Off-Course feat. Taeko Ohnuki -- Uso to Uwasa（嘘と噂）

By Raita Futo via Wikimedia Commons

As they say out there, there are a million stories in the big city. Two of them may currently be entwined in a crisis spiral.

"Uso to Uwasa" (Lies & Rumours) is the final track on the band Off-Course's（オフコース）13th album "as close as possible" from March 1987. As the title hints at, it is a rather enigmatic song about a couple, perhaps a fairly famous one, who are going through tough times because of mistakes committed by at least one partner and what has been said about them. They are currently walking toward the harbour on a misty evening and it could be their final stroll together although there is no hint that anyone is going to take a permanent dive.

Written and composed by Kazumasa Oda（小田和正）and arranged by Off-Course, "Uso to Uwasa" had initially been meant to be sung by Oda alone but then decided that a female singer just had to tackle half of the lyrics. In the J-Wiki writeup on "as close as possible", Oda professed that he had wanted to find someone that he didn't usually work with, and so he approached singer-songwriter Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）. And to be honest, I wouldn't have guessed that he and Ohnuki would ever work together during the 1980s since their styles seemed rather divergent. I think it would have been more likely in the 1970s when both artists were in the New Music mix.

But it all works marvelously here. Right from the synth bass (Ryuichi Sakamoto [坂本龍一] was handling the keyboards) launching things off which had my shoulders shimmying, both Oda and Ohnuki have those clear yet haunting vocals gracing an urban and urbane nocturnal melody which describes more of Oda's solo career style of music in the late 80s going into the early 90s rather than his band's style.

"Uso to Uwasa" was also incorporated into Ohnuki's BEST compilation "palette" from April 2009. As for "as close as possible", the album reached No. 2 on Oricon and ended up as the 42nd-ranked album of 1987.

Prince -- When Doves Cry

 

A commenter told me a few weeks ago that the 10th anniversary of Prince's untimely death had occurred on April 21st and so I said that I would try and get another Prince song up as soon as possible. Well, just a couple of days shy of the 42nd anniversary since its release on May 16th 1984, I give you "When Doves Cry".

Prince already has half a dozen songs up on KKP but this is just his third ROY article as a performer after "Batdance"; the rest of the articles are up here because he contributed to the songwriting whether it be for Kahoru Kohiruimaki（小比類巻かほる）or other fellow artists such as Chaka Khan. But although I provided "Batdance" as his first ROY on the blog, I think it's safe to say that "When Doves Cry" is the more significant one in terms of his discography and legacy within music (it's ranked No. 37 on the "Rolling Stone" 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list).

Personally, my memories of "When Doves Cry" is the video which had heavy heavy airplay on the various music shows. For a period of several months, I frankly thought that it would become a permanent entry on any Top 10 video list. I had a friend who lived in a university dormitory who often woke up to this song along with one other tune; apparently he'd dance to it as well which is one good way to wake up for classes, although I'm not sure how his downstairs neighbour felt. 

Now that I've listened to it once more after a very long time, I realize that I'm having a tough time trying to categorize it. And apparently, Wikipedia has had a tough time of it, too, throwing a number of genres at it including avant-pop and neo-psychedelia which I never would have thought of. In the end, my Labels list has it as pop and R&B, but you readers may have different opinions. It is indeed a distinct song in the universe and many folks came to the same opinion as well as it topped the Billboard charts for months in America. It did the same in Canada, too.

Well, exactly 42 years ago to the day, what was up on the Top 10 of Oricon just about when "When Doves Cry" was released?

1. Checkers -- Kanashikute Jealousy （哀しくてジェラシー）

2. Akina Nakamori -- Southern Wind （サザンウインド）

3. Off-Course -- Kimi ga, Uso wo, Tsuita（君が、嘘を、ついた）

Off-Course -- Yoru wa Futari de（夜はふたりで）

 

Kayo Grace is once again in the giving mood because it is Valentine's Day after all. In the past, I've already given my lists for "love" songs and "valentine" tunes, so we'll keep things simple this year and focus on an individual song.

