Mayumi Itsuwa -- California

I've always thought that Mayumi Itsuwa（五輪真弓）, along with Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子） in the early 80s, was a singer who conveyed a certain Frenchness or European feeling in her music. With this song, the refreshing "California", that feeling is still there in the arrangements but I can also envision Itsuwa driving along the West Coast in a convertible when I listen to it.

I'm not sure when I first heard "California". It may have been on an episode of "Sounds of Japan" or it could have been one of the tapes that I picked up by the singer in Chinatown. In any case, although the song seems to start fairly seriously, it suddenly brightens as Itsuwa soothingly delivers her first words, almost as if that convertible were coming out of a long dark tunnel and into beautiful California sunshine with the blue Pacific on the side. Lyrically, she describes the ideal musical postcard of warm winds, blue skies and old friends on that coast.

The song can be found on her 14th album, "Mado"（窓....Windows） which was released in October 1983.

http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm29736850#_=_

The above is the Cantonese version of "California" by Brenda Lo.