Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Junichi Inagaki/Yasuhiro Abe -- Long Version (ロング・バージョン)


It's 9 p.m. on a Saturday night in your Tokyo loft in Nishi-Azabu and you're tired of hitting the clubs. You decide to make a martini and want to put on a suitable tune on the stereo. You need not go any further than Jun'ichi Inagaki(稲垣潤一). Hailing from Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture up in northern Japan, he's been soothing fans for 30 years with his crooning City Pop. 

"Long Version" was composed by fellow City Pop singer Yasuhiro Abe(安部恭弘) and written by Reiko Yukawa(湯川れい子)who has also written songs for Akina Nakamori(中森明菜), Kyoko Koizumi(小泉今日子) and TUBE. The title refers to the fact that a woman who has just had a one-night fling wants a more permanent relationship....a long version, if you will. When it was released in November 1983 as his 6th single, it peaked at No. 50 on the Oricon charts. It was also one of the tracks on his 2nd album, "Shylights".



11 years later, Abe himself did a cover version of his own song on his album "Passages" in 1994. His version is a bit different in arrangement but it's still just as smooth as a fine brandy. Enjoy!

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