Wink -- One Night In Heaven - Mayonaka no Angel （真夜中のエンジェル）

Having gotten into Japan in the summer of 1989, the Wink phenomenon was in full swing with the thumping hit "Samishii Nettaigyo"（淋しい熱帯魚）. But then as we all approached the end of the year, I experienced the first Wink single to be newly released in the form of "One Night In Heaven - Mayonaka no Angel" (Midnight Angel), the duo's 6th single.

So, it was time to watch a new series of intriguing moves by Shoko Aida and Sachiko Suzuki（相田翔子・鈴木早智子） through hand gestures as the duo appeared non-stop on the music ranking shows and in commercials. Having seen them perform "Samishii Nettaigyo" and now "One Night In Heaven", my comparisons with the dynamic duo of the previous decade, Pink Lady, were inevitable. Whereas Mie and Kei were just kicking and strutting all over the stage with precise abandon (yeah, I know...it's oxymoronic), Shoko and Sachiko seemed to keep their choreography nicely internal....were they doing the Method School of Acting equivalent of aidoru moves? Whatever it was, it was working well in tandem with the "porcelain doll" image that was being cultivated with them.

Unlike "Samishii Nettaigyo", which had quite the urgent beat to it, "One Night In Heaven" is a bit more laidback with a Latin guitar and some mysterious ambience. As well, I also enjoy that dramatic bass synth which introduces the song and the key switch from the opening verses to the refrain. I was accustomed to seeing Wink perform the song live on those music shows, so it wasn't until 1991 when their collection of music videos had come out on VHS that I realized that all of their hits did have accompanying official videos. Of all the videos that were on the tape, the one for "One Night In Heaven" impressed me the most as Sachiko and Shoko looked like they accepted their invitation to enter the holodeck of the USS Enterprise-D. The director evidently enjoyed using light and shadow on the ladies, too. It was quite the ambitious presentation, but at the time, I'm sure Wink could pretty much ask for the moon and their minders would've been making the calls to NASA.

The lyrics for "One Night In Heaven" were written by Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆） and Steve Lironi & Dan Navarro were responsible for the music. Released in November 1989, it hit No. 1 for 2 weeks and quickly became the 38th-ranked song of the year.