Miho Nakayama -- Far Away From Summer Days

 

"The geinokai's 'only shining star'"...that byline in "Eye-Ai" could have earned Miho Nakayama（中山美穂）some resentful growls from other entertainers and their management companies. But hey, they were OK, she was OK and we are OK.

Well, right now in Canada and Japan, we're about as far away from summer days as anyone could get. My old stomping grounds are themselves being stomped by a huge cold wave and it looks like Toronto will be getting smacked with a snowstorm in the middle of the week. I wouldn't blame my fellow Canadians if they were swooning to the point of distraction over the thought of sun and 30-degree Celsius highs.

However in the meantime, we do have "Far Away From Summer Days", a track from Miporin's hit album "Catch the Nite" from February 1988. It's another golden collaboration between the aidoru and City Pop king Toshiki Kadomatsu（角松敏生）as he wrote, composed and arranged everything here. Kadomatsu has a way with those synths, guitars and percussion that bring on the sheen of Coppertone-bronzed skin, gleaming sand and crashing waves in a futuristic utopian setting. I think as much as Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）was responsible for helping out with the Omega Tribe（オメガトライブ）sound in those 1980s, Kadomatsu was also vital for bringing that particular urban dance pop which Nakayama spun around in during the latter part of the decade.

By the way, the source album "Catch the Nite" was not only a Number 1 hit on the Oricon weeklies, it also ranked in at No. 20 on the 1988 chart.