Alfee -- Kimi ga Toori Sugita Ato ni（君が通り過ぎたあとに）

No matter how the trio of Takamizawa, Sakurai and Sakazaki (sounds like a Japanese accounting firm, I know) would prefer to refer themselves in terms of their group, Alfee or The Alfee, my memories of them will always involve a sort of epic rock opera since their music has incorporated the shredding electric guitars and the classical strings. One great example is their 19th single "Koibito-tachi no Pavement"（恋人たちのペイヴメント）from 1984. There is something very Queen-esque about that one.

For their March 1987 single "Kimi ga Toori Sugita Ato ni" (Don't Pass Me By), the rock aspect is toned down considerably and I think the members have gone more with acoustic guitars here, but the strings and epic sensation are back along with the wistful innocence of youth and baseball. Well, J, you ask, how does baseball fit into this?

It just so happens that "Kimi ga Toori Sugita Ato ni" is the opening theme for the final movie based on Mitsuru Adachi's（あだち充）"Touch"（タッチ）high school baseball franchise, "Touch 3 ~ Kimi ga Toori Sugita Ato ni" which came out in April 1987. Alfee sang the ending theme as well, but as someone who has never seen the movie, I kinda wonder whether "Kimi ga Toori Sugita Ato ni" would have been the better ending theme since it has that bittersweet tone of a pitcher on the mound at sunset following a game that his team just had to win but didn't although they gave it their all. Toshihiko Takamizawa's（高見沢俊彦）lyrics actually go for a fellow's retained love for a lady that was either not reciprocated or couldn't stand the test of time during the relationship. Y'know...just reading the last two sentences, this could apply to good ol' Charlie Brown. In any case, he is hoping that he won't be forgotten.

I also have to mention that I enjoy the classical music riffs that begin and finish the song. Very Alfee. "Kimi ga Toori Sugita Ato ni" reached No. 5 on the Oricon weeklies and ended the year as the 58th-ranked single for 1987. As for an album, the song was placed onto "BEST SELECTION II THE ALFEE" which was released in May 1988. Ah, incidentally, although the band referred to themselves as The Alfee during this time, the single itself just had them labeled as Alfee.

Of course, when it comes to the representative song for the "Touch" franchise, you just have to look here.