Sing Like Talking -- Joy

It's Sing Like Talking's output that has brought me joy for over 20 years. At the very least, Chikuzen Sato（佐藤竹善）and his group have given me plenty to relax around. Whether it's some of their percolating funk or their smooth ballads, the songs of SLT may not have always cracked the upper echelons of Oricon, but for listeners who have wanted something more mature but sometimes playful in their pop, I couldn't recommend anyone better.

"Joy" was Sing Like Talking's 15th single from February 1994 and it was the second track on their 7th album "Togetherness" following the fun opening track "Together". Although I don't think "Joy" is a ballad per se, it still comes off as a nice cool down song after the amazing Track 1. There is even a hint of gospel celebration right in the first few moments of the song when Sato gives those vocals a whirl with "Only you can bring me joy!" By the way, the video above has some spots where the band members are being interviewed near the end.

As for "Togetherness", it did hit No. 1 on Oricon after coming out in April 1994. My P.S. for this article is that although the 2020 Olympics now have their official song and perhaps Perfume (as long as they don't disband between now and then) will show up at the Opening Ceremonies, it wouldn't be too bad if Sing Like Talking kinda threads the needle in terms of music genre. However, admittedly, that's just my bias showing.