Iruka -- NYC wa Toosugite（NYCは遠すぎて）

 

I'm probably going to have to come up with an Author's Picks regarding New York-based kayo kyoku sometime soon. I've been encountering them during the past fourteen plus years that "Kayo Kyoku Plus" has been in business and perhaps it's enough that the bunch of these Manhattan music tributes in Japanese can make up a subgenre of sorts within City Pop.

Anyways, I have another one here by singer-songwriter Iruka（イルカ）who was in her 1980s City Pop phase at the time. I don't have my own copy of her April 1985 12th album "Heart Land" but I have covered at least one song on the list, "Ame no Distance"（雨のディスタンス）, which also qualifies as a City Pop tune. This one here is "NYC wa Toosugite" (New York City is Too Far Away) which was actually written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and composed/arranged by Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）, so Iruka was just behind the microphone. 

This is quite the romantic strolling tune to be enjoyed at sunset, and of course, Iruka's velvety vocals help with the overall listening pleasure. I can imagine that Japanese tourists must have been swooning for the Big Apple at the time, especially when that saxophone comes into play halfway through. Well, it helps that the Bubble Era started around the time that "Heart Land" was released.