Favorite J-Albums: CoCo "Share"

CoCo "Share" Album

  Took a drive into my old hometown this past weekend, and in a nostalgic mood, I took along CoCo’s album SHARE with me. Share! You know, from CoCo’s first album STRAWBERRY all the way through to their last album SWEET& BITTER, we loved each and every one of them as stellar albums, but even then, SHARE seemed to have just this extra bit of grandeur to it! With a great opening track, solo songs for each member, an epic ending song and a sweet epilogue song, this release felt like a tightly organized concept album, and I’d lovingly refer to it as CoCo’s “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”! 

 Granted, one of the BIG reasons we heaped so much adulation onto the album was the fact that for the longest time, it was almost IMPOSSIBLE to get a copy of it. Though most of CoCo’s other CDs were easy enough to acquire through the record stores, for some reason, Share was one of those that was strictly out of print. For months after we’d gotten just about every other CoCo CD and Single out there, the girls’ mysterious 5th album remained elusive to us! It wasn’t until MANY months later that we FINALLY got our hands on it, and when we did, the experience of hearing those wonderful tunes for the first time was like opening up a whole TREASURE CHEST full of awesome melodies! 

1. Sayonara

Just listening to the opening chords of this beautiful song takes me back instantly to those cool evening walks I would take after dinner around my old neighborhood immersing myself in CoCo goodness. Such sweet, gentle voices for this song, and though I initially thought this song would have been a better album closer, now I can’t imagine the album starting any other way! One of the songs I’d initially learned as part of the huge “Super Medley” done for their final concert, when I got to see the five-girl line-up perform this one at Budokan - watching Azusa’s strong, heartfelt vocals and Rieko’s cute but sincere singing, it really took the song to another level!
Here are the girls performing it at the 1992 Budokan Concert...

2. Onegai HOLD ME TIGHT

Out of all the tracks here, Onegai Hold ME Tight is the one I was dying to hear the most. After having learned the song from the girls performing it live on CoCo’s DELUXE EDITION 1993 concert, we were soooo curious as to how the studio version sounded, and I remember one of the perks of the zany “CoCo DoCo” Movie was that there was a scene where the studio version of Onegai Hold Me Tight played in the background! Man, we’d watch that clip over and over just to hear the song!

I liked the Deluxe Edition Live performance despite the girls wearing some awful circus tutus, so you best believe when I saw them perform this at Budokan with the girls dressed FINE as heck, it became one of my favorite perfs EVER! 

  Somehow, I’ve always been a fan of the choreography for this song and thought it was snappy and eye catching, perfectly matching the fun tune, imagine my surprise when my friend Golden’s friend Dave called the Onegai Hold Me Tight Choreography as “that terrible “driving” dancing” LOLOL! Upon reflection, it DOES look like they’re driving huge invisible steering wheels, at that! Too Funny!

3. Ikanaide Natsuyasumi

  The first of the girls solo songs, Mikiyo’s Ikanaide Natsuyasumi was one of the very first songs I learned from CoCo when my friend Dan-O showed me the FOREVER Final concert and it got to Mikiyo’s showcase. She first started out with her song Furueru Kesshin, but when she followed it with Ikanaide, I could tell from the audience reaction that THIS song was a beloved crowd favorite, and I’m happy to say that once I learned it myself, it became a big, BIG fave for me, too! Mikiyo always looks so happy singing this song and I always end up smiling as well!

Side Note: I remember years later introducing the song to my friend Golden, and he said, “Hey, this song sounds like something.” I had to laugh, because of course he was referring to the song’s similar melody to the 5th Dimension’s “ (Last Night) I Didn’t Get To Sleep At All”, which we ALL noticed the first time we heard it!! AHAHA!

4. Mugon No Falsetto

This Erika solo song was the first time I ever realized how doggone IRRITATING it can be to have the fans chanting out the idol’s name over and over when the song is a BALLAD! Unlike most of CoCo’s (and most other idol groups) pop/rock songs where the fan participation is a cool and important part of the performance, having the audience saying E-REE-KAA! E-REE-KAA! during Erika’s slow and gentle singing drove me MAD!

5. Egao De NO SIDE

Maki’s very silly song Egao De No Side is one of the few songs that seemed to get even sillier watching her accompany the song (during the Budokan Concert) with equally silly dancing, and I have to say that this song isn’t really one of my faves to watch live, thankfully in the context of the album, it fits in quite nicely and brings some spunk and fun into a mostly serious section of the album!

