Ongaku Cafe (The ’90s): Speed – Body & Soul (August 1996)

This is a fantastic debut single for SPEED and these young girls should be proud of themselves for what they have accomplished with this first single alone. But of course, we will see if these girls are the real thing or if their first single was just a fluke. I look forward to their second single. For now “Body & Soul” is a single worth purchasing!

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GROUP: SPEED

CD SINGLE: BODY & SOUL

LABEL: Toy’s Factory

CATALOG #: TFDC-28047

DURATION: 20:06

RELEASE DATE: August 5, 1996

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1. BODY & SOUL
2. I Remember
3. BODY & SOUL (HAND BAG MIX)
4. BODY & SOUL (instrumental)

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Originally reviewed back in August 1996

I have to admit that when I first saw SPEED on the TV show “Yoru mo Hippare”, I never really knew who they were. All I knew was that they were a young group that came from Okinawa like Namie Amuro and members of MAX. But when SPEED released their first single “BODY & SOUL”, I was amazed. Not only do these young girls have pretty cool choreography but these girls are young!

The group consists of lead vocalists Eriko Imai and Hiroko Shimabukuro and background dancers Takako Uehara and Hitoe Arakaki and needless to say, these four are burning up the charts with their first single and this is quite exciting to see these girls debut because for the most part, it’s one thing for Namie Amuro via the Super Monkeys to show that girl groups can do choreography but these young girls can do it as well. Hiroko Shimabukuro is only 13 years old and here these girls are tearing it up on stage and just shocking everyone by their vocals and dance moves and now, I can’t get enough of their music.

“Body & Soul” is a pretty cool track with Eriko Imai having a more lower voice compared to Hiro, who has a high pitched voice. But for the most part, these four perform the song well and there single is quite energetic!

The coupling track “I Remember” is an upbeat, mid-tempo ballad and a song that showcases the vocals of both Eriko and Hiro. A pretty cool track! The third track is “Body & Soul (Hand Bag Mix)” which is a good remix but I prefer the original track more to the remix. The fourth track is an instrumental version of “Body & Soul”.

Overall, this is a fantastic debut single for SPEED and these young girls should be proud of themselves for what they have accomplished with this first single alone. But of course, we will see if these girls are the real thing or if their first single was just a fluke. I look forward to their second single. For now “Body & Soul” is a single worth purchasing!

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