Another one of the very first groups I saw performing on HEY HEY HEY all those years ago, Amuro Namie and Super Monkey’s (YES, with the grammatically incorrect apostrophe) was a regular visitor to the show, and became one of the first artists I fell in love with!
This performance of STOP THE MUSIC (which was, thankfully, recorded by Dano) was only the second time I saw Amuro and the girls singing live, and though I’d been properly blown away by the girls’ sexy appeal with TRY ME, all I could think during the interview with Hamada and Matsumoto during this episode was GOD DAMN those chicks is so FREAKIN’ PRETTY!!!!!
Watching this clip after so many years, it’s easy to see why we all loved Namie so much, with her sweet demeanor and that raspy voice, it was a surefire j-pop seller! And it’s also worth noting that it was here that I first became interested in knowing more about the girls behind Namie, the “Super Monkey’s” so to speak, since they were so darn cute, too, and this attraction later blossomed into a huge love of their later venture, MAX!!
PS: There was this beautiful poster of Stop The Music hanging in the j-pop section of Tower Records, and when it came time to take it down, I asked if I could have it and was told that a manager named Derrick was taking it. I was amazed, since this guy was a total heavy metal headbanger type who wouldn’t be caught dead listening to j-pop! When I saw him later that night, I asked him why he wanted that Namie Amuro poster if he didn't even like Japanese music, and he replied, “’Cause she’s a FRICKIN’ BABE!” Ah, I see!
