Emy Eaton (later Jackson) was born to Japanese parents in Langsford in Essex in July 1946, moving to Japan as a teenager to study at St Morris Convent School in Yokohama. A few years later in 1964, she started working as an assistant/disc jockey for the Good Hit Parade programme on Radio Kanto, now known as Radio Japan, as they were looking for a bi-lingual assistant who could speak both English and Japanese. Her talent as a singer was discovered by a female music critic called Reiko Yukawa, who had been writing about jazz since the late 50's, and who was a regular on the station. She heard Jackson singing while strumming her guitar and was so impressed that she immediately advised an A&R man from Columbia Records to give her a chance as a recording artist. Yukawa insisted that she should sing songs by Japanese songwriters, but in her native language of English, and she even wrote the lyrics to her first single 'Crying In A Storm'. Due to a process in place at the time in Japan called the exclusive writers system, artists could only record songs written by songwriter under exclusive contract to the same record label, and as Yukuma was not a Columbia staff writer, Columbia Japan had to release the single as a foreign recording by a British artist, even though Jackson could speak Japanese and it was recorded in japan. Despite being sold at a higher price than a Japanese single because of being a "foreign" release, it still went on to sell close to one million copies when it was released in April 1965. Many Japanese music historians consider this excellent track to be the first Japanese pop song, with it's raucous backing which was very much influenced by the biggest band in Japan at the time, The Ventures. From her second single onwards she was backed by The Smashmen, who were in fact the well-regarded Japanese band The Blue Comets under an alias, and their superb instrumental backing is a huge part of the appeal of these songs. Jackson went on to release another six singles and one EP during 1965 and 1966, and it has been said that she revolutionized the music industry in Japan. Once outside writers began to have their songs accepted by record companies that they were not under contract to, and released as "foreign" records, this eventually led to the collapse of the exclusive writers system in Japan. Her last single in 1966, the oddly-titled 'Love Is A Crazy Sports Car', was the only song that she sang in Japanese, and although she did not release any more records, she carried on singing until 1973, when she left the music business to open a restaurant in Yokohama. Although she returned to singing again in the 90's, her finest hour was undoubtedly those two years in the mid-60s, when she led the Japanese pop market into a new age.
Track listing
01 Crying In A Storm (single 1965)
02 Suddenly I'm Alone (b-side of 'Crying In A Storm')
03 Say Yes, My Boy (single 1965)
04 Don't Break My Heart (b-side of 'Say Yes, My Boy')
05 Blue Christmas (single 1965)
06 I Saw Mammy Kissing Santa Claus (b-side of 'Blue Christmas')
07 You Don't Know Baby (single 1966)
08 Heart Full Of Tears (b-side of 'You Don't Know Baby')
09 Pretend (single 1966)
10 If I Give My Heart To You (b-side of 'Pretend')
11 Angel Fish (single 1966)
12 Don't Say Good-bye (b-side of 'Angel Fish')
13 Love Is Crazy Sports Car (single 1966)
14 One Way Kiss (b-side of 'Love Is A Crazy Sports Car')
Thanks to Paul for the suggestion
