Akira Terao -- Shukkou Sasurai (舟航～SASURAI)

Another cool City Pop tune from actor/singer Akira Terao（寺尾聡）. Not surprisingly, it's from his No. 1 album of 1981, "Reflections". "Shukkou-Sasurai"(Leaving Port -- Wandering) was actually released in August 1980, some months before the release of the album. It starts off with a somewhat boozy intro as if the protagonist may have awakened anywhere else but in his bed on a ship. After that, Terao leads the song as if he were still bumbling around with a bottle in his hand and trying to conduct a waltz while walking on the deck. Nope, perhaps not a City Pop song per se but heck, cruise liners tend to stick close to the Japanese shore near Tokyo or Yokohama anyways.

Here is a live performance of the song. Terao is basically just acting now, and he looks pretty grizzled. But back then, he looked like one of those kid geniuses with some rad sunglasses. By the way, as for "Sasurai", it went as high as No. 47 on the Oricon charts. Back in 1981, while kids a good decade or younger were climbing up those charts and frenetically dancing and prancing about, Terao kept it nice and cool and still.

Akira Terao -- Reflections