They gave Maachan a Heike Michiyo song from the vault and jazzed it up a bit. That is my first impression of "Ding Dong". They kind of have similar faces and then there's the color red which was kind of Michiyo's thing. I like it.
Kishimon's new PV is out! And she is being serious as hell. "I am REAL ARTEEST."
Which brings up an interesting observation, which is that all of M-Line eschew a serious image. Not even B&S tries to peddle rockist authenticity.
The last time UF had this kind of rockism was, like, Heike Michiyo I guess? And Ayaya's boring phase. Which speaks to all of the experience UF has picked up over the years (or in a less nice way, all of the flailing around they did with Elder Club) of just what kind of music they are good at making and marketing. In turn, the girls themselves know quite well if they should leave UF to pursue a different kind of music/career priority.
UF may not have always been a white company, but it does seem like they're living up to the reputation now, even as evidenced by the people who leave them.
Honestly, it's nice seeing the diversity in this post-UF crop. Riho chasing the Taeyeon trendy dance pop, Meimei's musical theater, Duu with a variety of different gigs (per her all-rounder capability in H!P), Sayuki doing boring ballads idk, Kassa's Kpop resurrection, and now Kishimon playing guitar.
Avril
23. Lambchop – La Maroquinerie
23. Octopoulpe + Boucan + Von Stroheim – La Cantine de Belleville
24. Talky Nerds + PenG + Electric Retro Spectrum – Gare XP
24. Saint Titus + Guilhem All + Les Lumières – Le Zorba
25. Lali Puna + Surma + Zalfa – Petit Bain
25. Kap Bambino – Trabendo
25. Guili Guili Goulag + Flingué – L'International
25. Mulan Serrico + Ibiza Death + Valérie Smith + Bordigaga – Treize
26. Art brut + Les Olivensteins – Petit Bain
26. Demdike Stare + Eliza McCarthy joue Mica Levi – Église Saint-Merry
26. Nous Deux + David Fenech & Laurent Perrier + Olga Bost – Le Zorba
26. Dick Voodoo + Homoagent + Lostsoundbytes + Metro Crowd – La Station
26. Rakta + Deafkids + Turned – Espace B
26. Ensemble économique – Le Klub
26. Truss + Nkisi + 747 + Lacchesi – Rex Club
26. Remco Beekwilder + Speedy J + Nur Jaber – La Machine
26. The Driver + DJ Pierre + Céline Technorama + Amarou – Concrete
27. She Past Away + Isolated Youth + Potochkin – La Machine
27. Chloé + Lauer + NSDOS + Ben Shemie + Eva Geist + Sutha Gutierrez + Morgan Blanc (dj) – Le 104
27. Cocaine Piss + Tôle froide + Avale – Petit Bain
27. Thharm + Harpon + Heimat + TG Gondard – Cirque électrique
27. Crave + Paulie Jan + Panzer (dj) + Siink – Lucid Interval
27. Bérengère Maximin, Fred Firth & Heike Liss – Instants chavirés (Montreuil)
27. Decline of the I + Inselberg + Romaric Sangars – Les Voûtes ||COMPLET||
27/28. Alva Noto + Anetha + Antigone & Shlømo + Ciel + Clara 3000 + Daniel Avery + Deena Abdelwahed + Djrum + Kink + Lanark Artefax + Octo Octa b2b Eris Drew + OKO + Red Axes + Sentiments + The Pilotwings + Tryphème + Park Hye Jin (Weather fest.) – La Seine musicale (Boulogne-Billancourt)
30. The Undergound Youth + Dune Messiah – Petit Bain
30. Low Jack b2b Simo Cell + Kekra + AZF (RBMA fest.) – Gaîté lyrique
30. Coilguns + Aiming For Enrike + Revok + Wrong – Espace B
30. Sydney Valette + Sseeing Red b2b IV Horsement + K – Gambetta Club
30. Couloir Gang + Descendeur + Yellow Magic Harpsichord – Instants chavirés (Montreuil)
