Hi-Fi Set -- Tsumetai Ame （冷たい雨）

It's Golden Week in Japan right now....the first big long holiday of the year, but it seems like Rainy Season decided to invade a month early so it's pretty soggy out there this year. So, I decided to put up another Yuming/Hi-Fi Set song from the mid-70s.

"Tsumetai Ame"(Cold Rain) was originally composed by Yumi Arai（荒井由実） back in 1975 for the folk group BanBan（バンバン） as a B-side. But the vocal group, Hi-Fi Set, which had also covered Arai's ode to graduation, "Sotsugyo Shashin"（卒業写真）, decided to cover the song as its own single released in April/May (differing accounts) 1976 and as one of the tracks for their 2nd album, "Fashionable Lover" two months later. Like "Sotsugyo Shashin", it became a hit for the group as well.

Despite the happy-go-lucky sound, the lyrics are sadder. They describe of a woman going back to her boyfriend's place to make up, only to find out that another woman has quickly taken her place. That rain must've felt even colder...

There are two versions that were sung by Hi-Fi Set. This is my favourite of the two right here, probably because this was the one that I had first heard 3 decades ago and had been hearing for years until coming across the original. It has an even jauntier beat and sounds like something that would be played as a country song at The Grand Ol' Opry.