The Off-Course -- Yoake wo Tsuge ni（夜明けを告げに）/Utsukushii Sekai（美しい世界）

 

Happy Monday! A bit gray and cool out there so perhaps something a bit more contemplative might be nice to begin the usual work week.

Before the amazing band Off-Course（オフコース）sold out arenas and stadia later in the late 1970s and early 1980s with their blend of pop and soft rock, Kazumasa Oda（小田和正）, Yasuhiro Suzuki（鈴木康博）and the rest of the Kanagawa Prefecture-based group were all about the folk. And considering the background behind their second single, one would think that "Yoake wo Tsuge ni", which is directly translated as "Calling the Dawn" but has been given the official English moniker of "Leaving All Behind", was The Off-Course's（ジ・オフ・コース）debut release (we also have to remember that there had once been a definite article leading the name of the band).

"Yoake wo Tsuge ni" was indeed the sophomore single from October 1971, and it was produced by singer-songwriter Tatsushi Umegaki（梅垣達志）who, according to the liner notes of the band's first studio album "Boku no Okurimono"（僕の贈りもの...My Gift to You） from June 1973, had managed to come across a demo tape from The Off-Course and liked the cut of their jib, so to speak. He believed that there was something more to this folk group. Also at the time, Oda and company were still cutting their teeth as performers in the music industry, so they were more than happy to give the songwriting reins to others if doing so could help them in the end. As a result, not only was Umegaki in their corner, but lyricist Keisuke Yamakawa（山川啓介）and composer Kazuhiko Kato（加藤和彦）along with arranger Nozomu Aoki（青木望）applied their sets of skills. I'm not sure whether "Yoake wo Tsuge ni" made the Oricon chart but not only does it feel like a proto Off-Course tune thanks to the familiar and reassuring vocals of Oda and the calm rhythms, it also reminds me of Woodstock, hippie pop and the folk/pop from California from the late 1960s and early 1970s. Yamakawa's lyrics talk of striding out into the future proudly amid Kato's sleepy melody.

The B-side is "Utsukushii Sekai" which literally translates as "A Beautiful World" but was released under the English title of "If You Really Love Me". This was Oda's first creation (words and music) to be put onto vinyl, so that in itself makes it a significant song for the fans, and like the A-side, there is that hopeful optimism going into the future but Oda also sings about taking those happy past memories and packaging those for another look later. The orchestra was definitely out in force and by the end, I got vibes of Richard Harris' "MacArthur Park" from 1967.

According to J-Wiki, neither song from the single was put onto an original album, although perhaps they might be on some of their BEST compilations.