Takako Shirai -- Pillowcase ni Sayonara（ピローケースにさようなら）

Ahhh...the cool, hopeful and gleaming sound of City Pop. With this song, I hear the smart horns and the reassuring keyboards relating the story of a successful metropolis in the 1980s.

Curiously enough, these were also the sounds emanating from Takako Shirai（白井貴子）back in her early days. Up to now on the blog, I only had the one song by her, "Namae no Nai Ai demo Ii"（名前のない愛でもいい）which was this heart-on-sleeve ballad ready-made as the ending theme for the "Kayo Suspense Gekijo"（火曜サスペンス劇場...The Tuesday Night Suspense Drama）. And Toshikazu Kanazawa（金澤寿和）, the representative of the "Light Mellow on the Web" site, mentioned in the liner notes for "Light Mellow ~ Beams" that there would be some surprise from listeners since Shirai has been known as a rock artist.

However, like Mai Yamane（山根麻衣）, Shirai the rocker also started out in the mellower genre of City Pop and J-AOR. In fact, "Pillowcase ni Sayonara" (Goodbye to my Pillowcase) was her 2nd single released in February 1982, but I got my copy through as a track on the aforementioned "Beams". This was indeed written and composed by the singer-songwriter, and I really get that American 80s urban contemporary scent and Al Jarreau vibes. Heck, even the cover for Shirai's debut album, "Do For Loving" from November 1981 has her looking like she was ready for a yuppie jog in the suburbs. Shin Kazuhara（数原晋）, later of Tokyo Ensemble Lab, was on the flugelhorn.

As for the meaning of the title, Shirai is reflecting the feelings of a woman who no longer needs to cry into the pillow case, her to-go textile source of solace, since she's ready to get back onto her feet and face the world once more.