Remembering that one of the songs on the "love" list was Off-Course's（オフコース） "I Love You", I decided to check whether the love extended onto the B-side of this 1981 single. Sure enough, I was right. There is "Yoru wa Futari de" (The Two of Us Tonight), a song that has probably never made it onto any album by the band.

It's certainly a new one to me. Written by Mitsutoshi Ambe（安部光俊）and Yasuhiro Suzuki（鈴木康博）with Suzuki also taking care of the melody, the verses and the chorus seem to take on different moods with the former hinting at some uncertainty in the relationship while the latter reassures that things are perfectly fine since the two in the title are two in the bed. Ahem. The music has that AOR feeling especially with some of that TOTO-esque piano pounding. 

"Day" Songs

 

Being the usual lazy Hump Day, I'm going with a sequel to yesterday's "Night Songs" and presenting some "Day Songs".

(1981) Takao Kisugi -- Goodbye Day

(1981) Off Course -- Christmas Day

(1982) Motoharu Sano -- Someday

(1988) Hi-Fi Set -- Too hot day

(2001) Misia -- Sunny Day

Off-Course/Kazumasa Oda -- Boku no Okurimono（僕の贈りもの）

 

This particular Off-Course（オフ・コース）single comes under the question of "Why hadn't I put this up sooner?".

After all, "Boku no Okurimono" (My Gift to You), which was the band's 4th single from February 1973, has an intro filled with Off-Course's familiar sublime harmonies that has been known to me for years and years. Written and composed by Kazumasa Oda（小田和正）, it's a gentle folksy ballad about a truly smitten poet type who offers this particular song to a young woman during the seasons of spring and autumn, the times when love has its biggest transitions for good and bad. Apparently, the song fills the gaps for what's missing in those transitions within those seasons which have also been placed in between the major seasons of summer and winter to fill in the gaps. Take some time to let that soak in. But let it be said that this is a lovely song by Oda with those key changes and then the string coda that takes things into a more uncertain way; if there had been more of those strings, I would have also classified "Boku no Okurimono" as a Fashion Music tune.

Apparently, some fifteen years later, Oda as a solo artist opted to do a self-cover of "Boku no Okurimono" as a March 1988 single. Perhaps taking the more fantastical essence of the lyrics into consideration, he basically made the song into a more kid-friendly version (with a kids' chorus, to boot) with even some contemporary funky syncopation placed into the arrangement. It can also be found in his second solo studio album "BETWEEN THE WORD & THE HEART" which was released in the same month as the single.

Boz Scaggs -- Jojo

 

In the past few years, there have been a lot of YouTube reactors covering the works of singers from long ago and enjoying them greatly. And in turn, being a fellow who has been appreciating the cool music from his childhood and adolescence (which is why I've been including ROY articles here on a Japanese music blog), I've been enjoying the reactions greatly myself. Furthermore, it seems as if the songs of Boz Scaggs and Steely Dan have been getting particular attention and joy. 

Boz Scaggs is a name (and it's a name that I can never forget) that has been synonymous with radio listening since I was that kid of the 1970s but it's only been within the last decade or so that I've finally appreciated his funk, soulfulness and balladry. In fact, I inadvertently ended up providing Reminiscings of Youth articles on his legendary "Lowdown" twice in less than a year here and here. Such is my love for that 1976 single and personally I think for any budding graduates who are heading for prom night and despite the nature of the lyrics, "Lowdown" is the type of song that should be accompanying the limos filled with high school seniors to the hotel ballrooms.

