SEPTEMBER / NAMIDA NO WALTZ

ABOUT THIS ALBUM

Released in August 1979, “SEPTEMBER” was Mariya Takeuchi’s third single and one of the key records that established her early career before the self-written, Tatsuro Yamashita-produced phase that would later define VARIETY. The song became a major breakthrough for Takeuchi and helped earn her multiple newcomer awards that year. Its appeal lies in the contrast between seasonal melancholy and exceptionally bright pop craftsmanship: the melody remains buoyant even as the song looks toward the emotional change that arrives with the end of summer. On the reverse, “Namida no One-Sided Love” presents a softer, more vulnerable side of Takeuchi’s early repertoire and was also included on her 1979 album University Street. Heard together, the two tracks capture a very different Mariya Takeuchi from the internationally familiar “Plastic Love” era. She is still primarily an interpreter working with outside writers and arrangers, yet her phrasing, melodic instinct, and natural control are already unmistakable. The single is therefore an important document of her transition from promising newcomer into one of the strongest voices in Japanese pop.