Haruomi Hosono/T Jiros -- Koi wa Momo Iro（恋は桃色）

 

I think the last time I posted a Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）article on KKP, it was back in January for his jazzy and tropical AOR for "Jamaica Ginger" from 1979.

Well, let's go further back to the early 1970s when Hosono came up with his first solo album following the breakup of Happy End（はっぴいえんど）. "Hosono House" was released in May 1973 and though it's been pegged as a rock album, at least one of the songs on the album doesn't quite strike me as rock.

"Koi wa Momo Iro" (Peach is the Colour of Love) was written and composed by Hosono, and it's a laidback Sunday of a song with a friendly and contented country arrangement. The lyrics tell of a man who's found himself in his piece of paradise which may indeed be along the Iruma River cutting through the city of Sayama in Saitama Prefecture, according to the notes for the song on J-Wiki. I recall that there is a famous brand of green tea from that city.

There have been covers of "Koi wa Momo Iro" by artists including Akiko Yano（矢野顕子）and the band T Jiros（T字路ｓ）. T Jiros' take on the song can be found on their first full album "T no Sanka"（Tの讃歌...T's Songs of Praise） from June 2015.