The above photo is of Mariko Takahashi's（高橋真梨子）2nd album "Sunny Afternoon" from February 1980. Back in the day, I was trying to pick up the chanteuse's early albums since I figured (quite correctly) that they would become quite difficult to find. And sure enough in the last few years of my stay in Japan, I really couldn't find any of her albums before the 1990s in the major CD shops in Tokyo.
(excerpt only)
Unfortunately, I have yet to get her 4th album into my possession. This is "Tenderness" from March 1981, and there is something about the cover photos from those early albums with Takahashi photographed in that slightly fuzzy manner which makes those releases all the more nostalgically appealing.
What will make "Tenderness" even more appealing to obtain is the final track "Tasogare no Machi kara" (From The Sunset Streets). That voice and that arrangement make a lovely pairing for an ending ballad. I'm just imagining standing on one of the pedestrian overpasses in West Shinjuku looking at the sun go down on another Tokyo day as I listen to this. I had to look fairly hard to find out who the songwriters were. Well, I basically went "Naruhodo" when I found out it was Etsuko Kisugi and Takao Kisugi（来生えつこ・来生たかお）. The songwriting siblings were always very accomplished at creating these wonderfully soft ballads.
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