Hiroaki Igarashi -- Because

By Torsten Bolten

 

I found myself on Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles just once in my life since I was on a mini-bus tour of the city back in the summer of 1989. It was just as well that I stayed within air-conditioned comfort on the bus because I couldn't even imagine stepping into any of those ritzy establishments.

Looking at the cover of singer-songwriter Hiroaki Igarashi's（五十嵐浩晃）May 1982 4th album "Wing" reminded me of Rodeo Drive for some reason although I'm not sure whether that is indeed a depiction of one of the world's most expensive commercial streets. But with those deep blue skies and the tall palm trees, it definitely strikes me as being very Los Angeles.

One of the tracks is "Because", a new urban discovery by me that I always cherish this late since the City Pop boom in the late 2010s. Written by Tetsuya Chiaki（ちあき哲也）and composed by Igarashi, it starts off feeling oh-so-80s and then the gallivanting rhythms of the genre begin racing through the streets fueled on a boppy bass. Despite the daytime album cover, "Because" is more nocturnal as Igarashi's protagonist welcomes an old flame back into the apartment after she's gone through a tough spot. He still has feelings for the lass but understands that they are just friends now. Maybe it's a bittersweet thing but more on the sweet side thankfully.

Hiroaki Igarashi -- Hatsukoi no Machi（初恋の街）

 

Man, I hope he was able to steer that boat safely. Yes, I am talking about singer-songwriter Hiroaki Igarashi（五十嵐浩晃）. I have no doubts about his day job but I'm not sure how he did with the craft there.

But all that could have been just for the cameras when Igarashi and the powers-that-be were taking shots for the cover of his August 1981 3rd album "Sailing Dream". I'm assuming that the release was all about the City Pop and AOR. For example, one track "Hatsukoi no Machi" (The Town of My First Love) seems to be doing a split between jaunty pop and AOR. Written by Tetsuya Chiaki（ちあき哲也）and composed by the singer himself, it's quite the happy-go-lucky musical accompaniment of a man returning to his hometown after a while away (which apparently includes a synthesized version of an ocarina...maybe?) to see old buddies, and maybe that first girlfriend. He's being pretty coy about his intentions and putting on the strong front that he has no desperate need to see her but if this were a Japanese rom-com, I just know that he'll strain himself into all sorts of predicaments to see his old flame...without looking like he's trying to see his old flame. The song has that feeling.

Etsuko Sai -- Mujaki na Hito（無邪気なひと）

from Amazon.jp

I swear that the more I see the cover of Etsuko Sai's（彩恵津子）July 1984 debut album "Reach Out", the more I think that the stylish house behind Sai is the same one that got illustrated on Tohoku Shinkansen's（東北新幹線）album cover of their 1982 "Thru Traffic". And I'm still going to say that the good folks at paint companies such as DuPont and Glidden must be salivating in joy at the lovely exterior.

Regardless, I have another track from "Reach Out" to join other tracks such as the title track and "Heart wo Knock Shite"（ハートをノックして）that have gotten their due on the blog. This time, it's Track 5, "Mujaki na Hito" (Innocent Man) which was written by Tetsuya Chiaki（ちあき哲也）and composed by Hiroyuki Iso*（磯広行）. Incidentally, I've seen online that Iso is a percussionist who's also acted as backup chorus on songs such as "Kanashimi ga Tomaranai" (悲しみがとまらない）by Anri（杏里）.

It was a tad difficult to categorize "Mujaki na Hito" although I have nothing against the song itself; it's a lovely tune with an old-school Hollywood jazziness and sophisticated pop feeling. Kinda feel like mixing a couple of martinis for me and the missus whenever I hear that sax-y intro (nice strings, by the way). But by the time I reach the chorus, that boppy bass and the keyboards take me into City Pop land or something appropriate for Resort Pop. 

*I'm not totally sure on the correct pronunciation of the composer's family name. As usual, if anyone can confirm or correct it, that would be greatly appreciated.

