How did I first get introduced to all things Puri-Puri? Let's See...
The first song I ever knew from Princess Princess was “Dakara Honey”- The J-pop buyer for the record store I worked at had thrown it onto a compilation cassette ( I guess to fill up space) from a Drama Theme song CD he had,( Dakara being the theme song for “Double Kitchen”which actually had an episode featuring Puri-Puri…but I digress) and the quirky enka-style vocalist certainly caught my ear… At the time I had a mental picture of the group being two old ladies (hence the double princess) singing novelty songs for a living!
A few months later I was at my friend Daniel's house, where I flipped through the latest issue of his KOKIKU magazine. In that issue, there was an article reporting that the Rock Group Princess Princess was calling it a day. The article featured the cover of “The Last Princess” and that was the first time I saw them. In fact, I wasn’t sure it was the SAME group, seeing as THESE gals looked cool, and I didn’t think they’d have sung a novelty song like “Dakara Honey”.I remember reading it and going "whoa!" to Daniel, and also talking to the J-Pop Buyer at work the next day about the article.
Princess Princess was set to start promoting their last CD and final tour, so in the coming weeks, Puri2 was to appear on numerous shows, promoting their latest single and saying their farewells.
Back then I didn’t have access to NGN, so weekends were to hang out at Daniel’s House (J-pop Central ) to watch “Pop Jam” and “Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ”, cheering on then-newcomer Namie Amuro or booing the very flamboyant Sharan Q. It was on Pop Jam that I first got to see Princess Princess moving and breathing.
And what a sight it was. Pop Jam had created a montage of Puri Puri performances right from the beginning, and I remember thinking that the young bushy-haired Kaori might be Hawaiian! Looking at the classy ladies on stage, I came to the conclusion that the girls in the montage wasn’t them, possibly girls they had managed? Of course later I was to find out that it in fact WAS them,in one of their many “looks” over the years.
As Hiroko Moriguchi interviewed the girls, I thought there was NO WAY these were the same artists that did “Dakara Honey”,and felt foolish that I thought they WERE...But then Princess Princess got onstage to belt out “Fly Baby Fly”. The SECOND I heard Kaori’s voice, I KNEW they were the same band that did “Dakara”, and what’s more, I liked THIS song, too! What a revelation!
When J-pop Buyer Dave found out I had more than a passing interest in Princess Princess, he made another Cassette tape for me, this time with the Puri2 single “KISS”. I was convinced. No longer would I ever think they were a novelty act. This lush piece of pop perfection with the soaring harmonies just killed me. It became my favorite song on the tape. At this stage they might have been a group I admired and liked a few singles, but it was an appearance on the show MUSIC FAIR that changed my whole outlook on Pri2.
Like the other music shows around that time, Music Fair had prepared a special “farewell” episode just for Puri Puri. Guests included, along with Puri-Puri, Hiroko Moriguchi, Chisato Moritaka, and Arisa Mizuki. Together they sang "19 Growing Up","Diamonds", "M", "Sekai De Ichiban Atsui Natsu" and "Oh Yeah". Then Puri Puri did "Papa","Seven years After" and "Natsu No Owari".
Needless to say, I was blown away, plain and simple. It was then that I realized that this group was extraordinary, and I hurried down to the Record store to pick up SINGLES 1987-1992…and thus began the Puri Puri obsession! I remember riding around Diamond Head with a friend, listening to the Singles Collection, and laughing upon hearing the REAL Puri-Puri versions, as all we knew about some of the songs were the ensemble-style versions they performed on MUSIC FAIR.
