Yuko Hara -- Koi wa Go-Tabou Moushiagemasu（恋は、ご多忙申し上げます）

 

As I mentioned in my previous article, I had been scrolling down the Top 50 singles of 1983 when I discovered Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi's（長渕剛）"Good Bye Seishun"（GOOD-BYE青春）at No. 49. Well, it turns out that I didn't know the song at No. 50 either, so why not finish up Monday's entries with another 1983 hit?

On first listening to Yuko Hara's（原由子）"Koi wa Go-Tabou Moushiagemasu" (Too Busy for Love) which was released in August of that year, I'd assumed that much like "Good Bye Seishun", this one also fronted a television drama as the theme. However, it was actually used as another campaign song for Shiseido. According to the J-Wiki article, this was the Southern All Stars（サザンオールスターズ）keyboardist's first big solo hit (her own 4th single hitting No. 5 on the Oricon weeklies) and as written and composed by her husband, SAS vocalist Keisuke Kuwata（桑田佳祐）, there is something quite reminiscent of Phil Collins' take on "You Can't Hurry Love" from 1982. Heck "Motown" is even mentioned in Kuwata's lyrics.

Yuko Hara -- Hanasaku Tabiji （花咲く旅路）

When I wrote about that huge group effort spearheaded by Tomita Lab for "Kono Yo wa Fushigi" (この世は不思議) the other day, I hadn't realized that this was the first time to have singer-songwriter-musician Yuko Hara（原由子）in the blog as a soloist. She was always in there as a member of Southern All Stars with her husband, vocalist Keisuke Kuwata（桑田佳祐）but not on her own. And I know that she did have at least one tremendous hit back in my Gunma days.

And it all started with a series of JR Tokai ads from the beginning of 1991. The ads had people doing their everyday things but with the soothing narrator suggesting about taking that relaxing trip at somewhat unusual times or days such as heading out in the afternoon or coming back home on a Monday. Of course, the good folks at Japan Railways were more than happy to lend a hand. But what brought everything together was the campaign song crooned by none other than Hara herself. I remember those commercials very well.

The song is "Hanasaku Tabiji" (A Journey of Blossoms) which was written and composed by Kuwata for Hara's solo album "Mother". Released in June 1991, it had quite the lead-in single with this song which had a bit of Okinawan in there. The only thing was that to my surprise it had never been released as a single; it was included as a mere track albeit a track that had already gotten its fair share of acclaim.

For "Hanasaku Tabiji", the comforting and countryside vocals of Hara and that hint of Okinawan music must have provided the tonic for a lot of ears, and perhaps JR made some good money out of the venture in terms of ridership. It even earned the singer an invitation to the Kohaku Utagassen that year.

"Mother" was a Double Platinum album getting as high as No. 4 on the Oricon weeklies and ending up as the 20th-ranked album of the year. The Japan Record Awards also gave it a Best Album prize.

Tomita Lab -- Kono Yo wa Fushigi featuring Yuko Hara, Ken Yokoyama, Ringo Shiina and Yu Sakai （この世は不思議 - 冨田ラボ feat. 原由子、横山剣、椎名林檎、さかいゆう）

Up to this point, I had always seen Tomita Lab as this wonderful weaver of laidback cafe-friendly songs such as the ones that I fell in love with on his debut album "Shipbuilding" from 2003.

Then, a few nights ago, I happily encountered this cute video with these kids emulating a typical "Law & Order" episode a la "Bugsy Malone". Even better, the child actors were lip-synching to this cool tune titled "Kono Yo wa Fushigi" (This World Is Strange). Composed by Tomita Lab and written by Shintaro Sakamoto（坂本慎太郎）for the former's 4th original album "Joyous" from October 2013, it brings back some nice memories of Stevie Wonder's brand of funk.

And it's got Yuko Hara（原由子）from Southern All Stars, the divine Ringo Shiina（椎名林檎）, Ken Yokoyama（横山剣）from the Crazy Ken Band, and singer-songwriter Yu Sakai (さかいゆう ). Nice to hear Tomita Lab go a bit more uptempo and downtown here. I'm such a sucker for Stevie Wonder and the horns and can only fantasize this superstar lineup performing this onstage someday. Now I gotta wonder about catching up on the Lab's collection. The album by the way peaked at No. 39.