MANNA -- Horohoro Zoushi（ほろほろ草紙）

 

It's a nice day for a World Cup opener in my hometown. It's sunny, a bit breezy and a whole lot drier and cooler than it was yesterday when we were swimming in atmosphere and being threatened by thunder and lightning. Hope Canada and Bosnia-Herzegovina play a good one in a couple of hours.

Anyways, I hadn't been sure if this track from MANNA's 1979 album "Chabako Trick" was considered to be a City Pop song but after listening to it a couple of times, "Horohoro Zoushi" (Crumbly Ol' Notebook), the arrangement and instruments in use here made me see the light. Plus the title didn't exactly make me think of tall skyscrapers, beautiful people and speeding convertibles. But in the end, the groovy bounciness and the instruments turned me around.

Written by Tetsuya Chiaki（ちあき哲也）and composed by Yu Imai（今井裕）, I'm not sure what the song is about. Perhaps it's all about some fellow's or lady's notebook from high school with all sorts of doodled phrases, pictures and other silliness...and many years later, the adults are taking another look. Embarrassment ensues, possibly. Anyways, "Horohoro Zoushi" shares track space with "Yellow Magic Carnival" which I believe is one of the first of MANNA's songs to be covered on the blog.

Yukari Kato -- Neppu Hankyu（熱風半球）

Vyacheslav Argenberg
via Wikimedia Commons

If you are reading this on your computer terminal surrounded by sand, palm trees and blue sky, then you have my envy. This morning, I woke up to a -20-degree Celsius forecast and mandatory layers of clothing. Spring is still two months away.

Well, at least I can enjoy a tropical vacation vicariously through music. Case in point: Yukari Kato's（かとうゆかり）3rd single "Neppu Hankyu" (Hot Wind Hemisphere) from April 1983 which is a blast of that titular wind through Latin and disco. It was used as a campaign song that year for what would later become Japan Air System, and the melody loudly invites travelers to head on south.

Speaking of that melody, it was composed by Takashi Watanabe*（渡辺敬之）with Tetsuya Chiaki（ちあき哲也）on lyrics. The Aichi Prefecture-born Kato was a singer and tarento who was active in the mid-1980s and was apparently discovered while singing at a Roppongi live house. Her J-Wiki bio states that she had usually preferred 1960s pop over the contemporary stuff but "Neppu Hankyu" certainly wasn't an example of that. Kato would release five singles up to 1985 and one original album in 1982.

*That first name's kanji has too many readings so I took a stab at it. If anyone can correct or confirm the reading, please let me know.

Ayako Sawada -- Dance ni Muchuu（ダンスに夢中）

 

Welcome to another weekend! It wasn't too long ago when we were all wondering when the seemingly oppressive heat would end. Well, in my area, it's great today but tomorrow we're expecting four inches of snow on the ground when all is said and done. Be careful what one wishes for. Anyways, I did a bit more grocery shopping than usual in preparation for the first big snowstorm.

Geez , actress-singer Ayako Sawada（沢田亜矢子）looks like how I felt when I first heard the news of the big storm. Mind you, she's looking like that within the comforts of a vintage car. Car sick?😓

By the way, the above thumbnail for the video shows the cover of Sawada's third and final album to date "Silky Night" which was released in 1981. One of the tracks was also her 7th single from October of that year, "Dance ni Muchuu"（In Love with Dancing）. Now, several years ago, its B-side, the pleasant City Pop "Air Pocket"（エア・ポケット）was something that I had covered since it was available on one of the "Light Mellow" compilation discs. 

However, "Dance ni Muchuu" is a different animal. Written by Tetsuya Chiaki（ちあき哲也）, composed by Kisaburo Suzuki（鈴木キサブロー）and arranged by Kimio Mizutani（水谷公生）, it's a very mild-mannered pop song with a swinging contemporary 1950s beat. Ah, that Suzuki wailing electric guitar is in there, I hear. Delivered in a sultry way by Sawada, I can gather that the end result of the song in-universe is how she looks in the car above...a little too muchuu in the dancing.

