Kumiko Sawada -- Your Love's Away

I realize that this will be starting my 5th entry today (and at 10 minutes before midnight), but I was quite intrigued by this singer-songwriter named Kumiko Sawada（沢田久美子）.

There's not much information on Sawada except from what I could find on this page for the Record Shop Merurido website, and even that was restricted to just comparing the song of note here. "Your Love's Away" is a track on Sawada's debut album "Love Me Or Leave Me" from 1979, and that album cover has Sawada looking distinctly like someone that should never be crossed.

As for "Your Love's Away", it's a pretty disco-funk concoction that has been compared to some of the works of Cheryl Lynn including her hit "Got To Be Real". Sawada definitely puts her all into the song with a husky diva-like delivery that sometimes goes a bit off tune but also seems to have as much to do with Janis Joplin as it does with the aforementioned Lynn. The arrangement puts plenty of oomph from the funk to the racing guitar to the soaring saxophone. To be honest, I can also hear a bit of "I Love The Nightlife" by Alicia Bridges in the song.

The backing band happens to be Creation（クリエイション）which would have a hit of its own a couple of years later with "Lonely Hearts". As for Sawada, I've only been able to find evidence of "Love Me Or Leave Me" but no other albums since then. "Your Love's Away" was written and composed by Sawada with Creation guitarist Kazuo Takeda（竹田和夫）handling the arrangement. I could be interested in the album but I have to hear a few more tracks.