Akina Nakamori -- Prologue ( プロローグ〈序幕〉)

Japan has already entered 2017 so my Happy New Year greetings to everyone out there. We're still about 12 hours away from blowing the horns and throwing the confetti ourselves. I did catch the last third of the live broadcast of NHK's Kohaku Utagassen; with the 14-hour time difference, I simply won't wake up that early to watch something that's going to be re-broadcast later tonight anyways. It looks like I lost a bet to Larry about the SMAP thing, though.

For the very final day of 2016, I've decided to write 4 articles at the very least today which is about twice as much as I usually do. Basically I'm going to go with the theme of that old-fashioned bridal rhyme of "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue".

The "something old" is not a problem at all here since this blog is mostly about the old...the kayo kyoku. And so I've decided to go with one of my Xmas purchases: Akina Nakamori's（中森明菜）debut album from July 1982, "Prologue - Jomaku". That latter Japanese word is indeed the translation for prologue. After all these decades, I finally got the album that started off her career, and man, first off, I got to say that fresh-faced Akina looks downright cherubic on the cover.

There's a theory that's been buzzing about in my head for years now. And that deals with whether the scouts, songwriters, producers and other folks in the music industry used to take a Queen Bee approach when it came to up-and-comers. I mean, if I were to graphically represent the super aidoru such as Akina, Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）, Kyoko Koizumi（小泉今日子）from the 1980s and even Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵）of the 1970s and the dozens...or perhaps hundreds...of ingenues that tried to reach stardom in the aidoru industry, those four ladies would be drops of water above the ocean represented by those other girls. Did those powers-that-be garner some sort of inkling about whether someone like Akina had that certain talent or je-ne-sais-quoi quality and gave her access to the top songwriters?

Before I purchased "Prologue", I listened to the samples at the CD Japan website. Of course, each sample was all of 45 seconds but even then, I was pretty intrigued about the way the songs sounded. Akina's vocals may have been rather raw but there were hints of what she was to become in her delivery, and the songs themselves had a good mix of variation in terms of genre and some fine efforts by those songwriters. So I parted with my yen gladly. My impression was that for an aidoru album, this was a pretty special release.

The first track that starts the whole thing off is "Anata no Portrait"（あなたのポートレート...A Portrait of You） which was created by Etsuko and Takao Kisugi（来生えつこ・来生たかお）.
As would be the case with a concoction by the Kisugi siblings, "Anata no Portrait" is a lush mid-tempo ballad with those shimmering strings and a contemporary pop beat. The lyrics by Etsuko Kisugi talk about a chance meeting with that special someone, and the image will no longer leave her mind. In other words, she is in major love! Now, I think moco momo does a pretty good job of emulating both the early and later Akina voices so the rendition of the song is reflective of how the real Akina sounded back then. There is some of that high-toned cracking and off-tune bits in the delivery that I can imagine an aidoru committing. It's unpolished but I would think that a lot of high school girls would have related to the mood brought about by the song. And again, there is that lovely romantic melody by Takao Kisugi.

"Bon Voyage" is Track 2. A fairly bouncy song with that hint of the tropics and maybe even some Resort Pop, this is also a tune that had me and perhaps all the folks back in the early 1980s thinking that perhaps there was something more than meets the eye with this young Ms. Nakamori. Mayumi Shinozuka（篠塚満由美）, who was once a singer and a monomane tarento in the 1970s, became a lyricist and she was responsible for this song. Meanwhile, Eriko Tsukayama（塚山エリコ）provided the music.

Early on in my time getting to know Akina, I did hear comparisons between her and the aforementioned Momoe Yamaguchi. "T-Shirt Sunset" is the song that kinda sparked that memory. That arrangement of folky pop and the breathier way that Akina sings here had me reminiscing about Momoe. The late lyricist Tsuzuru Nakasato（中里綴）and composer Masamitsu Tayama（田山雅充）took care of this one.

"A-gata Melancholy"（A型メランコリー...Type-A Melancholy）is all about the blood types which are a major source of fortune telling in Japan.  I'm not sure whether Nakasato and Tayama had specifically made this for Akina since she herself has Type-A blood but it's an eerily prescient ditty since she sings about getting all hot and bothered about a fellow who's a Type-O, and I found out that Masahiko "Matchy" Kondo（近藤真彦）, her future beau, also has that blood type (come to think of it, I'm a Type-O as well, heh heh...one can fantasize, eh?). Again, this is another track that had me thinking of Momoe due to the urgent strings and beat from the latter part of her career along with Akina's delivery.