6. Anata Toita Kisetsu

At the time SHARE came out, Rieko was already having a good bit of success with her solo career, so when it came time for her solo performance stage for the SHARE Tour, she did her latest solo single instead of her solo track off of Share, and that’s really a shame because I really, really love Anata Toita Kisetsu, and since she didn’t do it during the Share Tour, I never got to see it performed live, ever (unless you count the snippet she did in the ’93 Concert Medley)…

7. Nanikaga Michi O Yattekuru

Like Rieko, Azusa was enjoying her solo career outside of CoCo (and, as mentioned, was about to leave the group soon) and also opted to perform her newest Solo Singles instead of her Solo Share song, so like Reiko’s before it, Nanikaga’s never been performed live, at least not on any of the concerts they’ve officially released, anyway. Sigh. Would REALLY love to see this done live!

8. Himawari

The beautiful song “Himawari” was another one of the CoCo songs I’d learned from their Final Concert, this song fit into the category of songs that all girl groups must have, the “slow song sung while all the members sit elegantly on stairs” LOLOL
Below: the girls performing it during their Last Concert in 1994

9. Yume Dake Miteru

…And then we come to the immense album closer-I don’t suppose there’s anything more I can add to how much I love this song that I haven’t babbled about before, when I say that it’s my favorite song of ALL TIME from CoCo, that’s the truth! A song that starts out powerfully and gets even more and MORE intense, I get goosebumps each and every time I hear this song…
The Awesome Performance from the 1992 Budokan Concert:

10. Onagi Hoshi No Uede

After the thunderous, epic ending that Yume Dake Miteru brought down upon us, we have the gentle “Onaji Hoshi No Uede” as a sweet afterthought to close the album on a thoughtful note. This song has extra meaning for the CoCo fan, too, as Azusa was leaving the group to go solo, and it was nice to have a song saying that they’d still be wishing upon the same star in the sky, always together in heart.

PS: Although CoCo performed this song at their famous Budokan Concert, for some reason it was cut out (probably due to space restrictions) of the official release, happily they included it in the awesome “Legend Singles Live” Video Collection a few years later!

Share was the last album with five girls as Azusa would soon go on to her own solo career, and though the group has had lots of other great CDs since, in my humble opinion, SHARE remains the peak of the girls power! Even now years and years later, though my other friends’ excitement towards this album have mostly cooled off, it only takes one listen to remind me how darn AWESOME SHARE is! Though clearly a product from the 90’s, I think it still holds up fantastically well, and even now I can feel the majesty this CD has!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Favorite J-Pop Songs: Senou Azusa / Kimi To Aruiteku

When My friend Dano introduced me to the music of J-pop idols CoCo waaaaay back in the day,  the group he introduced me to was a four-piece unit. He had Two Laserdisc Concerts with the four girls, but of the two CDs he owned of them, one was their latest album featuring four members called "Sweet and Bitter, but the OTHER CD was an older Greatest Hits package that featured not four but FIVE girls. When I inquired about the extra member, Dano flatly stated,“That extra girl left to try a solo career, but didn’t do too well”, and that was where the mysterious “Azusa Senou” stood for me.

As we got more and more into the group however, I became more and more curious about CoCo's earlier work, and I was ready to explore the releases with Azusa in the group. I even mused how funny it would be, if after we’d gotten a chance to hear the earlier stuff with her, we ended up really liking her! And when I finally DID get around to seeing the Five-Member Coco in action (during their classic Budokan Concert, no less), that’s EXACTLY what happened! I was so blown away by Azusa’s awesome singing ability and pretty looks, that soon enough I was trying to get all of her CDs, Singles and Concert Laserdiscs!

Though I’ve already blogged about some of my favorite singles from Azusa, one of my very, very VERY favorite tunes from her wasn’t a single at all, rather a track off of her (very good) album CRYSTAL EYES, a J-pop-perfect crafted masterpiece called Kimi to Aruiteku. This was one helluva catchy song, and you could tell by watching her sing the song in concert that this was a tune very dear to her. By the time I saw her singing the song on her last Concert disc, her heart swelling with emotion as tears trickled down her face, I knew that this was quite possibly my favorite song of all time from her!

  For years I’ve resisted posting about this song because it was never a “Single” proper and there are so many other singles I still have to talk about, but just the other night I had busted out Crystal Eyes and was blown away ALL OVER again of how goddamn good this song is, and just HAVE to share!

