Machiko Watanabe -- Mary-san wa Shiranai（メリーさんは知らない）

 

Singer-songwriter Machiko Watanabe's（渡辺真知子）name has popped up on the blog over the past few years, but the last time she popped up on the byline for an article was way back in 2019 when I wrote about her 1984 "Mayonaka no Highway"（真夜中のハイウェイ）. As well, I've had a couple of her songs in the backlog list for a while, and they both happen to come from the same album, so I think that it's about time to showcase this particular release although I usually don't write about albums that I don't personally possess already. But here we go.

Watanabe started her career with pop hits like "Kamome ga Tonda Hi"（かもめが翔んだ日）in the late 1970s, but judging from listening to some of her works in the 1980s, it seems as if she also wanted to go the urban contemporary route via City Pop and J-AOR. As such, we come to her 9th album from November 1983, "Mary-san wa Shiranai" (Mary Doesn't Know). 

The title track is also the first track which was written and composed by the singer. It's an energetic number that can be considered to be both City Pop and rock-side AOR. There is some ominousness though in Watanabe's lyrics as a couple of people who grew up as close friends in childhood have become rather distant. One of the former bosom buddy pair has been keeping such a close eye on the other that one wonders whether the line between protection and stalking has been crossed.

From the suspense of the title track, we come to "Taxi Noriba made"（タクシーのりばまで...Up to the Taxi Stand）, a dreamy song also with lyrics and music by Watanabe. From the title and the languidness of the song, I take it that the setting is after midnight when all of the subways and trains and buses of Tokyo have closed down for the night, and so the taxis are the only viable public transportation of heading home. Perhaps thoughts are being made and/or exchanged as someone is escorting another person to the taxi stand for the ride home. Will the communication end at the stand or will it continue as a tandem in the cab?

Lyricist Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）and composer Watanabe collaborated on "Wakare no Dress"（別れのドレス...Farewell Dress） which doesn't fall in either the City Pop or AOR categories. In fact, I'd say that it's either one of the more dynamic Fashion Music tunes that I'd ever heard or an 80s version of the type of music that underpinned "Kamome ga Tonda Hi". The sophistication is there for this song which tends more toward Taeko Ohnuki's（大貫妙子）European pop mode, and Watanabe's vocals are quite a bit higher to the extent that some of her lower richness has been shaved off. 

"Wakare no Dress" was the B-side to "Melody"（メロディ）, Watanabe's 14th single which was released at the same time as the album. "Melody" is also a track on "Mary-san wa Shiranai".

The final track and the final song that I will do here is "Nichiyoubi no Yoru wa"（日曜日の夜は...Sunday Night）, and one more reason that I decided to try out "Mary-san wa Shiranai" is that it is Sunday night as I type this out. Lyricist Iori Yamamoto（山本伊織）aided Watanabe's words and music for this track which does feel like a final track since the first quarter of "Nichiyoubi no Yoru wa" is an old-fashioned nocturnal jazz riff before Watanabe seems to take on the vocal stylings of Yukari Ito（伊東ゆかり）alongside a relaxing bluesy City Pop melody. Neither singer nor melody is in any rush to get anywhere and both are ready to call it a night at 4 minutes.

If it's available for a reasonable price, I might pick this one up but I'll also give the remaining six tracks a go as well.