Nana Okada -- Wakai Kisetsu（若い季節）

by Random Pacer via Wikimedia Commons

The weather here has been improving although the temperature is set to plummet again for Sunday, but the feeling is that spring is just around the corner. And it couldn't come fast enough.

Several years ago, I posted an article on actress/aidoru Nana Okada's（岡田奈々）biggest hit, her 4th single "Seishun no Sakamichi"（青春の坂道）from March 1976. The wistful song of youth created from lyrics by contest winner Aiko Nakaji（中司愛子）and then whipped into shape by lyricist Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）before getting laid onto a melody by Koichi Morita（森田公一）under Ichizo Seo's（瀬尾一三）arrangement must have touched a lot of people's memories and current feelings. It did pretty well by hitting No. 23 on Oricon.

Well, the follow-up single, released in June of that year, "Wakai Kisetsu" (Young Season), was created by almost everyone involved with "Seishun no Sakamichi", except that the composer this time was Ken Sato（佐藤健）. If anything, "Wakai Kisetsu" is even jauntier with a boss saxophone and jangly guitar giving a hint of Motown pop. Matsumoto's lyrics here were based on Okada's recurring role in the popular NTV drama at the time, "Ore-tachi no Tabi"（俺たちの旅...Our Journey）, where her character introduces a guy living in the boarding house next door. The producers for the program knew what they were doing by also having "Seishun no Sakamichi" show up as an insert song.

"Wakai Kisetsu" didn't do as well as "Seishun no Sakamichi" but it was a moderate success by scoring a No. 36 ranking. Both songs ended up on her 3rd album "Akushu Shiyouyo"（握手しようよ...Let's Shake Hands） which was released in August 1976.

Nana Okada -- Seishun no Sakamichi（青春の坂道）

It was more the concrete sidewalks of youth rather than the hills of youth when I was a teen going to school, but I think that the hills have a more romantic tone, I guess.

I've seen the name Nana Okada（岡田奈々）before but never heard any of her music. Most likely, any lingering knowledge of her must have been through TV retrospectives of the day. Okada was born Hiroko Yai（矢井弘子）in 1959 in Gifu Prefecture. Becoming the second champion on the talent show "Anata wo Star ni!"（あなたをスターに!...You're A Star!）as a mid-teen in the mid-1970s, she made her debut as an aidoru in May 1975 with "Hitorigoto"（ひとりごと...Monologue）.

However, her biggest hit came with her March 1976 4th single "Seishun no Sakamichi" (Hills of Youth) whose genesis came about from a contest via Myojo magazine in which people were invited to send in any lyrics for a potential song. Aiko Nakaji（中司愛子）was the winner apparently and professional lyricist Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）shaped them into the official words for "Seishun no Sakamichi", a jaunty tune created by Koichi Morita（森田公一）and arranged by Ichizo Seo（瀬尾一三）.

The song was also used in an episode of an NTV drama that had Okada in the cast, "Ore-tachi no Tabi"（俺たちの旅...Our Travels）. "Seishun no Sakamichi" became the singer/actress' signature song (according to the Wikipedia article on Okada) as it peaked at No. 23, and it became a part of her 3rd album "Akushu Shiyouyo"（握手しようよ...Let's Shake Hands）which was released in August 1976.

While Okada's singing career tapered off in the mid-1980s, she has continued acting right to the present day.