Well, I finally managed to find a video with the actual Akina singing a track from "Prologue". This would be the final track "Downtown Story"（ダウンタウンすと〜り〜）. And this is something that kinda hinted at the persona that she would pick up for the next little while through singles such as "Shojo A"（少女Ａ）: that of the so-called troubled high school girl running off with the bad crowd. Ayumi Date（伊達歩）came up with the words about the tsuppari breathlessly getting on back of the motorcycle with her punk boyfriend and looking forward to all of the fun down the road. Guitarist Fujimal Yoshino（芳野藤丸）generated the light rock beat.

Of course, I can't really finish the article without putting up the one single that came out of "Prologue", "Slow Motion"（スローモーション）, Single No. 1 for Akina. As for the album, it did very well since it peaked at No. 5 on Oricon. Nope, it hasn't supplanted by any means "Bitter & Sweet" as my favourite Akina album, but I'm glad that I now have the source of her roots.

Ah, way back when...

Utada Hikaru -- Colors

2016 is drawing to a close, and it’s again Kouhaku (紅白歌合戦) time.  Originally, I thought I’ll skip watching this year.  But since Utada Hikaru (宇多田ヒカル) is going to perform for the 1st time, it got me interested and I think I’m going to watch again this year.  Of course, I don’t have any NHK subscription in North America and so I’ll be downloading it from the Internet in January.  I’m also hoping for a SMAP surprise appearance.

I knew Utada's name before I listened to any of her songs.  I remembered the first song I listened was “Can you keep a secret?” It was played at the end of the hit TV drama Hero, starring Kimura Takuya (木村拓哉) and Matsu Takako (松たか子). In fact, it’s not until 2012 when I bought my first Utada CD, a 2nd hand one titled “Single Collection Vol 1”.  In the past few years, I went on and bought a few other songs from Apple Store.  Now, I find myself hooked onto “First Love”, “Letters”, “Colors”, “Flavor of Love”, “Prisoner of Love”, “Sakura Nagashi”, “Goodbye Happiness”, and of course “Can you keep a secret?”.  Especially for “Goodbye Happiness”, its MV on her YouTube channel is extremely cute and it makes various references to her previous hits.  The entire video was taken in 1 shot and I was really impressed.  You should watch it if you got a chance.

I've let myself stray too far off the topic, I guess.  Today, I want to write about Utada's song “Colors”.  It was released in January 2003, her first single after she got married to her first husband Kiriya Kazuaki (紀里谷和明).  According to wiki, she wrote the song in France during her honeymoon with Kazuaki.  I guess being an artist means that you can choose your own working hours, but it also means that you’ll be working all the time!  Also from wiki, if you listen closely to her live performances, she always sang 1-key lower compared to her CD version.  Utada said she originally intend the song to be in that lowered key.  But during recording, people around advised her to sing 1-key higher, and so we now got these 2 versions.

Here’s the link to the official MV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv7OzIbdm4Y

The lyrics of the song is very abstract and hard to follow.  Utada uses a lot of metaphors.  I’ve read a few interpretations on the Internet, but I like mine best :-) (or otherwise I wouldn't be writing about it)  Let me first say that I found a lot of sexually suggestive language in the song, starting from the very first paragraph.  According to my own interpretation, the song is about a woman who broke up with her boyfriend.  On one hand, she is not ready to give up hope on love, nevertheless she takes revenge at her ex-boyfriend by engaging again and again in one-night stands.  “Like a luring bullfighter flushing in red,” she wrote.

The first paragraph takes place in a love motel.

ミラーが映し出す幻を気にしながら
いつの間にか速度上げてるのさ
When I realized the mirage reflected in the mirror
Speed had suddenly picked itself up

I have never been to a love motel myself, but through various movies and documentaries, I’ve seen mirrors on the ceiling and around the bed.  When human is having an orgasm, he/she is delusional and everything he/she sees is mirage-like.  I’m not going to describe the 2nd sentence and you’ll have to imagine why there’s a pick up of speed.

We're now in the break-up scene, where her ex-boyfriend told her that “he doesn’t care anymore”.  She was disappointed and everything started turning gray.  From the very start, she’s already unsure about him but now everything is shattered.

In the 3rd scene, she remembers making love with him.