30. Shifted b2b Sigha + Lotus Eaters (Lucy & Rrose) + Von Grall + Clotur + Emissär + Vâyu – Concrete
Mai
01. Amo Vaccaria + Pointe du lac & Quentin Rollet + Héron cendré + M² + Mamba de la Suerte – La Station
02. CIA Débutante + Alex Larsen + Hendrik Hegray – Treize
02. Master Musicians of Jajouka – Instants chavirés (Montreuil)
03. Les Boucles étranges + Badbad + Mechanical heaven + Jeanne – Le Klub
03. Zombie Zombie + Dollkraut + Mauvais œil + Joakim (dj) + Justin Strauss (dj) + Colin Johnco (dj) – La Station
03. Nina Harker – Le Zorba
03. Chie Mukai & Lena Circus + Jean Ray + Philemon + Astrophore – Le Petit Café
03. Atari Teenage Riot (dj) + Rebeka Warrior + Haj 300 – Rex Club
04. Covenant – Petit Bain
04. Tomoko Sauvage – Salon Pelliot – Hôtel d’Heidelbach|Musée Guimet
04. Le Villejuif Underground + Deliluh + Rose Mercie + Betty (dj) + Pasteur Charles (dj) – La Station
04. Multiple Man + IV Horsemen + Spit Mask – Espace B
04. Belmont Witch + Dragon's Daughters + Petra Pied de biche (God Save The Chicks! fest.) – Mains d'oeuvre (Saint-Ouen)
04. Headless Horseman + Shxcxchcxsh + Ghost in the Machine + Mayeul + Evil Grimace + Kuss – tba
04. Arnaud Rebotini (dj) + SNTS + Antigone – 42 av. Louis-Roche (Gennevilliers)
07. dEUS – La Cigale
07. Le Prince Harry + UVB76 + Container + Techno Thriller + Succhiamo – Petit Bain
07. Scan 7 + Richard Devine + Colin Renders + 404 + Zadig – Concrete
08. Sneaks – Supersonic (gratuit)
08. Jean-Louis Costes + Marie Klock – Le Zorba
09. Quentin Rollet & Jérôme Lorichon + F/Lor – Église Saint-Merry
09. Tout est beau + 3xnoir + Grand Huit – Espace B
09. Bill Nace & Samara Lubelski + Michiyo Yagi & Tony Buck – Instants chavirés (Montreuil)
10. The ChameleonsVox + Varsovie – La Boule noire
10. Vox Low + Pion + David Chalmin – La Maroquinerie
10. Exchpoptrue + Pita (dj) + Vicnet + dj Aï – La Marbrerie (Montreuil)
10. Damien Schultz + Kabbalbukkake + Neige morte – Instants chavirés (Montreuil)
10. House of Echo + Hyperactiv Leslie + Alfa Mist (fest. Switch) – théâtre de Vanves
10. The Psychotic Monks +Bryan's Magic Tears – Emb (Sannois)
10. Kas:st + Hadone + Michal Jablonski + Cvrdwell – Rex Club
10. Luke Slater + Marcel Fengler + BLNDR + Parfait – Concrete
10/11. Casse Gueule + Cyclicweetos + Clafoutis Club + Daisy Mortem + Gargäntua + Mss Frnce + Princess Näpalm + Süeür + Titus d'enfer (Fauché fest.) – Espace Albatros (Montreuil)
10/11. Dead Can Dance – Grand Rex ||COMPLET||
11. Christina Vantzou + Eiko Ishibashi + Jan Jelinek + NPVR (Nik Void & Peter Rehberg) – Le 104
12. Massimo Toniutti + François Bayle – Le 104
13. Foals – Bataclan
14. Romain Berteau + Claus & Clausen + Borja Flames + Ambeyance (fest. Switch) – théâtre de Vanves
14. Erikm & Anthony Pateras + Dieb13 & Burkhard Stangl – Instants chavirés (Montreuil)
14. Ramona Cordova + Charlène Darling – Mains d'oeuvre (Saint-Ouen)
16. Saudaá Group + Orgue-Paysage – Fondation Cartier
16. Voiski + Myako & Basses Terres + Marylou (RA Paris) – Silencio
16. Franck Vigroux & Antoine Schmitt : "Chronostasis" + Quatuor Impact & Giani Caserotto + Open Women Orchestra (fest. Switch) – théâtre de Vanves
17. Crave + Zaltan & PAM + Full Circle + Low Jack + Oko dj + Clara3000 (RA Paris) – Dizonord (gratuit)
17. Philip Glass : Études pour piano – Salle Pierre-Boulez|Philharmonie
17. Jacco Gardner + Chris Cohen + Eerie Wanda + Tonn3rr3 + Discovery Zone (Le Beau fest.) – Trabendo
17. Hen Ogledd + Faune – Instants chavirés (Montreuil)
