This was another discovery made at my anime buddy's house a few weeks ago. I had never heard of the original manga or the anime of "Mizuiro Jidai" (Aqua Age....probably Salad Days is the proper idiom here), but when my friend played the theme song on his giant airplane wing speakers, and then that soulful saxophone started blowing some sweetness, my first thought was "Is this an anime song?!" It sounded more like something from a Smooth Jazz album. Pass the mineral water, please.
There were also the rich vocals of Jun Yoneya（米屋純） which reminded me of another singer that I couldn't figure out off the top of my head. Then, I googled the song and found out none other than veteran Ami Ozaki（尾崎亜美） had written and composed "Mizuiro Jidai". The theme just sounded like Ozaki herself was singing it. This was the Fukuoka-born Yoneya's 5th single released in May 1996; she debuted in 1994 and released a total of 8 singles and 3 albums up to 1998.
Below is the opening to "Mizuiro Jidai".
