A Long Vacation is the sixth studio album by Eiichi Ohtaki, released on 21 March 1981. Wrapped in Hiroshi Nagai’s poolside illustration and steeped in Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound, it sold over a million copies, won Best Album at the 23rd Japan Record Awards and is regarded as one of the greatest Japanese albums.[1]
Production
Ohtaki produced the album at CBS/Sony’s Roppongi and Shinanomachi studios, with former Happy End bandmates Shigeru Suzuki on guitar and Haruomi Hosono on bass, Hiroshi Uehara and Tatsuo Hayashi on drums, and strings arranged by Akira Inoue and Masataka Matsutoya.[1] Takashi Matsumoto wrote nine of the ten lyrics.[1]
Influences
Several songs draw directly on Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound; the closing “Farewell Trans-Siberian Railway” was conceived as a tribute to Joe Meek and had first been released by Hiromi Ōta in November 1980.[1] Matsumoto wrote “Canary Islands Nite” without ever having visited the islands.[1]
Commercial performance
The LP peaked at No. 2 and spent 84 weeks on the Oricon chart, selling 615,000 copies, with a further 394,000 on cassette; it was the second-best-selling album of 1981.[1] The CD was certified double platinum, and anniversary reissues returned it to the charts — the 2021 40th-anniversary edition reached No. 5.[1]
Legacy
Rolling Stone Japan ranked it the seventh-greatest Japanese rock album in 2007, and Record Collectors’ Magazine named it the best Japanese rock album of the 1980s in 2010.[1] Nagai had originally been approached to paint the cover of Tatsuro Yamashita’s For You, but was busy with this record.[2]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | “Kimi wa Tennenshoku”君は天然色 | Takashi Matsumoto / Eiichi Ohtaki | 5:02 |
| 2. | “Velvet Motel” | Takashi Matsumoto / Eiichi Ohtaki | 3:42 |
| 3. | “Canary Islands Nite”カナリア諸島にて | Takashi Matsumoto / Eiichi Ohtaki | 3:58 |
| 4. | “Pap-Pi-Doo-Bi-Doo-Ba Story” | Eiichi Ohtaki | 3:14 |
| 5. | “Waga Kokoro no Pinball”我が心のピンボール | Takashi Matsumoto / Eiichi Ohtaki | 4:24 |
| 6. | “Ame no Wednesday”雨のウェンズデイ | Takashi Matsumoto / Eiichi Ohtaki | 4:24 |
| 7. | “Speech Balloon” | Takashi Matsumoto / Eiichi Ohtaki | 3:55 |
| 8. | “Koisuru Karen”恋するカレン | Takashi Matsumoto / Eiichi Ohtaki | 3:21 |
| 9. | “Fun × 4” | Takashi Matsumoto / Eiichi Ohtaki | 3:26 |
| 10. | “Farewell Trans-Siberian Railway”さらばシベリア鉄道 | Takashi Matsumoto / Eiichi Ohtaki | 4:33 |
Personnel
- Eiichi Ohtaki – vocals, producer
- Shigeru Suzuki – guitar
- Haruomi Hosono – bass
- Hiroshi Uehara, Tatsuo Hayashi – drums
- Akira Inoue, Masataka Matsutoya – strings
- Hiroshi Nagai – cover illustration
References
- “A Long Vacation”. Wikipedia. Retrieved 11 October 2026.
- “For You (Tatsuro Yamashita album)”. Wikipedia. Retrieved 11 October 2026.
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