Makiko Imai -- Koi no Harmony（恋のハーモニー）

 

Yup, there's nothing like watching a compilation of adorable scenes from anime to realize how important a pancreas is. 

I also get the same shimmering feeling when I listen to this song by Makiko Imai（今井麻起子）. Titled "Koi no Harmony" (The Harmony of Love), this is a sweet pop duet (almost on Xmas levels) between the tarento/singer and Seishiro Kusunose（楠瀬誠志郎）. Shun Taguchi（田口俊）provided the lyrics of falling in love while Juicy Fruits' guitarist Toshihiko Shibaya（柴矢矢俊彦）came up with the basic melody arranged by Masataka Matsutoya（松任谷正隆）. Yuming's（ユーミン） husband once said that he was on a synthesizer kick at that time, which would explain a lot of her music in the late 80s going into the 90s, and he has since said that he has some regrets about that. Well, "Koi no Harmony" does have plenty of synthesizers in there but it still has that wonderfully nostalgic buzz due to that.

"Koi no Harmony" was a track on Imai's debut album "Ciao!" from February 1988, and the other two songs by her that have been put up onto KKP, "Belly Roll ~ Kaze no Josoji"（ベリー・ロール -風の助走路-）and "Koi wa Poker Face"（恋はポーカーフェイス）are from that same album. Methinks that I should look farther afield when it comes to her discography, but Imai only had one more album "Candy a Go Go!!" in 1989 before she called it a day for her singing career. Still, it's worth a look-see.

Pink Sapphire -- Pink/White X'mas

 

After all these years, I'd thought that I had already put up an article on this special Pink Sapphire Christmas song but evidently I have not. Ironic since I did include it in a mixtape of J-Xmas tunes decades ago.

"Pink/White X'mas" was the coupling song for the rock band's 2nd single, "Dakishimetai"（抱きしめたい...I Want to Hold You）, which was released in November 1990. It may be a Pink Sapphire rocker but the lyrics by Yoshihiko Ando（安藤義彦）describe a common theme in Japanese Xmas songs: that of the big lovers' spat on Christmas Eve and how to resolve the situation. Composer Toshihiko Shibaya（柴矢俊彦）of the band Juicy Fruits（ジューシーフルーツ）and arranger Takayuki Hijikata（土方隆行）took care of this one as if they were channeling some Van Halen.

For those who want something a little different in their J-Xmas tunes, have a go at "Pink/White X'mas". As for the single, "Dakishimetai" peaked at No. 5 on Oricon, but "Pink/White X'mas" also ended up on Pink Sapphire's BEST collection, "BEST FOR YOU〜Single Collection" which came out in December 1992. I'll have to talk about "Dakishimetai" itself sometime soon.

Makiko Imai -- Koi wa Poker Face（恋はポーカーフェイス）

 

One of my observations on the whole anime thing is that during the usual frustration and other feelings for female characters to confess their love or have it confessed to them, they tend to roll around on the bed (but not just for that reason) since aside from the viewers' vantage point, they are completely and relatively comfortably alone to drain out all of their emotions (perhaps it's some kind of Serta therapy). Otherwise, the two potential lovebirds keep to their game of offense and defense in the presence of each other and hold stoic poker faces...until perhaps, the final episode or the final minute of it.

Thus, we come to "Koi wa Poker Face" (Love is a Poker Face), the launching track for Makiko Imai's（今井麻起子）first album "Ciao!" from February 1988. Although I don't think that Imai was considered to be an aidoru, "Koi wa Poker Face" has got quite a nice teenybopper bounciness to it, and I especially like it when Imai sings out the last two words of the title. Kumi Aoyama（あおやまくみ）and Shun Taguchi（田口俊）were responsible for the lyrics which exhort any high school potential boyfriends/girlfriends to drop the stone face from the playing-hard-to-get act; love may be a game but it needn't be an unfriendly one. Meanwhile, Toshihiko Shibaya（柴矢俊彦）provided the melody; Shibaya was actually the guitarist for the band Juicy Fruits（ジューシィ・フルーツ）.

"Koi wa Poker Face" joins the other Imai song that I've provided on KKP, "Belly Roll ~ Kaze no Josoji"（ベリー・ロール -風の助走路-）, also from the same album.