Chiharu Matsuyama -- Nagai Yoru（長い夜）

Should be giving myself a Gibbs Slap upside my head once more since I'd assumed that this was already up on the blog. This is Chiharu Matsuyama's（松山千春）biggest hit, after all. Plus, I've heard it from time to time on various shows.

"Nagai Yoru" (Long Night) is a rock-n'-roll paean to someone's deep love for a woman and he would cherish the opportunity to show it to her all night. I remember it for all that wailing guitar work and Matsuyama's crooning vocals. From what I read on the J-Wiki article for "Nagai Yoru", his 10th single from April 1981, is that on his radio show in 2016, the singer said that the song he had created was supposed to have the folk rhythm that was his usual stock-in-trade. However, during the recording in the studio, guitarist Masaki Matsubara（松原正樹）gave the suggestion of changing it into a more pop/rock thing, despite some resistance from other folks. Matsubara should have gotten a free dinner at the very least for putting the octane into the song.

The song became his second No. 1 after "Kisetsu no Naka de" （季節の中で）which was a 1978 release. It then became the 5th-ranked single of 1981. "Nagai Yoru" was first included on his 2nd singles collection album "Kishou Tenketsu II"（起承転結 II） which came out in November. That album also hit No. 1 and ended up as the 4th-ranked release of 1982. That rather intense title refers to the introduction and development of Japanese and Chinese narratives, according to Jisho.org.

Another reason for giving myself the slap is that I'd heard "Nagai Yoru" often enough on those monomane shows with master impressionist Corocket.