Renting episodes of the old “Sound Arena” show for performances of Chisato Moritaka and Miho Nakayama, I came across this performance by Mi-Ke of their 5th single called “Kanashiki Teddy Boy”. Being a huge fan of groups like CoCo , Ribbon and Qlair, I was always ready to check out any new idol groups, and Mi-Ke was a group I’d always wanted to hear!
One of the first things that caught my eye ( besides Haruka and Mami’s wacky dancing) was the extemely pretty Keiko Utoku, functioning as more or less the “main” singer (at least for THIS song), and it was her terrific voice that overrode any qualms I had about enjoying this catchy 50’s style rock ‘n’ Roll number! I had to have this single!
Once Again, I had fallen in love with a single that was out of print! You have to understand that back in the days before the internet, If a single was unavailable for ordering, you were pretty much out of luck! Fortunately, there were several used j-pop CD stores I could visit, and it was at one of them that I found my beloved copy of Mi-Ke’s KANASHIKI TEDDY BOY!
After Mi-Ke, Keiko Utoku would go on to enjoy a successful solo career as well, and as you can see by this performance of “Good-By Morning” below, she still has that great voice, and has managed to become even prettier!!