炎の揺らめき　今宵も夢を描く

あなたの筆先　渇いていませんか
Tonight, flames are flickering, and again we’ll be painting our dreams

My darling, has ink gone dry on your brush tip yet?

The chorus reveals her attitude about love and sex.

青い空が見えぬなら青い傘広げて
いいじゃないか　キャンバスは君のもの

白い旗はあきらめた時にだけかざすの
今は真っ赤に　誘う闘牛士のように
If there’s no blue sky in sight, let’s open a blue umbrella

Isn’t it nice? The canvas is his

One holds up the white flag only when she’s giving up

For now, I’ll be like a luring bullfighter flushing in red

Previously, she used painting as a metaphor for love making.  So "canvas" here refers to herself.  When there's no blue sky she's going to make one up herself by sleeping with men after men.  She's not ready to give up and she's doing it as if it's a revenge against her ex-boyfriend.  Her reference to bullfight is, in my opinion, sexually suggestive - as the bull charges towards the bullfighter it passes through the muleta as if it's entering into something.

In the next scene, she's met her new partner "on a black and white chessboard under fading fluorescent light."  Confused, they quickly fell in love with each other in a month's time.  I imagine that the chessboard metaphor means that they're probably playing games with each other at the beginning.

Unfortunately, things ended quickly.  It would have been great if they could just watch the orange sunset together.  But they quarreled and eventually broke up.  She vows not to wear "black outfits" because they're only for attending funerals.  She went back and continue her quest for one-night stands, intentionally leaving red rouge marks on every man's body, as if she's keeping score of her revenge against her ex-boyfriend.

Lastly, she reveals her attitude again in the ending portion of the song.

もう自分には夢のない絵しか描けないと言うなら
塗りつぶしてよ　キャンバスを何度でも
白い旗はあきらめた時にだけかざすの
今の私はあなたの知らない色
If one say she can only produce dreamless paintings
Just paint the canvas over and over again, as many times as you please
A person only holds up a white flag when she's giving up
By now you have no idea what color I've become

If she couldn't find her true love, she'd rather sleep with as many men as she wants.  She's also telling her ex-boyfriend that the next time they meet, she'll be an unknown color to him!

Throughout the song, a total of 6 colors are mentioned: black, white, blue, red, orange, and gray, each signifying a different emotional state of the female protagonist.  The word color also serves as a double metaphor - men with whom she slept with.

I am personally very impressed with the song, both its lyrics and its arrangement.  I am not a fan of electronica.  But I really love its use throughout the song, especially in the intro and the conclusion.  It gives the song a layer of mystery.  As I listen to the music, I could totally imagine myself being in a night club, which is quite fitting for its contents.

Before I end this blog post, I want to mention one last thing that I've read on another blog.  The author said for some unknown reason, gay men are especially attracted to Utada's songs, Japanese or English.  He's himself gay and he said all his gay friends agree with him. 

The true meaning of Colors will remain unknown until Utada speaks up.  I don't know if she'll come across Kayo Kyoku Plus some day and offer her own comments :)

Let's enjoy the last day of 2016, and I wish everybody a Happy New Year 2017!

Hiroshi Itsuki -- Nagaragawa Enka (長良川艶歌)

Whaddaya know, the Itsuki picture for September
matches the song for today.

For the past three and a half months I had been busy with my school's internship - hence fewer write-ups by me - the last leg of my tertiary education - I've still got about a month left. It's got some highs and lows, but the Thursday to Sunday a couple weeks ago was probably the most harrowing experience thus far. Volunteering with a friend to help out at our workplace's (AVA... Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority) booth at an ornamental fish competition seemed exciting enough. However, with this poorly organised event lacking a number of important necessities like two categories worth of competing fish, and as such, the people, the both of us were wonderfully underwhelmed with having to tout free fans to a sparse crowd and literally counting the number of people who simply took a glance at our booth - 19 on Thursday but things picked up somewhat on Saturday. But even doing nothing is tiring if you have to do it for 6-8 hours. Kudos to this friend who stayed throughout the entire duration.

The absolute worst, however, has got to be the terrible, nonstop Christmas music blasting away. By Sunday we must've fallen too far into the rabbit hole as we imagined an idiotic "mix tape" that combines the instrumental version of "Silent Night", this hilariously awful song that has the singer going "Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!" at the chorus, and last but not least the whine of the hedge saw we heard when coming back from lunch. Imagine how that train wreck of a "mix tape" turned out to be. This horrific nightmare before Christmas made me miss enka a whole lot, and believe me I've been trying to use that to drown out the madness.

