Ryokuoushoku Shakai -- Summertime Cinderella（サマータイムシンデレラ）

 

"Uta Con"（うたコン）was up again last night, and there was a very nice tribute to choreographer Mayumi Natsu（夏まゆみ）who had passed away earlier this year. I mentioned her near the end of last month for an AKB48 article, and on last night's episode, the current incarnation of Morning Musume（モーニング娘。）performed a medley of some of the past MM tunes that Natsu had planned out in terms of the dance moves. 

As well, popular pop band Ryokuoushoku Shakai（緑黄色社会）appeared on "Uta Con" to perform their 7th and latest CD single which was released a few weeks ago on the 6th (although a digital version had come out some weeks earlier). "Summertime Cinderella" was written by vocalist Haruko Nagaya（長屋晴子）and guitarist Issei Kobayashi（小林壱誓）with bassist Shingo Anami（穴見真吾）handling the melody. I figure that with summer fast coming to a close, I should put out one more seasonally appropriate tune. 

Not surprisingly, "Summertime Cinderella" is bright and bubbly, and apparently according to the website "Ongaku Natalie"（音楽ナタリー）, composer Anami drew inspiration by what he believed to be the quintessential summer song, Anri's（杏里）1983 "Kanashimi ga Tomaranai" (悲しみがとまらない）which had been composed and arranged by Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）and Toshiki Kadomatsu（角松敏生）. Anami stated that he had wanted to get that feeling of the sound of waves and an intro and verses which would be able to transport him to someplace refreshing. 

"Summertime Cinderella" was also used as the theme song for the TV drama "Manatsu no Cinderella"（真夏のシンデレラ...Midsummer Cinderella） which was broadcast on Monday nights at 9 pm on Fuji-TV. As any of those J-Drama viewing veterans would know, Fuji-TV at Monday at 9 pm has been seen as the slot for any much-heralded drama going back a few decades such as "Tokyo Love Story" or "The 101st Proposal". To be honest, I was surprised that Gekku（月９...Monday at 9）was still a thing on Japanese television. Vocalist Nagaya said that when her band got the gig to create the song, she was happy if somewhat pressured under the circumstances to come up with the tune. "Summertime Cinderella" peaked at No. 17 on Oricon.