Cross My Palm
Cross My Palm is the eleventh studio album by Japanese singer Akina Nakamori, released on 25 August 1987 by Warner Pioneer. It was Nakamori's first English-language album.
| Cross My Palm | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 25, 1987 | |||
| Recorded | April 1987 (New York) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 46:46 | |||
| Language | English | |||
| Label | Warner Pioneer | |||
| Akina Nakamori chronology | ||||
| ||||
Background
Cross My Palm is the second studio album to be recorded in the United States, five years after her debut album Prologue (Jomaku) and the first studio album to be produced by western musicians and writers as David Batteau, Tony Humecke, Roger Daltrey, Julia Downes and Sandy Stewart.[1][2]
Nakamori come up with the inspiration of this album from American films such as Top Gun and Footloose.[3]
"Modern Woman" is a cover of "Femmes d'aujourd'hui" by French singer Jeanne Mas and the title track is a cover of the song by British writer Chris Morris.
"The Look That Kills" is an English-language self-cover of her 1987 No. 1 hit "Blonde". The single was released two months before the album's release. While the melody line resembles to the original, she performs it in the higher key tune than original, arrangement is slightly renewed and is sixteen seconds shorter.[4]
Marketing
Pioneer Corporation's television commercial
"Modern Woman" was used by Pioneer Corporation in a commercial to promote the Private CD770D mini component stereo system.
Music video album
Four months after the release of album, a companion music video album was released on 21 December 1987. The video album features Nakamori as a musician who aims to go professional. It was filmed in New York City between 13 and 24 April 1987.[5] "No More" includes a new remixed intro not found in the album version.[6] The video received an award at the AVA Digital Content Grand Prix in 1987.
Photo book
The companion photo book Akina Nakamori Visual Book Cross My Palm (中森明菜写真集 VISUAL BOOK Cross My Palm, Nakamori Akina shashin-shū Bijuaru Bukku Kurosu Mai Pāmu) was released on 24 December 1987.[7]
Stage performances
On Fuji TV's music show Yoru no Hit Studio, Nakamori performed "Soft Touch" in Paris in 1989. She performed "The Look That Kills" on the 25 December 1987 episode of TV Asahi's Music Station.[8]
Some tracks were performed in her live shows as well: During the live tour for A Hundred Days in 1987 she performed "Soft Touch", "Political Moves", and "The Look That Kills".[9] She performed "Cross My Palm", "My Position", "Soft Touch", "The Look That Kills" and "No More" in the 1991 special live show "Yume".[10]
Chart performance
Cross My Palm hit No. 1 on Oricon's weekly albums chart and sold 347,700 copies. The album remained at number 19 on Oricon's yearly albums chart in 1987.[11]
The album was released in the United States in 1989 under Atlantic Records; however, it sold poorly in the country, peaking at No. 90 on the Billboard 200.[12][13]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Cross My Palm" |
| Chris Morris | 3:42 |
| 2. | "Political Moves" |
|
| 4:27 |
| 3. | "Slave for Love" |
|
| 3:54 |
| 4. | "Easy Rider" |
|
| 4:13 |
| 5. | "Modern Woman" | Jeanne Mas |
| 4:12 |
| 6. | "The Look that kills" |
|
| 3:38 |
| 7. | "Soft Touch" |
|
| 3:34 |
| 8. | "My Position" |
|
| 3:37 |
| 9. | "The Touch of Heartache" |
|
| 4:13 |
| 10. | "House of Love" | Sandy Steward | Steward | 4:51 |
| 11. | "No More" |
|
| 3:10 |
| 12. | "He's Just in Love with the Beat" |
|
| 3:15 |
| Total length: | 46:46 | |||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Cross My Palm" (movie Cross My Palm version) |
| Chris Morris | 3:27 |
| 14. | "The Touch of Heartache" (movie Cross My Palm version) |
|
| 4:07 |
| 15. | "Easy Rider" (movie Cross My Palm version) |
|
| 4:19 |
| 16. | "House of Love" (movie Cross My Palm version) | Sandy Steward | Steward | 4:30 |
| 17. | "Political Moves" (movie Cross My Palm version) |
|
| 4:16 |
| 18. | "The Look that kills" (movie Cross My Palm version) |
|
| 3:35 |
| 19. | "Soft Touch" (movie Cross My Palm version) |
|
| 4:33 |
| 20. | "No More" (movie Cross My Palm version) |
|
| 3:58 |
| Total length: | 79:00 | |||
Notes:
- "Modern Woman" is titled as "Modern Woman (Femme d'aujourd'hui)" in the album liner notes.
References
- "CRUISE (中森明菜 ) ワーナーミュージック・ジャパン - Warner Music Japan". Warner Music Japan. Archived from the original on 30 April 2009.
- "中森明菜 Cross My Palm". CDJournel.
- Tooru Fujii (24 August 1987). "Oricon Weekly 3rd August Week 1987". Oricon Weekly. 411 (33): 11.
- 堤昌司 (10 June 2009). Complete Single Collection: First Ten years (Akina Nakamori) (Media notes). Warner Music Japan. p. 24. WPCL-10681/84.
- "中森明菜 Cross My Palm DVD". CDJournal.
- While the original version is 3:15 in length, the video version is 4:00
- 柴田, 敬三 (1987). 中森明菜写真集 VISUAL BOOK Cross My Palm. New York: Hontoki. ISBN 4-938568-03-9.
- "Artist Line-up 1987.12.25. Nakamori Akina. The Look That Kills". Music Station Official Website. TV Asahi.
- "中森明菜/ライヴ・イン'87～ア・ハンドレッド・デイズ". cdjournal.com.
- "中森明菜/～夢～'91・アキナ・ナカモリ・スペシャル・ライヴ". CDJournal.
- Oricon Album Chart Book Complete Edition 1970-2005. オリコン・マーケティング・プロモーション. 25 April 2006. pp. 3, 455–457, 883. ISBN 4871310779.
- Vago, Mike; Vishnevetsky, Ignatiy; Eichel, Molly (1 February 2016). "America will love Heintje: 11 failed English-language crossovers". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
- Record Certification Council (31 May 2007). "Akina Nakamori". Music CD official official guidebook（下） - Chapter CD Journal. Ongaku Shubbansha. p. 135. ISBN 978-4861710308. Retrieved 15 March 2012.