"I MY MIE"
Following the breakup of Pink Lady in late March of 1981, it didn't take long for Mie to launch her solo career as a singing star, in fact, her first album, “I My Mie” was released a mere five months after the Farewell Concert, and it proved to be quite the successful solo debut for Mie-chan. Starting off with “Maihime Tonight”, Mie set the tone right away that her singing style would lean heavily towards uptempo, power pop which would be her signature sound. However, “Ka To Watashi to Onnatomodachi” was, to my untrained musical ear, pure Rockabilly, but that was followed by “Tahiti Meditterrean Club”, a seriously smoking and sultry slow jam that I found very appealing. We return to pop with “Don't Call Me, Mr. X” which, in a way, harkened back to the cutesy sort of songs that made her and Kei famous with Pink Lady because of its inherent peppiness. Mie slows things down again with “Sekaiju No Ni Kata Omoi”, another slick and stylish ballad with enka undertones. For the next track, despite its name, “Animal House” was another slow but powerful tune with a wailing guitar riff and equally strong vocals from Mie.
“Brahms Loves Rock” takes us back to foot tapping rock and roll with a distinct 1950's sort of feel, in fact, I could envision Mie wearing a cashmere sweater, poodle skirt and saddle shoes while warbling this tune. The title track, “I My Mie” is a festive, pop song with a perky, sassy beat that's perfectly irresistible with its horns and guitar riffs and makes you want to get up and dance. “Shinju Dorobou” threw me for a serious loop, thanks to its bass-heavy, decidedly Caribbean flavor, you'd think Bob Marley wrote it just for her, that's how much this song has the rhythm of the islands. “Today's My Birthday” is wonderfully sweet ballad tailor made for lovers to sway cheek to cheek to out on the floor at the end of a party, “After Five Friday” was a smooth and mellow tune that would be right at home on any pop radio station, ditto for “Trade Wind”, a piano driven song that had plenty of style and melodic beauty. Lastly, there's “More More”, a song from early 1982 that was added to the re-release of Mie's debut album a few years ago, a sassy, jazzy, uptempo, thumping pop tune that closed things out quite nicely. For a freshman effort as a solo artist, Mie easily hit the ball right out of the park with “I My Mie”, and she'd continue hitting home runs as her own star.
