Ride on Time is the sixth single by Japanese singer-songwriter Tatsuro Yamashita, released in May 1980. This was his first single to enter the Oricon Singles Chart, peaking in at number three. Some sources claim that this was the beginning of the genre called "City pop".
This song was written for a Maxellcassette tape commercial. Yamashita himself had appeared in the commercial. The footage, shot in Saipan, shows him immersing himself in the sea near his knees with his back on the horizon, aiming a finger gun at the camera.[1] One of the photographs would later be used as the cover for his single. At the end of the commercial, the caption "いい音しか残れない" can be seen which directly translates to English as "Only good sounds remain". The same caption can also be seen on his studio album "Ride on Time" and its Obi strip. The B-side track "Rainy Walk" was originally from his studio album Moonglow and has the same contents as the album.
In 2003, the song was used as the ending theme for the TBS drama Good Luck!!. Yamashita replied: "It was just a sunny day. But I'm just happy that the song came back to life. This feeling cannot be expressed by my mouth. Especially because it is 'Ride on Time'."[4]
A month later, the song would get a remastered reissue. The coupling song was changed from "Rainy Walk" to "Amaku Kiken na Kaori", which had previously been released as a single and was used as the theme song for the Japanese drama series of the same name. The single would peak at number thirteen on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart. The fifth track of the CD release is a 30 second a cappella version that was previously used in a Maxell commercial in 1980. It features Yamashita in Mt. Tokachi, Hokkaido.
