Momoe Yamaguchi -- Yume Saki Annainin (夢先案内人）

"Yume Saki Annainin" (Dream Destination Guide) was the 2nd single created for Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵）by the husband-and-wife team of Ryudo Uzaki and Yoko Aki.（宇崎竜童・阿木耀子） The pair would come up with some fiery and defiant hits for Yamaguchi such as "Imitation Gold" and "Playback Part 2", but Yamaguchi's 17th single is a cute romantic number about dreaming of that gondola trip with a beau on a moonlit night.

When I first heard it on the radio years and years ago, it had that really sunny kayo kyoku sound of the 70s with that characteristic guitar, strings and chorus backing Momoe-chan up. It always has that nostalgic feeling of summer. So, it was a surprise to find out that Uzaki and Aki whipped up this happy-go-lucky tune for her before she started getting all medieval on us with her later hits.

"Yume Saki Annainin" was released in April 1977, and hit the No. 1 spot some 6 weeks later. It would be Yamaguchi's last No. 1 song before her retirement a few years later, although some of her later works would reach as high as No. 2. It was the 21st-ranked song for the year. 

The Akina Nakamori-Momoe Yamaguchi connection continues here. When Nakamori（中森明菜） was trying out on the talent show "Star Tanjo"（スター誕生...A Star Is Born), she sang this very song to make it through.

July 28th 2015: My fellow contributor, Noelle Tham, has her thoughts on the song right here.