Hi-Fi Set -- Sukoshi dake Mawari Michi（すこしだけまわり道）

 

The above photo shows off a little side street in the Koedo district of Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture. The area is just like the Kanto region's little piece of Kyoto, although the house on the right gives the show away. I wouldn't mind returning there again the next time I'm back in Tokyo and maybe if things go well for both Canada and Japan, I can get back in about a year.

Here is a song from the vocal trio Hi-Fi Set（ハイ・ファイ・セット）, "Sukoshi dake Mawari Michi" (Just a Little Detour), their 11th single from April 1978 and a track on their 5th album "Swing" which came out a couple of months later. A mid-tempo number of remembrance of a romance past, a fellow finds himself in an old familiar area where he and an old flame used to walk. He's gotten over the stages of heartbreak and regret and now views the old times and that pathway as fond nostalgia.

Written by Machiko Ryu and Tsuzuru Nakasato（竜真知子・中里綴）, the music was created by Tadao Inoue（井上忠夫）, formerly of the Group Sounds band Jackey Yoshikawa & His Blue Comets（ジャッキー吉川とブルーコメツツ）, and this was his real name before he decided to switch to the stage name of Daisuke Inoue（井上大輔）. Kentaro Haneda（羽田健太郎）was responsible for the arrangement. I'm not sure if that is a sitar that introduces the song but listening to it, I'm reminded of some of the Motown soul from earlier in the decade. Then there is also the delicate harp that also brings us into the light vocals of Junko Yamamoto（山本潤子）with Shigeru Okawa（大川茂）and Toshihiko Yamamoto（山本俊彦）backing her up, and the light and cheerful rhythm which illustrates the happier state of mind of that fellow.