1980s Japanese idols

[eri]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RU5GgwO-RfY...feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDw33FTsnbs...feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzKKMoowegA...feature=related



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm1sYfzb4Ck...feature=related = this one is fun because morning musume is in the little video box. Plus, that is Kimura Takuya's wife!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYqjFOkm0PI...feature=related = and this is Alo Hello version 1. Matsuda Seiko in those ugly 1980s swimsuits.



I've gotten kind of obsessed. I've always liked Wink but it is kind of unsettling to see these clips. It is like idols really are a stock formula recycled over and over with slightly different girls. The only thing I'll say is, a lot of the older idols can actually sing. The bad costumes, school uniforms, cutesy songs, and bangs never seem to change.

[Shoujo Q]

Oh My GAWD! <3 I love 80s idols and their music, but I don't know who half of them are, I just know the songs and can properly hum along to quite a few of them.



I just watched the one with Morning Musume in the little box. Some of the outfits are insaaaane! <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... iggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';/' />



80s swimsuits WERE ugly. That was a little awkward to watch in the beginning.





I can see Koharu in a lot of these idols, which makes me feel like Koharu's been shoved into the classic idol mold, not that she can sing, but just the way she looks and acts makes me feel that way.



At least one thing is for certain. They still can't dress idols properly. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... popper.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':puppyeyes:' />

[eri]

[quote name='PQ' post='61257' date='Mar 2 2009, 04:05 AM']I can see Koharu in a lot of these idols, which makes me feel like Koharu's been shoved into the classic idol mold, not that she can sing, but just the way she looks and acts makes me feel that way.[/quote]



YES! I the swim suit clip, I just kept thinking it was Koharu with a bad 80s fluff cut. I don't know who most of these girls are either, but its totally bizarrely addicting to watch.

[EmEl]

I love idols from the "decade" of he late 70s to early 80s. They all had this certain quality to their voices that is entrancing. I absolutely adore Hitomi Ishikawa who was in the end of that second video and Iyo Matsumoto who was in a few of those links.



But my guilty pleasure from the 80s is Sayuri Kokusho (Here. A video of her famous song that also happens to include swimsuits) and other Onyanko Club-related girls like Minayo Watanabe.



I also really like Hiromi Iwasaki, but mostly her stuff she did before the 80s. (We all know this song, right?) But she's an example of the soothing quality of voice that typified the era. Her career is actually still going.

[aisasami]

I love 80's Jpop <3 I think 1/2 of all my Youtube favorites are made up of performances from Best Ten. But, again I love the 80's for the bad clothing, bad styles, and wierd music videos like Chisato's Mihaa PV. And then again, 80's idol performances had awesome sets like this one (awesome cats!).



Here is some more videos:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7D4__LiqRzk (Has about all the girls from all 3 Sukeban Deka series, which was another outlet of Japanese idols)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgJOcipGPEA (Hello! Project Eggs just covered this song last year. Short term group, only put out one album)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=av8VJuxIwzg (Matsumoto Noriko is not heard often inside idol group circles)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRqPO3paiRE (Ikuina Akiko is one of my favorite idols)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9zE05FUEgU (Ishino Makino, now known for Dekaranger, Hana Yori Dango, and other doramas)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EewCwKs_Kw (Hayami Yu was a popular Japanese-American singer in the 80s)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3xKX7bo2Bg (Yamase Mami)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_laxO4tVOI (Starbow was girl idols who sounded like and dressed like boys)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XInA1cPgxw (Yukiko Okada, kinda forgotton)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebvSwe-Rxp4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmSJHysZkWM (Onyanko Club Auditions)

[Special Needs Tricycle]

Nakamori Akina is all you need. Maybe I'll upload a bunch of my favorite stuff by her sometime.



I think the reason older idols were so much more talented is that AFAIK they made up most of the female pop-music scene back then. I guess you can demand talent in that case.

[mizer_unmei]

The 80s were fun, but most of the stuff was copies of Seiko. While her act was fun, you can only take so many simple midtempo happy songs. Heart no Earing and Aoi Sangoshou are probably my favorite, but they're all the same. >.>;



My favorites from the 80s are Akina Nakamori, Wink and Yu Hayami. As mentioned before Chisato Moritaka is also great. Her "Miha" is one of my favorite songs, and the PV makes it all the more awesome. I like Shizuka Kudo, but from what I've heard her best stuff was early- to mid-90s, and Miho Nakayama is good, but my favorite is definitely her first single.