Juicy Fruits -- Yume Miru Shelter Ningyo（夢見るシェルター人形）

Wikimedia Commons by Airair

I saw this very high up on my bookmarked backlog so I had marked this a very long time ago. At first, when I came across "Yume Miru Shelter Ningyo" by the Juicy Fruits（ジューシィ・フルーツ）, I'd assumed that this was something new. But of course, at my age, memory starts failing. 

First off, the familiarity of the song was there. Then, when I dug further, I realized that I had posted the song back in 2018 when France Gall first sang it as "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" (Wax Doll, Rag Doll) in 1965. The Japanese title was "Yume Miru Chanson Ningyo"（夢見るシャンソン人形）, so I have no idea why the Juicy Fruits changed that one word in the title of their 1982 version.

And speaking of that version, it's more of a rock n' roll take on the original and the other covers that I mentioned in the other article. Tetsuya Chiaki（ちあき哲也）provided the Japanese lyrics. It was also used as the theme song for a 1982 movie titled "Weekend Shuffle".

Perhaps one ought to watch "Weekend Shuffle" with tongue thoroughly in cheek and alcoholic libations fully in mouth.

Midori Kinouchi -- Hitotsuki Okure no Christmas（ひと月おくれのクリスマス）

 

Midori Kinouchi's（木之内みどり）time in the aidoru limelight only consisted of a brief four years from 1974 to 1978. However, she does have a few songs up here on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" including her 1976 "Tokyo Meruhen"（東京メルヘン）.

She's even provided a Christmas tune on her 2nd studio album "Juu-Hassai no Ima"（十八歳の今...Now at 18）from December 1975. Heck, considering the release date, I think a song for the Holidays by her was pretty much demanded. I couldn't find the Tetsuya Chiaki-penned（ちあき哲也）lyrics for "Hitotsuki Okure no Christmas" (Christmas a Month Late) but from the title, I could imagine that a couple, due to various circumstances, just couldn't swing a date for December 24th or 25th but things are better in late January for some belated Yuletide stuff. With arrangement by Motoki Funayama（船山基紀）, "Hitotsuki Okure no Christmas" doesn't really sound like a Christmas tune but more of the usual aidoru hijinks although there is an interesting and pensive disco beat including a flute underneath the surface of the original Toshiharu Jitsukawa（実川俊晴）melody. 

Buzz -- Toshi wo Totte mo Kodomo no You ni（年をとっても子供のように）

 

The folk duo Buzz（バズ）will always be remembered for their 1972 folk ballad "Ken to Mary ~ Ai to Kaze no yo ni" (ケンとメリー〜愛と風のように〜) which may have been responsible for the sales of many Nissan Skylines and urges to head out to rural Hokkaido. It was quite the majestic hit for Masakazu Togo（東郷昌和）and Hiroshi Koide（小出博志）.

Cue ahead 7 years. Buzz released their February 1979 5th studio album "A New Day A New Time" and one of the tracks is "Toshi wo Totte mo Kodomo no You ni" (I'll Stay a Child Even When I Grow Old). Written by Tetsuya Chiaki（ちあき哲也）and composed by Togo, this is quite the contrast to the contemplative Simon-and-Garfunkel-like "Ken to Mary". It's kinda like Buzz decided to have a good time on that country-variety show "Hee Haw" in the United States and brought some of that mood back to Japan. But hey, the arrangement fits that title as the guys have determined that age is truly just a number. Not sure whether this was used in any commercial for a vitamin drink or rejuvenating skin cream. In a way, it reminds me of both the really happy "Paloma Blanca" and The Beatles' "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da".

Yuki Nakayamate -- Silhouette Call

 

My first two articles on singer-songwriter Yuki Nakayamate（なかやまて由希）were put up on December 2019 and February 2021. "Ange Blanc"（アンジェ・ブラン）from her 1983 album "Octopussy" and "Ijiwaru Shiokaze"（いぢわる潮風）from her debut 1981 release "Hold Me Tender" talk of two different styles by Nakayamate. The latter was more City Pop/AOR while the former went into a techno-tango style. Comparing the two, I figured that the singer's discography, as brief as it was, would be an interesting one to explore.

