[The Jukebox] #61 Dress Down - Kaoru Akimoto

In March of 1986, Akimoto released her one and only album Cologne under the Victor record label but went under the radar when it was initially released.

As part of the resurrection of Citypop in Japan and the discovery of the genre in the west, the single “Dress Down” was uploaded to YouTube in 2014 and became an instant classic.

In 2016, Victor re-released the album on CD and again on LP in 2019. Tower Records released a limited sale of the remastering on April 1st 2020 featuring Akimoto’s first singles, “Paradox” and “Premonition” (which were the opening and ending song for the Anime OVA Fire Tripper) as bonus tracks for ￥2500 (About €20).

“Dress Down” would be the most popular song on the album as it has been sampled in other tracks and re-mixed by artists like Macross 82-99.

Lyrics (Romaji):

senaka no aita doresu koborete shimai-sōna iyaringu
midareta kami hito suji mo nai
odoketa torimaki-tachi watashi ga warawanai no o
fushigina me o shite mite iru wa

Dress down hayaku mitsukete yo
son’na ko ni kamatte tsumaranai hazuda wa
Dress down-iki ga tomaru hodo mitsume raretakutte
Please tell me, tell me why

burū ni yureru raito anata ga chikadzuite kuru
awateta tsumasaki moteamasu
fukigen ni sa sete kurete arigatō tte kiridashitara
anata wa suteki ni hohoenda

Dress down wazato kaki ageru
kami no kaori sae mo hakara reta yūwaku
Dress down anata ga watashi ni muchūninaru mae ni
I’m melting, melting, melting, melting you

Dress down wazato kaki ageru
kami no kaori sae mo hakara reta yūwaku
Dress down wazato hamidashita kuchibeni no maryoku de
I’m waiting, waiting for you

Dress down anata ga watashi ni
muchūninaru mae ni
I’m melting, melting, melting, melting you