My all time favorites for oldie Jpop (and Jpop in general) are Momoe Yamaguchi (She's been my favorite Jpop artist for going on 6 years now. I feel so old. And I still have 3 albums of hers I have yet to collect. x.x) and Chiyo Okumura. Momoe's music seems to be easy to come by nowadays but I don't see much of Chiyo on last.fm and the sort. From the 60s/70s I also really really like The Peanuts and Megumi Asaoka.



Also this is one of the best songs ever. I'm so excited I actually found a youtube video for it. I just for it on a compilation album I got simply for Ringo no Uta years ago and I totally forgot how much I love it.



Korea had equally awesome pop in the late-60s/early-70s. It's so much harder to come by though. The only way I know (and love) Jung Hoonhee is because I picked up her CD on a whim for $3 one of my last days in Korea. I kinda have to go back to actually get a hold of any other CDs though.

[eri]

BEST THREAD EVER. I am learning so much!



Does anyone know if Jidols from the 80s were popular in Asia? I'm just thinking about how huge Jpop became all over Asia by the 1990s, despite the old nationalist bitterness and racism between countries.



I wish there were more in-depth fan sites online in English too.

[Shoujo Q]

Ayumi Hamasaki did a cover of Yu Hayami Get Out of My Life. And I thought it was the greatest thing ever because Ayumi wasn't sounding like Ayumi and that was fine by me. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... iggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':ph34r:' /> Though I do love Hayami's version better. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... iggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D/' />



And high-five for Mizer with Momoe Yamaguchi. Though I consider her more a 70s idol then an 80s.



80s idols were their own breed.

[mizer_unmei]

[quote name='PQ' post='61400' date='Mar 3 2009, 05:40 AM']And high-five for Mizer with Momoe Yamaguchi. Though I consider her more a 70s idol then an 80s.[/quote]Yeah, she's definitely 70s all the way. And Chiyo Okumura's 80% from the 60s (and her 70s songs sounded 60s). I just had to mention them because I find I generally like the pop acts of that time more than most 80s idols.





I find the best way to find older idols is just looking through related youtube videos. They have hundreds of PVs, lives, or just videos of a record playing.

The main English site to learn more about 80s idols is Idollica. I lived on this site for a while. But it hasn't been updated in a while now...

I also really like this Japanese site. It lists idols by era (Through the 70s and 80s) and gives you their stats and most of the singles they released. Not too much information, but it's a good place to get more names if you're looking.

[Special Needs Tricycle]

I uploaded a few Akina songs in the cool people section if anyone's interested. :B

[ShinUkyo]

[quote name='aisasami' post='61340' date='Mar 2 2009, 03:05 PM']I think 1/2 of all my Youtube favorites are made up of performances from Best Ten.[/quote]

Amen to that, same here. Best Ten was one of my favorite shows as a kid, although back then I had to watch it on VHS tapes that friends sent over from Japan. And that's when tapes were expensive as hell, to where the shipping cost was far lower than the tape itself. Even for express mail, seriously. I would actually mail a buncha tapes back at once, sometimes, to save money. Hard to imagine nowadays. But yeah, I'm very pleased to see so many clips from the show appearing on YouTube. If anything, Best Ten is one of the top couple shows on my all-time dream list of "shows I wanna see released as complete DVD boxed sets." It'd be a million discs long, sure, but I'd watch every single one of them. I'd love to see the same thing done for Midnight Special (even though I'm not sure if anyone besides me even knows that show). They did release a really good best-of DVD set, a couple years ago, but it's not the same as having it complete. 'twill never ever happen, but one can dream.



[quote name='aisasami' post='61340' date='Mar 2 2009, 03:05 PM'](Yukiko Okada, kinda forgotton)[/quote]

Okada forgotten?! What? Not in Japan, at least. They have vigils in honor of her birthday each year, as well as for the day she passed away. And not just wotas, either, but vast amounts of very normal people. When I was a kid, she was one of the earliest idols that helped me fall so deeply in love with Japanese music. Once I heard what had happened to her, it really affected me. One of the earliest celebrity deaths that I remember vividly, even though it didn't hit me properly until a couple years after it happened. Oh but yeah, back on topic, I guess you're right that most westerners don't know much about her. She was very popular while she was around, but she was taken far too soon. And in such a tragic way, unf. I still get a tear in my eye when I listen to some of her slower songs, even after hearing them like a million times.