Unfortunately, I only found this out within the last hour or so. Nakayamate may have passed away on December 23rd 2022 from pancreatic cancer at the age of 62 according to one source, music writer Takashi Ikegami（池上尚志）on his Twitter feed. I haven't read or heard any other news confirming or denying this, so if anyone else can let me know, that would be appreciated.

I found this other track from "Octopussy" titled "Silhouette Call". I can't really conceive what a silhouette call is, but the song sounds silkily cool with that "...air of sophistication and finesse..." that uploader yaoiboi92 stated to describe the album. There are the keyboards and the bass from City Pop land that reminded me somewhat of a couple of tracks on Mariya Takeuchi's（竹内まりや）"Miss M", but the tropical Latin and the floaty arrangement accompanying Nakayamate's soft-as-cotton vocals make me think more of Resort Pop somewhere in a Jamaican resort. As was the case with "Ange Blanc", "Silhouette Call" was written by Tetsuya Chiaki（ちあき哲也）and composed by Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）.

Hiroaki Igarashi -- Hatsukoi no Machi（初恋の街）

 

Not sure what it's like in your area when May comes around every year, but for us folks in Toronto, it's the month that we can finally (hopefully) put away the winter tires for good and most likely not see any snow again for several months. We also have our first major holiday weekend of the summer with the Victoria Day weekend and the summer activities such as parasailing can get under way.

And perhaps that's what singer-songwriter Hiroaki Igarashi（五十嵐浩晃）was thinking when he came up with his August 1981 third album "Sailing Dream". From it, I offer you the penultimate track from the album, "Hatsukoi no Machi" (First Love Town) which was written by Tetsuya Chiaki（ちあき哲也）and composed by Igarashi, the same duo behind the latter's big hit "Pegasus no Asa" (ペガサスの朝）from 1980. There's even a hint of that song's arrangement in "Hatsukoi no Machi" although overall this tune has more of a down-to-earth vibe and a seeming invitation by Igarashi to join him on his boat as shown on the album cover. I gather therefore that it can fall under the Resort Pop label.

MANNA -- Plastic Blue

 

My very first "Kayo Kyoku Plus" article on singer MANNA was made back in March 2014 when I wrote about her "Tokio Tsushin" （TOKIO 通信）, a quirky City Pop number seemingly made for Paris, France. I was amazed by this one not only because it was the first MANNA song that I'd ever heard but it was also composed by the legendary composer Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）. Even by that point, I was already getting to know how much of a composition palette Tsutsumi possessed, but "Tokio Tsushin" was definitely a revelation for me.

That particular song came from the singer's second album "MANNA" from 1980, and I was able to find another quirky track, "Plastic Blue". From the first several measures, I thought that we were going to get a technopop piece, but the ramp soon left the YMO highway to go onto a City Pop street, and in fact, going into the main chorus, it even turned the corner onto New Wave Avenue. Tsutsumi also took care of the melody here with Tetsuya Chiaki（ちあき哲也）, who was also behind the lyrics for "Tokio Tsushin", being responsible for the words for "Plastic Blue".

Would love to get a copy of "MANNA" if it exists somewhere. The cover alone is worth the price of admission. 😎 It would truly be manna from heaven. Ah, dad joke aside, I also found out some more about MANNA herself, thanks to some evident additions to the J-Wiki article over the past several years. Her real name is Mariko Iwasawa（岩沢真利子）, and she just happens to be married to Satsuya Iwasawa（岩沢幸矢）, one-half of the brotherly duo, Bread & Butter（ブレッド&バター）. They even have a musician daughter by the name of Aisa.

Masahiko Kondo -- Yoisho!（ヨイショッ!）

 

It hasn't been quite a year since weathercaster Rinon Oshima（大島璃音）made her debut on Japan's "Weathernews Live", but almost as soon as she made her debut, she became a quick hit among the fans. Apparently, when she started her segment in December 2021, she allowed herself to quip "Yoisho!" which means "Heave-ho!" or "Upsy-daisy!" or "Here we go!" depending on the situation. 