17. Inigo Kennedy + Möd4rn + Stephanie Sykes – Rex Club
17. Polar Inertia + Dement3d + Ninos Do Brasil + Lokier + A strange Wedding + Full Circle – La Machine
17. Surgeon + S.Y.R.O.B + DJ Jee + Cénile Technorama – NF-34
18. Bruce Brubaker & Max Cooper : Glasstronica – Cité de la musique|Philharmonie
18. Eliane Radigue : musique (diff.) pour "Continuum" de Félicie d'Estienne d'Orves – Centre Pompidou
18. Planningtorock – Gaîté lyrique
18. Thurston Moore + HAHA Sounds Collective + L'Éclair + Luis Ake + Domotic + Pantin Plage (dj) (Le Beau fest.) – Trabendo
18. Croatian Amor + Re:Ni + dj Sacom + Hanah (RA Paris) – Badaboum
18. Brandt Brauer Frick + Collectif sin ~ + Axel Rigaud (fest. Switch) – théâtre de Vanves
18. Orphx + Konkurs (Blush Response & Sarin) + Blush Response + O/H – tba
18. Function + dj Deep + Lewis Fautzi – Concrete
19. DJ Sundae + Crystallmess + Betty + Toma Kami (RA Paris) – Concrete (gratuit)
19. Julien Claus – Ancienne Brasserie Bouchoule (Montreuil) (gratuit)
22. Housewives – Supersonic (gratuit)
23. Lots in Kiev + Thot + Brusque – Petit Bain
23. 1919 + Guerre froide + Pest Modern + Warum Joe – Gibus
24. Beak> + TVAM – Gaîté lyrique
24. Shonen Knife – Petit Bain
24. Antichildleague + Corps + Geography of Hell – Les Voûtes
25. Sydney Valette + Blind Delon + Ruines – Supersonic (gratuit)
25. Xeno & Oaklander + Automelodi + Void Vision – Petit Bain
26. Jérôme Poret – Ancienne Brasserie Bouchoule (Montreuil) (gratuit)
26. New Berlin + Euromilliard – Pointe Lafayette
27. Me Donner + Somaticae + Nani ∞ Guru – Espace B
28. Alice in Chains + Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Olympia
29. Flotation Toy Warning + Raoul Vignal – Petit Bain
29. Unit Moebius + Scorpion violente + Prettiest Eyes (fest. Ideal Trouble) – La Station
29. Pizza Noise Mafia + Laz (Air Lqd & Lost Sound Bytes) + Bear Bones, Lay Low + Summer Satana + Tav Exotic + La Souris & l'éléphant + DJ Athome (fest. Ideal Trouble) – Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles
29. Big Brave + My Disco + Tu brûles mon esprit – Instants chavirés (Montreuil)
30. Cuntre (Lionel Fernandez & Nicolas Mazet) + Couloir Gang (fest. Ideal Trouble) – Le Zorba
30. Blawan + ABSL + Parfait – NF-34
31. François Bonnet + Knud Viktor + Jim O'Rourke + Florian Hecker (fest. Akousma) – Studio 104|Maison de la Radio
31. De Ambassade + Beau Wanzer + Anna Funk Damage + Le Matin + Bernardino Feminielli + Unas + Fiesta en el vecchio (fest. Ideal Trouble) – La Station
Juin
01. Eryck Abecassis & Reinhold Friedl + Hilde Marie Holsen + Anthony Pateras + Lucy Railton (fest. Akousma) – Studio 104|Maison de la Radio
01. Millimetric + Phase fatale + Terence Fixmer + Dersee + Raffaele Attanasio + 14Anger + Arnaud Rebotini & David Caretta – Studio de Lendit (La Plaine-Saint-Denis)
01/02. Metronomy + Laurent Garnier + Ricardo Villalobos + Mr Oizo + Bonobo (dj) + Yves Tumor + Marie Davidson + Pond + Sleaford Mods... (fest. We Love Green) – Bois de Vincennes
02. Bernard Parmegiani + Jean Schwarz (fest. Akousma) – Studio 104|Maison de la Radio
02. Vanishing Twin + Eye (fest. Ideal Trouble) – Lafayette Anticipations
05. Shellac – La Maroquinerie
05. Institute + Last Night + The Cherry Bones – L'International
05. Otzeki – Safari Boat
06. Tim Hecker & Konoyo Ensemble + Mondkopf + Kelly Moran (Villette sonique fest.) – Cabaret sauvage
07. Danny Brown (Villette sonique fest.) – Périphérique
