:Cindy (singer)
{{Short description|Japanese singer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=February 2025}}
{{Eastern name order|Yamamoto Mayumi}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| background = person
| birth_name = {{nowrap|Yamamoto Mayumi (山本 真裕美)}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1958|5|5|df=y}}
| birth_place = Yokohama, Japan
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2001|12|17|1958|5|5|df=y}}
| genre = {{flatlist|
| occupation = {{flatlist|
- Singer
- lyricist
- composer
}}
| instrument = Vocals
| label = {{flatlist|
}}
}}
{{nihongo|Mayumi Yamamoto|山本 真裕美|Yamamoto Mayumi|5 May 1958 – 17 December 2001|lede=yes}}, known professionally as Cindy, was a Japanese singer, lyricist, and composer. Originally working in music journalism, she met Stevie Wonder and worked with him. She later released four albums – Love Life (1986), Angel Touch (1990), Don't Be Afraid (1991), and Surprise (1997) – and worked as a lyricist and composer for artists like Miho Nakayama. Since her death, her music has been associated with city pop and gained popularity among DJs in Japan.
Biography
Mayumi Yamamoto, a native of Yokohama, was born on 5 May 1958. Her father was a Korean lyricist, and her mother was Japanese.{{Cite magazine |date=December 1984 |title=今月の新人 |magazine=Myojo |publisher=Shueisha |page=158}} Her stage name Cindy was her baptismal name, named after a fairy.
After graduating from Santa Maria International High School in Yokohama,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v0AzAQAAIAAJ|title=新訂現代日本人名錄 98|volume=2|page=1478|year=1998|publisher=日外アソシエーツ |isbn=978-4-8169-1468-3 }} she moved to the United States. She subsequently worked in music journalism, where she interviewed such musicians as Lionel Richie. She received the attention of Stevie Wonder during an interview on the job, and the two later participated in recording sessions. After returning to Japan in 1982, she performed several commercial songs and participated in the LP recording of her close friend Ann Lewis.
She sang "Chance On Love" and "Open Invitation", the theme songs of the 1981 anime adaptation of Urusei Yatsura; it was released as a single from Kitty Records in 1984. She released her debut album Love Life in 1986; Stevie Wonder worked on two of the album's songs.{{Cite news |date=19 August 2019 |title=タワーレコードだけで買えるシティ・ポップ作品をご紹介 |url=https://tower.jp/article/feature_item/2019/08/19/0002 |access-date=11 February 2025 |work=Tower Records Japan |language=ja |archive-date=26 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250126210231/https://tower.jp/article/feature_item/2019/08/19/0002 |url-status=live }} Her next two albums, Angel Touch and Don't Be Afraid, were released in 1990 and 1991. She also sang "Touch the Sky" as part of the collaboration album Tower of Love.{{Cite news |last=lightmellowbu |date=16 November 2021 |title=lightmellowbuが選ぶ〈91年リリースの1曲〉【アーティストと音楽関係者が選ぶ〈わたしの1曲〉】 |url=https://mikiki.tokyo.jp/articles/-/30258 |work=mikiki by Tower Records |language=ja |archive-date=26 February 2025 |access-date=12 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250226104640/https://mikiki.tokyo.jp/articles/-/30258 |url-status=live }} Hata of Lightmellowbu said on Mikiki that Cindy's singing voice was like an "angel voice".
In addition to singing, she was a composer and lyricist, working with Miho Nakayama as well as some of her own songs; among Cindy's compositions for Nakayama were "Mermaid", "Witches" (both 1988), "Rosécolor" (1989), and "Semi-sweet Magic" (1990).{{Cite web |title=CINDY作曲の歌詞一覧 - 歌ネット |url=https://www.uta-net.com/composer/3255/ |access-date=13 February 2025 |website=Uta-Net |language=ja |archive-date=26 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250226104654/https://www.uta-net.com/composer/3255/ |url-status=live }} She also worked with Tatsuro Yamashita as a chorus singer, including in recordings and concerts.
