Tazumi Toyoshima -- Umi ga Mitai（海が見たい）

 

I realize that it is December 24th but I didn't want to completely ignore the fact that I like to profile the urban contemporary stuff on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" on Fridays so at least I'll put in one here that is completely devoid of the Yuletide.

And this one has got plenty of atmosphere. From her 5th single of October 1979 "Yukikurete"（行き暮れて...Overtaken by Darkness）, I give you the B-side, "Umi ga Mitai" (I Want to See the Ocean) by singer-songwriter Tazumi Toyoshima（豊島たづみ）. From that 15-second introduction, though, a first-time listener might think that those strings were going to bring on something rather ominous from a 1950s Hollywood melodrama but then there comes that electric organ and a really twangy guitar that sounds as if Duane Eddy had gotten his hands on it.

Written and composed by a sultry-singing Toyoshima with arrangement by Eiji Kawamura（川村栄治）, "Umi ga Mitai" does have that City Pop beat, but I think it's also overlaid with some of that classy Henry Mancini soundtrack feeling that almost demands a movie of mystery and intrigue to be produced around it. I think that the electric organ jazz solo puts the cherry on the sundae here. If "Umi ga Mitai" is the B-side, I'm curious enough to find out what the A-side "Yukikurete" is like.

Since I did mention December 24th, I might as well put in another plug for one of the great City Pop Xmas combos, "December 24th" by Ruiko Kurahashi（倉橋ルイ子）.