Earlier tonight, I talked about a singer in the early postwar era who had been dubbed The Queen of Swing. Well, I have found another chanteuse who was given the title of The Queen of Soul in Japan.
Ruriko Ohgami（大上留利子）is another discovery from YouTube. Born in Osaka, her roots started out in gospel music before she made the move to R&B although also according to her J-Wiki biography, Ohgami had created a folk song circle while in university in 1970.
She also joined a couple of bands before striking out on a solo career which began with her debut album in 1977 "Typhoon Lady". This song "Fuwari Fuwafuwa" (Gently Fluffy) was one of the tracks. Actually, I don't think the song itself is too fluffy. It's got a nice forward-facing soul beat with a touch of Latin thrown in there. I would say it's a very nice summery 1970s tune. The song was composed by Ohgami with Yumi Shimizu（清水由実）providing the lyrics.
Up to this point, she has released 5 albums and 4 singles. And in 1985, she started her own R&B vocal school.
WOW
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