However, getting back to those reactors, they have been going ga-ga for not only "Lowdown" but also for his June 1980 single "Jojo". For instance, the guys on the YouTube channel Views from the 502 above went into total meltdown especially when Adrian Tapia did his sax solos on the song. I used to hear this one all the time on radio but it's been only within the last several years that this romantic-sounding tune about a dangerous pimp (and for some reason, I can only believe that Jojo lives in the Big Apple) being backed by a jazzy and sunset disco arrangement has been truly appreciated by me. The backing chorus, the horns, the groove, and of course Tapia's saxophone and Scaggs' vocals are splendiferous and it's a kind of a wonder that "Jojo" wasn't even made into a movie.

The other thing that makes this ROY stand out among the others is that I had actually introduced "Jojo" much earlier as a cover version performed by fusion band Chikara Ueda & The Power Station（上田力&パワーステーション）some months after the original had been released. I've provided some further information on the original song in that article but let it be said that it was Scaggs, David Foster and David Lasley who were the brains behind "Jojo". Also, though I didn't mention it in the Power Station article, Ueda unfortunately passed away in 2017.

In the United States, "Jojo" peaked at No. 17 on Billboard while in Canada, it hit No. 15 on RPM. Now, what else was being released in June 1980?

Juicy Fruits -- Jenny wa Gokigen Naname　（ジェニーはご機嫌ななめ）

Yellow Magic Orchestra -- Rydeen (雷電）

Off Course -- Yes-No

Farewell to Dr. Yellow!

 

Back in June last year, I posted up an article for the song "Dr. Yellow"（Dr.イエロー）by MoJo on hearing the announcement that the famous and beloved specialized train for diagnostics on the Bullet Trains was going to be retired over the next few years. However, when I watched NHK news this morning, it looks like JR Central's Dr. Yellow had its final run today (the one belonging to JR West will be retired in 2027).

Not surprisingly, there were huge billowing masses of fans at the final stop and any place where photographers could get a glimpse and shot of the yellow Shinkansen to say goodbye. On the NHK report, there was even a focus on one photographer who had become friends of a family whose young son had been suffering from leukemia. The photographer was able to get one final shot of Dr. Yellow in tribute to the boy who had passed away a couple of years ago at the age of 11.

I was thinking of paying a further tribute to Dr. Yellow but outside of the MoJo song, there doesn't seem to be any other kayo devoted to the train. Therefore, I've decided to put up an Author's Pick on providing songs of gratitude as I'm sure that a lot of the fans have their feelings of thanks toward the train.

(1971) Jun Inoue -- Osewa ni Narimashita（お世話になりました）

(1979) Off Course -- Sayonara (さよなら）

(1995) Dreams Come True -- Thank You.（サンキュ.）

(1997) Yosui Inoue & Tamio Okuda -- Arigato （ありがとう）

Just for Fun...The J-C AI Gallery -- Christmas Edition 2

 

It was the AI Gallery featuring "Christmas Edition 1" that officially began the Xmas season on KKP this year, and although "Christmas Edition 2" won't finish it (still have one more seasonal tune to supply tomorrow), it will make for a nice addition. Anyways, let's get at it!

Off Course -- Christmas Day

Yumi Matsutoya -- Koibito ga Santa Claus （恋人がサンタクロース）

Ruiko Kurahashi -- December 24

Tatsuro Yamashita -- Christmas Eve

Of course, there is the odd blooper...

Anyways, I hope all of you out there have a Merry Christmas! See you tomorrow!

The Off-Course -- Yoake wo Tsuge ni（夜明けを告げに）/Utsukushii Sekai（美しい世界）

 

Happy Monday! A bit gray and cool out there so perhaps something a bit more contemplative might be nice to begin the usual work week.

Before the amazing band Off-Course（オフコース）sold out arenas and stadia later in the late 1970s and early 1980s with their blend of pop and soft rock, Kazumasa Oda（小田和正）, Yasuhiro Suzuki（鈴木康博）and the rest of the Kanagawa Prefecture-based group were all about the folk. And considering the background behind their second single, one would think that "Yoake wo Tsuge ni", which is directly translated as "Calling the Dawn" but has been given the official English moniker of "Leaving All Behind", was The Off-Course's（ジ・オフ・コース）debut release (we also have to remember that there had once been a definite article leading the name of the band).

