Gamu -- Aki kara...（残秋(あき)から･･･）

 

It was over a decade ago when I wrote about folk duo Gamu's（雅夢）"Ai wa Kagero"（愛はかげろう）, the refined and wistful 1980 hit that bordered on Fashion Music, this side of France.

Some very tenderhearted oaken strings and Kazuto Miura's（三浦和人）resonant vocals come out of the woodwork to introduce the B-side of "Ai wa Kagero", "Aki kara..." (Since That Autumn...). Written by Hiroshi Yasusugi（保杉弘）and composed by Miura, once again I had initially wondered whether we were going into the realm of Fashion Music because of those strings, but the song goes into a more poignant if more laidback direction than "Ai wa Kagero". Yasusugi's lyrics talk of a man's bittersweet memories of a romance that went pear-shaped a couple of years previously. Once again, the season of autumn is the basis for romantic downfall and reflection.

Gamu -- Gin'iro no Joukei（銀色の情景）

I wrote about the band Gamu（雅夢）all the way back in 2014 since Kazuto Miura（三浦和人）and Toshikazu Nakagawa（中川敏一）had created their most famous hit "Ai wa Kagero"（愛はかげろう）, one of those wistful numbers that can bring back the memories of yesteryear for a certain generation. The thing is that perhaps bands like Gamu could be perceived as being one-hit wonders since nothing has been known before or after that one big success.

It shouldn't stop folks from checking out their material, though. Certainly I will say this especially after discovering this lovely number from their first album from April 1981 "Yume Tsuzuri"（夢つづり...Dream Weaving）which also has "Ai wa Kagero".

"Gin'iro no Joukei" (Silver Spectacle) bears comparison with "Ai wa Kagero" since while the latter is this classic pop/folk song, the former takes things straight into City Pop. It feels like a song to be heard in a cafe/bar along the Ginza with some rain outside to take the edge off. Along with the downtown piano, I really like the chorus and the strings backing Gamu up...it seems to add a more sophisticated air and when I first heard it, I thought it sounded ahead of its time of 1981. Despite the downtown aspect, it also has that dreamy quality.

While Miura composed the music here, this time the lyrics were written by Haruaki Kato（夏冬春秋）, and the song deals with heartbreak in the rain.

From a quick glance of their BEST compilation, "Gin'iro no Joukei" isn't even placed there so perhaps "Yume Tsuzuri" may be the only source to find this song. Let us hope for remastering and re-release.

Gamu -- Ai wa Kagero （愛はかげろう）

Yes, out of the cobwebs of my mind. I heard this once more after years and years, and the nostalgia, oh the nostalgia, started flowing through the arteries again. This is Gamu's（雅夢）"Ai wa Kagero", the folk duo's oh-so-tenderhearted debut song from September 1980. Kazuto Miura（三浦和人） and Toshikazu Nakagawa (中川敏一...I hope I got that last name right) formed Gamu (elegant dream) sometime in the late 1970s while studying at Chukyo University in Nagoya.

In May 1980, the pair entered the 19th annual Yamaha Popular Song Contest with "Ai wa Kagero" that Miura had written and composed, and subsequently won a prize in composition. It wasn't too long before it was released as the official debut and became Gamu's biggest hit, selling close to 700,000 copies. The song would also become the 13th-ranked single for 1981.

I've seen "Ai wa Kagero" translated as "Love is a Heat Haze" but I'm wondering if "Love is Fleeting" wouldn't have been a more romantic way to express it. It may have been a folk song but there is also that hint of European sentiment which gives it another interesting dimension to my ears. I guess with the additional fact that I am also a big fan of Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）from her early 80s pop music with a French twist, I probably have an affinity for that particular fusion of music from two different continents.

Nine singles and seven albums later, Gamu called it a day and decided to break up in December 1984. The above YouTube video is from their final concert, and apparently Miura got rather choked up during the performance of their most famous song.

Akihabara