Midori Hagio/Yoshiko Miyazaki/Keiko Masuda/Yumi Matsutoya -- Tamerai（ためらい）

 

OK, just to confirm...that is indeed a thumbnail photo of Yumi Matsutoya（松任谷由実）above and the song involved here is a Yuming-penned tune but not a Yuming-performed one in its entirety since an original Yuming tune has become rather scarce of late on YouTube. However, the legendary singer-songwriter looms large over the ladies that have also performed "Tamerai" (Hesitation).

First up is Midori Hagio（萩尾みどり）who's had a long career as an actress and TV personality but there has been no mention about her being a singer on her file in J-Wiki. In fact at this point, I only know of one 1977 single that she's recorded called "Dairen Bojou"（大連慕情...Yearning for Dalian）. The B-side is "Tamerai" and both songs were created by Yuming and arranged by Masataka Matsutoya（松任谷正隆）. The first several notes had quickly pegged this one as a tune by the Queen of New Music herself and it comes off sounding like a breezy 1960s love ballad of pining away. The lyrics describe a walk between a man and a woman who may be on the cusp of elevating their relationship to bona fide boyfriend-girlfriend but the lass is sulkily grinding her teeth because the lad has yet to commit.

Pretty much all of the songs that I've covered on Yoshiko Miyazaki（宮崎美子）have revolved around her 1981 album "Mellow" and just from my memories, my impression of that album has had me thinking technopop. However, Miyazaki's cover of "Tamerai" has the arrangement of how Yuming and her husband would have taken care of their own discography at that time: with a bit of rock anchoring the breezy pop.

Last but not least is Keiko Masuda（増田恵子）, aka Kei formerly of Pink Lady（ピンクレディー）. She gives a breathier performance of "Tamerai" which was her 2nd single from June 1982. Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）arranged things here but the arrangement is similar to that for Miyazaki's take. As for Yuming's own cover, you can listen to an excerpt at Apple. The song was a track on her 9th album from June 1980, "Toki no Nai Hotel"（時のないホテル）.

Yoshiko Miyazaki/Junko Yagami -- No Return

 

I've probably already made the same observation in a past article regarding actress, tarento and singer Yoshiko Miyazaki（宮崎美子）, so apologies in advance, but her singing back in the day had that certain creaminess in her delivery which reminds me of one of her contemporaries, Hiroko Yakushimaru（薬師丸ひろ子）. Her debut single was "No Return" from October 1981 and it could have surprised quite a lot of listeners in that she not only could hold a tune but could also hit the high notes fairly well after her first few years in show business as a pin-up model and commercial star. "No Return" was a Junko Yagami（八神純子）creation with Sonomi Ari（阿里そのみ）also co-writing the lyrics while Motoki Funayama（船山基紀）arranged the song as a contemporized version of a happy-go-lucky 1960s pop tune. 

Yagami herself would cover "No Return" as a B-side to her City Pop 13th single, the sultry "Summer In Summer ~ Omoide wa Suhada ni Yaite"（サマー イン サマー 〜想い出は素肌に焼いて〜）which was released in March 1982. Her version still had the contemporary touches but skewed a little more toward the traditional side of 1960s pop, thanks to Ichizo Seo's（瀬尾一三）arrangement.

Yoshiko Miyazaki -- Konya wa Futari（今夜はふたり）

 

Just returned from a popular Chinese restaurant after dinner with the family. I'm more than satisfied with the repast of Cantonese Chow Mein, Spicy Deep-Fried Squid and Beef and Broccoli, and my humble abdomen is obviously showing its happiness right now. However, my hands may have some problems reaching the keyboard so please bear with me.

Anyways, earlier in March, I provided an article on Yoshiko Miyazaki's（宮崎美子）2nd single "Watashi no Kibun wa Sangria"（わたしの気分はサングリア）from September 1982. The A-side is a delectably not-so-easy to categorize number with elements of City Pop, Latin, New Music and exotic kayo. However, the B-side of "Konya wa Futari" (The Two of Us Tonight) is most definitely old-style jazz from Note One. 

Perhaps I could be anywhere along the Mediterranean when I listen to "Watashi no Kibun wa Sangria", but with "Konya wa Futari", I imagine myself in the big lounge in Manhattan's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel either in the 1920s because of the Big Band jazz or in the 1960s because of the vocal chorus accompaniment. It's all classy and fun. At first thought, I'd assumed that Kingo Hamada（濱田金吾）had offered "Konya wa Futari" to Miyazaki because I know that he was just as much about the old-time jazz as he was about City Pop, but in point of fact, it was Yayoi Tanaka（田中弥生）who had come up with the melody, all arranged by Hiroshi Shinkawa（新川博）. Miyazaki herself wrote the lyrics. I can also imagine the singer doing the ol' soft-shoe with some of those backup dancers on the Vaudeville stage during the song.

Yoshiko Miyazaki -- Watashi no Kibun wa Sangria（わたしの気分はサングリア）

 

For a guy who doesn't drink a lot, I think something like a sweet cocktail or a punch is more along my lines, although my outward appearance might trick people initially into thinking that I guzzle beer as if there were no tomorrow. Sangria, for example, is one of my go-tos if offered at a bar or a party during the summer. I had thought that sangria was simply tossing some cut fruit into a jar filled with red wine but it looks like there is slightly more involved according to the above video supplied by QVC Originals. Still, it is easy enough to make.

I've got "Watashi no Kibun wa Sangria" (I Feel Like a Sangria) which was actress/TV personality Yoshiko Miyazaki's（宮崎美子）2nd single from September 1982. This one struck me in a good place but I wondered for a bit whether this would actually go under the uber-genre umbrella of City Pop. The characteristic bass and that certain chord shift friendly to folks like Akira Terao（寺尾聰）and Junichi Inagaki（稲垣潤一）are in there in parts, but ultimately I opted to go with New Music with the Latin. I even thought about categorizing it as a particularly upbeat Fashion Music piece before I changed my mind.

