Ruiko Kurahashi -- Long Goodbye

During the early 1980s phase of Ruiko Kurahashi's（倉橋ルイ子） career, I could peg her songs into two categories: lush epic ballads often with orchestral backing or fresh and pleasant mid-tempo tunes that are firmly planted in the AOR genre.

"Long Goodbye" is one example of the latter category. Written by Fumiko Okada（岡田冨美子） and composed by Kisaburo Suzuki（鈴木キサブロー） as her 3rd single in September 1982, it was also included in her 3rd album, "Heartbreak Theater" which came out in the same month. As I've mentioned probably in a number of articles about the singer, it's café-friendly pop or perhaps something to be heard during Sunday brunch. Although Kurahashi never became a superstar, I think she stood out for the reason that there weren't too many singers (if any) at that time who sang in that particular category. With the 2nd Wave in aidoru and enka and the funkiness of City Pop in full bloom, Kurahashi provided this soft, comfortable romantic side of Japanese pop.

Something that caught me by surprise that Kurahashi did a Big Band jazz version of "Long Goodbye" for her 1984 album "Hello Again".