サンディー・アイ）and then Sandy O'Neil. Included in those was "Good-by morning" which earned her a top prize in singing at the 7th World Popular Song Festival in 1976.

With lyrics by singer-songwriter Mayo Shouno（庄野真代）and music by Kaoru Nakajima（なかじまかおる・中島薫）, the original "Good-by morning" has that plaintive tone as a man tries to fix things with his love although it's not at all certain whether he will be successful. However, he's going to do his darnedest while the meaning of that title hangs over his head. The melody, though, sounds pretty hopeful with a hint of blues in there.

I don't know how "Good-by morning" did back then, but apparently it has been covered by a variety of artists over the years. One example was in November 1992 when blues singer Fusanosuke Kondo（近藤房之助）and Keiko Utoku（宇徳敬子）from the trio Mi-Ke did a duet version of the song with the title written in English. I like this version even better since it has quite a bit more blues feeling and it reminds me of an Eagles ballad. The single peaked at No. 19 on Oricon and is available as a track on Utoku's BEST album, "THE BEST 'eternity'" from December 2003.

Now with both Kondo and Utoku having collaborated as part of B.B. Queens (Mi-Ke was the backing chorus trio for the group), that group decided to go for its own version in 2011 as a track in the 25th anniversary edition single of their most famous song "Odoru Ponpokorin"（おどるポンポコリン）. This take definitely has more of a 50s doo-wop style.

Incredible how curiosity into a song on a kayo show can reveal a whole lot about its history.

Emy Jackson/Maria Anzai/Sandii & The Sunsetz/Minako Tanaka/Melon Kinenbi -- Crying in a Storm/Namida no Taiyo （涙の太陽）

Golly, I think the above list of names is probably the largest I've typed down for an article since I started the blog. It's kinda like the roll call at the Oscars. Ah, a bit of hyperbole there but I guess with all of the times that this song has been covered since the 1960s, I can't be surprised that as soon as I heard it again on music.163, the recognition factor kicked into high gear.

"Namida no Taiyo" directly translates as "Sun of Tears" but I guess that was too abstract for the studio execs so instead its English title is officially "Crying in a Storm". Considering the images of go-go boots and all of those 60s dance moves like The Shimmy or The Swim that have popped up in my noggin whenever I hear it, I had initially thought that it was Force of Nature Linda Yamamoto（山本リンダ）who was behind the song. Actually, though, it was another half-Japanese lady who started the ball rolling.

Emy Jackson was born in Sussex, England but was working in Japan as an assistant for a radio program at Radio Kanto in 1964 when she met prolific lyricist Reiko Yukawa（湯川れい子）. Obviously the meeting went very well since Jackson found herself behind a mike within the year recording "Crying in a Storm" as her debut. Yukawa was indeed responsible for the lyrics and in keeping within the entirely English lyrics and non-Japanese taste of the song, she allowed herself to use the pseudonym of R.H. Rivers (Reiko Hot Rivers). Yasutoshi Nakajima（中島安敏）came up with the wild and groovy music.

There was no Oricon chart back then, but according to J-Wiki, once the single was released in April 1965, it placed at No. 4 on the "Music Life" magazine foreign record rankings. And it managed to sell about 700,000 records, so obviously by any reckoning, this was a huge hit.

Just a month later, a singer by the name of Michi Aoyama（青山ミチ）covered it in Japanese with the lyrics also provided by Yukawa. I couldn't find any sign of that version but the above video has the next listed singer on the J-Wiki article to cover it, Maria Anzai（安西マリア）. The Tokyo-born Anzai was working at a Ginza nightclub when she was scouted, and it turned out her debut as a singer was "Namida no Taiyo".  Her cover peaked at No. 16 on Oricon and sold almost 130,000 records after its release in July 1973. She also won the Best Newcomer Prize at the Japan Record Awards that year.

Many years later, eclectic band Sandii & The Sunsetz did their own version of "Crying in a Storm" as a single released in June 1989. It went as high as No. 84 on Oricon.

Out of all of the different versions of "Namida no Taiyo", the first one that I ever listened to (or at least remembering listening to) was this one by singer-actress Minako Tanaka（田中美奈子）. There must be something about good fortune attached to the song since as was the case with Jackson and Anzai, this particular song was also the debut tune for Tanaka. It was released just a month after Sandii's version and peaked at No. 18. Might I say that she looks rather turn-of-the-decade fetching? :)

Finally, Melon Kinenbi（メロン記念日）released the most successful version of "Namida no Taiyo" according to the Oricon rankings. The Hello Project group's 12th single came out in June 2004 and peaked at No. 15.

