70～80年代アイドル集 Part 1 - 早見優 (My Favourite Top 5 Singles)

It has always been a desire of mine to share my past experiences and knowledge of Japanese Pop from the 70s and 80s, and I thought what better way for me to do so than to pick up my favourite 5 singles from each artiste that graced my life and ears when I first came into contact with Japanese music in 1984.

For those who are unaware, my first contact with JPop arrived in January 1984 when I walked home after school with the evening Mandarin newspaper that had a article on the pop idols that starred in the 1983 紅白歌合戦 that was due to screen that weekend. The young stars were lined up in a calendar spread, and being fascinated by the pretty faces, I rushed home and ushered my siblings to each pick a favourite. Somehow, I managed to pick 中森明菜 (Nakamori Akina) from the start, while my sister chose 早見優 (Hayami Yu) and my brother, 柏原芳恵 (Kashiwabara Yoshie). They weren't as interested as I was, but I remember sitting down that Saturday evening, and from then on, it was point of no return.

For starters, since it was 1984 that I started my JPop journey, I found it fitting to start off this series with the upcoming starlets of 1982, the year which spawned the greatest number of young individual female idols in its history of pop music and whom most of them scored their biggest hits in 1983 and 1984. A total of 5 of them, 中森明菜, 堀ちえみ (Hori Chiemi), 小泉今日子 (Koizumi Kyoko),早見優, 石川秀美 (Ishikawa Hidemi) all made their debut in 1982 to varying degrees of success. Coincidentally, almost all of them, except Akina, had their first break with their 5th single (and sometimes best selling in their career). Strange isn't it?

The first in my 70-80's Idol Series - My Favourite Single Top 5 is 早見優 (Hayami Yu). The reason why I started with her is not only because my sister's looks have been compared to hers while she was growing up, but also that she was my two close friends, Leslie's and Zing's favourite JPop Idol. I have chosen to split them all up, so that it will be a "love project" and that you can comment on each singer if you like.

Yu grew up in Hawaii and only came back to Japan when she was 14, and was discovered by a talent agency that groomed her into a singer. Though Yu does not have a strong singing voice, her sunny disposition, olive skin and ability to speak fluent English differentiated her from the rest.

Current activities (mostly from her official site): Yu has travelled worldwide acting as an ambassador and representative for Japan and was specially chosen to represent the Japanese Entertainment Community as an Artist Ambassador for the Earth Summit held in Brazil in 1992. She has since become active in addressing the need to educate the public on the many issues concerning global ecology, hosting a weekly radio program focusing on this theme. Her most recent achievement has been on stage where she completed three seasons of performance as Cosette in the Japanese adaptation of "Les Miserables", which received overwhelming reviews from theatre critics. While furthering her career she hopes to utilize her bicultural background internationally.

She also married her long time friend of 15 years from Hawaii and they currently have 2 daughters, the older which she released an album last year on children's songs with titled "Let's Sing Together".




My Favourite 5 songs for早見優

(1) 夏色のナンシー



5th Single
発売日: 1.4.1983
オリコン最高位 (Highest Oricon Chart Position): 7
登場週数 (Weeks on Top 100): 17
売上数: 26.9 万枚 (269,000 copies sold) - Yu's Best Selling Single

This is first song I heard from Yu, and sometimes, they leave a lasting impression. It was her first appearance on 紅白歌合戦 and she looked very cute in her white costume. It is also her best selling single, helped by it being a Coca Cola commercial song. It broke many grounds for Yu and propelled her to new heights. It was also the first Japanese song that I ever learned to mime, so it is a very special song for me. It has been written in an interview that Yu does not like the song very much and some of the others that followed because it was too cutesy, but this is her definitive single.

(2) PASSION



14th Single
発売日: 1.8.1985
オリコン最高位 (Highest Oricon Chart Position): 10
登場週数 (Weeks on Top 100): 13
売上数: 11.7 万枚 (117,000 copies sold)

This song marks the style of Western infected Pop that is Yu's favourite. It is the theme song for a movie that starred Yu herself titled "Kids" and is about delinquents (I think). It won Yu some awards at the end of the year ceremonies and is a catchy track. It is also her 3rd and final appearance at 紅白歌合戦 in the 80s.

This song is made more memorable to me because my friend Zing performed this at a Karaoke contest once when I was a member of a JPop club "Familiar Music Library" in Singapore and won 2nd place. We were so happy for him then and he was wonderful in imitating her dance sequence as well. Since I wasn't allowed to many of these events when I was growing up because my mother thought it was a waste of time (i.e. it would not improve my studies), it was a night that I would never forget.

The coupling song "Xanadu" is one of my favorites as well.

(3) 誘惑光線・クラッ!



9th Single
発売日: 31.3.1984
オリコン最高位 (Highest Oricon Chart Position): 7
登場週数 (Weeks on Top 100): 12
売上数: 15.5 万枚 (155,000 copies sold)

Another 紅白歌合戦 influenced choice. Yu sang this at her second performance in 1984. She was the first performer and all the other singers from the Red Team danced behind her as she sang this catchy number. I don't think the lyrics are very deep in meaning but it is infectious bubblegum pop. Once again, it is memorable because Zing sang this after he won 2nd place, complete with all the signature dance steps.

(4) 哀愁情句



11th Single
発売日: 3.10.1984
オリコン最高位 (Highest Oricon Chart Position): 8
登場週数 (Weeks on Top 100): 8
売上数: 8.0 万枚 (80,000 copies sold)

After releasing mostly up tempo bubblegum pop which Yu dislikes (she lists "渚のライオン" & "Me★セーラーマン" as the worst culprits and I agree) after her big hit 夏色のナンシー, where they carried on the "success formula", she changes her musical direction and attempts this adult contemporary song. It is a mature sad number and Yu took 4 tries before she managed to record it satisfactorily. Though her sales slipped further, it nonetheless marked the first step that Yu took control of her career and during the next year, we see her venturing into Western JPop direction she desired.

Incidentally, "渚のライオン" (16.8 万枚) is her second biggest selling single and "Me★セーラーマン" (9.9万枚) sold better than "哀愁情句", but musically, they are probably one of the worst singles of Yu's career.



(5) ハートは戻らない - Get Out Of My Life -



16th Single
発売日: 21.3.1987
オリコン最高位 (Highest Oricon Chart Position): 15
登場週数 (Weeks on Top 100): 17
売上数: 13.2 万枚 (132,000 copies sold)

The "comeback" single. After Yu was dropped from the invitees list from 紅白歌合戦 in 1986, many people wrote Yu off after a year of dismal sales, all averaging between 4-5万枚. She released this disco infected track in March 1987, and though it was a slow burner, it remained on the charts for 17 weeks (a tie with 夏色のナンシー for most weeks on chart for Yu's career). Written by American songwriters, it was a hit that spawned her one and only 12 inch single "Heart Wa Modorani - Get out Of My Life".

It propelled her back onto the spotlight for a little while and even garnered her most positive album reviews and sales for a long time with "Get Down". This is her last big hit before she moved to further emulate the success of this single.

I hope you enjoyed this little commentary. I will be updating more in the next few days and I hope this brings you down memory lane and if you have any comments/suggestions, or would like to share you stories, I would love to hear more about it.