Yukie Kawakami + Tsutomu -- Heart no Neji（ハートのねじ）

 

It was well over a decade ago when I first provided the article for aidoru Yukie Kawakami's（河上幸恵）1983 debut single "Blue Etranger"（ブルーエトランゼ）, and it struck me as being quite a refined song for a teenybopper singer. I rather compared the song with the type of music that pop chanteuse Mariko Takahashi（高橋真梨子）sang during that same period.

The other day, commenter YMOfan04 asked me about another single that Kawakami recorded in December 1984, "Heart no Neji" (Key to Your Heart), so I decided to check that one out as something that could be posted here as the aidoru's second KKP entry. Now to be fair, it's not just Kawakami but her and a robot named Tsutomu（ツトム）behind this much more conventionally upbeat and perky aidoru tune. The singer's voice is still pretty spot-on and appropriately girlish. Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）was behind the lyrics while Kosho Inomata（水谷公生）took care of the music and Shiro Sagisu（鷺巣詩郎）was responsible for the arrangement.

Yukie Kawakami -- Blue Etranger （ブルーエトランゼ）

I came across this singer's video by pure accident a couple of days ago. And I have to confess that I had never heard of Yukie Kawakami（河上幸恵） until January 11...considering the number of aidoru that was going in and out of show business back in the 80s, there are probably hundreds that I've yet to come across.

Kawakami hails from Ashiya City in Hyogo Prefecture, and was selected as the 36th champion in the long-running talent TV show, "Star Tanjo"（スター誕生...A Star Is Born) in 1981. Making her way up to Tokyo, she made her debut in July 1983 with "Blue Etranger"at the tender age of 15. The lyrics were by Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子） who had written a number of songs for Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）, and the music was by Takashi Takao or Takashige （高生鷹）; can't be quite sure of the reading of the kanji.

I have to say that Kawakami's singing is surprisingly well-assured for a teenage aidoru debut, and the arrangement is quite polished....the song sounds as if it were being made for someone like Mariko Takahashi（高橋真梨子） or Seiko Matsuda at that time in her career. However, Kawakami's career would finish by 1985 with only 5 singles released. Currently, according to J-Wiki, she's a piano teacher and has a side job as a professional emcee in the Kobe/Osaka area.