I Re'in For Re'in -- Tooi Natsu（遠い夏）

 

Over a couple of years ago, I discovered this Kochi Prefecture band with one of the more imaginative names that I'd ever seen: I Re'in For Re'in（アイリーン・フォーリーン）. Initially active in the 1980s, they started out with a rock sound but with a lineup shift, the band went more R&B and it was a song from that latter genre that I introduced onto the blog, "Private Girl" from 1988.

Well, here is another song from a year earlier that was not only the final track of their December 1987 3rd album "I Re'in For Re'in", but it was also the B-side for their single "Yume Tabibito"（夢旅人...Dream Traveler） although for whatever reason, it wasn't included in the Singles list on their J-Wiki profile. "Tooi Natsu" (Distant Summer) isn't what I would say is a rock song or rock ballad. It sounds solidly like a dreamily contemplative pop ballad written and composed by band member Takaaki Yasuoka（安岡孝章）. Arrangements were handled by Takeshi Kobayashi（小林武史）.