07. Constant Mongrel + Computerstaat + Warm Swords – Espace B
08. Julia Holter + Cate Le Bon (Villette sonique fest.) – Trabendo
08. Deena Abdelwahed + David August + Ross from Friends + Objekt (dj) + Apollo noir (dj) (Villette sonique fest.) – Grande Halle
08/09. Aïsha Devi + Belmont Witch + Black Midi + Borja Flames + Bracco + Corridor + Coucou Chloé + Crack Cloud + Efrim Menuck + Fontaines DC + Front de cadeaux + Juan Wauters + Krampf (dj) + Maria Violenza + Mdou Moctar + Musique chienne + Myako + Nova Materia + Nyoko Dokbaë + Novelist + Shanti Celeste + Sinkane + Szun Waves + The Messthetics + Tiger Tiger + Warm Drag + Wiki Zaltan (Villette sonique fest.) – parc de la Villette (gratuit)
09. Stereolab + Jonathan Bree + Anémone (Villette sonique fest.) – Grande Halle
12. The Soft Moon – Safari Boat
12. Rouge Gorge – L'International
12. Matmos + John Wiese – Instants chavirés (Montreuil)
13. Minuit Machine + Hørd + Marble Slave – Supersonic (gratuit)
13. Christian Death + Little Nemo – Gibus
13. Fat White Family – Élysée Montmartre
14/15. Jessica 93 + Year of No Light + Hangman's Chair + JC Satan + Vox Low + White Heat (15 ans de New Noise) – Trabendo
15. Karen Gwyer + Gudrun Gut + Dorit Chrysler joue Laurie Spiegel – Gaîté lyrique
15. Ensemble Citrouille + Félicie Bazealire + Foxtrt + Delphine Dora + Manolito + Anna Serra + Sophie Agnet & Olivier Benoit + Trans Aéolian Transmission + Hippie Diktat (fest. Les Oreilles libres) – Théâtre Les Thénardiers (Montreuil)
16. Siglo XX + The Arch – La Maroquinerie
16. Plaid – Petit Bain
16. Vomir + Straub Mocky + Achille + Strie + LV2 + Trans Kabar + Club Sieste (fest. Les Oreilles libres) – Théâtre Les Thénardiers (Montreuil)
18. Simon Whetham + Estelle Schorpp – Instants chavirés (Montreuil)
19. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – La Gaîté lyrique
22. The Intelligence + Flatworms – La Maroquinerie
23. La Pince + Leon + Howdoyoudance + Polar Polar Polar Polar – Cirque électrique
26. Magma – Salle Pierre-Boulez|Philharmonie
26. Cannibale – Safari Boat
26. Caterina Barbieri + SKY H1 – La Gaîté lyrique
26. Pigalle – La Maroquinerie
26. Daniel Menche + Point invisible + Tzii – Instants chavirés (Montreuil)
27. Plomb + Perm36 + Pour X raisons – Cirque électrique
28. To Live & Shave in LA + Carrageenan + TTTT – Instants chavirés (Montreuil)
28/29. Rammstein – La Défense Arena (Nanterre) ||COMPLET||
Juillet
02. Interpol – Olympia
04. Cat Power + H-Burns (fest. Days off) – Salle Pierre Boulez|Philharmonie
05. Klimperei, Sacha Czerwone, David Fenech, Denis Frajerman & Christophe Micusnule – Chair de poule (gratuit)
05. Pantha du Prince + Scratch Massive (fest. Days off) – Cité de la musique|Philharmonie
05. I Hate Models + Jardin + Mount Kimbie + Oktober Lieber + Rodhad + Mor Elian + Olivia... (The Peacock Society fest.) – Parc floral
05. The B-52's – Olympia
05/06. The Psychotics Monks + La Jungle + Yachtclub + Zombie Zombie + Frustration + Fleuves noirs + Bruit noir + Le Singe blanc + Le Sacre du tympan... (fest. La Ferme électrique)
06. Jonsi & Alex Somers jouent "Riceboy Sleeps" (fest. Days off) – Salle Pierre Boulez|Philharmonie
06. Helena Hauff b2b DJ Stingray + Jon Hopkins + Motor City Drum Ensemble + Len Faki + Robert Hood + Octavian + The Black Madonna + Clara! + Nicola Cruz... (The Peacock Society fest.) – Parc floral
07. Jonsi, Alex Somers & Paul Corley : "Liminal Soundbath" (fest. Days off) – Cité de la musique|Philharmonie
