Masatoshi Nakamura/Aska -- Kaze no Sumu Machi (風の住む町)

I like to wander around quite a bit everywhere I go, especially in the older parts of town with buildings from back in the days of yore like shop-houses which sometimes may not look pleasant due to neglect over the years, little alleys and streets, you know, the lot. Somehow it just gives you that feel of nostalgia even though you hadn't been there during that time.

Masatoshi Nakamura's (中村雅俊) 'Kaze no Sumu Machi', which means the street where the wind resides, was like the feelings that I've mentioned above condensed into a song. And who wrote this comfortable tune? Why, Aska from Chage and Aska of course! I remember reading his explanation for writing the song on their C&A's website, and he kinda said something on the line of nostalgia, that adults want to and like to reminiscent the past, stuff like that, and then ponder whether or not it'd be good to back to the good ol'days or not. I think.

Anyway, the song was released on the 21st of December in 1990 and did average, peaking at 49th place on the Oricon weeklies. It was also the theme song for the 3rd season of a police drama called 'Sasurai keiji ryojouen' ( さすらい刑事旅情編), which lasted from October 1990 to March 1991.

Then 'Kaze no Sumu Machi' made another appearance as a... I don't what its called... y'know, a song that they'd play during the course of the show? Yeah. The hour long special drama that air in 2011 was called 'Tasogare ryuseigun C-46 seiun' (黄昏流星群 〜C-46星雲〜), based on a manga that was based on one of C&A's songs 'C-46'. Nakamura himself played the lead role, a man who was the former front man of a popular band back in the 80's or something like that, and the 'Kaze no Sumu Machi' was supposed to be the band's hit song. And the cassette tape with that song brought back memories of a past lover, yada yada yada, you know, the usual romantic show thing.

I liked it. It had a coupla subtle hints to Aska's 'Hajimari wa itsumo ame' (はじまりはいつも雨). And it kept playing Aska's new version of 'C-46'. And it kept playing one of my favourite songs by Aska... ... Okay fine, and I like Aska, happy now?

On another note, Aska did a self-cover for this song that was released in his 2nd solo album 'Scene II' in 1991. His version had his own personal touch to it and the strings make the music have a more elegant and gentle feel to it, which I prefer by a small margin. While the original felt a little more... I suppose folksy?

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