Of course, other singers have covered "Namida no Taiyo" but J-Wiki highlighted the above folks so I'm assuming they are the acts that had the most success with it. All of this immortalization of this one song came from a fortuitous meeting at a radio station.

I've gotta say that I'll have to cover Reiko Yukawa under the "Creator" tag sometime soon. I had no idea that she was behind the lyrics for this kayo chestnut, and she has gone on to write songs for a number of pop artists such as Akiko Kobayashi（小林明子）, Junichi Inagaki（稲垣潤一）and Ann Lewis（アン・ルイス）into the 80s.

Akina Nakamori -- Bitter and Sweet (Follow-Up)

One of my first entries for "Kayo Kyoku Plus" was Akina Nakamori's（中森明菜）"Bitter and Sweet" album from 1985. I had been enthused to write about it, and yet I only wrote about the first two songs which troubled me to a certain extent considering that I've always considered her 7th album as the gamechanger in her career. For this album, composers and lyricists from EPO to Yosui Inoue to Toshiki Kadomatsu to Minako Yoshida had their fingers in this pie, so to speak, and from that factor, Akina-chan was stretched to try a number of genres within Japanese pop music.

(karaoke version)

As I mentioned in the original article, "Bitter and Sweet" was divided into the bitter A-side and the sweet B-side, and it was there that I talked about the two songs on that former side, "Kazarijanainoyo Namida wa" (飾りじゃないのよ涙は）and "Romantic na Yoru da wa"（ロマンチックな夜だわ）. And I also talked about "Yokan"（予感）, Track 3 on Side A which also got a place on a smaller mini-album, "My Best Thanks" which came out at the end of 1985.

The other notable song from that bitter side was "Babylon" which was created by the good folks at Sandii and the Sunsetz. Sandii herself took care of the fiercely enticing lyrics and the backup vocals while her bandmate Makoto Kubota（久保田麻琴）came up with the alternately mysterious and raucous melody. Throughout "Bitter and Sweet", Nakamori was a melodic chameleon....or a block of tofu, if you like....absorbing the various flavours of the styles of the singer-songwriters, and here, she took on that pop/rock pose. The song portrayed Babylon as this hedonistic palace where angels and devils could both sip their champagne and make merry....hmmm....sounds like the ol' Gas Panic in Roppongi. In any case, what struck me was the usage of English and the way that Akina kept enunciating the title in a silky and dangerous voice as if she were Lorelei herself. She could promise a lot of pleasure but could not guarantee protection from the potential pain. "Babylon" was definitely well-suited for the A-side.

As much as "Babylon" put a definite period onto the bitter side of "Bitter and Sweet", "Unsteady Love" set the tone for the sweet side with its summery boppy beat by Toshiki Kadomatsu（角松敏生）. Akina grabbed the song and ran down the beach with it like a post-exam coed on vacation. And considering it was written and composed by Kadomatsu, there was a certain Anri-ness（杏里）to the overall feel of the tune. Yet, there was also a bit of a connection between "Unsteady Love" and "Babylon" in that the first song of Side B hinted at young, shallow and tenuous early relationships. But unlike the devilish leer of "Babylon", "Unsteady Love" presented its hedonism with a feckless grin. Hey, it was fun but gotta go....y'know what I mean, eh? (air kiss)

"Koibito no Iru Jikan"（恋人のいる時間...Lovers' Time）had Akina covering the City Pop beat with that sax and synth. I could see the skyscrapers of West Shinjuku at sunset listening to this one easily. Written by SHOW and composed by drummer Akira Jinbo（神保彰）of the famed Japanese fusion band, Casiopea, the song related a relaxing day (despite the urgent beat) of a young couple probably high up in a hotel suite or swanky apartment in that very area. As I put in the "Bitter and Sweet" album into the player again, I had to think about how the melody went but as soon I heard it again, I finally realized how cool and urban it was.

"So Long" was another Toshiki Kadomatsu creation for Nakamori. Unlike the happy-go-running "Unsteady Love", "So Long" was a much more laid back "Smell the roses" ballad with some old-fashioned soul thrown in for good measure. I think it made for a nice little warm-down for the listener as the album started to draw to its end.

