Another two great listen from Tokunaga. The ballads really shine off these two. Enjoy!
BIRDS (1987)
1. 輝きながら…
2. シック
3. ため息のステイ
4. ノースリーブのクリスマス
5. 夏の素描(デッサン)
6. BIRDS
7. 君は悲しいギター
8. さよならの水彩画
9. Silent good-night 〜君のために…
10. レター
BONUS FROM "INTRO"
1. さよなら言葉
2. ノースリーブのクリスマス(INTRO.Version)
3. セレブレイション
Dear (1988)
1. 風のエオリア
2. HONG KONG NIGHT
3. あなたのために
4. Tendely
5. Dear...
6. 幾つものワンシーン
7. ガラス越しのあなた
8. どれくらいの時がたてば
9. 真夜中のリバティー
10. Melody -永遠の鍵-
When it comes to J-pop, I'd say that my preference lies mainly with the many female idols of the "Silver Age" and the producers that help define their careers. However, there are a handful of strong male contenders that I feel get overlooked when people look back on a decade of fantastic music. Hideaki Tokunaga is definitely a perfect example of this and his raspy voice with a more ballad approach, set him apart from many of the singers at the time. This has allowed him a lot of staying power and in fact he is the first male artist in Japan to have at least one album chart #1 on the Oricon four decades in a row (80s-10's)!
I was only familiar with a handful of Tokunaga's songs that I were featured of compilations and such but thanks to a russian blog I stumbled upon J-Music, I was allowed access to nearly his entire catalog.
Featured in this post are his first records which I have re-tagged in Japanese but if you would like, I urge you to check out the source links. I only plan to post his albums from the 80s but if you are interested in more, this site definitely has it. Enjoy!
Girl (1986)
1. レイニー ブルー
2. リアリストとロマンチスト
3. 夏のプリズム
4. 冬の動物園
5. ガール
6. 僕の憂鬱
7. 未完成
8. Air Port 20:13
9. レター
10. 最後の学園祭
11. 奇跡のようなめぐり逢い
Video Link to Air Port 20:13
radio (1986)
1. 9月のストレンジャー
2. 夏のラジオ
3. 僕のハートに君はSTAY
4. ライディーン
5. 夢に抱かれて
6. 抱きしめたい
7. ペンダント
8. 感じるままに
9. 振られるなんて
10. 心の中はバラード
11. 愛の中から
