''Hikō-ki Gumo'' (ひこうき雲, ''Vapour Trail''), stylized as ''HIKŌ-KI GUMO'', is the debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by Japanese singer-songwriter

Yumi Arai , nicknamed , is a Japanese singer, composer, lyricist and pianist. Generally the writer of both the lyrics and the music in her songs, she is renowned for her idiosyncratic voice and live performances, and is one of the most prominent figures ...

, released in November 1973. The album is most known for its title (and lead-off) track.

Overview

Before the

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

was released, the debut

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

"Henji wa Iranai" (which sold for only 300 copies) along with her second single "Kitto Ieru" (

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

: "Hikō-ki Gumo") was released first. Both of the singles were included in this album. "Hikō-ki Gumo" is a song originally made by Arai for

Izumi Yukimura is a Japanese popular singer and actress. Yukimura made her debut with the song in 1953. Her style of singing varied from jazz to rock and roll. She became one of the three most popular female singers in the early postwar Japan, along with Chie ...

, the recording of the song was done but it was never released due to various reasons. It was instead ''Arai'', who was 19 at the time, who first sang the song. When Arai was in

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

, she had a classmate who had a serious illness (

muscular dystrophy Muscular dystrophies (MD) are a genetically and clinically heterogeneous group of rare neuromuscular diseases that cause progressive weakness and breakdown of skeletal muscles over time. The disorders differ as to which muscles are primarily affe ...

). The boy would later die during his first year of

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

. "Hikō-ki Gumo" is a song in which she mourns her friend who died at a young age and compares his life to a vapour trail. It is said that this was the inspiration for making this song. Caramel Mama performed the

backing band A backup band or backing band is a musical ensemble that typically accompanies a single artist who is the featured performer. The situation may be a live performance or in a recording session, and the group may or may not have its own name, such ...

for the album. Its members included

Masataka Matsutoya is a Japanese arranger, composer, music producer, and motor journalist. He currently resides in Setagaya, Tokyo. He is a graduate of Keio Senior High School and Keio University (literature department). His wife is singer-songwriter, composer, an ...

, who would later be her husband, as

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instr ...

; Haruomi Hosono on

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

Shigeru Suzuki is a Japanese musician, songwriter and guitarist. He first became known as a member of the influential rock band Happy End in the early 1970s, before starting a solo career and becoming a prolific session musician. As of 2006, Suzuki had contr ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

and

Tatsuo Hayashi Tatsuo (written: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , or ) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese actor *, Japanese engineer *Tatsuo Fukuda (福田達夫, born 1967), Japanese politician *, Japanese swi ...

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

. Arai's voice was quivering all the time during the studio recordings, as a result, it took more than a year to complete the album. The design for the album jacket was influenced by church music, and was designed to imitate the German classic label, Archiv Produktion. The illustration in the booklet is by Arai herself and contains the poem "Birthday" (誕生日), which describes the change from a girl to an adult.Yumi Arai (2005). ''Hikō-ki Gumo'' album booklet. p. 2.

Express Express or EXPRESS may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * '' Express: Aisle to Glory'', a 1998 comedy short film featuring Kal Penn * '' The Express: The Ernie Davis Story'', a 2008 film starring Dennis Quaid Music * ''Express'' ...

(ETP-9083). Along with it are the lyrics for the songs. In 2013, it was announced that the song will be used as the theme song for the

Ghibli Ghibli (Italian: , also used in English), the name of a hot desert wind also known as sirocco, derived from Libyan Arabic (, ). Ghibli may refer to: Vehicles * Maserati Ghibli, a model of car made by Italian auto manufacturer Maserati * Capron ...

movie "

The Wind Rises is a 2013 Japanese animated historical drama film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, animated by Studio Ghibli for the Nippon Television Network, Dentsu, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners, Walt Disney Japan, Mitsubishi, Toho and KDDI. It was rele ...

". At the same time, the album would get a

reissue In the music industry, a reissue (also re-release, repackage or re-edition) is the release of an album or Single (music), single which has been released at least once before, sometimes with alterations or additions. Reasons for reissue New aud ...

. The reissue's jacket features a

Mitsubishi Zero The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" is a long-range carrier-based fighter aircraft formerly manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1940 to 1945. The A6M was ...

, drawn by the studio, along with a white background. The booklet features all of the songs lyrics, together with the main visuals of the movie.

Release History

''Hikō-ki Gumo'' was released on November 20, 1973 by Toshiba-EMI/Express (now part of

EMI Music Japan , formerly , was one of Japan's leading music companies. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of British music company EMI Group Ltd. on June 30, 2007, after Toshiba sold off its previous 45% stake. Its CEO and president was Kazuhiko Koike. When ...

). The album was also distributed by

Alfa Records , originally a publisher known as Alfa Music Ltd. and later succeeded by record company Alfa Music Inc., was established in 1969 by composer and record producer Kunihiko Murai. It was formed into an independent record label known as Alfa Records ...

for a period of time, as Alfa also held ancillary rights to this and the other LPs Arai released during the time Alfa was still a publishing company; those rights later reverted to EMI Japan in 1994-thereabouts, when EMI regained distribution of Alfa's catalogue except for the artists who were published by Alfa and were distributed by other labels (and later retained most of it, including Arai's first 4 LPs hose rights she had managed to buy before Alfa was sold to Sony while the rest, the catalogue from when Alfa was a recording label and the bulk of the catalogue from when it was a publishing company, went with

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

, including session player Haruomi Hosono's future work both as a solo musician and as part of

Yellow Magic Orchestra Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO for short) is a Japanese electronic music band formed in Tokyo in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono (bass, keyboards, vocals), Yukihiro Takahashi (drums, lead vocals) and Ryuichi Sakamoto (keyboards, vocals). The group is conside ...

). On April 26, 2000, the recording was digitally remastered for re-release on CD by Bernie Grundman. Internet sales of the album began March 10, 2005.

Tracklisting

Lyrics & Composition:

Arrangements: Yumi Arai, Caramel Mama

Personnel

*Piano -

*Bass - Haruomi Hosono *Keyboard -

*Guitar -

*Drum - Tatsuo Hayashi *Nylon Strings Guitar - Haruomi Hosono (A-1, A-5) *Percussion - Masataka Matsutoya (A-3), Shigeru Suzuki (A-3), Tatsuo Hayashi (A-3, A-5, B-4), Rei Ohara (B-4) *Banjo - Masataka Matsutoya (B-5) *Flute - Akira Miyazawa (A-2) *Chorus - Masataka Matsutoya (A-2), Singers Three (A-3), Yumi Arai (B-4) *Tenor sax - Konosuke Saijo (A-5) *Steel Guitar - Hiroki Komazawa (B-2, B-5)

Chart Positions

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 1973 debut albums Yumi Matsutoya albums EMI Music Japan albums Alfa Records albums