Mariko Takahashi -- Yume Yurari（夢ゆらり）

 

Veteran singer-musician Mariko Takahashi（高橋真梨子）will be returning to the Kohaku Utagassen in less than a couple of weeks, and I'm wondering what she will be singing. Perhaps it will be her solo debut single from November 1978, "Anata no Sora wo Tobitai" (あなたの空を翔びたい）, the 1984 hit "Momo Iro Toiki"（桃色吐息）that she sang on her first Kohaku as a solo artist, or even "Johnny e no Dengon" （ジョニイへの伝言）, the folk classic that she had sung as the main vocalist for her old group Pedro & Capricious in the early 1970s. We'll probably find out within the next number of days.

As I mentioned, "Anata no Sora wo Tobitai" was her debut single and then her third single was "Heart & Hard: Toki ni wa Tsuyoku, Toki ni wa Yasashiku" （ハート&ハード：時には強く時には優しく）from June 1979. Both songs had been created for Takahashi by singer-songwriter Ami Ozaki（尾崎亜美）and both are wonderful songs that rather cemented my musical image of Takahashi as a chanteuse of New Music.

However, I had never heard her second single from May 1979, "Yume Yurari" (Dream Swaying). Written by Aki Fukunaga*（福永史）and composed by Kuni Kawachi（クニ河内）, it stands out because the arrangement sounds a little more conventional kayo kyoku (even with the very slight bit of funk in the intro and the mandolin) in contrast to the more Western-sounding New Music or even her folk music from years earlier that she's more famous for. The strings though, which had been a Takahashi arrangement staple, and her vocals are the only things that make "Yume Yurari" a familiar Takahashi song. 

*The given name 「史」has multiple readings according to Jisho so I'm just guessing here. If anyone can correct or confirm lyricist Fukunaga's name in full, that would be most appreciated.