Kyoko Takada -- Minna Yume no Naka（みんな夢の中）

Y'know...we in Toronto may finally be getting a proper spring...and just in time, since we've got the Victoria Day long weekend coming up, which is strangely enough seen by many as the unofficial start to summer. I think it's gonna be a long while before we can think of the hot season, though.

Anyways, allow me to start your "Kayo Kyoku Plus" broadcasting day with something nice and pleasant from the year of 1969...March 1969, to be exact. I came across this tune by Kyoto-born Kyoko Takada（高田恭子）titled "Minna Yume no Naka" (Everybody's In A Dream), and as the title may suggest, it feels like something dreamy and soft and comfy.

Written and composed by Kuranosuke Hamaguchi（浜口庫之助）, this was Takada's solo debut after a stint as a vocalist with Mike Maki（マイク眞木）in his Group Sounds band The Mikes（ザ・マイクス）. "Minna Yume no Naka" has such a reassuring lilt to the melody that I wondered whether this had been meant as a kids' song on NHK's "Minna no Uta"（みんなのうた）. Plus, Takada sounds like a mother taking care of her children when she sings this.

Reaching a peak of No. 17 on the Oricon weeklies, "Minna Yume no Naka" earned Takada a Best New Artist prize along with Mood Kayo legends Hiroshi Uchiyamada & Cool Five（内山田洋とクール・ファイブ）at the Japan Record Awards for that year. Furthermore, the singer was able to go on NHK's Kohaku Utagassen for that one time.