My tradition of openly hoping that Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）is doing well wherever she is has also been transferred to pop chanteuse Mariko Takahashi（高橋真梨子）. Ever since I saw a live performance by her several years ago on television where she didn't look very well at all, I've been quite worried.
Back in May 2003, Takahashi released her 34th single "Mahiru no Wakare" (Breaking Up at High Noon), and it's the sophisticated pop-and-soul mixture song that fans have dreamed about. Written by the singer and composed by Kenjiro Sakiya（崎谷健次郎）, it follows the sad story of a woman realizing the mistake she made in letting her past lover go after playing an old record that they had once enjoyed together. Takahashi's sad lyrics aside, Sakiya's melody is heavenly, hinting at a much more romantic rendezvous at night instead of the high noon setting of the song. There's also something in the song that reminds me of Grover Washington Jr. and Bill Withers' original and iconic "Just the Two of Us". "Mahiru no Wakare" is also included in Takahashi's 26th album "Method" from June 2003.
The soul duo paris match recorded a cover of "Mahiru no Wakare" for their November 2022 album of covers, "OUR FAVOURITE POP Ⅱ ～TOKYO STYLE～". Actually, I discovered this cover first before realizing that it had been a Mariko Takahashi original. To continue on with the old-style soul and AOR comparison, the paris match cover seems to have a bit of Bobby Caldwell "What You Won't Do for Love" feeling in there.
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