Junko Ohashi -- Sweet Love

Whether it be through some of her really funky material from the 1970s such as "Funky Little Queenie", her big tenderhearted hit going into the 1980s, "Silhouette Romance"（シルエット・ロマンス）and the post-disco "Telephone Number" which has become a darling in one corner of YouTube, Junko Ohashi（大橋純子）has just enthralled me with her voice. I've said it before but since my introduction to her was through the softer "Silhouette Romance", I was thrown to the ground figuratively when I realized how much of a voice she had when I came across her earlier and later urban contemporary stuff.

Now I can also say that Ohashi can thrill me in the 1990s as well. "Sweet Love", which is the first track on her October 1995 album "For Tomorrow", is another winner. Going with the times, the arrangement is definitely urban contemporary but is still very different from the numbers that I've mentioned in that first paragraph. But that voice of hers is still the wonderful constant. I would say that this would fit the sophisticated pop and champagne synths that started off in the late 1980s. Lovely sax, too.

Her husband of 39 years, Ken Sato（佐藤健）, provided the melody while she wrote the lyrics which is very appropriate since "Sweet Love" is all about the joy of being with the one you love.

Just before I logged into "Kayo Kyoku Plus" to write about "Sweet Love", I came across the unfortunate news that Ohashi had been diagnosed with esophageal cancer a few months previously in March, according to this website which was linked to Ohashi's article on J-Wiki. Also, I did find the televised announcement on YouTube. The singer-songwriter has mentioned that it is an early form of the cancer, so I am hopeful that treatment will be successful.