When I received my 5th J-pop cassette Mix from my friend in April of 1996, I was blown away by not just one but two new Hirose Kohmi songs, two new Mr. Children songs, and a couple of songs from a cool rockin’ band I’d never heard before, DEEN! What a terrific group this was!
In a way it was like getting a crash course in DEEN goodness because the two songs that opened up side two of that cassette mix were just about their best songs ever: the dramatic rock ballad LOVE FOREVER and the catchy whimsical HITOMI SORASANAIDE!
Though it was known to me that Izumi Sakai wrote (or, rather, co-wrote) Hitomi Sorasanaide, I didn’t think that there was a ZARD version of the song out there. Though later it became pretty common to hear ZARD’s take on songs later, (especially in regards to FIELD OF VIEW with songs like Kimi Ga Itakara, Totsuzen and DAN DAN Kokoro Hikareteku which all appeared on TODAY IS ANOTHER DAY) at the time I didn’t expect it, and so imagine what a pleasant surprise I had when I first listened to ZARD’s “Forever You” CD, and this gentle, sweet acoustic version of Hitomi Sorasanaide closed the album!
After hearing these DEEN songs, I just had to have them, but at the time was only able to get Love Forever, and no matter where I ordered Hitomi Sorasaniade from, I kept getting the dreaded “OUT OF PRINT” message returned. It wasn’t until years later when a friend managed to get that rare DEEN single for me, and he had to go by hook and crook to acquire it! For that he has my eternal gratitude! AHAHAHAHAHA