[Gentle & breezy]
No.121 "Shiroi Anata" by Hiromi Ohta
Hi. Today's song is "Shiroi anata" (My person in the ski resort) by "Hiromi Ohta".
Like our former post No.118, this is also a song about skiing.
Winter sports were much popular in Japan in the '70s and '80s. So, many nice ski songs were also released in this period.
Now a days, we see fewer skiers on the ski slopes. Perhaps, modern people are too busy.
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1.Song data
| Title | Shiroi anata (My person in the ski resort) |
|---|---|
| Artist | Hiromi Ohta |
| Album Title | Te-zukuri no gashū (A book of paintings of my own making) |
| Catalog Number | MHCL-30038 |
| Track No. | 9 |
| Duration | 3:40 |
| Released | 1976 |
| Publisher | CBS Sony |
| Lyricist | Hiromi Ohta |
| Composer | Hiromi Ohta |
| Arranger | Mitsuo Hagita |
- About the creators
Hiromi OhtaLyricist & Composer
"Hiromi Ohta" is a singer-songwriter, and the lyrics and melody of this song were written by her.
Then, we would like to come back to her at "About the artist" section later.
Mitsuo HagitaArranger
"Mitsuo Hagita" is a famed arranger active since 1973.
He is particularly outstanding in terms of, the quality of works, the number of songs arranged, and the number of hit songs.
Doubtlessly, one of the most prominent arranger in the Japanese popular music world.
Early career
By the way, we have recently posted an article about him in "About the artist" section of post No.115.
It is not a completed article, but there is some information about his early career.
So, if you like, please check the post linked in below.
Key player
As mentioned, "Mitsuo Hagita" has arranged many songs for various super stars of J-pop, especially the singers of "main stream pops" from the '70s to the '80s.
If that helps, "main stream pops" means a category of J-pop which is most significant in commercially and business strategically.
On his long and shining career, there are few singers he involved relatively deeply.
And "Hiromi Ohta" may be one of them.
Hiromi Ohta
"Hagita" first supported "Hiromi Ohta" on her debut song of 1974. After that, he became an indispensable staff for "Ohta".
A short time before started working with "Ohta", he arranged a light-touch folk song titled "Hitori-bocchi no heya" (My lonely room) for other artist, and succeeded to make it a smash hit.
Presumably, it is one big reason he was called in "Hiromi Ohta" project, because she was going to take a similar route.
Then in 1974, "Hagita" arranged "Hiromi Ohta"s debut song "Amadare" (Water drops on branches), and supported her to come out.
"Hitori-bocchi no heya" (1973)
(My lonely room)
by "Masa Takagi"
"Amadare" (1974)
(Water drops on branches)
by "Hiromi Ohta"
(You can still listen these songs by clicking the banners. Please select the track No.1(1st) or 1(2nd) once the page is open.)
Fortunately, her debut song sold well, and her name began to be recognized.
"Ohta" soon released her 1st album "Magokoro" (Sincerity) in Feb 1975. And "Hagita" arranged all 12 songs of this album.
Big hit
In Dec 1975, "Ohta" released her 3rd album. And one of the song on the album titled "Momen no handkerchief" (A cotton handkerchief)", which "Hagita" also arranged, became a super hit.
Establish a style
"Hagita" continued to assist "Hiromi Ohta"s music.
In 1976, "Akai high-heel" (Red high-heels), in Jan 1977, "Shiawase miman" (Less than happy), and in June 1977, "Ren-ai Yūgi" (Playing with love)... "Hagita" provided good arrangements, and all of them became smash hits.
And through these hit songs, "Hiromi Ohta" became one of the most popular singer.
"Ren-ai Yūgi" (1977)
(Playing with love)
by "Hiromi Ohta"
(You can still listen these songs by clicking the banners. Please select the track No.5(1st) No.7(2nd),or No.6(3rd) once the page is open.)
By the way, here is a related post. Please have a look if you like.
Dedication
Like the above, "Hagita" had taken part in most of the songs which "Hiromi Ohta" released from the '70s to the '80s.
So, almost certainly, "Hiromi Ohta" is one of the singer who "Hagita" involved most intensely.
(Ref: Wikipedia, Mitsuo Hagita)
(Ref: music-calendar.jp, Mitsuo Hagita,20160616)🇯🇵
(Ref: kayo.cdjournal.jp, Mitsuo Hagita,2018.6.17)🇯🇵
Video clip
Finally, here is a music clip of "Hi-tomoshi-koro"(Nightfall) by Kumiko Sakurai. The song was arranged by "Hagita" in 2018.
* "Hi-tomoshi-koro"
Cover art today
- Sound impressions
Gentle & breezy
This is a light and breezy popular music in a Bossa nova style in moderate speed.
Trill
After the introduction by the piano trill, the bass, drums, acoustic guitar, electric guitar and horn section begin the main melody.
In the latter part of the 1st verse, the strings and percussion also participate in, and add more elegance and crispness.