"Yoake wo Tsuge ni" was indeed the sophomore single from October 1971, and it was produced by singer-songwriter Tatsushi Umegaki（梅垣達志）who, according to the liner notes of the band's first studio album "Boku no Okurimono"（僕の贈りもの...My Gift to You） from June 1973, had managed to come across a demo tape from The Off-Course and liked the cut of their jib, so to speak. He believed that there was something more to this folk group. Also at the time, Oda and company were still cutting their teeth as performers in the music industry, so they were more than happy to give the songwriting reins to others if doing so could help them in the end. As a result, not only was Umegaki in their corner, but lyricist Keisuke Yamakawa（山川啓介）and composer Kazuhiko Kato（加藤和彦）along with arranger Nozomu Aoki（青木望）applied their sets of skills. I'm not sure whether "Yoake wo Tsuge ni" made the Oricon chart but not only does it feel like a proto Off-Course tune thanks to the familiar and reassuring vocals of Oda and the calm rhythms, it also reminds me of Woodstock, hippie pop and the folk/pop from California from the late 1960s and early 1970s. Yamakawa's lyrics talk of striding out into the future proudly amid Kato's sleepy melody.

The B-side is "Utsukushii Sekai" which literally translates as "A Beautiful World" but was released under the English title of "If You Really Love Me". This was Oda's first creation (words and music) to be put onto vinyl, so that in itself makes it a significant song for the fans, and like the A-side, there is that hopeful optimism going into the future but Oda also sings about taking those happy past memories and packaging those for another look later. The orchestra was definitely out in force and by the end, I got vibes of Richard Harris' "MacArthur Park" from 1967.

According to J-Wiki, neither song from the single was put onto an original album, although perhaps they might be on some of their BEST compilations.

Just for Fun...The J-C AI Gallery -- Akira, Off-Course & Ami

 

Hello and welcome once more to the AI Gallery. It is indeed a quick comeback to the gallery considering that I had just put up a similar article a few days ago on September 25th. However, due to a busy schedule today (including a lesson tonight), I've only had time to concoct the previous article and then this one which doesn't require a lot of work.

Akira Terao -- Ruby no Yubiwa (ルビーの指輪)

Off Course -- Aki no Kehai （秋の気配）

Ami Ozaki -- Nijuu-isseiki no Cinderella （２１世紀のシンデレラ）

Off Course -- Koibito yo, Sono Mama de（恋人よそのままで）

 

Welcome to September 2024! Nope, still three weeks away from official autumn and it's still plenty humid here in Toronto. But I'm holding the fort in my steamy room, putting up blog articles.

It was back in February 2012, almost a month into the history of "Kayo Kyoku Plus", when I posted the article on Off-Course's（オフコース）classic "Aki no Kehai"（秋の気配）, one of the first Japanese pop ballads that I ever had the pleasure of listening over and over again, and that was on the ancient Canadian Tire audiotape on which I recorded the sputtering radio episode of "Sounds of Japan" which contained the ballad. Such was how lovely the Kazumasa Oda（小田和正）creation was to me although I would later discover that the lyrics were a whole lot sadder regarding the death of a romantic relationship in a park.