07. Ministry – La Machine
07/08. Thom Yorke (fest. Days off) – Salle Pierre Boulez|Philharmonie
08. Gossip – Salle Pleyel
11. Full of Hell + The Body + Pilori – Gibus
11. Masada + Sylvie Courvoisier & Mark Feldman + Mary Halvorson quartet + Craig Taborn + Trigger + Erik Friedlander & Mike Nicolas + John Medeski trio + Nova quartet + Gyan Riley & Julian Lage + Brian Marsella trio + Ikue Mori + Kris Davis + Peter Evans + Asmodeus : John Zorn's Marathon Bagatelles – Salle Pleyel
11>13. Kraftwerk (fest. Days off) – Philharmonie
13. The Will Gregory Moog Ensemble (fest. Days off) – Le Studio|Philharmonie
13. Chloé & Vassilena Serafimova : "Sequenza" + Apparat (fest. Days off) – Cité de la musique|Philharmonie
17. Grand Blanc – Safari Boat
18. Neurosis + Yob – Bataclan
Août
18. The Driver – But Mortemart|Bois de Boulogne
23>25. The Cure + Aphex Twin... (fest. Rock en scène) – parc de Saint-Cloud
28. Arnaud Rebotini – Safari Boat
Septembre
05. Oh Sees – Bataclan
14. Patti Smith – Olympia
14. Clan of Xymox + Plomb – Gibus
14. Danny Elfman & le Grand Orchestre d'Ile-de-France : cinéconcert sur "Alice au Pays des merveilles" de Tim Burton – Salle Pierre Boulez|Philharmonie
20. Spiral Stairs + Canshaker Pi – Olympic café
23>25. John Cale – Cité de la musique|Philharmonie
Octobre
05. Nuit de l'orgue avec des œuvres d'Éliane Radigue, Arvo Pärt, Olivier Messiaen, Phillip Glass, Nico Muhly, Jonathan Fitoussi... (Nuit blanche) – Salle Pierre Boulez|Philharmonie (gratuit)
06. Daughters – La Maroquinerie
08. Sleep – Bataclan
09/10. Ty Segall & Freedom Band – La Cigale
11. New Order – Grand Rex
14. King Gizzard & Tle Lizard Wizard – Olympia
17. Puppetmastaz – Trabendo
18. Dream Syndicate – Petit Bain
19. Sisters of Mercy – Bataclan
19. Pixies – Olympia
Novembre
08. Bedroom Community – Cité de la musique|Philharmonie
10. Amiina : cinéconcert sur "Fantomas" de Louis Feuillade – Le Studio|Philharmonie
10. Ôlafur Atnald + Hugar – Salle Pierre Boulez|Philharmonie
17. Nitzer Ebb – La Machine
24. The Young Gods + Les Tétines noires – La Machine
26. Wardruna – Olympia
Décembre
06. Phillip Glass Ensemble : cinéconcert sur "Koyaanisqatsi" de Godfrey Reggio – Salle Pierre Boulez|Philharmonie
07. Phillip Glass Ensemble : cinéconcert sur "Powaqqatsi" de Godfrey Reggio – Salle Pierre Boulez|Philharmonie
08. Phillip Glass Ensemble : cinéconcert sur "Naqoyqatsi" de Godfrey Reggio – Salle Pierre Boulez|Philharmonie
2020
Janvier
04. Rokia Traoré + Ballaké Cissoko & Vincent Segal – Salle Pierre Boulez|Philharmonie
Février
16. Orchestral Manoeuvre in the Dark – La Cigale
Mars
07. Ensemble intercontemporain joue Steve Reich : cinéconcert sur un film de Gerhard Richter – Salle Pierre Boulez|Philharmonie
20. Ensemble Dedalus joue "Occam Ocean" d'Éliane Radigue – Le Studio|Philharmonie
21/22. Laurie Anderson : "The Art of Falling" – Cité de la musique|Philharmonie
Mai
08. Max Richter : "Infra" + Jlin + Ian William Craig – Cité de la musique|Philharmonie
09. Max Richter : "Voices" – Salle Pierre Boulez|Philharmonie
10. Max Richter : "Recomposed" & "Three Worlds" – Salle Pierre Boulez|Philharmonie
24. Damon Albarn – Salle Pierre Boulez|Philharmonie
en gras : les derniers ajouts / in bold: the last news
In 1997, Japanese producer Tsunku started a talent search competition named “ Josei Rokku Vokarisuto Odishon” for a female rock vocalist for his band Sharan Q under the show Asayan.
