Masaaki Hirao and Yoko Hatanaka -- Ehge Kai no Tabi（エーゲ海の旅）

 

I guess that Judy Ongg（ジュディ・オング）doesn't quite have the monopoly on Aegean Sea-based kayo, although her trademark 1979 song "Miserarete"（魅せられて）will most likely remain the most famous one dealing with the body of water between Greece and Turkey. I've seen the Aegean from time to time via television and YouTube videos, and it does make for a wonderful view.

The reason that I mention it is because I'm focusing this article on "Ehge Kai no Tabi" (An Aegean Sea Voyage), the second single by the duo of singer-songwriter Masaaki Hirao（平尾昌晃）and singer Yoko Hatanaka（畑中葉子）. Released in April 1978, it's smack dab between the earlier hit and kayo classic by them, "Canada Kara no Tegami" (カナダからの手紙）from January and their third entry in July, "San Francisco Iki"（サンフランシスコ行き）. For all three of them, it was Hirao on melody while Jun Hashimoto（橋本淳）provided the lyrics.

Both "Canada Kara no Tegami" and "San Francisco Iki" possess a travel-happy jauntiness, but this sophomore entry by Hirao and Hatanaka is a slower and more romantic song punctuated by a crisp trumpet that lends a bit of Mood Kayo into an arrangement by Kenichi Morioka（森岡賢一郎）that wavers between exotic kayo and some electric guitar-accompanied Sunshine Pop. The two singers deliver the words of a love affair in Greece at a more measured pace outside of the refrain as if the two lovers are hanging onto every moment during their European odyssey.

"Ehge Kai no Tabi" reached No. 20 on Oricon and the song won the pair a Golden Star award at the 7th Tokyo Music Festival held in June 1978. Apparently, Diana Ross was a special guest there according to the J-Wiki article on the event.