Variety is the sixth studio album by Japanese singer-songwriter Mariya Takeuchi. It was released on 25 April 1984 through Moon Records. Variety is considered as Takeuchi's "comeback" album after being on hiatus since 1981, and is the first album entirely written by her.(1984). Album notes for Variety by Mariya Takeuchi, vinyl back cover. Tokyo: Moon Records (MOCT-28011) The album is produced by Takeuchi's husband, Tatsuro Yamashita.
To international audiences, Variety is known for containing "Plastic Love" which, although only seeing moderate success in Japan when it was released as a single in 1985, saw a resurgence in popularity internationally in 2017 after a remix was uploaded to YouTube.
Production and release Takeuchi's five albums released before Variety were mostly written by other songwriters which, although they featured industry stars such as Haruomi Hosono and members of Toto, left her feeling "exhausted". She went on hiatus at the end of 1981 due to a sore throat, as well as to marry Yamashita in 1982.
During her break, Yamashita left his record label, RCA Records, for the newly-founded Moon Records. Meanwhile, Takeuchi began writing some of the songs which would be included in Variety. Yamashita originally planned for Takeuchi's comeback album to be written by other songwriters, but changed his mind after listening to some of Takeuchi's work. A promotional single, "Mou Ichido", was released on 10 April 1984, followed by a full release on 25 April. The album topped the Oricon Albums Chart.
A 30th Anniversary edition of the album was released on 19 November 2014. The version included a previously unreleased track, , both club remixes from the single release of "Plastic Love", and karaoke versions of four tracks.
The 30th Anniversary edition of the album became available on music streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify on 3 November 2021, the same date when the 2021 vinyl reissue was released.
Track listing
Personnel Mou Ichido (もう一度) Tatsuro Yamashita - Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Electric Piano, Emulator, Percussion, Backing Vocals Koki Ito - Bass Jun Aoyama - Drums Hiroyuki Namba - Acoustic Piano Plastic Love (プラスティック・ラブ) Mariya Takeuchi, Taeko Onuki - Backing Vocals Tatsuro Yamashita - Electric Guitar, Acoustic Piano, Synthesizer, Percussion, Emulator, Backing Vocals Koki Ito - Bass Jun Aoyama - Drums Yasuhara Nakanashi - Electric Piano Joe Katoh Group - Strings Ernie Watts, Takeru Muraoka - Tenor Saxophone Tadanori Konakawa, Yoshio Oikawa - Trombone Hitoshi Yokoyama, Susumu "Shin" Kazuhara - Trumpet Syunzo Sunahara - Baritone Saxophone Honki De Only You (Let's Get Married) (本気でオンリーユー) Tatsuro Yamashita - Acoustic Piano, Electric Sitar, Vibraphone, Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals, Other (Bowwow!) Koki Ito - Bass Joe Katoh Group - Strings Ryuichi Sakamoto - Synthesizer (Pipe Organ) Ernie Watts - Tenor Saxophone One Night Stand Mariya Takeuchi - Acoustic Piano Tatsuro Yamashita - Electric Guitar Chuei Yoshikawa - Acoustic Guitar Tokuo Nakano, Yutaka Hosoi - Backing Vocals Koki Ito - Bass Akihiro Noguchi - Drums, Backing Vocals Nobutaka Tsugei - Pedal Steel Guitar, Backing Vocals Broken Heart Tatsuro Yamashita - Electric Guitar, Synthesizer, Percussion Jim Haas, John Joyce, Stan Farber - Backing Vocals Koki Ito - Bass Jun Aoyama - Drums Tsunehide Matsuki - Electric Guitar Hiroshi Sato - Acoustic Piano, Electric Piano Masami Nakagawa - Flute Keiko Yamakawa - Harp Motoya Hamaguchi - Percussion Ernie Watts, Takeru Muraoka - Tenor Saxophone Tadanori Konakawa, Yoshio Oikawa - Trombone Hitoshi Yokoyama, Susumu "Shin" Kazuhara - Trumpet Syunzo Sunahara - Baritone Saxophone Night At The Amphitheater (アンフィシアターの夜) Tatsuro Yamashita - Electric Guitar, Hammond Organ, Backing Vocals Jim Haas, John Joyce, Kazuhito Murata, Kazuo Shiina, Stan Farber - Backing Vocals Koki Ito - Bass Jun Aoyama - Drums Yoshihiro Matsuuma - Electric Guitar Motoya Hamaguchi - Percussion Yasuhara Nakanishi - Acoustic Piano Shigeo Fuchino - Tenor Saxophone Tadanori Konakawa, Shigeharu Mukai - Trombone Toshio Araki, Susumu "Shin" Kazuhara - Trumpet Syunzo Sunahara - Baritone Saxophone Todokanu Omoi (とどかぬ想い) Tatsuro Yamashita - Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Piano, Electric Piano, Hammond Organ, Percussion Jim Haas, John Joyce, Stan Farber - Backing Vocals Koki Ito - Bass Jun Aoyama - Drums Chuck Findley - Flugelhorn Motoya Hamaguchi - Percussion Mersey Beat De Utawasete (マージービートで唄わせて) Mariya Takeuchi - Organ Solo Tatsuro Yamashita - Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, 12-String Electric Guitar, Percussion Ginji Ito, Kazuhito Murata, Masamichi Sugi - Backing Vocals Koki Ito - Bass Yutaka Uehara - Drums Hiroyuki Namba - Organ Mizu To Anata To Taiyo To (水とあなたと太陽と) Tatsuro Yamashita - Vibraphone Koki Ito - Bass Yutaka Uehara - Drums Masami Nakagawa - Flute Motoya Hamaguchi - Percussion Hiroyuki Namba - Acoustic Piano Unknown (possibly Tatsuro Yamashita or Chuei Yoshikawa) - Acoustic Guitar Going Steady (ふたりはステディ) Tatsuro Yamashita - Acoustic Piano, Electric Piano, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Hammond Organ, Synthesizer, Harpsichord, Percussion, Backing Vocals Koki Ito - Bass Jun Aoyama - Drums Motoya Hamaguchi - Percussion Ryuichi Sakamoto - Synthesizer Hiroshi Yaginuma - Alto Saxophone Shigeo Fuchino, Takeru Muraoka - Tenor Saxophone Ernie Watts - Tenor Saxophone Solo Syunzo Sunahara - Baritone Saxophone Shetland Ni Hoho O Uzumete (シェットランドに頬をうずめて) Tatsuro Yamashita - Electric Guitar, Synthesizer Chuei Yoshikawa - Acoustic Guitar Koki Ito - Bass Jun Aoyama - Drums Keiko Yamakawa - Harp Motoya Hamaguchi - Percussion Yasuhara Nakanishi - Acoustic Piano, Electric Piano Ohno Group - Strings Shigeharu Mukai - Trombone
Charts Weekly charts YearAlbumChartPositionSales1984VarietyOricon Weekly LP Albums Chart1316,000Oricon Weekly CT Albums Chart2167,0002014Variety "30th Anniversary Edition"Oricon Weekly Albums Chart13—2021Variety "2021 Vinyl Edition"6—
Year-end charts YearAlbumChartPositionSales1984VarietyOricon Yearly Albums Chart11481,000
See also 1984 in Japanese music
References