Hideki Saijo -- Kagirinaki Natsu（かぎりなき夏）

"Kagirinaki Natsu" (Endless Summer) is a track from Hideki Saijo's（西城秀樹）1984 album "Gentle - A Man", and if any of the other songs are like this one, then I'd be interested in making this one my first Hideki purchase.

All these years, I've been accustomed to hearing the dynamic 1970s aidoru side of Saijo so it's only been recently that I've heard his 80s material. But listening to this song and "City Dreams from Tokyo", it looks like he was exploring his inner City Pop and AOR. With "Kagirinaki Natsu", the melody by Yoichi Takizawa（滝沢洋一）as arranged by Hiroshi Shinkawa（新川博）is something quite similar to Omega Tribe（オメガトライブ）stuff and whenever I hear the horns from this period, I can't help but remember Anzen Chitai（安全地帯）, notably the tracks from their huge album "V" when they were going brassy with their urban contemporary creations.

The song starts off mellow enough and the opening verses are the ones that have me thinking of Omega Tribe, but once those horns come barging in, that's when Anzen Chitai hits the mind. However, with Sonomi Ari（ありそのみ）handling the lyrics, it's still the unmistakable Saijo vocals coming through.