Seishiro Kusunose -- Suteki na Hajimari（素敵なはじまり）

My feeling is that singer-songwriter Seishiro Kusunose（楠瀬誠志郎）is another one of those underrated talents that may not have gained superstardom but has had stories to tell and has done well telling them.

Contributor nikala was the first one to introduce Kusunose and I later wrote one about him through his song "Miss You" from 1986 which was very reminiscent of AOR/City Pop of the time. Now, I've found this tune by him from 1997 called "Suteki na Hajimari" (A Wonderful Beginning).

From his 10th album "Holiday", this happy-go-lucky number was written by Yuuho Iwasato（岩里祐穂）and composed by Kusunose and Yuji Toriyama（鳥山雄司）with arrangement by the latter as well. It does sound quite like 90s Japanese middle-of-the-road pop and I could imagine the band Sing Like Talking tackling "Suteki na Hajimari", too. Nice sax solo going with that bright and jangly melody with Kusunose's high-toned vocals steadily flying above it all.