Kenji Sawada/Katsuo Ono -- Rum-shuu Iri no Orange（ラム酒入りのオレンジ）

It's just a feeling with me and probably not accurate at all but when I think of Kenji Sawada（沢田研二）during the 1970s before he went all Glam Rock and New Wave, I think of him as being the sincere pop and rock balladeer most likely because of "Kiken na Futari"（危険なふたり）from 1973. Of course, he performed happy and uptempo tunes like "O-mae ni Check-in"（おまえにチェックイン）but I thought that was more from his 1980s persona.

But indeed, from his 10th original album from November 1977, "Omoikiri Kiza na Jinsei"（思いきりな気障な人生...A Life of Discomfort）, there is the track "Rum-shuu Iri no Orange" (Rum-Filled Orange) which is this happy and uptempo tune with an interesting mix of tropical and rockabilly. Composed by Katsuo Ono（大野克夫）and written by Yu Aku（阿久悠）, the orange here isn't a source of some newfangled cocktail but actually the analogy of a rum-filled woman that some fellow is going to "peel", not to put too fine a point on it. The cad feels that he may pay some consequences for this liqueur-assisted seduction but what the heck. In any case, despite my words in the first paragraph, when I figured Aku's lyrics, I kinda thought that this was the sort of song that Julie would tackle.

"Omoikiri Kiza na Jinsei" hit No. 1 on the album charts and ended up as the No. 5 album for 1978.

I keep forgetting that composer Katsuo Ono was once a member of the famous Group Sounds band The Spiders so he probably had his time behind the mike as well (also he's the fellow behind some of the more exciting jazzy theme songs such as the one for "Conan"). And I think it's indeed him here singing a cover version of his own creation on his 1978 album "Windward Hill". This one is a lot more relaxed in the AOR fashion. This time, I think Ono is in a hammock drinking from a true rum-filled orange.