Well, as I've always said from time to time, never ignore those B-sides. The 11th single of the band from August 1977 had "Koibito yo, Sono Mama de" (Lover, Stay As You Are). Usually, when it comes to A-sides and B-sides on vinyl or coupling songs on CD singles, the two songs would diverge in style, genre and/or lyrical content. With this B-side, there was some similarity with "Aki no Kehai" in that love wasn't able to come to the rescue here either with this Yasuhiro Suzuki（鈴木康博）song, although this time, it was a love that never came to be in the first place. As well, compared to the beautifully wistful and introspective "Aki no Kehai", there is a light and whimsical jazziness to "Koibito yo, Sono Mama de" and the intro almost sounds as if our ears were going to get some country swing jazz. In fact, the old-style jazz even lends itself to a percussive crescendo that would have Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly yell out "OK, comin' home now!" with one final amazing dance sequence to wrap things up. Within the lyrics, the guy who couldn't quite get the girl is sitting on the bench in the park when she sees her one more time years later, but instead of making one last desperate approach, he sighs softly with a smile and surreptitiously points a finger at her and says under his breath, "You stay classy". Alright, that might have been the Anchorman, but...😎 In any case, both sides are also on Off-Course's 5th original album, "JUNKTION" which came out a month after the single.

Akira Terao & Yasuo Tanabe -- Juu-roku no Natsu（16の夏）

 

I've got to admit that this quite a find and my thanks to YouTuber lovely record for posting this song onto the platform, and hopefully the channel won't mind too much about me going ahead and talking about it so soon following its posting a week ago.

Both Akira Terao（寺尾聰）and Yasuo Tanabe（田辺靖雄）are known to me. Of course, Terao started out in the Group Sounds craze in the 1960s but then in the early 1980s, he became an unexpected music superstar in the middle of his acting career when he hit pay dirt with City Pop fare such as "Shadow City". On the other hand, though Tanabe also began singing in the 1960s, he was more in the Mood Kayo realm with songs such as "Lullaby Tokyo"（ララバイ東京）. 

Little did I realize or expect, however, that both Terao and Tanabe would get together in the mid-1970s to do a doo-wop duet called "Juu-roku no Natsu" (Summer at 16). It seems to have been a collaboration out of the blue although I admit that I don't know how close their relationship; maybe they have been good buddies all this time. In any event, August 1977 (the release date of the single) isn't exactly a time period where I would think about all that American 1950s leather jacket-and-bobbysoxer culture in Tokyo. Perhaps it was still a couple of years away. However, Terao and Tanabe were behind words, music and mikes with this nostalgic tune that could have had folks like Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）and Fonzie nodding in inspiration. And the bonus is that folk band Off-Course（オフコース）was also part of the plan as backup chorus. In fact, Off-Course guitarist Yasuhiro Suzuki（鈴木康博）and Godiego's（ゴダイゴ）Mickie Yoshino（ミッキー吉野）were behind the arrangement. I can taste the tall strawberry malted milkshake right now.

"Love" Songs

 

Well, Valentine's Day has been finished in Japan for a couple of hours as of this writing, but we're still right in the middle of it. Hopefully, you lovebirds are or will be enjoying yourselves with lots of chocolates, wine, etc. I've just decided to give a short list of all of those Japanese pop songs with the word "LOVE" in their titles on behalf of the occasion. Ah, also you may want to take a gander at "Valentine".

(1995) Dreams Come True -- Love Love Love 

(1981) Off Course -- I Love You

(1983) Yutaka Ozaki -- I Love You

(1999) Morning Musume -- Love Machine (LOVEマシーン）

(1983) Tomoko Aran -- I'm In Love

J-Canuck's Kokochi Yoi（心地良い）Tunes

 

Back in the summer of 2020 when the world was in the middle of the pandemic, I posted up the third in the series of "Happy Songs for Me"...those tunes that would get me in a better frame of mind just simply by listening to them. Well, yesterday I listened to a Junko Yagami（八神純子）favourite on YouTube, "Be My Best Friend" from 1980 and although I hadn't been in a dark place, I could immediately feel the glorious decompression setting in once I heard those golden bossa nova tones.

Looking at the comments below the video, I saw one Japanese person mention how kokochi yoi "Be My Best Friend" was. Of course, I don't really teach Japanese through the blog but in the interests of cultural exchange, kokochi yoi means "comfortable" or "pleasant". So, today I decided to start today's round of KKP posts with an Author's Pick on those comfy and relaxing songs. These ones can be different from the ones that I've picked on "Happy Songs for Me" (although there may be some overlapping) in that these don't so much energize me into bliss as they actually give me that ASMR feeling of "Ahhhhhh". More hammock than nightclub, you might say. Anyways without further ado and in no particular order, I give you the following tunes.