Cindy died on 17 December 2001.{{Cite web |title=cindyjapan - Cindy シンディ |url=https://www.instagram.com/cindyjapan/ |access-date=10 February 2025 |website=Instagram}}
In 2015, remastered CD editions of Angel Touch and Don't Be Afraid produced by {{ill|Tamotsu Yoshida|ja|吉田保 (レコーディングエンジニア)}} were released.{{Cite news |date=6 July 2015 |title=CINDYのアルバム2枚が吉田保リマスタリングで再発 |url=https://tower.jp/article/feature_item/2015/07/06/0702 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240914190918/https://tower.jp/article/feature_item/2015/07/06/0702 |archive-date=14 September 2024 |access-date=11 February 2025 |work=Tower Records Online |language=ja |url-status=live }} By 2021, several of Angel Touch{{'}}s songs were being widely used in the Japanese DJ scene.{{Cite news |last=Tofubeats |date=16 February 2021 |title=【tofubeatsの棚の端まで】最終回 シティ――木村恵子や和田加奈子など、シティ・ポップからJ-Popへの過渡期の3枚 |url=https://mikiki.tokyo.jp/articles/-/27612 |access-date=11 February 2025 |work=mikiki by Tower Records |language=ja}} One of them, "Watashitachi o Shinjite ite", was included in Sony Music Japan's 2021 city pop compilation Aldelight City: A New Standard For Japanese Pop 1975-2021 and in Hitoshi Kurimoto's 2024 album compilation City Pop Groovy 90's: Girls & Boys.{{Cite news |date=8 September 2021 |title=ソニー・ミュージックダイレクト新レーベルからシティポップの名曲詰め込んだコンピ盤発売 |url=https://natalie.mu/music/news/444286 |access-date=11 February 2025 |work=Music Natalie |language=ja |archive-date=26 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250226104646/https://natalie.mu/music/news/444286 |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |title=90年代に特化したシティポップコンピ、アナログ＆CDで登場 |url=https://natalie.mu/music/news/574803 |access-date=11 February 2025 |work=Music Natalie |language=ja |archive-date=26 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241226090554/https://natalie.mu/music/news/574803 |url-status=live }}
Discography
=Albums=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" |
| scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:12em;" | Title
! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Year ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Details ! scope="col" colspan="1" | Peak chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Sales ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Ref. |
|---|
| scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;" | JPN |
| scope="row"| Love Life {{small|(stylized in all-caps)}} | 1986 |
| — | — |
| scope="row"| Angel Touch {{small|(stylized in all-caps)}} | 1990 |
| — | — |
| scope="row"| Don't Be Afraid {{small|(stylized in small-caps)}} | 1991 |
| — | — |
| scope="row"| Surprise
| 1997 |
| — | — |
=Singles=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" |
| scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:12em;" | Title
! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Year ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Details ! scope="col" colspan="1" | Peak chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Sales ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Ref. |
|---|
| scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;" | JPN |
| scope="row"| "Chance On Love/Open Invitation"
| 1984 |
| — | — |
| scope="row"| "Think Your Love Away/Spread The Love" {{small|(stylized in all-caps)}} | 1986 |
| — | — |
| scope="row"| {{Nihongo|"Tenshi no Kimochi/Setsunakute"|天使の気持ち/せつなくて}}
| 1990 |
| — | — |
| scope="row"| {{Nihongo|"Watashitachi o Shinjiteite/Surprise"|私達を信じていて/Surprise}}
| 1990 |
| — | — |
| scope="row"| "Special Ever Happened/Christmas Time"
| 1990 |
| — | — |
| scope="row"| {{Nihongo|"Ai ga Sabishii Toki/Tell Me Why"|愛がさびしい時/TELL ME WHY}}
| 1991 |
| — | — |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|https://www.110107.com/s/oto/artist/80011028}} (Sony Music Entertainment Japan)
{{Miho Nakayama}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cindy}}
Category:Japanese women pop singers
Category:20th-century Japanese women singers
Category:Japanese people of Korean descent
Category:Japanese women singer-songwriters
Category:20th-century Japanese singer-songwriters
Category:Singers from Yokohama