[eri]

Okada forgotten?! What? Not in Japan, at least. They have vigils in honor of her birthday each year, as well as for the day she passed away. And not just wotas, either, but vast amounts of very normal people.

Well, you might argue she is more remembered for her sad, sensationalized death than her music as an 80s idol. Does anyone know why she committed suicide?

[aisasami]

Okada forgotten?! What? Not in Japan, at least. They have vigils in honor of her birthday each year, as well as for the day she passed away. And not just wotas, either, but vast amounts of very normal people.

Well, you might argue she is more remembered for her sad, sensationalized death than her music as an 80s idol. Does anyone know why she committed suicide?

There were a lot of speculation on what were the reasons why she died. Here is a great article, that was published 23 years ago, detailing about the events of her death:



http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/yosha/suici...ada_Yukiko.html



I think if you ask a modern day person on the streets of Japan about who Yukiko Okada, just like mEri said, a lot would answered that she is remember by her death and not her music. But again, it could be a Westerner thing because when I recently talked about what I like music-wise, they were really shcoked that I named off Yukiko Okada.

[ShinUkyo]

[quote name='mEri' post='61464' date='Mar 3 2009, 08:52 PM']Well, you might argue she is more remembered for her sad, sensationalized death

than her music as an 80s idol. Does anyone know why she committed suicide?[/quote]

Well sure. This is true for any celebrity that dies at a young age. Even among some of the more-talented musicians, actors, and whatnot. Their tragic death is what emblazons them in people's minds, far more than their actual talent ever could have. People have used the same logic in terms of people like Marilyn Monroe, Kurt Cobain, Chris Farley, and so on. You'll find plenty of people who say those folks were gifted, and you'll find plenty who say that it was their sensationalized death that made people change their opinion. It's hard to ever truly be sure. In the case of Okada, I saw great things for her. She was charming, charismatic, and a good performer. Things that helped her stand out, among the idol crowd. Even before her death, this seemed to be the general consensus. But again, without enough time to truly reach her stride, we'll never know for sure if she coulda been one of the greats.

[Shoujo Q]

This thread shouldn't die! There's far more 80s stuff to talk about!



I had a song on my computer from the anime Jubei-chan. It was hell to find because the group name was 1999shoujotai and I'd never heard of the group before. This was all before YouTube. Anyway I was looking through Idollica this morning and found the original group. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... iggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' /> I was very pleased with myself. Then I found them on youtube. With the original song.





Also, could I make a request for some Kudo Shizuka and Seiko Matsuda songs? I'm seriously lacking in that 80s department. D: And I'm not sure what's really good. I found a Seiko album, but it's all her later work, I think. It's her Love 20th Anniversary Album, complete with Go Hiromi duets. I'm so happy! <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/wub.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' /> Or should it be unnatural that I'm in love with a man who's old enough to be my father? ... Who cares! I love Go! <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/wub.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';/' /> <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/wub.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';/' />

[eri]

Yes, this thread should not die. It is hard to find idol stuff outside of random youtube searches.



I guess I am on an 80s kick with the whole fashion revival. I still like Wink the best. They look like my childhood Jenny dolls from the 80s!

[Shoujo Q]

It's kind of hard to narrow down 80s groups/idols that I like, mainly because I'll like a few songs but not everything they do. With Wink, I like a few of their songs, but then there are some that just don't appeal to me.



Onyanko Club and Momoe Yamaguchi are right now the only two that I've actively bought albums from, and they were both best of albums.



As a relative new person to the 80s scene, it would be a great help if the more knowledgeable members could point out albums that have lots of good music and are worth buying. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... iggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' /> Provided of course they are still in print.

[eri]

[quote name='PQ' post='62397' date='Mar 16 2009, 06:14 PM']With Wink, I like a few of their songs, but then there are some that just don't appeal to me.[/quote]



The lame thing about Wink - and maybe this was common in Japanese pop back then - was that almost all of their big hits were just covers of western songs.



Also, I randomly realized that one of the singers (Shoko Aida) was in the movie Hana and Alice!! She is the one that looks weirdly like Erika Sawajiri.

= Sawajiri

= Aida

= Aida

Am I right?!



AND, I found a random blip online that said Seiko Matsuda was rumoured to have a relationship with Donnie Wahlberg from New Kids on the Block HAHAHAHA.