Junko Yagami -- Be My Best Friend (1980)

Junko Ohashi -- Telephone Number (1981)

Akiko Kobayashi -- Diary （ダイアリー）(1985)

Off Course -- Aki no Kehai （秋の気配）(1977)

Taeko Ohnuki -- Kuro no Clair (黒のクレール) (1982)

Jun'ichi Inagaki -- Natsu no Claxon （夏のクラクション）(1983)

Yasuhiro Abe -- Irene （アイリーン）(1984)

Tohoku Shinkansen -- Summer Touches You (1982)

Miki Imai -- Natsu wo Kasanete （夏をかさねて）(1988)

Off-Course -- Save The Love

 

Lest it be said that Off-Course（オフコース）was simply a folk group gone AOR/pop from the late 1960s into the 1980s, I found one song that might counter the earlier clause.

I've known for a while that the band consisting of Kazumasa Oda（小田和正）, Yasuhiro Suzuki（鈴木康博）, Hitoshi Shimizu（清水仁）, Kazuhiko Matsuo（松尾一彦）and Jiro Ohma（大間ジロー）also possessed and exercised their rock chops. As well, I have heard of this song in brief snippets through TV and the like, but I hadn't been aware that "Save The Love" from their October 1979 7th original album "Three and Two" was quite on this level of an odyssey. Clocking in at over 8 minutes, vocalist and guitarist Suzuki's creation seems to go into a progressive rock direction just on the length of time alone. A song that alternates between intrepid guitar rock march and reassuring balladry, the song tells the story of a man who loves a woman from afar; he's been witnessing her repeated heartbreaks and has been quietly encouraging her to cry her eyes out but also to fight like Hell and know that there are far better men out there.

Folks have been telling me that if I am to get any original Off-Course album, "Three and Two" would be the one, and original purchasers seem to have agreed. The album peaked at No. 2 on the Oricon weeklies and not only ended up as the 48th-ranked release of 1979, it also went further up on the 1980 charts by ranking in at No. 37. "Three and Two" also has the folksy ballad "Ai wo Tomenaide"（愛を止めないで）which became the topic of my second article for the band all the way back in 2012.

Robert Armes -- Jump To It

 

Consider this week's Reminiscings of Youth segment as a successful All-Points Bulletin re-discovery for me as well. What I mean is that I've been searching for this song for literally decades since I used to hear it often on radio without being 100% sure on the title and having forgotten the singer's name.

I was fairly certain that the title was "Jump To It" or something along those lines but when I put it into the various search engines including the one for YouTube, what I usually got was The Pointer Sisters' "Jump (For My Love)" (which is also a ROY entry here), a song that was also released in the same year as my mystery search song. So, the search continued as I wondered whether my ears would ever be reacquainted with this tune that I heard on easy-listening stations such as CHFI-FM.

Then, a few days ago I went over to West Coast 99, a YouTube channel that specializes in AOR and all things Yacht Rock. I was listening to one of the songs there when I saw this name listed in the blurb: Robert Armes. Suddenly my mind went CLICK!💡 Could it be? Well, I put his name and the title once more into the search engine and voila! YouTube channel ATN Records had the song "Jump To It". The melody had always remained in my memory so I could definitely identify it if I heard it again, and sure enough, the above video had it. Another decades-long search has ended happily.