A good remedy would be "Nagaragawa Enka". It's a destination song featuring Gifu's Nagara river, renowned enka songwriters Chiaki Oka and Miyuki Ishimoto (岡千秋.石本美由起) put it together, and sung by Hiroshi Itsuki (五木ひろし), the genre's top veteran (in this current decade at least) in a kimono. Can't ask for anything more enka than that.

Rokyoku Itsuki

"Nagaragawa Enka" has got a traditional-sounding score as composed by Oka. What I find the main attraction of this melody is the haunting notes from the koto, which feels like the dark, rolling waves over the river at night, and is reminiscent of Takeo Fujishima's classic, "Otsuki-san Konbanwa" (お月さん今晩は). It's actually quite therapeutic, especially when combined with Itsuki's mellow delivery. Ishimoto's lyrics, which is set during the Ukai period in Gifu city, tells of whom I'm going to assume is a woman being reminded of a one night stand while watching the age old tradition of cormorant fishing along the river. The affair seemed to be a passionate one and the parting not on mutual terms as she seems rather sour about its end. Such is the sad fate of at least 90% of the enka characters.

"Nagaragawa Enka", from 21st April 1984 and later, 25th August, is Itsuki's biggest hit when it comes to the destination song department. It sold over a massive 10 million copies - a feat that only 6 other acts, including Momoe Yamaguchi (山口百恵) and Shinichi Mori (森進一), have accomplished - and won the singer First Prize at the 26th Japan Record Awards, the 15th Japanese Music Awards, and at the 13th FNS Music Festival. That is one decorated song. "Nagaragawa Enka" did well on the Oricon charts, coming in at 10th place at its peak before dropping to 14th by the end of 1984. It still managed to maintain its popularity in 1985 as it came in 61st for that year.

He looks good in grey suits.

With stuff like "Nagaragawa Enka" and "Jinanbo Garasu" (次男坊鴉... perhaps an article for another time), the madness of the exhibition's terrible music has mostly been exterminated. But things like the "Idiot Mix Tape" and memories from this experience will be in my mind for a long time, I reckon. What a way to end the already crazy year. Makes me wonder what next year will be like. Not as bumpy or bi-polar as this year, please. Anyways, hope you guys will have a good year ahead, and for surviving 2016... (the picture below)

Gokurosama deshita. :)

Noriko Sakai -- Kagami no Dress （鏡のドレス）

With all of the trials and tribulations pounding upon ASKA over the past several weeks due to his drug problems (although the police didn't have enough evidence to indict him this time), I've been reminded of former 80s aidoru Noriko Sakai（酒井法子）due to the drug scandal that she and her ex-husband had gotten mired in. I wonder what she is doing now. When I checked her J-Wiki article, the most recent news was that she was supposed to have appeared in some stage performance in 2014 but then suddenly left the show just before its premiere.

Marcos V. wrote about Nori-P's 27th single "Aoi Usagi"（碧いうさぎ...Blue Rabbit）which was the theme song for a popular drama that she starred in "Hoshi no Kinka"（星の金貨...Gold Coins of the Stars）back in 1995. For this article, I'm writing up about the theme song for the sequel to that drama which was titled "Zoku - Hoshi no Kinka"（続・星の金貨....Gold Coins of the Stars: The Sequel）, and this was also sung by Sakai as her 29th single.

Released in October 1996, "Kagami no Dress" (A Mirror Dress) is this vulnerable-sounding ballad that has Sakai wishing for that desirable young man to help her out of her sadness. There's nothing like synthesized pan flutes to help set the proper mood. I never saw the drama but I did enjoy the song enough that I ended up getting the CD single. Listening to the song and especially the performance above, I think that Nori-P really broke out of that aidoru mold. Her vocals sounded quite a bit more mature than I remembered them back in the 1980s although they weren't exactly Akina-deep.

"Kagami no Dress" was written by Rara Miura（三浦らら）and composed by Kyoichi Usamoto（宇佐元恭一）. I don't know how it did on Oricon, but at this point, I'm hoping that the singer is doing well somewhere.