The husband-and-wife team of lyricist Kazumi Yasui（安井かずみ）and composer Kazuhiko Kato（加藤和彦）were behind "Watashi no Kibun wa Sangria" with Akira Inoue（井上鑑）as the arranger. I also have to finish off by saying that Miyazaki is one of the relatively few entertainers who don't have a "Singer" label added to their resume that can actually sing pretty well. I even heard some Hiroko Yakushimaru（薬師丸ひろ子）in her delivery.

Yumi Matsutoya/Yoshiko Miyazaki -- Yuyami wo Hitori（夕闇をひとり）

 

Happy Saturday! Hope wherever you are, you're enjoying the weekend. Right now, I'm trying to get through the typically hot and humid weather that is normal for the dog days of August. Had a nice brief conversation with Rocket Brown, and just like myself a couple of weeks ago, he will be co-hosting with Van Paugam soon on a podcast centering upon Toshiki Kadomatsu（角松敏生）so I'll be looking forward to that.

But for starters today, I'd like to get onto a track from Yumi Matsutoya's（松任谷由実）12th album from November 1981, "Sakuban O-Aishimashou" (昨晩お会いしましょう）. I wrote up an article about that No. 1-hitting release back in the early days of the blog, and as I will also mention here, "Sakuban O-Aishimashou" is arguably the most City Pop of Yuming's（ユーミン）albums although not every song is of the genre. 

One track that I had yet to cover from the album rather straddles the line between regular pop and City Pop. "Yuyami wo Hitori" (Walking Alone In the Dusk) is definitely one cool cat of a Yuming track. It's about a woman heading home perhaps but without that young fellow that she aches for holding her hand. It's got quite a nice smoky rhythm with the goodly assistance of a thrumming keyboard and the horns, especially an urbane saxophone to finish things off. A lonely walk hasn't sounded so kakkoii.

Actress and tarento Yoshiko Miyazaki（宮崎美子）, who incidentally shares the same initials with Yuming, provided a cover of "Yuyami no Hitori" in her December 1981 album, "Mellow". The arrangement isn't too different from the original aside from some extra backing vocals, more Fender Rhodes and no horns aside from that bluesy sax. I've already covered one other track from "Mellow", the technopoppy "Ima wa Heiki yo"（今は平気よ）. 

Yoshiko Miyazaki -- Orgel no Koiuta（オルゴールの恋唄）

 

Last month, I introduced Yoshiko Miyazaki（宮崎美子）onto the pages of KKP through a track that was on one of her three albums "Mellow" (1981). Up to then, I'd known Miyazaki as the cheerful veteran actress/tarento who first got her fame from her bikini-clad figure in a Minolta commercial.

Well, that track that I first talked about, "Ima wa Heiki yo"（今は平気よ）, is quite the technopop treat provided by Akiko Yano and Ryuichi Sakamoto（矢野顕子・坂本龍一）, and I mentioned there that although Miyazaki's vocals weren't supremely strong, the bubbly synthesizers rather compensated for that. However, Track 3 on "Mellow", "Orgel no Koiuta" (Music Box Love Song), is a straight-ahead mellow pop song written and composed by singer-songwriter Machiko Watanabe（渡辺真知子）who has had her own hits of the past. 

"Orgel no Koiuta" is a pleasant song to be sure with arrangement by Motoki Funayama（船山基紀）and it's got a pretty interesting bend in the melody when it goes into the instrumental bridge. In fact, I would say that this was something ideal for someone like Ruiko Kurahashi（倉橋ルイ子）who has tackled the more romantic and baroque pop (aka Fashion Music) of the time. Again though, Miyazaki's vocals aren't the strongest and the wobbliness especially shows up in the higher notes, but at the same time, there is something about that which reminds me a little of Hiroko Yakushimaru（薬師丸ひろ子）who was just starting her own career in music at the same time.

Yoshiko Miyazaki -- Ima wa Heiki yo（今は平気よ）

 

When it comes to Yoshiko Miyazaki（宮崎美子）, I have two images of her. One is that of her impressionable appearance on a Minolta camera commercial back in 1980. The other image that I have of her is her modest and matronly and fairly frequent stints as a current tarento on variety shows (although I know that she is also an actress).

I've noticed that her J-Wiki biography doesn't list her as a singer but she does have that experience on her resume with four singles, three albums and a BEST compilation between 1981 and 1987. Case in point, there is that debut album from December 1981, "Mellow".

To be honest, I had no idea that Miyazaki sang until I discovered some of her material on YouTube a couple of nights ago, and from "Mellow", I encountered the track "Ima wa Heiki yo" (I'm OK Now). As soon as I heard this chipper and catchy tune, I just knew that it had something to do with Yellow Magic Orchestra or one of its members. And sure enough, Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）composed this technopop treat with Akiko Yano（矢野顕子）providing the lyrics.

Miyazaki doesn't have the most expressive vocals but I think that rather suits her within a technopop tune since I think at the time with such acts in Japan and other nations, the vocals have often played second fiddle to all of the fascinating bleeps and bloops of the synthesizers (Yano and Taeko Ohnuki excluded). Still, I think that Miyazaki has a pleasant high and breathy quality to her voice, and I believe that is Yano helping out on background chorus.

As for "Mellow", looking at the "Music Avenue" blog, it looks like Miyazaki was surrounded by a lot of big-time songwriters. In addition to Yano and Sakamoto, Yuming（ユーミン）, Yoshitaka Minami（南佳孝）, Junko Yagami（八神純子）and Takuro Yoshida（吉田拓郎） were also contributing their time and energies to the tracks.