Hiroaki Igarashi -- Kipros no Suna（キプロスの砂）

 

Well, welcome to the beginning of the second week of November 2020 so let's see if we can start the Monday edition of "Kayo Kyoku Plus" with something nice and pleasant to take the edge off.

Back in 1980, singer-songwriter Hiroaki Igarashi（五十嵐浩晃）came up with the song that I've known him the best for, "Pegasus no Asa"（ペガサスの朝）, his truly upbeat 3rd single that has the power to break through any thick gloom with that hint of AOR and TV composer Mike Post.

Almost a decade later, Igarashi came out with his 13th single, "Kipros no Suna" (Sands of Cyprus) in June 1989, and it can also be considered to be an AOR tune, albeit one that has a dramatically different sound which reflects the genre during the crossover between the 1980s and the 1990s. It's that certain synthesizer being used right from the beginning...very relaxing and begging for some cold glasses of mineral water with lemon twists.

Written by Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）and composed by Igarashi, "Kipros no Suna" has that light tropical sound which reminds me of some of the songs that Akiko Kobayashi（小林明子）was bringing out at around the same time from her 5th album "Bon Voyage". Perhaps at the time, it was given that Smooth Jazz label, but no matter the name, "Kipros no Suna" is very soothing. It's also the first track on the singer's 7th album "Destination" which was released on the same day as the single, and as one YouTube commenter also sagely remarked, I do love it when the music sounds like the album cover.