One reason that "Jump To It" kept jumping in my mind was that it was a cool AOR tune because of the saxophone and the keyboards. Plus, I've always imagined flying in a helicopter or a Cessna overlooking Toronto while listening to it (not that I ever would be caught in those contraptions since I have a problem with flying). Anyways, it was a shocker to realize that Armes is as Torontonian as I am; I'd always thought the singer and the song were pure Los Angeles. I've read that the singer-songwriter started out in folk music in the 1970s but this website doesn't really mention this but has Armes himself stating that he has provided music for sports telecasts since music and sports are the two big passions in his life. Not surprisingly, one of those shows is "Hockey Night in Canada".

"Jump To It" is a 1984 song but the month hasn't been specified. Therefore, I will just go with May 1984 to search for any Japanese songs that came out in that month. I'm going to go with the Oricon Top 20 list with Nos. 4, 6 and 12.

4. Off-Course -- Kimi ga, Uso wo, Tsuita（君が、嘘を、ついた）

6. Checkers -- Namida no Request （涙のリクエスト）

12. Meiko Nakahara -- Kimi Tachi Kiwi Papaya Mango da ne （君たちキウイ・パパヤ・マンゴだね。）

Gosanke Imagined: "Sounds of Japan" Gosanke

 

www.goodfreephotos.com

Well, I just noticed that with the weekend stuff, I forgot to provide the weekly Gosanke（御三家）entry. Must rectify. As was the case last weekend when I put up my own personally imagined trio of female singers based on my multiple listenings to the CHIN-FM radio program "Sounds of Japan", I figured that it was also time to give devotion to the male singers that had regular representation there, too. And as such, I recall hearing a number of songs from Hiromi Go（郷ひろみ）, Kozo Murashita（村下孝蔵）and the band Off-Course（オフコース）.

Hiromi Go -- Aishuu no Casablanca （哀愁のカサブランカ）

Off Course -- Aki no Kehai （秋の気配）

Kozo Murashita -- Hatsukoi (初恋）

Off-Course -- Hitori de Ikite Yukereba（ひとりで生きてゆければ）

 

The band Off-Course（オフコース）has had a CD compilation series with songs representing each of the four seasons, but when it comes right down to it, I'm always going to see Kazumasa Oda（小田和正）and his group of the 1970s and 1980s as an autumn thing. Frankly, it does have some part to do with the fact that their wonderful "Aki no Kehai"（秋の気配）was the first song that I had ever heard by them, but they tended to create and record a lot of music that often was sad and contemplative which was also a common theme with autumn-based kayo.

Ironically, Off-Course's 8th single "Hitori de Ikite Yukereba" (If I Live On My Own) was actually released in the spring...May 1976, to be exact. However, the sadness and contemplation are still baked in this song by Oda. The story here deals with a man who has left everything and everyone behind, including his girlfriend, to start a new life of work in Tokyo which would in a way make "Hitori de Ikite Yukereba" a New Music version of those chestnuts of the 50s and 60s kayo of trying to make a life in the big city away from the warmth of home and hearth out in the countryside.

Not surprisingly, the man is filled with trepidation for this big and lonely step, and he asks for strength in his time of life change. I think that many of us have been through this including myself when I left home for the first time back in 1989 to start my teaching career on the JET Programme. "Hitori de Ikite Yukereba" is also a track on Off-Course's November 1976 4th original album "SONG IS LIFE" which peaked at No. 34 on Oricon. That tenderhearted guitar and the harmonica really hit home.

Those Late Summer to Fall Songs by J-Canuck

 

About an hour ago, I completed an article describing what NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン）had put out as their seasonally transitional songs, namely from summer to fall. I figured that today being September 1st, it was quite timely. I'd also wanted to include some of my own tunes but noting that Labels would get a little cranky at me, I opted to split it into two parts with this article taking care of my own picks.

Now for those KKP readers with eagle eyes and elephant memories, I did write up "J-Canuck's September Songs" almost a year ago, and yep along with the fact that those tunes all have the month included in their titles, they do have that feeling of fall as well. So I am not including any of those but feel free to check those out. Regardless, there are a few other songs off the top of my head that strike me as showing a change in the seasons, although I know that there are probably many more out there with that theme in mind.

