Hey #Seattle, Scarecrow Video is trying to raise 1.8 million dollars to stay open. I'd been meaning to visit, and they're amazing! Consider supporting them with a membership if you like physical media. (They also rent by mail.)
Nakamori Akina was the second most popular idol (イドル) during the 1980s, behind Matsuda Seiko. This song is the original version of "Mi Amore"; this version was rejected and reworked. However, both versions of the song went to #1 in Japan back to back.
When I picked this song up it was because of the B-side because I recognized Sandii did the lyrics and Kubota Makoto (The Sunsetz) did the music.
The Roches-- Maggie, Terre, and Suzzy- one of those groups that hung around the edge of the music scene, but were never that popular. Maggie started out as a songwriter. Maggie and Terre released album produced by Paul Simon. This album was produced by Robert Fripp. They would go on to work with Tom Waits and Michael Stipe. But it was a Cornelius cover of "Hammond Song" that got me this album.
📽️ A region-free Blu-ray box set for the #HellHouseLLC franchise will be released in October and you can preorder the Special Edition now, which will only be available through the Umbrella Home Entertainment website.
Randy Crawford Secret Combination US Warner Bros. 1981
I picked this one up about a month and half ago. I've really been getting into "yacht soul", often by singers marketed at the time as fusion jazz, but blurs the line between pop, R&B and jazz.
Randy Crawford was more popular in the UK than the US, with her only charting US hit guest vocals on "Street Life" by the Crusaders. This album produced two Top 20 hits in the UK, but only modest US success.
Debut album from EPO, with the title track being one of her biggest hits, a cover a Sugar Babe song. I love the cover, with its blurry TV photos; I'm especially amused that the Peace Arch is on the back cover.
The album itself is really solid. The title track is a cover, but EPO wrote or co-wrote most of the rest of the album. All at the age of 19.
Three Degrees "When Will I See You Again (Japanese version)" JP Philadelphia International 1974
Japanese language version of the groups biggest hit. This was the first three of Japan specific singles that were released between 1974 and 1975, one in English but backed by Hosono Haruomi's Tin Pan Alley and the other in Japanese.