Yuuichiro Oda -- I Me Mine

I found this out purely by accident earlier today, and it's unfortunately another announcement of someone in the Japanese music industry passing away in the last few days. Kagoshima Prefecture-born composer and arranger Yuuichiro Oda（小田裕一郎）died suddenly a few days ago on September 17th in his home in the New York/New Jersey area at the age of 68.

Having been active in the music industry since 1970, he created music for a number of singers including Seiko Matsuda's（松田聖子）early hit "Aoi Sangoshou"（青い珊瑚礁）, the Anri（杏里）classic "Cat's Eye" (which was the first song by the singer that I had ever heard) and the popular Toshihiko Tahara（田原俊彦） number "Koi = Do!"（恋＝Do!）.

Looking for the news on Oda's passing, I also came across this YouTube video. His J-Wiki profile lists him as a composer and arranger, but I was surprised to learn that he had also released a number of singles and albums including his first album in 1984, "ODA".

I've taken a listen to the first two tracks from "ODA" and initially feel that his music wavers between 1980s power pop and AOR. The first track "I Me Mine" is an especially bouncy number with some pretty fun keyboard and sax work. With JIM&SHOW providing lyrics and Oda composing the song, "I Me Mine" reminds me a bit of Steve Winwood's poppier music in the same decade.