The winner was Michiyo Heike,
After the competition, Tsunku offered five of the ten runners-up: Natsumi Abe, Yuko Nakazawa, Kaori Iida, Asuka Fukuda, and Aya Ishiguro a chance to be taken under his wing on one condition - to sell 50,000 copies of their demo single, "Ai no Tane", within five days of promotion events.
The five accepted the challenge and were named ‘Morning Musume’ and thus, the recording of the song began.
The song was released on November 3, 1997 and they started their distribution at Shinsaibashi, Osaka, selling 16,610 copies on just their first day.
And within just 4 days of promotional events and overcoming obstacles, they distributed their 50,000th copy of ‘Ai no Tane’ at Nagoya.
As promised, under Tsunku’s care, in 1998, the 5 member group debuted as Morning Musume with their 1st single “Morning Coffee”.
And from there on, started their journey to become the most famous all-girl group in Japan.
2001: Matsuura Aya - Machiawase | 7nin Matsuri - Summer Reggae! Rainbow | Morning Musume - Mr. Moonlight ~Ai no Big Band~ | Tanpopo - Nenmatsu Nenshi no Dai Keikaku | Matsuura Aya - MERRY X'MAS FOR YOU
2002: Matsuura Aya - Enkyori no Renai | Morning Musume - Ii Koto Aru Kinen no Shunkan | Morning Musume - Suki na Senpai | Morning Musume - Nan ni mo Iwazu ni I LOVE YOU | Minimoni - Chiccha na Chiccha na Onna no Ko | Morning Musume - Chotto Ikashita Pure Boy
2004: Matsuura Aya - LOVE TRAIN | Morning Musume - Dekiru Onna | Abe Natsumi - Toumorokoshi to Sora to Kaze | W - Robo Kiss | Matsuura Aya - I LOVE YOU no Tsuzuki | Ecomoni - Eco no Waltz
2005: Berryz Koubou - Arigatou! Otomodachi
2006: Morning Musume - Aozora ga Itsumademo Tsuzuku You na Mirai de | Morning Musume - Aruiteru | Morning Musume - Samui kara Fuyu da mon! | Morning Musume - Kotatsu no Uta ~jyuken story~
2007: Morning Musume - Sayonara no Kawari ni | Morning Musume - BE Positive! | Matsuura Aya - Egao | Morning Musume - HELLO TO YOU
2009: C-ute - Big dreams | Berryz Koubou - Rival | Frances & Aiko - Ma Ma de Hua | S/mileage - Asu wa Date na no ni, Imasugu Koe ga Kikitai | Mano Erina - Love&Peace=Paradise | Mano Erina - Itsumo Itsudemo
2010: Buono! - Tabidachi no Uta | Morning Musume - Tomo | S/mileage - Onna Bakari no Nichiyoubi
2011: Mano Erina - Seishun no Serenade | C-ute - 3ban Home 3ryoume | Mano Erina - 10 Carat no Kirameki
2012: Mano Erina - Doki Doki Baby | Morning Musume - La La La no Pi Pi Pi
2013: Peaberry - Niji no Seseragi | Kenshuusei - Ten Made Nobore! | Morning Musume - Wolf Boy | S/mileage - Ee ka!?
When Mei-chan said the song she wanted to sing from another group was JUICE=JUICE'S Magic of Love I realized most of the new girls don't really know how good early H!P was... T&C, Heike Michiyo, Melon Kinenbi, they probably never heard of these names. C'mon office, give these girls an history lesson lmao
This video is great!
An interesting thing is, of course, in which cases the cover wins out against the original, or at least brings something meaningful to its own existence (i.e. offers new appeal points).
1. Carpenters: Justifies its existence. Heike gets MELODRAMATIC with the song. Not necessarily better, but you know how much Asians love to wail at karaoke. However, the Carpenters have a stronger command over the song (and I prefer it when a song feels noticeably effortless), so they win.
2. Sans Toi Ma Mie: Basically the same as above, Goto going really melo, full-on French Swooning. On the other hand, I heavily favor latin rhythms. The original clearly wins.
