Favorite J-Pop Albums: Matsuda Seiko / It’s Style ‘95

Back when my friend was making me the J-pop mixes that would introduce me to my J-pop fandom that continues til today, he’d make the collections up out of the latest singles from the current artists. For some reason though, when it came to Seiko Matsuda’s newest album “It’s Style ‘95”, he decided to put two non-single tracks, “Don’t You Wanna Dance” and “Let’s Talk Again” onto his latest mix instead of the current singles, a move I would only realize at the end of the year…

Don't You Wanna Dance

 
Let's Talk Again

 

At the end of 1995, I saw my very first Red and White Song Festival, and thanks to Dave’s tapes, I knew almost every song, or at least from the pop artists, (not so much the enka stuff, LOL) Noriko Sakai’s “Aoi Usagi”, Chisato Moritaka’s “Futari wa Koibito”, Mayo Okamoto’s “Tomorrow”, Dreams Come True’s “Love Love Love”, all of these singles were put onto Cassette mixes Dave made for me. When it came to Seiko Matsuda’s performance however, I was surprised that she didn’t sing either Let’s Talk Again OR Do You Wanna Dance, but a song called “Sutekini Once Again”, Eh? This wasn’t the song put on my J-pop Mix!

  It was then that I found out the two songs on the J-pop mix were album-only tracks... Even more profound was when I got a VHS copy of 1994’s Red and White Festival where Seiko performed an incredibly cute, poppy and FUN song called “Kagayaite Kisetsu E Tabidatou”. which I fell in love with IMMEDIATELY! I would find out that this song was ALSO a single off of It’s Style and got passed over, and in this I was kind of bummed because I REALLY dug the song- in fact, that song would go on to become my number ONE, ALL TIME favorite tune from her!

 One day I met up with Dave and asked him why he hadn’t put either Sutekini Once Again or Kagaite Kisetsu E Tabi Datou on the mixes, and he shrugged and said “I dunno, I liked those songs better, I guess.” LOL, I laughed, makes sense! And do you know what, despite how much I love the two singles, I have to admit that there is a special place in my heart for those two songs he DID put on that J-pop Mix, especially “Do You Wanna Dance”, which is one of my most beloved of Seiko Songs along with Kagayaite Kisetsu!

Initially the only song I really, really wanted to buy from Seiko was Kagayaite so I picked up her latest Anthology “BibleIII” which included that single as well as Sutekini Once Again (as well as quite a few others of her earlier greatest hits) but eventually I knew I needed to have Lets Talk Again and Do You Wanna Dance in my CD Collection as well, so I purchased It’s Style ’95 outright…and that proved to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made!

The album blew me away right from the start, with the sultry titular number “It’s Style ‘95” and then right into “Do You Wanna Dance” and then BAM, into “Kagaite Kisetsu Tabi datou” and then straight into Let’s talk Again, MAN, it was like a glorified Greatest Hits in its OWN RIGHT! Adding in “Sutekini Once Again” and then a new fave song, “Akarui Mirai ni Shiyou ne, Positive ni” adding in three “Seiko” type vocal ballads and you’d think you couldn’t ask for anything else, but WAIT there was ONE MORE treat in store, as the CD wrapped up with the guitar strumming insanely catchy “Why” as the album’s closer, such a GREAT way to close a stellar album! MAN, this was one helluva tight CD!

It's Style '95

Akarui Mirai ni Shiyou ne, Positive ni

Why

And BOY, I didn’t know just how HOT It’s Style could be til I picked up Seiko's Live Concert Laserdisc "Live It's Style'95" and saw her performing it as the opening song- MAN, at the time she was really trying to be the Japan Madonna and was pushing the sluttiness to the MAXIMUM, and no performance captured this raw sexual energy better than this!
After seeing her as such a cutie-pie on the Kohaku Uta Gassen, I was so shocked to be presented with this slinky, sultry, sexy vixen, but I guess I should have KNOWN how HOT she was gonna be  just judging by the sexy laserdisc COVER and BACK…!  

Seiko's "Live It's Style '95 Laserdisc

Seiko Booty Back Cover

Pole-Dancing Seiko Gatefold YES!!!

Seiko in Black Brassiere Sets My Head a Swimming

...and if  THAT wasn’t indication enough, then certainly the drool-inducing GATEFOLD and INSERT  would have tipped me off!  Pole dancing, Skimpy Bikini Bottoms and Black Brassiere outfits? HELL YES, PLEASE! WHAT A WOMAN!

And besides the smoldering perf of "It's Style", Seiko also did most of the other songs off of the album as well, including perfs of both Let's Talk Again and Don't You Wanna Dance that took what I already considered good songs and shot them into my BIG FAVES category! Seiko performed these dressed in her "cutesy" outfits to scamper around playfully (like I'd seen her in the Kohaku shows), but somehow, in this concert even her cutesy stuff seemed saturated with naughty sexiness! Growrrrrl! Watching these two perfs, I realized ONE thing- Dave was RIGHT...THESE SONGS ARE FREAKING AWESOME!

After already liking the songs off of It's Style 95 and THEN seeing them performed live and then loving them even MORE, it totally cemented the It's Style 95 CD as one of my favorite j-pop albums of ALL TIME! Don't You Wanna Dance!

Seiko Matsuda/ It's Style '95:
1. It’s Style ’95 
2. Don’t You Wanna Dance? 
3. Kagayaite Kisetsu E Tabidatou
4. Let’s Talk Again 
5. Anata Wo Aishita Koto
6.  Sutekini Once Again 
7. Shiroi Sandal to Mugiwara Boushi
8. Akarui Mirai ni Shiyoune Positive Ni!
9. Hoho wo Tsutau Namida ga Yozora No Hoshi ni Kawaru Toki
10. You Are My Fire 
11. Why

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com