[mizer_unmei]

It's not nearly as big a list as Ukyo would have, but here's a list to all the pop artists (who debuted before 1989, though almost half are by Momoe, so... yeah.) that I have albums from. [ link ]

If you wanted I would gladly rip some songs from any albums. Though it might have to wait until Friday or so because I have a really busy week coming up. ^^;



Unfortunately most of those aren't in print anymore. I just picked them up on my binge at various Book Offs, be it in NYC or Tokyo. They're pretty easy to come by there though.

But if you really wanted to buy a CD from oldie pop artists (especially 80s pop artists) I'd recommend a best of album first and foremost. A lot of the times they didn't even put out their popular singles on their original albums, which kinda annoys the hell out of me.







[quote name='mEri' post='62401' date='Mar 16 2009, 09:42 PM']AND, I found a random blip online that said Seiko Matsuda was rumoured to have a relationship with Donnie Wahlberg from New Kids on the Block HAHAHAHA.[/quote]They worked together for her first single on her failed American debut in 1990. I'm not sure if there's any truth to that rumor though...

[aisasami]

[quote name='mizer_unmei' post='62402' date='Mar 16 2009, 10:49 PM']It's not nearly as big a list as Ukyo would have, but here's a list to all the pop artists (who debuted before 1989, though almost half are by Momoe, so... yeah.) that I have albums from. [ link ]

If you wanted I would gladly rip some songs from any albums. Though it might have to wait until Friday or so because I have a really busy week coming up. ^^;[/quote]



Not to be a nagging request but could you rip Chisato's THE MIHAA? I been relying on youtube clips to listen to the title song and love to hear more of Chisato.



There is also a blog, one my favorites, that someone rips their own collection and posts (He hasn't updated in a month with new stuff because he is trying to backup the other albums). It is worth checking out if you wanna explore more older artists/idols.

[Shoujo Q]

Noriko Sakai looks interesting from what I read on Idollica, I'd love to hear something from her Mizer. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... iggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';/' />



And omg I drool in the general direction of your Momoe collection. D: They have a box set of Momoe up on CDJapan for like 145 dollars. I'm going to try and save to get that. (Before it magically goes out of stock or something.) I missed out on the Premium Box, but I did happen to get the first 4 Discs from download. I'd love to hear some of her later work. I really enjoy her little rockin' disco thing.



And I freakin' love you aisasami! <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/wub.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' />

[mizer_unmei]

Yeah, that blog is absolute heaven aisasami! And the covers are so crisp and clear! thanks so much. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... iggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':(' />



I'll try to upload those albums ASAP. Momoe's latter albums are her best IMO. "Dramatic" is probably my favorite and was pretty much all I listened to the summer of 2004. omgoodness it makes me nostalgic. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/wub.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':(' />



Oh, and don't pay attention to the Chihiro album on the list. I condensed that from my bigger all encompassing CD list and that got in there by mistake. But I'm too lasy to fix it. ^^;

[ShinUkyo]

[quote name='mEri' post='62401' date='Mar 16 2009, 09:42 PM']Also, I randomly realized that one of the singers (Shoko Aida) was in the movie Hana and Alice!!

She is the one that looks weirdly like Erika Sawajiri.[/quote]

I'm not sure, I'd hafta see more footage of Sawajiri to be certain. But if you want eerie similarities, there's also the other member of Wink... Suzuki Sachiko. In the olden days of Hellopro, in many shots, I noticed how much Niigaki Risa looked exactly like Suzuki Sachiko. It gets creepy, it certain instances, how similar they could look. I don't have the patience to look up reference shots, but I might try later. Both of them are bound to have countless pictures on Google Image Search.



[quote name='PQ' post='62379' date='Mar 16 2009, 09:52 AM']Also, could I make a request for some Kudo Shizuka and Seiko Matsuda songs? I'm seriously lacking in that 80s department. D: And I'm not sure what's really good. I found a Seiko album, but it's all her later work, I think. It's her Love 20th Anniversary Album, complete with Go Hiromi duets. I'm so happy! <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/wub.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':(' /> Or should it be unnatural that I'm in love with a man who's old enough to be my father? ... Who cares! I love Go! <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/wub.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' /> <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/wub.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' />[/quote]

Nothing wrong with that. I'm in love with Go Hiromi, too. Or at least, as much as a straight man could possibly be in love with him. In all my years of karaoke, his song "2oku4senman no Hitomi" is among my three most-often-sung tracks. The other two being "Yosaku" by Kitajima Saburo, and "Amairo no Kami no Otome" by The Village Singers. I was going to offer to upload some of his music, as well as stuff by Matsuda Seiko and Kudo Shizuka. And then I remembered, hey, I'm not on my own computer right now. I'm on the laptop, because my own computer is busted. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... ryalot.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':(' /> But then again, I've only ripped certain singles of theirs... nothing comprehensive. I did rip every single and album from Moritaka Chisato, and would love to share those as well, but ugh. Some Day, One Day.

