Yuriko Ohmori -- Rai Rai Mirai（来・来・未来）

 

Probably this will be today's final entry and this month's final entry before we enter September. I just read in the newspaper that none of the days in August here in Toronto hit 30 degrees Celsius, although the Humidex did go above that. Still, that achievement (or disappointment, if you're really into summer) may gain some envy from at least some of the Japanese who have been suffering through a very torrid summer. But what I've also read is that the Labour Day long weekend will get some really hot temperatures.

Anyways, last year just when the winter was starting, I decided to get cute and post something that would reflect that fact with Yuriko Ohmori's（大森有里子）"Fuyu no Hito"（冬の人...Winter Fellow） which was the B-side to her 1981 debut single "Rai Rai Mirai"（Come Come Future）. "Fuyu no Hito" is a pretty calming and chamomile tea-friendly song though the lyrics describe a woman's resentments against a cold former beau.

I noted in that article that "Fuyu no Hito" was pretty close to being labeled as Fashion Music although the protagonist probably wanted to throw rocks instead of peeling grapes. Well, with "Rai Rai Mirai", I swear that there is something in that jaunty rhythm that made me consider if the song was approaching exotic kayo levels. The same three people involved with that B-side were also behind the A-side: lyricist Akira Ito（伊藤アキラ）, composer Ohmori and arranger Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）. Lyrically, there is that bittersweet feeling once more as a woman wants to forget her past romance and go ahead with a potential new love interest but memories about the ex are still holding her back. Tug of war and love, indeed.💔

Yuriko Ohmori -- Fuyu no Hito（冬の人）

 

I believe that Winter will be arriving officially here in Toronto at around 4:45 pm today, so as of this writing, sometime in the next 45 minutes. It's sunny and not too cold right now, but supposedly from tomorrow, things will get severely wrenched around meteorologically speaking and we may be getting a Godzilla of a storm for the next couple of days. We may indeed get our White Christmas this year but we might also end up with a city-wide power outage and other sorts of damage.

As such, with the first day of Winter being today, I've opted to bring in a seasonal song but not necessarily of Christmas (although a Xmas kayo will be coming soon enough later tonight). Actually, "Fuyu no Hito" (Winter Fellow) isn't actually referring to the season but more likely to a person's personality.

"Fuyu no Hito" was a part of the first of two singles provided by singer-songwriter Yuriko Ohmori（大森有里子）in 1981. With the A-side being "Rai Rai Mirai"（来・来・未来...Come Come Future）, the B-side's "Fuyu no Hito" was written by Akira Ito（伊藤アキラ）, composed by Ohmori and arranged by Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）. With Hayashi's name in there, City Pop might be popping up in all of our minds, but strangely enough, this particular tune doesn't have anything to do with the urban contemporary of Japan, but it is a folksy and congenial pop song that almost ventures into Fashion Music territory. As I said, Ohmori's melody is very pleasant on the ears, but Ito's lyrics vent forth a woman's resentment against a former beau's icy-cold indifference towards her. Ouch!

Ohmori released one more single in 1982 and that's all she wrote for her own songs. However, on "Idol.ne.jp", this Kyoto native began her pro career early from her teens as she won a national electone contest at the age of 13, and has gone on to becoming a singer-songwriter, musician and producer. From her own website, it's listed that she even had a stint as an NHK announcer before going Stateside to study at UCLA and getting a job at CBS Records as an interviewer, and apparently her subjects included Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, ELO, Earth Wind & Fire, and TOTO. All this happened even before getting scouted and then releasing that first single. That is one humdinger beginning to a career!😲