Akira Fuse -- Natsu no Owari no Memory（夏の終りのメモリー）

 Welcome back, Akira Fuse（布施明）! Missed that boomer of a voice of yours.

The last time that I wrote about him was back on Xmas Day 2019 for his 1982 City Pop "Tamaranaku Tasty"（たまらなくテイスティー）. But it looks like his experience with the urban contemporary stuff went even further back according to this track from his May 1978 album "Kon'ya wa Kidotte Mitara Ii" (今夜は気取ってみたらいい...Try Pretending Tonight).

With the title of "Natsu no Owari no Memory" (Memory at Summer's End), I kinda figured that it would have to do with a former romantic relationship on some beach somewhere. Sure enough, Fuse's own lyrics talk of a fellow in what is probably a fine convertible coming across an old familiar slice of seashore and remember that relationship from last year. Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）, no stranger to City Pop or AOR, whipped up the contemplative if boppy melody as if the lonely beach is still not too far away from a busy street of bars and restaurants.

As I mentioned, Fuse has got one of those voices that can really project, but for "Natsu no Owari no Memory", he keeps things relatively sedate here.

Looking at that title again, I had been wondering why all sorts of memory alarms were going off in my head when I realized that this was very close to the title for a classic 80s duet tune between Anzen Chitai and Yosui Inoue（安全地帯・井上陽水）, "Natsu no Owari no Harmony" (夏の終わりのハーモニー）. Completely different song, though. Ironically, Fuse and Hiromi Iwasaki（岩崎宏美）performed that very ballad on a music show.