Ann Lewis/Mariya Takeuchi -- Linda

Ann Lewis（アン・ルイス） and Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）are good buddies. In fact, they hit it off so well that in August 1980, Takeuchi created this ode to her friend and named it with Lewis' middle name. Probably one reason for the special present was that Lewis was getting married that year. Since it was early in Takeuchi's career, "Linda", Lewis' 19th single, has that 50s bobbysoxer ballad lilt to it. I can imagine Olivia Newton-John tackling this one.

 

(karaoke version)

A year later, Takeuchi did her own cover of "Linda" on her 4th album, "Portrait". For a while, the song was a popular one to play at weddings in Japan; just imagine anyone named Linda getting married there. Just my personal opinion, but I prefer Takeuchi's take on it just because her voice has that timbre to it. Neither version particularly leaped up the Oricon charts but that's OK; it was a personal message of love, after all.