Meiko Nakahara -- Dance In The Memories

Back in 2013, JTM wrote a fine and detailed article titled "JTM's 80s Playlist - J-Dorama/Anime/Movie Edition" which included a favourite of his, Meiko Nakahara's（中原めいこ）"Dance In The Memories", the final ending theme for the beloved 80s anime "Kimagure Orange Road"（きまぐれオレンジ☆ロード）.

It's also a favourite of mine which is why I'm giving my own two cents (although the penny no longer exists in Canada) on the song as well. As JTM mentioned, it was released as the B-side to Nakahara's 12th single "Kagami no Naka no Actress"（鏡の中のアクトレス...The Actress in the Mirror） from January 1988 which was also the final opening theme to "KOR".

Forever the contrarian to a lot of folks, as was the case with a lot of anime, I actually had gotten into the theme songs even before I found out and watched the shows they belonged to. This was also the case with the various theme songs attached to the original TV series and the OVAs for "KOR". I didn't know anything about that particular show or the singer for that matter at the time, but all I did know was how catchy in its Eurobeat way "Dance In The Memories" was. And at the time, I wasn't even aware of the term "Eurobeat"; just that I liked this new dance-able genre.

Nakahara herself took care of words and music for the song about a young lady remembering the good times with an old flame and perhaps that one bittersweet memory of parting with him at a train station on a wintry night. Still, it's all very cheerful so obviously the lady has moved on with her life without the fellow. I think the singer-songwriter was quite underrated in terms of the number of catchy songs she whipped up during the 1980s, although she did have that big hit in 1984 with "Kimi Tachi Kiwi Papaya Mango da ne"（君たちキウイ・パパヤ・マンゴだね）.

"Dance in the Memories" was also placed onto her 8th album from March 1988, which also had the same title as that 12th single "Kagami no Naka no Actress". I think all of the theme songs for "Kimagure Orange Road" are absolutely splendid, especially with Kanako Wada（和田加奈子）involved but "Dance In The Memories" is also one of the big standouts. Stock, Aitken & Waterman were probably nodding sagely at it.