"Hiromi Ohta"s clear high-pitched voice goes well with pure impression of snow.
- Reference
- About the artist
Hiromi OhtaA song writing princess
"Hiromi Ohta" is a singer-songwriter, Keyboardist, actor, TV character, Radio personality and a member of an acoustic group "Nagomies".
She debuted in 1974 with a single "Amadare"(Water drops on branches). Since then, 31 singles, and 23 original, 2 live, and 21 best albums have been released until now.
(Ref: Wikipedia-en, Hiromi Ohta)
Before debut
"Hiromi Ohta" started her career by joining a dance and chorus team "School Mates" in 1969.
In 1972, she auditioned for a member of "Young 101", which was a group of singers regularly appear and perform, on a popular TV music program "Stage 101", and passed.
Afterwards, she became a regular member, and appeared on the program until its finale in 1974.
In Parallel, she contracted with an entertainment agency in 1973. And, in November 1974, she finally debuted as a solo singer.
A bridge between
Interestingly, when she was debuting in the mid '70s, young music fans were quite split into 2 groups, namely fans of "main stream pop music", and fans of "folk song & New music". And both did not have much interest for the music of the others.
In terms of the number of fans, "main stream pops fans" were still the majority, and "folk & new music" was a developing category.
Music companies at that time were wishing to expand "folk & New music" business by increasing the number of fans.
In this context, a charming singer-songwriter "Hiromi Ohta", who can also sing and play the piano, was a perfect person for this purpose, because she can appeal for both side.
Seemingly, she was happy to take such role.
"Ohta" frequently appeared music programs on TV in elegant dresses, or talked on the radio as a DJ. By doing so, she attracted the main stream pop fans.
In parallel, she actively held live concerts, and sang songs of her own composition in her own piano accompaniment.
This made "folk & new music" fans delighted.
As it turned out, "Ohta" greatly contributed for establishing "New music" category.
She has been clearly aware of this, and seems feeling happy for being a bridge of 2 different music category for a long time.
Big hit
In 1975, her 3rd album "Kokoro-ga kaze-wo hiita-hi" (A day your heart caught a cold) became on sale.
On this album, there was a song especially popular among the staff. That was the song titled "Momen no handkerchief" (A cotton handkerchief).
The music label quickly discussed, and decided to launch this song as a single record after rearranging the sound into little more gorgeous.
"Momen no handkerchief"(1975)
(A cotton handkerchief)
Single version
by "Hiromi Ohta"
(You can still listen this song by clicking the banner. Please select the track No.4 once new page is open.)
Luckily the song quickly caught on.
Because the song was so well-received by the wide range of people, it has become a kind of standard song.
It's been 40+ years since the song was released. But still ranked in the top 100 of all time best, or my favorite songs.
Smooth progress
Now, "Hiromi Ohta" has been a long serving singer-songwriter, but she had 2 breaks during a career.
The first time was in 1982. she went to the US, and stayed for 8 months for studying singing and dancing.
And from 1985 to 1996, she controlled the amount of work for sharing more time for raising children.
Otherwise, she has been releasing albums continuously, and frequently appearing on her concerts.
Nagomies
In 2004, 3 accomplished musicians namely, "Hiromi Ohta", "Shōzō Ise" and "Masumi Ohno" teamed up a unique acoustic group "Nagomies".
The band has been concentrating on performing their standard numbers first, because each of them has a lot of hit songs.
Additionally, the audience aged more than half a century wants to enjoy nostalgic songs. And young fans are here for listening famed classics.
So, singing songs of the members is the primary mission of the band. We suppose.
Anyway, if you are fond of authentic Japanese folk songs, Nagomies is worth listening to.
For reference, the band name "Nagomies" is a coined term made from Japanese word "Nagomi" and plural suffix "-ies", although it seems they have not set the spell of their band name yet.
And the word "Nagomi" has "calm", "soothing", "at home", "feel ease" and "relaxing" like nuances.
And interestingly, the word "Nagomi" sometimes brings "senior" or "matured" like images depending on the context.
Finally...
A best album of "Hiromi Ohta" seems not available in digital format in Amazon.
An apple music link for "A cotton handkerchief" placed above is also a link for one of her best album (70s - 80s Single A-side collection).
So, please use it if you like.
(Ref: Wikipedia-en, Hiromi Ohta)
- Samples from online music stores
About the samples
Please go to the page below, and just play or click track No.9.
Trial button is on the left side of the song title.
AD :
Free listening samples
Amazon JP(en)
recochoku.jp
Tower records online
8. Japanese Letters
| Song Title | 白いあなた (Shiroi anata) |
|---|---|
| Artist | 太田裕美 (Hiromi Ohta) |
| Album Title | 手作りの画集 (Te-zukuri no gashū) |
About Persimmons
Due to the unusual moist weather, Persimmons are still not dry enough, and we could not take pictures.
In the next week, the photos will be up hopefully.
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