Hiromi Ohta -- Koi no Half-Moon（恋のハーフムーン）/Blue Baby Blue（ブルー・ベイビー・ブルー）

 

Ah, yes...Vachon's Half-Moon Cakes...which have nothing to do with the sweets during the Moon Festival in September. Actually, these were a part of my youth during lunchtime. When I got together with the guys for lunch at high school in front of our lockers, my mother would usually put one of these into my brown bag as the dessert segment. They came in lemon and chocolate versions and were (and still are) so sweet that they were responsible for the sugar crashes in the afternoon classes. 

The above makes for a Canadian treat segue into this 20th single by Hiromi Ohta（太田裕美）"Koi no Half-Moon" (Half-Moon of Love) which was released back in March 1981. This was also the follow-up to Ohta's "Saraba Siberia Tetsudo" (さらばシベリア鉄道）that had come out in December 1980, and it was basically the same songwriting lineup for that one that was responsible for "Koi no Half-Moon", lyricist Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）and composer/arranger Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）with Masataka Matsutoya（松任谷正隆）helping on the arrangement of the strings and horns. 

"Koi no Half-Moon" is an interesting one. It didn't impress me on first listen but it has started to grow on me. The notable thing is that it doesn't sound like a typical Ohtaki arrangement with that overall 50s and/or country-western twang that has become a staple of his melody work ("Saraba Siberia Tetsudo" is a classic in that way). In fact, I'd say that with some of the disco feeling in there, it sounds a bit more Electric Light Orchestra without the heavy synths. As for Matsumoto, he wove a story about a couple enjoying a night ride in the convertible and stopping off at their version of Inspiration Point in Japan, and if any of you have watched the old American sitcom "Happy Days", you'll know the significance of Inspiration Point. Hopefully, the only thing looking down at the soon-to-be very happy pair is the half-moon itself.

Although "Saraba Siberia Tetsudo" has become one of Ohta's trademark songs, it only scored a No. 70 ranking initially on Oricon, and looking through her discography on J-Wiki, it was evident that her big days (outside of what her most dedicated fans thought) were receding. "Koi no Half-Moon" peaked at No. 81.

The B-side, "Blue Baby Blue", was also created by Ohtaki and Matsumoto with Yasuo Arakawa（荒川康男）helping the former out on arrangement. Now, this sounds more like an Ohtaki production...yup, Richie and Mary Beth out on the porch swing in the 1950s. However, the lyrics are a whole lot sadder as someone is having some major regrets about breaking up with that special lass. Post-breakup blues never sounded more sweet and nostalgic.