3. Kimi to Itsumademo: Basically a karaoke run. Doesn't do enough to justify its existence.
4. Kyokkori: Base melody is obnoxious. Next.
5. Koi no Vacance: Brings the surf rock, and W are charismatic enough for their performance to be interesting. But the Peanuts are THE FUCKING PEANUTS, and they are ROCKING the big band version featured here.
6. Namida no Taiyou: As much as I adore MKB, I find much of their output tacky, and this one is no exception. Very much the cringe of the late 90s/early 00s' excess. MKB's arrangement tramples over the melody's strengths.
7. Wataresbashi: Ballads are ballads, and Ayaya is motherfucking Ayaya. Tie.
8. Koi no Fuuga: Again, W are respectably charismatic. Their James Bond-esque arrangement does end up doing more to enhance the melody. Our first win for the covers! This is the case where the original is a little bit too...how do I put this, obvious? Childish? Like the way Heavy Rotation's melody is too obvious. Anyways, what that means is that the vocals can't really do much with it, which means that W's more interesting arrangement therefore makes the difference.
9. The Stress: I LOVE THIS COVER. IT FUCKS. IT FUCKS HARD. Ueno Keiichi is going buck-wild with his arrangement, and therefore actually introduces a new and different groove, compared to the original's admittedly compelling 80s drums.
10. Too Far Away: Ballads are ballads. Whatever.
11. Dschinghis Khan: Like a good portion of Berryz's output is in a really eardrum-splitting pitch range. Ich. And I'm really baffled as to why they even picked this particular song to cover.
12. Pepper Keibu: I like this! Brings the disco, lets Platinum play it cool. But Pink Lady has way more personality in theirs, hands down.
13. Shochuu Omimai Moshiagemasu: Synths are too screechy, it's trying too hard to modernize. The SweetS cover is more fun. Ironically, H!P has plenty of excellent album tracks that better capture the appeal of the original, in basically anything arranged by Takahashi Yuichi (my first thought was Lemon Iro to Milk Tea).
14. Mahoutsukai Sally: Original's honky-tonk arrangement over obnoxious screechy synths any day.
15. Koike-san: Don't even get me started. Now, Tsunku's own Koike-san re-release, with both a DANCE*MAN disco version and Matsubara Ken "Sexy Funk" version, that's how you make covers that can stand up to the original. Kobushi ain't even competing.
16. Sakura Night Fever: Okay, I'm fucking easy. Look, DANCE*MAN is just very good at what he does! And whereas with Koike-san, they needed to achieve a certain attitude and failed to, Sakura Night Fever is a godly enough melody that simply being cute girls singing this earnestly makes it fresh again vs. the original.
17. Ranrarun: Country Girls My Beloved. The original is what CG ended up doing with PBJ Love, a song of long notes to depict longing, while the twanging guitar is doing delightful gliss'd chords in the back. Maybe my CG-bias goggles are just that tight, but I don't mind this cover, though. By going about 200% cutesier in this version (and also making the arrangement a little more Phil Spector-ish, castanets and all), there's actually rhythm introduced to the cover that has its own charms. Ironically, there's zero country DNA in the CG version, but that creates enough distance from the original.
18. Ora wa Ninkimono: going full ska works with how hard Kobushi go on this. Kobushi are hitting every beat, where the original is doing a swing between every ever other beat (a la Pepper Keibu). Turns out that doing a subtly different rock genre is often all it takes to make a cover work!
19. Namida no Request. CG make a good showing, but the original has too much personality and swagger. In this case, having harder attacks on the shorter syllables works against them. I'm going to blame the cover's arrangement here for not doing more interesting things.
20. Majokko no Megu-chan: Angerme pull off at least a tie by doing their best CG. Emphasizing the piano in the arrangement was an inspired choice, really gives the cover its own identity and an enunciation style for the vocals to aim for (where the original had strings instead, to go with the vocals singer longer notes).
21. Go West: I can't even make a proper evaluation, because the Beyooooonds meme game is too strong. Go Waist cannot be considered as a song alone, the visuals and memes (which literally stops the song at one point) are a core part of it. In that sense, they live up to what The Village People were going for, as well (i.e. spark joy). The original certainly has better vocals, though.
