Back when my friend Dan-O was introducing me to J-pop, the ruling Idol group du jour was Pony Canyon’s CoCo and so the few CDs and singles he owned of other artists really stand out to me. Among them was Judy And Mary’s Orange Sunshine, East End Yuri’s “Da Yo Ne” (LOL) and a few releases by pop duo Wink.
One of those albums was one called “Voce”, and he made a cassette tape of the album for me, telling me that perhaps I might enjoy it as much as CoCo. Well, nothing could substitute CoCo for me, but by golly, that Voce album was a fine, fine album indeed!
DanO also had a Music Video collection by Wink which turned me onto a few of their singles that I ended up really liking (as recounted here), and at first I was disappointed that none of the songs were on this CD. But they were so cool and catchy and the girls voices so sweet and smooth, I DID end up loving that album a LOT!
A few months later I was in a band that did covers of j-pop songs, and at our initial meetings, everyone was invited to suggest songs for the band to do. The members came up with songs leaning more towards rock, (with acts like Luna Sea and Lindberg) so I was met with befuddled looks when I told them I wanted to do a couple of songs from Wink. WINK! Yep, THAT’S how much I loved them by then!
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| Wink: Sachiko and Shoko |
The songs I wanted to do were “Sore Wa KISS De Hajimatta” and “Please Please Me”, both from the aforementioned Voce album. As the latter title suggest, these were VERY Beatles-influenced tunes, with bright, jangly guitars and Sachiko and Shoko’s soaring vocals layered above. I figured once they heard it, they’d see what potential these songs had, they were so freaking GOOD!
Sorewa KISS De Hajimatta:
Please Please Me:
Unfortunately, the stigma of doing "IDOL" songs was too much for my fellow bandmates to get past, and in the end, I couldn’t convince anyone to DO any of the songs. I DID get some kind of validation though, when one day, I overheard the singer talking to the guitarist- I heard her ask him, “So... did you ever hear those Wink songs Z wanted to do?”, to which he laughingly replied “Ehh, they were alright.” LOLOL
To this day, Sorewa KISS De Hajimatta and Please Please Me are still some of my most favorite J-pop tracks out there! A year or so later, Princess Princess would release a song called “Seishun Daydream” that was quite similar to “Please Please Me”, leaving me to realize that this Beatlesy Song structure was a oft-used and loved passage!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com
