Ongaku Cafe (The ’80s): Takeuchi Mariya – VARIETY 30th Anniversary Edition (Original Album Release: April 1984)

  18. マージービートで唄わせて [Previously Unreleased Karaoke] (Bonus Tracks)

Takeuchi Mariya is one of Japan’s well-known music artist/songwriter and the wife of another well-known music artist/writer/producer, Yamashita Tatsuro.

Takeuchi studied abroad at Rock Falls Township High School in Illinois on an exchange study abroad program.  After attending high school, Takeuchi studied English at Keio University and was part of the music circle “Real McCoys” and in 1978, she would participate in an album titled “Loft Sessions” released by Victor which would lead to her first music contract with RCA/RVC.

Takeuchi would release her first single “Modotte Oide, Watashi no Jikan” and by her third single, “SEPTEMBER”, she would win the 21st Japan Records Award New Artist Award.

She eventually started working with Yamashita Tatsuro and she became respectful of his work when she watched his live debut.  As Yamashita Tatsuro was appointed to arrange her music, the two grew closer and around 1980, she would move in with Yamashita.

She released a total of five albums and nine singles by 1981.

The end of 1981, she went on hiatus from the music industry and by 1982, she would marry Yamashita and Yamashita’s and 15 other people would create their own record label known as ALPHA RECORDS, which would merge with Warner Music Group’s Mother & Children and MMG was created and one of their labels would be Moon Records.

And in 1984, after three years of being away from the limelight, Takeuchi would release her 10th single, a double A-sided single titled “Mo Ichido/Honki de Only You (Let’s Get Married)” on April 10th, 1984.

“Mo Ichido” was a fast-paced, catchy pop song which was used for the TBS Friday April-June drama “Kurenai Bosu no Hanran” and marked Takeuchi’s official return, while “Honki de Only You (Let’s Get Married)”, a 50’s style of pop song, was used as an image song for 1984 Kagome Rivera and Nissan Motor’s Cefiro CM.

The album “Variety” would be released that same month in on April 25th.  Prior to the album’s release, while Yamashita Tatsuro and Alpha Moon’s president were looking for a writer for Takeuchi, they released how Takeuchi’s writing was fantastic and high-quality that they allowed her to write and compose the album, while Yamashita worked on arrangement.

Takeuchi wrote the songs during a holiday and the release of the album was during the time she gave birth of her first child, a daughter.

Takeuchi would release “VARIETY” which she wrote and composed the songs and the album debuted at #1 on the Oricon Charts.

Her 11th single “Mercy Beat de Utawasete” would feature an early ’60s musical style and whimsical melody.

In 1985, Takeuchi’s latest single would be released and while “Plastic Love” the original version was featured on the “Variety” album, the single was released with an “Extended Club Mix” and a “New Remix”.

While the single was popular, what people were more interested was in the original version of the track which led people to purchase “Variety”.

“Plastic Love” is no doubt my favorite Takeuchi Mariya song ever made.  It’s one of the catchiest, addictive songs to listen to and the lyrics is representative of the era but it’s a song about memories…memory of a past love, where she was hurt and just dancing the night away.  How fashionable dresses and shoes decorate her broken heart and loneliness.

Do not seriously love me. 

If you just enjoy playing games.

A song about enjoying life, dancing at discos and knowing that what transpired before was plastic love.

I’m just playing games
I know that’s plastic love
Dance to the plastic beat
Another morning comes
I’m just playing games
I know that’s plastic love

“Variety” also showcases “One Night Stand” which has an ’80s country style of guitar-playing.

While “Broken Heart” has a sexy, smooth sax Kenny G like track with lyrics about trying to forget an ex who found a new girlfriend.  The song is entirely in English.

“Amphitheater no yoru” is an upbeat ’80s do-wop track in a similar style I can probably best compare to Bill Joel’s “Uptown Girl” but with a rock edge; “Todokanu Omoi” (An indelible feeling) is a slow-paced melody, while “Mizu to Anata to Taiyo to” (Water and you and the sun and..) has a jazzy, smooth and calming sound; “Futari wa Steady” is no doubt a Yamashita Tatsuro musical style type of track (especially for those who listened to Yamashita’s “Melodies”) and the final track is “Shetland ni hoho o uzumete”, which is another slower-paced ballad.

As for “Variety: 30th Anniversary”, the album is quite special in the fact that it features songs and the instrumental versions that were included in singles and not in the original album.

For example, Takeuchi Mariya’s unreleased track “Aka no Enamel” (Red Enamel) is a song probably best known for Nakamori Akina singing the track (and featured on her 1986 album “Crimson”).  While a solid track to include in this 30th anniversary release, I prefer Nakamori’s sultry take on the song.

And as the original “Plastic Love” single is hard-to-find, both the 12″ Extended Club Mix and the 12″ Original Length Remix are included on the album.

And to round things out, the instrumental karaoke tracks for “Plastic Love”, “Honki de Let’s Get Married” and unreleased karaoke tracks for “Amphitheater no yoru” and “Mercy Beat de Utawasete” are included.

The CD insert booklet is 12-pages with a written page from Taekuchi celebrating the 30th anniversary, plus lyrics, photos and credits.

Overall, Takeuchi Mariya’s “Variety 30th Anniversary Edition” is no doubt a magnificent anniversary album release!  It was her comeback album after marriage, a move to a new label, an album that she wrote entirely and composed and released while she was pregnant with her first child.  And the music was remastered from its original sound source.

It’s simply an album that outshines the original release and I highly recommend it!