22. Pop Music: Juice=Juice take their turn making a cover worth it just by cramming in the memes. There's undeniable joy in watching the girls get more and more ridiculous with their vocal wailing at the end of each line, against the most mundane lyrics, culminating in Sayuki's hysterical "CHURU CHURU PUNYU TAPIOCA MILK(miracle) TEEEEEEEAAAAAAAA".
23: Gekikara Love: What! Beyooonds coulda had a Halloween song!? WE WERE ROBBED. And also, it already doesn't win against MM's Morning Curry, as far as crowd-pleasing meme songs about spiciness go.
24: Down Town: So yes, I bitched about this song months ago, but while I personally find the original undoubtedly superior, the cover nonetheless justifies its existence through a successful genre change. It's a cover that can hold its own against some of the non-covers in the H!P catalogue, even if it can't beat the original.
The trend for all of the lesser versions is that the cover, by dint of their heavily synthesized arrangements, squeeze all of the groove out of the song. There's no more empty space for the artists to put their stamp on the interpretation. The rhythm is programmed within an inch of its life, where in the originals you can hear the singers really curving around the syllables, the aural equivalent of animation's squash-and-stretch.
That's why some of the older H!P covers still work, because GOING MELODRAMATIC is a way to reclaim some vocal interpretation. Which fits H!P's original "rock band audition" roots.
Anyways, the moral of the story is that I really really fucking love Nacchi's The Stress. And there are surprising number of western songs hidden in H!P's catalogue! And as always, the most important aspect of idol music is who does the arrangement.
ANATA no Yume ni Naritai (“I Want to Become Your Dream”)
youtube
“Even though you tell me that our feelings are always one, I want to be by your side forever and ever.”
OR: A girl’s so in love with a guy, she wants to be together even when they dream.
nee sonna ni yasashii me de
hohoemanaide
mata WAGAMAMA iitaku naru
「kaeritakunai」
Hey, don’t smile at me with
Such gentle eyes
I’ll start wanting to say selfish things again
“I don’t want to go home”
itsudatte futari kimochi wa
hitotsu da to itte kureru no ni
zutto zutto soba ni itakute
Even though you tell me
That our feelings are always one
I want to stay by your side forever and ever¹
ANATA no yume ni naritai
nemutteru toki mo
ichiban chikaku ni ireru kara
moshi kanau nara
kanashii yume nanka misenai
omoi no subete wo nukumori ni shite
I want to become your dream
So I can be the closest to you
Even when you sleep
If that wish came true,
I wouldn’t give you any sad dreams
Wrap up all my feelings in your warmth
nee sonna ni bukiyou da to
kizutsukanaide
mata watashi wa nakitaku naru
「CHIKARA ga tarinai」
Hey, don’t hurt yourself
Calling yourself awkward like that—
I’ll feel like crying again
“I’m not strong enough”
itsudatte shounen no you
shinayaka de hitamukisugite
zutto zutto sono mama de ite
You’re always so flexible and over-earnest,
Just like a boy,
Stay how you are, always, always
ANATA no yume ni naritai
nemurenai toki mo
kokoro ni daitete kureru kara
moshi kanau nara
kienai niji wo kaketai no
sono de wo nobashita mirai no sora ni
I want to become your dream
So you could embrace me from your heart,
Even when you’re asleep
If my wish came true,
I’d want to paint a rainbow that would never vanish
In the future sky your hand reached out into
ANATA no yume ni naritai
nemutteru toki mo
ichiban chikaku ni ireru kara
moshi kanau nara
kanashii yume nanka misenai
omoi no subete wo nukumori ni shite
I want to become your dream
So I can be the closest to you
Even when you sleep
If that wish came true,
I wouldn’t give you any sad dreams
Wrap up all my feelings in your warmth
daisuki dakara…
Because I love you…
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¹ Not sure how to explain this, but basically the guy tells her that even when they’re apart, their hearts are one, and she’s like, I get that, but I want to be literally together forever and skip the being separated, wwwww.
In unrelated matters, I’m not really sure whether to extend the idol tags to Heike because she was never actually an idol? She debuted as a bonafide singer (produced by Hatake, Tsunku’s bandmate), she was just in the weird situation where a) she won the audition where the runner-ups became Morning Musume, b) she belonged to the same “fan club” (Hello!, which later became Hello! Project), and c) she participated in the first two H!P summer shuffles.
Out of respect for her career choices (she never marketed herself as an idol), I’m leaving her out of the idol tags, but she’s worth looking into, as an H!P fan.