80's Manna from Japan!!!

 I'm a huge fan of 80's idol Yukiko Okada and though I've gotten all her CDs in the UHQCD format, I've always wanted to have copies of her original CDs as well, Over time I'd managed to get her third and fourth albums (Juugatsu no Ningyo and Venus Tanjou, respectively) and her collection Okurimono II, but her first two albums Cinderella and Fairy had always managed to elude me...until now!
The great online collector's store OTOKICHI PREMIUM has always been a boon to obsessives such as I and I'd completed many a collection thru them (notably Nishida Hikaru, Rieko Miura and ribbon) and while perusing the site this past Christmas (hoping they had a particular Shizuka Kudo CD I'm still missing), I was HAPPILY stunned to see that they had BOTH Cinderella AND Fairy in stock!!! WELL, I wasted NO TIME throwing BOTh of those into my shopping cart, and since I was making an order, decided to see if they had anything ELSE I needed!

They still didn't have the Shizuka CD I needed, but I DID find a TON of other CDs I wanted-Besides the Yukiko Okada Cds, I got a whole slew of Yuki Saito CDs including Axia, Glass No Kodou, Fumu, Ripple, and Pant...

...a few Yu Hayami CDs: TWIN, Shadows Of The Knight, Who's Gonna Come, and Moments.  

I only recently got into Yu's music, and after falling in love with them, it was time to start getting some of her CDs!

As some of you know well, I've been trying for YEARS to get the Iyo Matsumoto Sweet 16 CD Box Set. But every time I found a seller and thought I had finally gotten it, my package would not arrive and, citing "lost in transit", my money was refunded and the deal cancelled. This happened to me THREE TIMES, from THREE DIFFERENT sellers!

I also managed to get one elusive Iyo Matsumoto CD I needed, "Believe"!

I've finally decided to give up on that and have begun to focus on getting the individual CDs. A LOT harder since Iyo CDs are so hard to come by, not only that, the Box Set had the remastered versions with bonus tracks, but it's all I can do for now.

Right Now, out of Iyo's original 13 albums, I only have three of her CDs: Believe, Tenshi No Baka  and Innocence, as well as the 40th anniversary edition of Sentimental IYO and Something IYO and also a few collections. 

40th Anniversary perks aside, I'd still want to get the original Cd releases of Sentimental and Something. And even without counting those, I'll still have 8 more CDs to go, looks like this might take awhile!!!

Into the World of Yu Hayami

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!!!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Hayami Yu: Like A Fine Wine...!

  So I’m perusing live 80’s idol performances on Youtube, and I come across an absolutely stunning young girl by the name of Hayami Yu. I had her single “Natsuiro No Nancy” on an 80's Sun Collection I acquired some years back, but I didn’t know anything about her, least of all how beautiful she was! 

Yu Hayami in the Mid-Eighties

  Unlike the other gals at the time, Yu had this decidedly exotic look about her-  she had kind of a darker complexion, and somehow, kind of reminded me of actress Jessica Alba. I told a friend later, “this girl looks like she could have come from Hawaii, she has such a “local” aura about her.”  Little did I know, but looking her up on Wikipedia later, I was to find that Yu Hayami INDEED lived here in Hawaii for YEARS growing up as a child! Yappari, you just can’t shake that Local Flavor, I tell ya…

Shooting Coca Cola CM in Hawaii

Performing Candies with Hori Cheimi and Ishikawa Hidemi

   Anyway, at some point watching all her videos, it occurred to me: If Yoko Oginome has grown up into such a fine LADY, then my GOSH, Yu Hayami must be JUST as pretty now! I HAD to find out what she looked like nowadays! Going back online, I found that Yuu has actually kept pretty busy in the genoukai circles in recent years, but it was this 2005 clip from Utaban that just knocked my socks off…SURE ENOUGH, Yuu had grown up into a freaking GORGEOUS, refined WOMAN!

Yu Hayami in 2005

 DAMN, these 80’s Idol Girls sure APPRECIATE with time!!!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Comments via twitter:

tanikaze: Did I ever tell you I'm recording this cooking show on NHK World hosted by Hayami Yu?!! Great stuff!

tanikaze: That's about as close as I'll prolly ever get to 1980s J-Pop. BTW Hayami's English is Nishida Hikaru perfect...

zdorama: Watching a Coca Cola CM with Yu Hayami riding a bicycle thru town, saw a  "TheBus" drive by her, reminded me of Hikaru's Foremost days!

tanikaze: OK I just looked up the CM. YES COKE YES!