Perhaps that might not mean much here, but kinda like having one's stomach growl in front of people, in Japan evidently, a young person caught squealing "Yoisho!" might be reason enough for the person to dissolve into a puddle of embarrassment. That certainly seemed to be the case for young Ms. Oshima. I was scratching my head a bit at that, but perhaps "Yoisho!" is something more an older person would remark on standing up with some arthritic knees. I also witnessed a similar situation in an anime when a young lady blurted out "Yoisho!" and it got some laughs from her senpai. If that is indeed the case, then what would a Japanese teen or twenty-something say instead?

Unfortunately, I have no idea at the present time, but heck, back in the 1980s, I guess it was OK for young folks to say this...such as aidoru Masahiko "Matchy" Kondo（近藤真彦）through his 16th single "Yoisho!" from February 1985. Composed by Hiro Nagasawa（長沢ヒロ）and written by Tetsuya Chiaki（ちあき哲也）, the whole feeling behind another quintessentially dynamic Matchy tune is of a summer Japanese festival, but the setting involves a guy really ready for some aggressive romancing and/or busting of heads. And I get the feeling that Matchy's "Yoisho!" is probably more powerfully profane than merely "Upsy-daisy", but that's just me.

"Yoisho!" hit No. 1 on Oricon and ended 1985 as the 57th-ranked single. It also got Matchy his 5th straight invitation to NHK's Kohaku Utagassen at the end of the year.

Rie Nakahara -- Show Boat/Shake, Shake...（シェイク シェイク・・・）

 

Happy Monday! Inbound Japanese tourism has been a topic that's touched upon me and a few of my friends now and then since some of us do want to return to places like Tokyo, and I've got a student who is a senior tourism researcher. It certainly would be nice to visit Yokohama again and see things like the Nippon Maru as is shown above.

Not the smoothest segue, I have to admit, but I'm going to be starting this work week off with a couple of singles by Rie Nakahara（中原理恵）, including her August 1979 "Show Boat". In contrast with her big kayo-sounding hit of "Tokyo Lullaby"（東京ららばい）the year previously, Nakahara and the two songwriters behind that one, lyricist Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）and composer Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）, got back together again with arranger Jun Sato（佐藤準）to create "Show Boat" which actually sounds like more like all three played some Queen and/or Electric Light Orchestra LPs before coming up with this one.

As the chorus sings out "Life is the show boat" in that one enjoys a ride on one of those cruise liners with a handsome captain for a while but while the journey inevitably ends, they can just hop off the one boat and hop onto another one. I'm not nearly as adventurous in my analogies; I'm happy enough just saying that life is a Toyota Corolla.

A few singles and years later, Nakahara came out with a new single in January 1981, "Shake, Shake..." (no idea regarding the three dots afterwards) which has more of a galloping City Pop beat provided by composer Kisaburo Suzuki（鈴木キサブロ）and arranger Motoki Funayama（船山基紀）. Tetsuya Chiaki（ちあき哲也）provides the lyrics about what seems like the trials and tribulations of living the night life in Tokyo. Must have been quite the time in the capital.

Eikichi Yazawa -- Tomaranai HA~HA (止まらないHA～HA)

 

I generally don't do follow-ups of other contributors' works on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" only because that contributor totally writes it all in his or her articles so there is no need for me to follow up. Noelle Tham provided her article on Eikichi Yazawa's（矢沢永吉）"Tomaranai HA~HA" (Non-Stop HA HA) back in early 2018, and she wrote about it being a real banger (for a night out probably in the more dangerous areas of town) as well as it being a crowd-pleaser at the singer-songwriter's concerts.

Not to say that Noelle didn't put her all into "Tomaranai HA~HA". She certainly did but I was so tickled pink by this very quintessential of Yazawa hits that I also had to put in my two pennies. Yazawa doesn't drink BOSS Coffee here...he IS the BOSS! He struts about as if he owns Kabukicho or Roppongi and has no idea or care about fellow strutters Mick Jagger or James Brown.

