Miharu Koshi -- Kimagure Highway（気まぐれハイウェイ）

Miharu Koshi fans probably already know this, but the above album actually reflects the time when the singer-songwriter turned into a New Wave chanteuse around the mid-1980s. Unfortunately, at this point, this is the only thumbnail photo I could get of her.

Nope, tonight I'm featuring a song from her very early AOR/City Pop days (so the name during this period is in kanji「越美晴」instead of the katakana「コシミハル」 that she's been identified with for years). In fact, this is her 2nd single, "Kimagure Highway" (Whimsical Highway) from March 1979.

Written and composed by Koshi, it starts with a Scott Joplin-esque piano tootle before a warm and honeyed guitar takes things into a happy road-trip type of City Pop. Koshi relates the story of a couple who may be taking that drive anywhere (out of the city, around the city, through the city) just for the equivalent of a one-night stand, but that's OK with them. They just want to cram in as much fun as possible during the evening.

Koshi's bouncing off the piano is ever-present but I also love the sunset strings. "Kimagure Highway" contrasts with her first single "Love Step" from the previous year in that I've always seen that song as something quite Junko Yagami-ish and firmly planted in downtown. This second single takes the happy couple outbound.

Well, I managed to scavenge this actual shot.