Azymuth -- Fly Over the Horizon

 

Usually I would have the weekly Reminiscings of Youth song today but I've decided to give that a break just for this time. The reason goes all the way back to a year ago when I posted my "If I Had an All-Night Radio Show..." article, just to show off my fantasy of hosting such a program with a mix of Quiet Storm and calmer City Pop ballads.

Well, in the last few days, I discovered that along with many a radio station everywhere, NHK-FM in Japan had the type of show I would covet. It was called "Crossover Eleven"（クロスオーバーイレブン）and it had its run between November 1978 and March 2001 on most nights between 11 pm and midnight. I've only been able to find a couple of broadcasts but it seems as if "Crossover Eleven" played a lot of non-Japanese fusion and R&B although the programmers were open to what was also trendy over the years such as New Wave. There was a host with that late-night DJ voice doing the introductions and any soothing narration to lull listeners into a restful condition.

For most of its run, "Crossover Eleven" had an opening theme which was quite cool and calming. "Fly Over the Horizon" or as it was known in Brazil, "Vôo Sobre O Horizonte", was recorded by the Brazilian jazz-funk band Azymuth that had first formed in 1973. It's a song that probably put listeners in the proper frame of mind for what was to come. "Fly Over the Horizon" was also a track on Azymuth's 1979 album "Light as a Feather".

If there were a late-night voice I would to emulate, it would be the one belonging to host John Van Driel. And the wonderful thing is that he's Canadian!