In the music video (sorry but it's been taken down), he not only laughs off three younger gang toughs like annoying mosquitoes but putts golf on a tabletop like a BOSS! Meanwhile, he sings Tetsuya Chiaki's (ちあき哲也) lyrics as if he's clearly enjoying a Wagyu steak. Eikichi, who also composed the boss melody, is simply loving hedonism in the big city and has no time for sappy love songs. It's Friday night...let's paint the town red, even if there's a bit of blood mixed in!

As mentioned in Noelle's article, "Tomaranai HA~HA" was included as a track on Yazawa's July 1986 album "Tokyo Night" (東京ナイト) and a number of succeeding albums. 

Apparently, television also knew a good thing when it saw one. Fuji-TV used it as the theme song for a recurring show called "IPPON Grand Prix"（IPPONグランプリ）centering on comedians. I don't think I've ever seen funny guys look so cool in a credit sequence. In addition, "Tomaranai HA~HA" has also been used as the entry tune for many a professional athlete including retired baseball legend Ichiro（イチロー）and boxer Daiki Kaneko（金子大樹）. Can you imagine walking into a stadium with this anthem behind you?

Hironobu Kageyama -- Into The Night

 

My knowledge of singer-songwriter Hironobu Kageyama（影山ヒロノブ）is limited but thanks to my anime buddy, I've grown to know him as this leather-lunged rock belter who has come up with the themes for anime franchises "Dragon Ball"（ドラゴンボール）and "One Punch Man". That full-power voice of his could cut through steel.

However, I've found this track from his very first BEST compilation from February 1989, "THE BEST OF HIRONOBU KAGEYAMA". "Into The Night" has that nighttime urban rock vibe and Kageyama toned it down a bit here in his vocals, sounding a bit more like Eikichi Yazawa（矢沢永吉）with the sultriness. Lyricist Tetsuya Chiaki（ちあき哲也）provided the words while Kageyama provided the melody via his inverted pseudonym of Nobuhiro Yamakage（景山浩宣）and bassist Tsugutoshi Goto（後藤次利）arranged everything into its motorcycle ride-friendly format.

I hear that his nickname is The Prince of Anison! After seeing his long list of anime tie-up songs on his J-Wiki profile, I can certainly believe that.

Tazumi Toyoshima -- Shukujo no Tashinami（淑女のたしなみ）

 

Y'know, any more tracks that are like this one and "Belle Epoque"（ベル・エポック）on Tazumi Toyoshima's（豊島たづみ）4th album "Shukujo no Tashinami" (The Tastes of a Lady）, and I'm going to have seriously think about taking advantage of some CD Japan coupons here before the end of 2020.

Her June 1980 release contains the third and title track, and those opening chords are so achingly and appealingly City Pop that I have had to wave myself with a "Light Mellow" album as a fan. Toyoshima has the fine voice for "Shukujo no Tashinami" with that level of huskiness and clarity going in tandem with those wonderful keyboards, the boss bass and the wailing guitar. Allow me to also compliment the singer's staccato delivery of the opening line in the refrain as well.

As was the case with "Belle Epoque", the late great Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）was responsible for the cool music but instead of Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）this time around, Tetsuya Chiaki（ちあき哲也） brought the words for "Shukujo no Tashinami". The song is good enough to accompany that walk around West Shinjuku or Odaiba.

M. TOSIKAZ -- Tokyo Flight

 

Found another track from M. Tosikaz's 1983 album "M. TOSIKAZ I". I wrote about his "Friday Night" last year which is so downtown City Pop that I could just imagine the skyscrapers of Shinjuku rising out of the firmament to surround me as it's playing.

