Kanako Wada -- if

It was another bitterly cold day in good ol' T.O....I think we got all the way to -9 degrees C today. I managed to take a walk around the neighbourhood for all of 15 minutes before I decided to get the paper and dash back home.

Well, it was time to get warm and then I was reminded suddenly of an old Kanako Wada（和田加奈子）song from around a quarter-century ago (yep, all you "Kimagure Orange Road" fans...it's been that long). However, "if" didn't have anything to do with the beloved 80s anime but was a part of her 6th album, "dear" (1989). As I mentioned on the article for that album, it was a wonderful re-acquaintance with Ms. Wada, compared to my introduction to a more serious-looking younger lady via her debut album, "Tenderness" (1986) whose voice hadn't quite ripened yet. For "dear", it was all about some cool and mellow songs and a very smiley singer.

"if" is a quintessential track from "dear"....not too slow and not too fast. It has that mellow AOR vibe and those horns...and nothing says AOR more than the fluegelhorn. It's one of those nice little tea-time tunes by Wada that was written by Goro Matsui (Anzen Chitai) and composed by Chika Ueda (上田知華).

For another mellow tune from "dear" that has its own article, you can try "See You".

She had me at the smile!