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.

Friday, March 14, 2014

Shizuka Kudo -- Shouko wo Misete (証拠をみせて)




“Shouko wo Misete” is my all time favorite song by Shizuka Kudo (工藤静香). Although not a single, it was the lead song from her second album “Shizuka” (静香) (more like a mini-album or an EP with just five songs), which was released in July 1988. Based on that, it actually acted like a single as it was performed on Yoru no Hit Studio more than once and in a number of Shizuka’s concert tours, even in the late 90s. The performance introducing this article is from her first ever released concert, titled "Kudo Shizuka Hajime no Ippo" [工藤静香 静香はじめの一歩], which means her vocals were not that great and her looks a little awkward (she needed to gain a little more weight at the time).

As for the song, it’s typical early Shizuka material. With a blast of synths and a strong bass line, “Shouko wo Misete” also has a powerful chorus. This fact alone always makes me remember that although Shizuka was an aidoru singer, her songs were more mature in style and in vocal demand than the hits released by some of her contemporaries. Even her more cutesy stuff, like “FU-JI-TSU” or “MUGO n’ Iroppoi” (MUGO・ん…色っぽい), were charming but not overly saccharine.

As a fun fact, my friends always thought she kind of had a pity face because of her eyebrows. Although I had to agree with them, at the same time I always found Shizuka an attractive girl (not so much in this video for “Shouko wo Misete”, though). Somehow she got sexier in the 90s. Kudos (hey, a pun) to her and future husband Takuya Kimura (木村拓哉) for marrying her.

The “Shizuka” album reached #1 on the Oricon charts, selling around 253,000 copies. It was also the #35 best sold album in 1988. As for “Shouko wo Misete”, it was written by long-time collaborator Miyuki Nakajima (中島 みゆき). Music and arrangement were done by Tsugutoshi Goto (後藤次利).

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for putting up this song, Marcos. It's always good to hear some of the songs that don't get officially put out as singles since they can also be gems that people who aren't die-hard fans can hear. And especially when those songs are created by the duo of Nakajima and Goto, the compete level is that much higher.

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    1. Hi J-Canuck.

      To be honest, I'm still discovering Shizuka's non single songs through her concerts (thank god someone shared all of her concerts in a tracker), although "Shouko wo Misete" has always been an old favorite of mine. I'm quite liking what I'm hearing, though. Nakajima and Goto are surely the ones to blame for that. Their songs are very, very good and somewhat distinct from what other composers were giving to other aidoru singers at the time.

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  2. Hello Marcos v I was wondering were can I find the tracker of shizuka kudo concerts that you pointed out ? And is it available to everyone . Thank you

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