Interestingly enough, "Tokyo Flight" can be part of the City Pop ethos but it also has its other leg in the Resort Pop/J-AOR yard, and I think that it shares some genes with stuff by Toshiki Kadomatsu（角松敏生）and perhaps even Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）. This time, it's not so much skyscrapers that pop up but resort hotels and palm trees. I couldn't find the lyrics for "Tokyo Flight" but I can imagine that the song might be about heading out of Narita Airport back in the day with that significant other to exotic climes or getting away from that significant other following the breakup. M. Tosikaz, aka Toshikazu Miura（三浦年一）, came up with the summery music while Tetsuya Chiaki（ちあき哲也）wrote the lyrics.

"Tokyo Flight" would fit my departures from Haneda Airport these days since the past couple of times that I've visited my old stomping grounds, I always took the dusk flight on Air Canada from there to head back home.

Yuki Nakayamate -- Ange Blanc（アンジェ・ブラン）

I'm more of a casual and not a rabid fan of the 007 franchise although I think the first three movies with Sean Connery: "Dr. No", "From Russia With Love" and "Goldfinger" are pretty stellar. The current and soon-to-be-departing Daniel Craig is also someone that I've been fine with although his movies have been somewhat hit-and-miss: "Casino Royale" and "Skyfall" were great while "Quantum of Solace" and "Spectre" were not (although it was great to see M in that last one get a sorta fistfight as well).

Then, there were the Roger Moore years. His early flicks as James Bond were fine with the height being "The Spy Who Loved Me" but then as the early 80s went by, I was left wondering whether the tone was going to be become even more arch than Moore's eyebrow. To be honest, I don't remember much of those films but "Octopussy" was one title that did stand out, if only to get me giggling like the immature teen I was back then. I think it was the one where Bond actually dressed up like a clown.

Well, much to my surprise many years later, I've discovered an album that actually has the title "Octopussy". Released in March 1983, this was the second album for Yuki Nakayamate（なかやまて由希）, a Tokyo-born singer who pursued a career in music while working as a company employee right after high school. She released three singles and a couple of albums including "Octopussy" before health issues forced her to stop for several years.

The cover of "Octopussy" which has who I assume is Nakayamate on the cover looks pretty dramatic in a European sort of way, and listening to the opening track "Ange Blanc", I also got that feeling of overseas intrigue done up with a mild synthpop beat (nice percolating percussion, by the way), similar to what I've heard from Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）at about the same time and Miharu Koshi（コシミハル）when she began that new twist in her career as a technopop diva. With "Ange Blanc" at least though, Nakayamate's vocals have a richer and deeper delivery.

Tetsuya Chiaki（ちあき哲也）was responsible for the lyrics while Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）took care of the music. As for Nakayamate, she took her leave of absence just a couple of months following the release of "Octopussy", but then into the 2000s, she started becoming active again on a number of social networking platforms including Instagram, Facebook and her own blog. Then from 2013, she and organist/producer Koichi Ikeda（池田皓一）joined up to form the music duo Atelier Forest.

Akina Nakamori -- Star Pilot

I first wrote about my first Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）album "D404ME" (1985) all the way back in 2013. As is usually the case with me, I don't talk about all of the tracks in an album article, preferring to focus on some of the stragglers in individual reports. So, tonight I've come to this one high-powered track.

"Star Pilot" is not my favourite track on "D404ME"; I think that distinction goes to either "Allegro Vivace" and the first song "Endless". However, "Star Pilot" is still plenty fun as Akina-chan pours her heart out for that titular space jockey and hoping for a ride in his warp ship. To be honest, the music already hints that the ride has already launched and Akina is heading out to the nearest nebula somewhere. Moreover, the singer's chant of the title has always stayed in my head all these decades. It's good ol' hot rod rock-n-roll courtesy of elementary school buddies-turned-rockers Kiyoshiro Imawano（忌野清志郎）and Kazuo Kobayashi（小林和生）with Tetsuya Chiaki（ちあき哲也）behind the lyrics.

Among some of the musicians in the recording booth for "Star Pilot" are Jun Aoyama（青山純）on drums, Tsugutoshi Goto（後藤次利）on bass and EVE as the backing chorus.