Credits

I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Kyoko Endo -- Yuki ga Furu Mae ni (雪が降る前に)



Kyoko Endo(遠藤京子) is one of those singers that I found out about through "Japanese City Pop", that book I bought at Tower Records a few years ago (profiled under Media). That book has helped open up a world of singers that I would never have heard of: Makoto Matsushita, Hitomi Toyama, Takako Mamiya (all profiled), and here, Kyoko Endo.

(karaoke version)

"Yuki ga Furu Mae ni"(Before the Snow Comes) was Endo's 6th single, released in October 1984, and it was a track on her 3rd album, "Yume Miru Star"(夢見るスターDreamwatching Stars). The song is a Christmas-y one, but I'm putting it here and now since my city is on the verge of getting some flakes in the next several hours. It's a pleasant combination of the sound of some of the lusher aidoru ballads created by songwriters such as the Kisugi siblings and Karuho Kureta during the 80s, and the urban contemporary songs sung by chanteuses like Ruiko Kurahashi and Mariko Takahashi. And it was written and composed by Endo, who also did the same with many of her singles. She also had a hand in writing songs for a number of other artists such as Hiromi Iwasaki, Wink and Mariko Nagai.

Well, better late than never, I say. Time to do some more searching for her work.




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