Mariya Takeuchi -- September

Of course, being September 1st and all, I just had to bring out this old chestnut by Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）. Nope, it has nothing to do with that Earth, Wind & Fire classic. It's just a happy-go-lucky disco pop song written by Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）and composed by Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）back in August 1979 as Mariya's 3rd single. EPO provides backing vocals.

This was the first ever Mariya song I'd ever heard via that "Sounds of Japan" show on Autumn-based songs back in 1982. It was just one of those peppy tunes that never let go of my brain in all these decades, and whenever September rolls around, I just have to play it again. But I have to say when I did hear it for the first time, I first wondered if the voice behind the mike was that of a guy or a girl. I guess I had been so accustomed to hearing the high-voiced trilly voices of the aidoru up to that point that anything that went lower must have been a guy. And Mariya always had that lower register.

"September" is one of my favourites (peaking at No. 39 and earning Takeuchi Best New Artist honours at the Japan Record Awards), but it never cracked the Top 100 of the year in 1979. However, it was released as one of the tracks on her 3rd album, "Love Songs" which came out in March 1980 and ended up as the 12th-ranked album of the year.