Hiroshi Tachi -- Dakishimete （抱きしめて）

When I first saw the above photo in the pages of a Myojo issue, I just thought that these guys were members of the yakuza instead of the police department, especially that grim-looking fellow on the left there. Then I read the title at the bottom of the photo "Abunai Deka"（あぶない刑事...Dangerous Detectives）.

I've known about the series since then for many years and even caught a few episodes. My impression was that this was the Japanese coming of "Starsky & Hutch" with a much better tailor. I didn't become a fan, but I couldn't deny that the two leads, Hiroshi Tachi（舘ひろし）and Kyohei Shibata（柴田恭兵）, cut quite the dashing figures. Of course, Atsuko Asano（浅野温子）was just plain smoking in the photo although her character in the show was a lot goofier. A couple of days before Xmas, my Vancouver friend, Michael, was kind enough to give me his DVD sets of "Abunai Deka" so I'm gonna have to set up a schedule to see the show.

Usually, Hiroshi Tachi is Noelle's territory. However, I came across this song by him on YouTube and found it in that same mold of rock n' blues that his even more famous "Nakanaide"（泣かないで）was back in 1984. As I told Noelle in that article, Tachi's appearance to sing "Nakanaide" on the Kohaku Utagassen in that year kinda helped me cement the image of the man...the dedicated detective who may not be the most upstanding citizen but he's on the side of the angels although he likes some of the devilish things in life.

"Dakishimete" (Hold Me) is actually not part of the "Abunai Deka" soundtrack but a song he performed and released in April 1990 as one of the theme songs for another show he was on called "Deka Kizoku"（刑事貴族...The Detective Nobility）. According to the J-Wiki write-up, the NTV program was inspired by the American NBC series "Crime Story" from 1986 which was notable for its long-term storyline, something that has become par for the course for TV series now here but was very groundbreaking decades ago. Tachi played ace detective Shunsuke Maki for the first part of "Deka Kizoku".

Tachi also wrote and composed "Dakishimete" which has that combination of guitar, slamming drums and slightly Asian strings. Perhaps Noelle can confirm for me whether this has been a trademark musical style for some of his other creations. Another observation from my part is that for some reason, the rhythm has me reminded of Ben E. King's "Stand by Me".  Listening to him, I can see him striding down one of the main streets of Tokyo in a slightly bedraggled but obviously expensive suit after a long night out and heading back to headquarters. Sleep is for losers, according to him. He may be tired, but he will still be protecting the city proudly, and that trumpet in the middle kinda puts the accent on that.

Another image I have of Tachi is that he probably treats the microphone as his lover. There is always that particular singer who cradles the head of the old-fashioned mike while he sings into it, and with Tachi, that would be the case here as well. However, he also has developed an even deeper growl to show and ask for that passion.

(Sorry but the video has been taken down.)

The above video is from a broadcast of NHK's afternoon talk show "Studio Park" in which some 10 minutes into the program, Tachi professes his affinity for the sweets, especially in this case, the very Japanese taiyaki. However, there was also an NHK English conversation seminar program featuring tarento years ago in which Tachi was a guest and showed some proficiency in the English language. In fact, I remember him distinctly saying that he and his family were Anglophiles to the extent that they used to have regular teatime in the late afternoon.

Yes, can you J-Drama fans ever imagine a young Tachi saying something "Please, Mummy, may I ask you for some more clotted cream?". Then again, one Humphrey Bogart (yes, that Bogie) used to appear in a few roles where he played the rich and spoiled guy about town very early in his career. So, perhaps, I can place Tachi as a J-Bogart?

SMAP -- Kono Toki, Kitto Yume ja nai (この瞬間、きっと夢じゃない)

Ahhhh, yes. If you are a SMAP fan looking at the above photo, you may be swooning and even shedding a tear. After all, we're not only in the countdown to the end of 2016 but also in the last few days before the former kings of the Johnny's Entertainment castle formally end their 28-year existence in the entertainment industry.

My friend, fellow blog collaborator Larry, and I were having lunch down at my favourite izakaya yesterday and discussing partially on some of the various musical developments over the decades. The topic of SMAP came up, and Larry told me that the media is reporting that the group will not show up at the Kohaku Utagassen for one final song and bow on Saturday night. Now, that may be true but knowing NHK's penchant for throwing surprises at us through the Kohaku over the past few years, I still think the producers may be able to pull a last-minute SMAP rabbit out of the hat. Supposedly, the current kings, Arashi（嵐）, are going to be the last guys up to perform at around 11:30 pm, so wouldn't it be quite the finish for those guys to suddenly give the stage to their honoured sempai in a move so typically sentimental that the ratings might spike up into the stratosphere? In any case, let's stay tuned.

