Chika Ueda + Karyobin -- Sayonara Rainy Station（さよならレイニー・ステーション）

 

Hmmm...what did I say about half an hour ago? I was going to finish off my KKP day with my fifth article involving Yukihiro Takahashi's（高橋幸宏）"Walking to the Beat" and hit the 90-article month for July 2022. Well, I guess middle-aged men can still be ambitious in a slight adjustment to Professor William S. Clark's famous quotation.

For one thing, I found a follow-up I could do. Mariko Kurata（倉田まり子）had her wistful New Music hit of "Sayonara Rainy Station"（さよならレイニー・ステーション）from September 1980. Now, I discover that Kurata's trademark tune was technically a cover for composer Chika Ueda's（上田知華）original. Yep, that's right...Ueda with her piano-and-string quintet Karyobin had come up with "Sayonara Rainy Station" in their third album, logically titled "Ueda Chika + Karyobin [3]"（上田知華+KARYOBIN[3]）earlier in July that year.

With lyrics by Kenji Kadoya（門谷憲二）, thanks to Karyobin, Ueda's original takes things into Japan's version of baroque pop, Fashion Music. Those tender strings really mellow the listening experience down and increase the dramatic aspects of "Sayonara Rainy Station" as if some European romance were being played out. However, Ueda ends things on the piano with a bit of jazziness. Still, I get these vibes of a recital in a very classy mansion (with lots of oak) in the Hamptons when I hear this one. Anyways, I have Article No. 91 though it still doesn't match January's total of 94! 😁