Saori Minami - Cynthia Street (1975) [24bit FLAC]

Recorded in Los Angeles in 1975. At that time, it was epoch-making that Kayokyoku artists performed everything from musicians to engineers in Los Angeles. There are no single cuts from this album with 10 songs, all newly written. Her famous song "20才の立場", which has been played in clubs, is one of her super-masterpieces that can be listed as the BEST among her original albums.

Saori Minami (Real Name: Akemi Uchima, Christian Name: Cynthia) was born in Okinawa, Japan on July 2, 1954.

Before stardom Saori Minami was an assistant at an RBC TV show, when in the early 70's CBS Sony was scouting for talent, and after auditioning she was spotted by the manager of Hide & Rossanna and was offered a recording contract. She moved from Okinawa to Tokyo.

In the summer of 1971 her debut single "Jyunana Sai" (Seventeen Years Old) was released, penned by Kyohei Tsutsumi and Mieko Arima. It sold over 550.000 copies, and went on to become her biggest hit, signature song, as well as a standard in the Japanese songbook. It won her the Best Newcomer Award at the Japan Record Awards, and earned her a gold medal at the Shinjuku Music Festival. Only four days after the release of "Jyunana Sai" another single was issued, "Shiokaze No Melody" (Melody Of The Seabreeze), which became a top 10 hit as well.

Along with Mari Amachi and Rumiko Koyanagi, Saori Minami was one of the first Japanese singers to be deemed an Idol. Soon after their debuts other succesful Pop Idols emerged like Megumi Asaoka, Miyoko Asada and Agnes Chan who would dominate the Japanese music scene for most of the 70's and 80's.

After a very succesful singing (she sold about 5 to 10 million records) and acting career, she retired in 1978 to study in Canada. She married photographer Kishin Shinoyama in 1979. She made a temporary comeback from 1991 up to 1997 releasing several singles and albums.