In any case, let me show you my four.

(1978) Higurashi -- Aki no Tobira （秋の扉）

That amazing "Whoooooo" at the beginning may as well lift me off my feet toward the door to autumn as described in the title. As I mentioned in the original article, folk/New Music group Higurashi's（日暮し）"Aki no Tobira" was a long-sought tune since I had no idea of the title or the group when I first heard a very badly recorded version of it off of "Sounds of Japan" decades ago. The whole song can actually induce me to inhale deeply for a relaxing breath of fresh air.

(1977) Off Course -- Aki no Kehai （秋の気配）

Another "Sounds of Japan" treat from years back, this song can also induce an ASMR response from its opening notes. "Aki no Kehai" also served as my introduction to the laidback sounds of Off-Course（オフコース） and I've never looked back. Although the lyrics are sad, the music feels like a gentle sweep of the arm leading me from summer to autumn.

(1983) Jun'ichi Inagaki -- Natsu no Claxon （夏のクラクション）

Provided that the above video stays up, that thumbnail photo of an Eizin Suzuki illustration is the perfect shot of what "Natsu no Claxon" means to me. Maybe the only thing that could better it is more of a sunset sky signifying the end of the summer season. As with the above two selections, the background chorus just adds to the wistfulness of it all.

(1997) Sing Like Talking -- Seasons of Change

To be honest, until recently, I hadn't thought about "Seasons of Change" as a tune to mark the transition from summer to fall. However, Sing Like Talking is a great band, they make great music, and "Seasons of Change" just from the title alone kinda sparked off all sorts of alerts in my head when I was thinking of this particular list. It is quite a bit more dramatic than the above three, to be sure. Very TOTO and early Supertramp, perhaps.

If you have any particular choices of your own, please let me know.👍

Off-Course/Chikuzen Sato/Bank Band -- Umarekuru Kodomo-tachi no Tame ni（生まれ来る子供たちのために）

 

I'll probably have to put out a warning right here and say that this song and its covers will most likely have readers come down with a bad case of excess lacrimal fluid output (Google it). I am talking about Off-Course's（オフコース）18th single released in March 1980, "Umarekuru Kodomo-tachi no Tame ni" (For the Sake of the Children to be Born).

The intro really preps listeners since it feels like the coming of an especially tenderhearted ballad, and of course (no pun intended), vocalist and songwriter Kazumasa Oda（小田和正）can wring tears out of a block of granite with that voice of his. According to the J-Wiki article for the song, he had been wondering about where Japan was heading after what had come before, probably referring to the war and the postwar rebuilding, and perhaps he wasn't completely satisfied. 

"Umarekuru Kodomo-tachi no Tame ni" did only modestly on the Oricon charts by peaking at No. 48. However, I think that it is the perfect song to contemplate our time, place and status on Earth, and 42 years after its release, it still contains plenty of resonance. The song also showed up on the band's "Three and Two" released in October 1979 which hit No. 2.

Oda's friend, Chikuzen Sato（佐藤竹善）from Sing Like Talking, did a cover of the song as his 5th solo single in November 2002. It's also a track on "Cornerstones 2", the second album in his series of covers which was released a month later and hit No. 14.

Then a few years later in November 2005, there was another cover of "Umarekuru Kodomo-tachi no Tame ni" done by Bank Band as their first limited digital download single. Bank Band has been around since 2004 as this super band centering around Mr. Children vocalist Kazutoshi Sakurai（桜井和寿）and music producer Takeshi Kobayashi（小林武史）on keyboards. Their cover was used as the ending theme for the 2005 live-action TV version of the famous "Hotaru no Haka"（火垂るの墓...Grave of the Fireflies） whose anime has probably reduced the toughest drill sergeants into puddles of brine. I can't even imagine what this song and this drama did to viewers. Still, out of the three listed here in this article, I just have to go with the original Off-Course single.