ESSAY 18 THE ADULT CONTEMPORARY SONG STYLINGS OF KEIKO MASUDA When Pink Lady broke up in March of 1981, it was assumed that Mie and Kei would go solo and crank out their own albums, and the results were not quite what everyone expected. While Mie stuck to her pop/soft rock roots that made her insanely popular as one half of Japan's most famous pop music act, Kei threw everyone a serious curve when she released her first solo album, “Hitori Ga Suki” thirty years ago as she went the adult contemporary route, something that had to have been quite the surprise. At least it was to me anyway. Considering Kei was all of twenty-five when “Hitori” was released, I for one found it rather astonishing she turned out an album of songs better suited for singers twice her age as the songs were slow, soft, mellow and deep. Kei's most popular solo single, “Susume”, a rich and wonderful tune was from that debut album, and it enthralled me right away when I first listened to it in the early 2000's (after winning the album in an online auction), and suddenly, I understood why Kei chose to go into that particular genre. Since Kei was said to have had not quite as wide a vocal range as Mie, her low, throaty voice was best suited for the mellow nature of adult contemporary music, and she made that genre work for her to perfection. While Mie's brand of music made you tap your feet, Kei's music touched your mind and heart with that stylish, elegant vibe as I thought she emoted instead of merely singing, one song in particular from that album that really struck me was “My Papa Who Became A Star” as I wondered if that was about Kei's father who passed away when she was a young child. |
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LEFT: "Hitori Ga Suki", RIGHT: "Koi Suru Otomodati" |
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As it turned out, Kei had been quite the busy girl in 1982 as she released not one album that year, but two. The second LP, “Koi Suru Otomodati” continued Kei's adult contemporary theme with eleven more slick and stylish songs that emphasized her genre of choice, but some variations, such as the soft rock tinged “Love Magic” and the delightfully peppy “A Door of the Mind” which went well with mellow songs like “Goodbye Again”. I thought that Kei had established herself as quite the songstress who could do a lot more with her deep, smoky voice than turn out bubblegum pop tunes which had been her trademark of sorts with Mie as part of Pink Lady. Perhaps going the adult contemporary route had been a dream or ambition for Kei, something she knew she might not have been able to achieve while with Pink Lady, and the break up, while painful for her, did allow her to follow that dream and made it come true with those two wonderful albums she released in 1982. And, Kei has been faithful to her genre of choice ever since, especially when, ten years later, she released the amazing “Voice Cologne” where her aforementioned deep and smoky voice sounded fantastic as she sang half it's eleven songs in flawless French. Ooh la la! Listening to those 1982 albums as research for this essay, I could easily imagine Kei in a tight, low cut cocktail dress, softly crooning away before an appreciative audience in a small piano bar into the wee hours of the morning. Perhaps that was the image she had for herself when she recorded those elegant songs, maybe she wanted to show Japan that she was more than just another cheery, costumed, prepackaged pop star. Well, I believe Kei succeeded, and then some! |
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