Bonnie Pink -- Cotton Candy

 

Through this decade-old video from Bytesize Science, this is the way to make cotton candy. I know all about its popularity as a summer fair treat with all that fluffy pink fibre guzzled down by kids from 9 to 92. However, though I recall having some of my own cotton candy as a lad, I never really cottoned onto it all that much myself despite the fact that I do have a sweet tooth.

To be honest, I actually kinda prefer "Cotton Candy" by Bonnie Pink, and it's nice to have her back on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" after quite a while away. Written and composed by the Kyoto-born singer-songwriter, it was also arranged and produced by Swedish music producer Tore Johansson who has worked with Bonnie in the past and also helped former 80s aidoru Tomoyo Harada（原田知世）on her version of "Romance" back in the 1990s.

"Cotton Candy" is quite the soothing rock ballad (perhaps shoegaze?) especially since it was used as the ending theme for the 2005 edition of the manga-turned-anime "Kyōshoku Sōkō Guyver"（強殖装甲ガイバー...Bio Booster Armor Guyver） which has all of that body horror and techno-organic stuff going on. The lyrics by Bonnie Pink are sad but hopeful as it depicts someone adrift in life looking for something or someone to anchor them and cotton candy is an analogy for that brief wisp of happiness that disappears in an instant. Even so, that someone would accept even that brief moment rather than having nothing.

The song was a track on Bonnie Pink's September 2005 8th studio album "Golden Tears" which shares space with "So Wonderful". It peaked at No. 8 on Oricon.

Up to this point, my only knowledge about "Guyver" was through hearing about the live-action version of the franchise done in 1991 as "The Guyver" featuring Mark "Luke Skywalker" Hamill. I guess that those were lean times for the former Jedi Master. When I picked up a VHS tape of the movie some years later, I'd thought that it was about a guy who could improvise a lethal weapon out of a paper clip and used bubble gum...ahh, but that was "MacGyver", wasn't it? (har de har har😂)

Bonnie Pink -- So Wonderful

Over the years I'd seen excerpts of videos on the Japanese music cable channels such as MTV Japan of singer-songwriter Bonnie Pink (aka Kaori Asada...浅田香織). My first image of her was this lean, slightly punkish looking young lady with the short straggly pink hair singing indie music. But in later years, she dropped the hair dye and then one day, I saw this video, shown above, which caught my attention.

I used to see Bonnie Pink with that small pout in her videos, so it was surprising to see her this time strutting toward the camera on a runway, cavorting with dancers and showing a big wide smile. And the song, "So Wonderful", was short but heavy on the fun. Created by Bonnie Pink and released in August 2005, the song was produced by Tore Johansson and Burning Chicken. I remembered the name of the Swedish producer from his work with The Cardigans and Tomoyo Harada（原田知世）; for them, the musical feel was that of 60s London/blue-eyed soul. But for "So Wonderful", there is this element of 70s Electric Light Orchestra disco anchored by a thrashy guitar. Although her 23rd single (also a track on her 2005 8th studio album, "Golden Tears") got no higher than No. 46 on the Oricon weeklies, it definitely stood out to me. I got my first CD of Bonnie Pink.

Tomoyo Harada -- Romance （ロマンス）

Y'know, I knew a little about Tomoyo Harada's（原田知世） time as an 80s aidoru, and somewhere in my ancient tape collection, there are about 4 or 5 songs by her. But, by and large, as the years passed, I only got to know her more as a pitchperson on commercials, especially for instant coffee (Blendy, if you wanna know) and to a smaller extent, as a tarento on some of the variety shows.

But then, I heard this song, "Romance" by her, which was about as far away from anything aidoru she did as those teenage days themselves. It was a 1997 cover of a song by Swedish singer Ulf Turesson who composed the song, with Harada providing the lyrics for the Japanese version. And the arrangement was by Tore Johansson who has produced bands such as The Cardigans, New Order, Franz Ferdinand, and also a number of other Japanese artists like Bonnie Pink, Mimori Yusa, and Ayano Tsuji.

"Romance" has this Swinging 60s sound which reminded me of some of the music that The Style Council did in the 80s, and the eternal Tom Jones sang when I was but a very wee lad. When the song hit the charts after its release in January 1997, I was pretty delighted at hearing a Japanese singer trilling away at this summery, devil-may-care tune....especially in the dead of winter. To be honest, the Shibuya-kei label I gave is just from me, but listening to "Romance", I just felt that it could be something that Pizzicato Five or Flipper's Guitar could have tackled. Shibuya-kei has been a genre which strikes me as being a musical calling card to travel to Europe, and this song can be considered to be an invitation. By the way, it managed to peak at No. 39.

And the above is the Ulf Turesson original.

Tomoyo Harada -- Romance