The other day, I was watching the weekly Sunday sportscast on NHK via TV Japan when the usual focus on a certain athlete came on. The schtick here was that the athlete in question would also mention a song that would inspire him/her the most, and in this case, it was a female volleyball player and her choice happened to be a SMAP ballad titled "Kono Toki, Kitto Yume ja nai" (This Moment Is No Dream).

In all honesty, I had never heard of this song until that Sunday but it was used as the TBS Olympic coverage theme song for the Beijing Games in 2008. I guess I was always going to NHK for my Olympic fix. But I have to admit that SMAP's 43rd single is quite soothing yet inspiring to listen to, just the tonic for an Olympics theme if balladry is the choice here. Heck, even Nakai-kun is less grating on the ears than usual. And I'm always grateful for that.

"Kono Toki, Kitto Yume ja nai" was released in August 2008 and created by a band called Hi-Fi Camp. It was another No. 1 in the long series of chart-topping hits for SMAP (in fact, right to the end, all subsequent singles peaked no lower than No. 1). It ended up as the 49th-ranked single of the year, and has been placed in a few of their albums, one being their 18th called "super.modern.artistic.performance" which was released in September. That release also went to No. 1 and was the 38th-ranked album of the year.

Now again, if SMAP does show up at the end of the Kohaku, in all likelihood, they will sing what is arguably their most beloved hit, "Sekai ni Hitotsu dake no Hana"（世界に一つだけの花）. However, if the group goes into medley mode, then I wouldn't mind hearing "Kono Toki" in there. In any case, it's been a good run for Nakai-kun, KimiTaku, Kusanagi, Inagaki and Katori and I'm positive that all of them will be showing up individually on other variety shows and dramas in the future. But let us give our farewells to SMAP. All hail SMAP!

Yes, that was the 6th SMAP member
at the lower-left corner. Do you remember who he is?
Please do not lick the screen.

Akira Terao -- Futari no Fuusen ~ Koibito to Issho ni Kiite Kudasai （二人の風船 ～ 恋人と一緒に聴いて下さい）

Nowadays when the name Akira Terao（寺尾聰）, a lot of folks will probably think of the veteran actor with the slightly hangdog expression that would make most fans want to give him a helping hand through the TV screen. For people of my generation who were into kayo kyoku back then, we also knew him as not only the cop in the cool glasses working under Yujiro Ishihara（石原裕次郎）in "Seibu Keisatsu"（西部警察....West Division Police） but also as the guy behind the even cooler "Ruby no Yubiwa"（ルビーの指輪）and its home album "Reflections" from 1981. I recently mentioned about music touchstones that got me further into my interest in Japanese popular music. Well, "Ruby no Yubiwa" was one of the biggies for me. That intro does it to me every time.

I also noted in the article for "Reflections", one of my earliest pieces for "Kayo Kyoku Plus" that Terao had been a member of a Group Sounds band, The Savage, in the 1960s. But then with the fade out of the genre entering the 1970s, the singer-songwriter did go solo. His very first album was released in 1970 titled "Futari no Fuusen ~ Koibito to Issho ni Kiite Kudasai" (A Balloon For Two ~ Please Listen Together With A Lover). So far, I've come across a couple of tracks from the album which showed that Terao was interested in the bossa nova genre.

Indeed "The More I See You" is about as relaxing as lying on Copacabana Beach (provided that it was safe back in those days). And there is quite the serenade feeling about it. Even back then, that familiar and resonant Terao voice was there but I'm impressed that his English was (and is?) quite good in those days. Considering the genre and the delivery, I think "The More I See You" would also have been quite a good song for his future "boss", Ishihara to tackle.

(Sorry but the video has been taken down)

As with the above track, "Inakunatta Anata" (いなくなったあなた...You're Gone) is another bossa nova piece but it's a bit more dramatic according to that title. Hopefully, it wasn't the thematic sequel to "The More I See You", but I'm still a sucker for a bossa nova ballad. I couldn't find out for sure whether it was indeed Terao who concocted these Brazilian delights but from what I've heard here, I wouldn't mind if he has been able to create some more of them in his future albums. Anyways, it was good to find another one of his albums that isn't "Reflections".