[peachgirldb]

I have some Shizuka that I will upload soon.

[Shoujo Q]

I've been poking around Idollica lately and trying to find hidden 80s music that I had but didn't know what it was. And then I go onto Wikipedia to find more updated info when it's available.



Minako Honda. I LOVE her music as it just screams 80s and everything I love about 80s music. I learned she died in 2005. That's so very sad, but I'm also very happy to have discovered more of her music on that web blog that was posted. If no one knows her music, I highly recommend it for pure 80s goodness. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... iggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':wheely:' /> (If anyone can recommend 80s music like Minako's I would be very greatful as it's what I look for mostly in 80s Jpop.)



Rie Miyazawa, her music is okay, she has a few good songs, but what really struck me about her was how much like Kago she turned out to me. She started out as a young idol and then in her early 20s it all went down hill. But she bounced back with a nice film career. But then ended up getting knocked up. xD



Aya Sugimoto! I found her Golden Best album on bitTorrent, downloaded it and it was good, then I found out she was Queen Beryl in Pretty Guardian Sailormoon and laughed. I guess you had to be there. xD





Oh and another thing, Idollica's total diss on Morning Musume is very uncalled for. The site owner is harboring some SERIOUS Musume grudge.

[mizer_unmei]

[quote name='PQ' post='62978' date='Mar 27 2009, 03:37 PM']Rie Miyazawa, her music is okay, she has a few good songs, but what really struck me about her was how much like Kago she turned out to me. She started out as a young idol and then in her early 20s it all went down hill. But she bounced back with a nice film career. But then ended up getting knocked up. xD[/quote]I think the difference between the two is that Miyazawa did a nude photo album on purpose at the height of her career. It never seemed like the specifically did it for the money or just to justify herself as a "grown up". She was an even bigger CM queen than Aya Ueto and seemed quite capable of transitioning into more adult roles. She was just rebellious and her production company seemed to embrace that. It wasn't until after her failed engagement and such that she developed her eating disorder and attempted suicide.



I LOVE her first album though. I got a little infatuated with her Brooke Sheilds-like teen fame and found she had a short lived singing career so I ordered her CD. It's not that innovative or awe-inspiring, but it's really a solid pop album.



When Minako died everyone I knew who was into 80s pop idols was really sad. She was certainly one of the more original and charismatic of them all. "Temptation" is the only song I've really gotten into, but it's absolutely fantastic.

The most 80s-idols I really like is Yu Hayami. I linked to her "Tokio Express" earlier in the thread I think. Her "Tonight" is lovely too. Just about all of her singles are winners though.

[Tallgeese]

I really dunno why the owner of that site has an HP grudge. It's as if for that person, HP ended idol-dom. IMHO, it gave it a new lease on life. I remember late 90s everyone was doing hip, sexy, mature stuff, think SPEED and early Amuro. NO ONE (at least in the mainstream) was really doing female "bubblegum pop." As a matter of fact, early MM really wasn't doing it either, until about 99 when Tsunku busted out the craziness.

[surasshu]

Yeah, he (I think it's a guy? Otherwise we can pretend it's the neutral "he" that was in common use until feminism became rampant and idiotic) has issues. He's probably upset that Tsunku wrote far better idol pop songs than anybody in the 80s.



Having said that I do kinda like some of that old stuff, musical shortcomings aside. My favorite part about the 80s has to be the "idol" fashion sense though. I mean, it was bad in the rest of the world, but Japan? Hoooooly shit.

[aisasami]

I love following my "recommendation for you" page on youtube because I mostly get 80's stuff spamed on it, including this lovely performance of Radar Man by Jun Togawa:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuYmvPYW_k8



Very crazy and very weird but I really love it and been watching it nonstop since this afternoon. Anyone else heard of her?