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| The Lovely, Lovely, Yu Hayami |
I was hanging at a local Izakaya and having a conversation about my huge love of 80's idols like Yukiko Okada, Iyo Matsumoto and, more recently, Yuki Saito. We got to talking about Yu Hayami and it occurred to me that although I really liked her NOW, as a beautiful geinokai and TV host, I really didn't know much of her music outside of the popular singles like her famous "Natsuiro No Nancy" with her signature "Koi kana YES! Koi janai YES! " and I decided it was time to rectify this!
Last month as you may recall it was "Sheena Ringo" month where I used my vacation time to seriously delve into Ringo's catalog of music, and I thought it was time to make the month of May my "Month of Yu Hayami Discovery"! Over the past week I took on four of Yu's early albums and the early reports are as follows:
Week One:
And I Love You [1982]
My first outing with Yu Hayami and it was a nice listen. It didn't quite blow me away like the first time I heard Yukiko Okada or Iyo Matsumoto's debut albums, but there were a few tracks that became immediate favorites! This was promising!
Image [1982]
Took this album with me on a long sunset walk before dinner and this was another fine album. Though nothing stood out right away, it certainly put me in a good mood with its happy tunes! I will give this a few more spins before I re-review it...
Sincerely [1984]
Oh man, THIS is the one that did it for me! Though I meant to listen to all Yu's abums in order, I was on a short walk that wasn't going to take much time and so I chose one of her shorter albums and WOW, this one was the best one yet!
More New-Wavey than her earlier albums, this album rocked me with each and every song and I couldn't WAIT to play it over again and listen to it from the beginning! So far my favorite release from hers!
Dear [1983]
Already amped up by how much I liked Sincerely, I decided it was time for "Dear", the album that launched her biggest hit (and the first song I knew from her)" Natsuiro No Nancy", and Whoohoo, this was another great time! Listened to this album twice that night!
Week Two:
Lanai [1983]
As a Hawaii native, it always made me proud to know Yu came from these lovely isles, and when I saw her next album was called "Lanai", my first thought was, Yep, Local girl!
But I wasn't sure if she was referring to the island of Lanai, or the local name for the back patio. Only after hearing the song "Rainy Boy" off this album did I learn it was about the island! Another okay album, much like "Image", bright tunes, but nothing that particularly stood out for me, at least not yet.
BTW, I forgot to mention, just to show what a local girl she is, at the end of "Dear", she gives a little farewell at the end of the album and ends it with "LATAS!" HAHAHA, how local can you get?
Music [1984]
WOWOW, another STRONG album from Yu, this is another one that knocked me out from the moment I played it! I must say that, like "Sincerely" before it, there is a distinct difference from her earlier albums in not only the song writing and production, but in Yu's singing as well! VERY powerful and jazzy with lots of catchy hooks! Right now probably my second favorite album from her!
Wrapped up the weekend re-listening to both "Image" and "Dear" as well...
Week Three
Gave "And I Love You" another spin and I have to say it's really growing on me, with several strong songs becoming faves.
Colorful Box [1983]
Another OK album which I'll have to give a few more listens before I can really make an assessment of. Did quite like two or three groovy songs so far!
Recess [1984]
Liked this one. Yu sounds like she's doing her take on Yoko Oginome, and in fact one song sound just like "Dancing Hero". I can hear her moving more towards the electronic sound in Sincerely.
Week Four
Instead of introducing any more albums into my playlist, I decided to concentrate on re-listening to the albums I'd already heard again, this week.
First up was Image again, and finally the songs are "sticking" with me, with several songs making me go "Ah! Love this one!" I noticed that once the track "Nanatsuno Love Letter" hit, I loved that and every song after that, all the way to the end. I wonder if this was side B to the original LP, it had a certain "Swoop" to it.
Next up was a re-listen to "Music" and, yep this is indeed becoming a BIG fave of mine from Yu. Once again gotta say the production on this one is superb, very "dense" sound, and I especially love Yu's vocals, she sounds so warm and sparkling!
Also gave another listen to "Sincerely" and it was as good, no, even BETTER than my first listen...I really LOVE this one!! If I may say so, quite "Pony Canyon-esque" with VERY catchy songs with 80's synths and beats...and Yu sounds so sweet!
Had a little more time before I got home so I also re-spun "Dear" for the fourth time, making for a wonderful day out with Ms. Hayami!
Next Day gave both Colorful Box and Recess again. Still have to give Colorful Box a few more listens, but Recess blew me away with its second play- it's so good! Very catchy song, and I think that so far, along with Sincerely and Music, are my top favorite albums from Yu!
Been QUITE a month discovering the sweet music of Yu Hayami, and it's exciting to know there's even MORE to uncover! No matter what, though, Yu's already impressed me and made me a fan of hers for good!!!
Last month as you may recall it was "Sheena Ringo" month where I used my vacation time to seriously delve into Ringo's catalog of music, and I thought it was time to make the month of May my "Month of Yu Hayami Discovery"! Over the past week I took on four of Yu's early albums and the early reports are as follows:
Week One:
And I Love You [1982]
Image [1982]
Sincerely [1984]
More New-Wavey than her earlier albums, this album rocked me with each and every song and I couldn't WAIT to play it over again and listen to it from the beginning! So far my favorite release from hers!
Dear [1983]
Week Two:
Lanai [1983]
But I wasn't sure if she was referring to the island of Lanai, or the local name for the back patio. Only after hearing the song "Rainy Boy" off this album did I learn it was about the island! Another okay album, much like "Image", bright tunes, but nothing that particularly stood out for me, at least not yet.
BTW, I forgot to mention, just to show what a local girl she is, at the end of "Dear", she gives a little farewell at the end of the album and ends it with "LATAS!" HAHAHA, how local can you get?
Music [1984]
Wrapped up the weekend re-listening to both "Image" and "Dear" as well...
Week Three
Gave "And I Love You" another spin and I have to say it's really growing on me, with several strong songs becoming faves.
Colorful Box [1983]
Recess [1984]
Week Four
Instead of introducing any more albums into my playlist, I decided to concentrate on re-listening to the albums I'd already heard again, this week.
First up was Image again, and finally the songs are "sticking" with me, with several songs making me go "Ah! Love this one!" I noticed that once the track "Nanatsuno Love Letter" hit, I loved that and every song after that, all the way to the end. I wonder if this was side B to the original LP, it had a certain "Swoop" to it.
Next up was a re-listen to "Music" and, yep this is indeed becoming a BIG fave of mine from Yu. Once again gotta say the production on this one is superb, very "dense" sound, and I especially love Yu's vocals, she sounds so warm and sparkling!
Also gave another listen to "Sincerely" and it was as good, no, even BETTER than my first listen...I really LOVE this one!! If I may say so, quite "Pony Canyon-esque" with VERY catchy songs with 80's synths and beats...and Yu sounds so sweet!
Had a little more time before I got home so I also re-spun "Dear" for the fourth time, making for a wonderful day out with Ms. Hayami!
Next Day gave both Colorful Box and Recess again. Still have to give Colorful Box a few more listens, but Recess blew me away with its second play- it's so good! Very catchy song, and I think that so far, along with Sincerely and Music, are my top favorite albums from Yu!
Been QUITE a month discovering the sweet music of Yu Hayami, and it's exciting to know there's even MORE to uncover! No matter what, though, Yu's already impressed me and made me a fan of hers for good!!!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com