And finally the album came to a soft landing with the even softer ballad "April Stars" by the Empress Dowager of J-R&B, Minako Yoshida（吉田美奈子）. The singer sang about a couple confessing and acknowledging their love one night almost like a lullaby, and it made for a fine quiet ending to an album that began with a roar.

As I said before, the first album I bought of Akina was "D404ME", a good work in itself that was released just 4 months after this album. However, getting introduced to "Bitter and Sweet" was the point where I solidly became an Akina Nakamori fan. All that variety in melodies and styles matched with the former aidoru's developing and deepening vocals came together to create one of my favourite albums in my collection. There are actually a couple of tracks left that I haven't covered yet but it will just be a matter of time before my talk on the No. 9 album of 1985 is complete.

Akina Nakamori -- Firestarter

There was a time in the mid-to-late 1980s when I was kinda wondering where Akina Nakamori （中森明菜）was going musically. I mean, I appreciate now that she was trying out different styles way beyond what folks had been expecting her as an aidoru-turned-pop superstar, but at the time I was trying out her albums at that time like "Fushigi" （不思議）and "Stock", I thought she was going a bit too eclectic on me.

Still, I remember her 1988 12th album, "Stock" as Akina's foray into rock music. Seeing that cover of her in the leopard-skin and the long black hair, I thought she was trying to emulate Canada's Lee Aaron, the metal queen of the Great White North during the 80s. One of the songs on that tape that was quite memorable for me was "Firestarter". Written and composed by Sandii and Makoto Kubota（久保田麻琴）, both members from Sandii & The Sunsetz, Akina was doing her best to screech out those lyrics against that pounding electric guitar. And then when she was giving full throat to the title itself, I started thinking, "Akina Nakamori....the Lee Aaron of Japan"...well, maybe not. But I just had to imagine the possibilities of this former aidoru becoming a potential inspiration for much headbanging.

"Firestarter" was never released as a single but "Stock" peaked at No. 2 and became the 14th-ranked album of 1988 after its release in March of that year.

And here is Lee Aaron herself with "Metal Queen".

Sandii & The Sunsetz -- Battery

I have been hearing about Sandii & The Sunsetz for decades but never got around to hearing their music until now. But then, last month a commenter for another article by the name of Terry Platt mentioned about how much he liked this unsung band, and I do remember seeing the striking face of Sandii (Sandy O'Neil/Aya Suzuki) on a number of albums. Plus, Sandii herself (as the commenter also stated) has had a long friendship with the good guys at the Yellow Magic Orchestra, even providing some spirited voiceover on one of my favourite tunes by the technopop trio, "Absolute Ego Dance".

So, with all that impetus, I decided to hit YouTube and came across their 4th single from 1986, "Battery". Listening to the song and watching the video brought back a flood of images of the old music videos. And even though this song was from the mid-80s, the video itself looked more like something produced a half-decade earlier (and I'm not saying this in a bad way since I've got a fair amount of sepia-and-rose memories for ancient music videos). "Battery" has that New Wave vibe, and although the Wikipedia article for the band mentions that Sandii and leader Makoto Kubota（久保田麻琴）became good friends with Deborah Harry and Chris Stein of Blondie fame and even stated that they were influenced by them, this particular song reminds me of a less sultrier and more poppier version of an old Canadian band, Rough Trade. In addition, I gotta say that Sandii's outfit in the video is so very, very 80s. I hope she returned it to Pat Benatar after the video shoot.

The Wiki article for Sandii & The Sunsetz is right here. And now that I've gotten my feet wet with the band and have enjoyed the swim, I'd like to take a bit more of a look. Any friend of YMO is a friend of mine.

Yellow Magic Orchestra -- Absolute Ego Dance/Taiso (体操）

Continuing on with YMO, "Absolute Ego Dance" was never released as a single but was part of the album "Solid State Survivor" when it was released in late 1979. A five-minute blast of techno fun, it mixes in Okinawan and Indian influences (according to the J-Wikipedia write up), and even has a bit of R2-D2. Sandii (of Sandii & The Sunsetz) contributes her speaking-in-tongues.

"Taiso" (Exercise) was a single from the "Technodelic" LP released in late 1981. I think the video helps out with the song since it's so whacked out. If you have ever dreamed of the YMO boys in an exercise informercial...then you've come to the right place. As actors, YMO make great musicians, but at least they're having fun. As for the young lady, I think she was having more than vitamins coursing through her veins. Apparently, the video was influenced by a Talking Heads video, most likely "Once In A Lifetime".