Job Discussion Forums

[fox1]

Hi,

Does anybody know, say, the top 10 Japanese female artists from the 1970s and 80s.

I want to find a song I heard recently.

Thanks.

[JaredW]

There were:

1. The Candies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candies_%28Japanese_idol_group%29
Singers were: Ran Ito, Yoshiko Tanaka, Fujimura Miki.


2. Pink Lady http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_Lady_%28band%29
Singers were: Mitsuyo Nemoto and Keiko Masuda.

3. Amin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amin_%28J-pop%29
Singers were Takako Okamura and Haruko Kato

4. Seiko Matsuda:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seiko_Matsuda

5. Boowy--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BOOWY Might be a dude band though.

I hope this helps a little.

[mspxlation]

I was in Japan in the late 1970s, and Pink Lady were hard to miss, as were the Candies. When the Candies broke up, they gave a farewell concert in a stadium full of hysterical, screaming, weeping teenage boys. (I'm not making this up.)

Popular solo J-Pop singers were Yamaguchi Momoe (a real singer with a lovely alto voice who "retired" at age 21), Mori Masako (married enka singer Mori Shin'ichi), Sakurada Junko (became an actress and a Moonie), and Sakakibara Ikue.

The most popular young enka singer was Ishikawa Sayuri, who made her debut at 19. I saw her on TV a couple of years ago, and amazingly, she is one of the few older enka singers whose voice isn't totally shot. (Try to imitate an enka voice, and it will hurt. That's why most enka singers can't hold a steady note after a few years.)

Returning for visits throughout the 1980s, I couldn't avoid Matsuda Seiko, of course, and Nakamori Akina. The hysterical teenage boys raved over Koizumi Kyoko, who just plain couldn't sing.

Successors to Pink Lady as female duos were Wink and BaBe, although neither one achieved Pink Lady's popularity.

Those are the ones that come to mind.

Popular male singers during the 1970s were Fuse Akira (was briefly married to Olivia Hussey of the 1968 movie version of Romeo and Juliet), Noguchi Goro, Sawada Kenji (a favorite of gaijin women, despite his evident preference for the other side; he became an actor), Sera Masanori, Saijo Hideki, and the group Alice, whose lead singer Horiuchi Takao (not sure of his given name), is still active as a songwriter. There was a male duo called Kariudo, but the "boy groups" like Hikaru Genji, Shibugaki-tai, and Checkers didn't come into their own until the 1980s.

[MrCAPiTUL]

Maaaan, forget the 70s. It's all about Happatai in the 2000s!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9rWFZesV8s

[pastis]

How about Watanabe Misato? "My Revolution" - now that's a nice song! Used to have a Japanese co-worker (male, no less) who'd sing it every time at staff karaoke, it was like his trademark...

[Lynn]

Misora Hibari.

One of my favorites.

[swim116]

What about Yuki Sauri...???? Anyone heard of her... my Mom loves her!