Though her “After I Miss You” Concert Performance is probably the more emotional one, I’ve decided to share the performance from her First Concert tour, where Azusa had just started her solo career and was really in her “prime"! The Live Band is groovin' and Azusa is just rockin' along! Check It Out!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

What A Difference Five Years Makes!

One thing cool about watching older concerts of artists I love is that you get to see how much they’ve changed over the years, and no performance is a better example of this than Idol group CoCo covering this nifty little pop tune called  “Koisuru Niwatori”.

The first clip is CoCo performing the song at their very first concert ever in 1989, and the second performance is of their final, farewell concert in 1994, so FIVE YEARS have gone by in the time between and you can clearly see in the songs how much they’ve GROWN as singers and performers!

In the first clip, the girls are shy, nervous and though they’re undeniably happy, they seem to give off a vibe more like an elementary school production than a live concert…The SECOND clip is of CoCo as the seasoned, BELOVED professionals who are confindently and playfully singing  happily to an ADORING crowd!

Koisuru Niwatori was part of one of my favorite sets (weren’t they ALL?) in the Forever ’94 Concert which included Hanbun Fushigi, Tenshi No Chime, Haru Milkyway and Otome No Rehearsal, and was one of two songs in the set that were never officially recorded by CoCo: Koisuru Niwatori and the equally adorable Shippo No Kimochi! In fact, since I'd already ripped the laserdisc for the Koisuru song, I decided to upload the WHOLE SET, which you can enjoy in the next post, if you so desire...

PS: YES, I'm well aware what a childishly SILLY song Koisuru Niwatori is. Just go with it.

FWIW: My CoCo Song Rankings!

Looking for my CoCo Song Rankings on my HD, I was  surprised to realize that it had been so long since I had updated it, I no longer even had a word document file of it! Locating the last typed and printed out list, I saw that the last time I’d updated the ranking was in May of 1996!!!

In that time, so many things have happened, not LEAST of which is the acquiring of a whole slew of new Concert and video footage via the internet explosion of YOUTUBE and Online Trading! So much “new” insight to the songs we’d already knew and loved, it was inevitable that some of the songs would move around on the list.

And of course, the BIGGEST factor is TIME itself. It’s been over 15 years since I last made the list, and my music tastes have changed and, hopefully, expanded, making me see all the music I’ve loved (and not-so-much-loved) in a new and appreciable light. Going through the list anew, I found many songs that I’d LOVED before have become milder, while songs that I once thought were only “So-So’ have moved up to become true favorites.

I guess that’s natural for just about any group you love. When you are first getting into them, everything is fresh and fantastic, and usually the latest acquisition is the “hot” item of the moment, but once you’ve had a few years to examine the artist’s body of work as a whole, you begin to see the ones that have stood the test of time and have become engrained in your heart.

Ahhn~ enough waxing philosophically, I’ve spent a whole week re-examining the tracks and a whole evening re-typing this list, it’s time to unveil the artifact! See the songs that have moved up, and moved down, and also take notice of the fact that those questionable tunes off of that zany SAMPLE BATTLERS TOKYO that were at the bottom of the list have not budged one inch over the years- there’s SOME THINGS that not even TIME can make better! LOL!

Z’s CoCo SONG RANKING!

01. Yume Dake Miteru

02. Naze?

03. You’re My Treasure

04. Otome No Rehearsal

05. Koi No Junction

06. Omoide Ga Ippai

07. Hanbun Fushiji

08. Moonlight Express

09. Kimagure SWING

10. Chiisana Ippo De

11. Shiawase Kamone

12. A Girl’s Night

13. Kore Kara

14. Asayake Riverside

15. News Na Mirai

16. Yokohama Boy Style

17. Sono Mune no Tobira

18. Onegai HOLD ME TIGHT

19. Tenshi No Chime

20. Minna Daijyobu

21. Equal Romance

22. Natsuzora No Dreamer

23. Muteki No ONLY YOU

24. Yasashisa No Hoosoku

25. Kimi Ga Kureta JEWEL

26. Dakara Namida To Yobanaide

27. Circus Game

28. Haru Milkyway

29. Ikanaide Natsuyasumi

30. Fuyu No Biryuushi

31. Sayonara

32. SWEET ENERGY

33. Kimi No Uta, Boku No Uta

34. Natsu No Tomodachi

35. Kamisama Ijiwaru Jyanai

36. Wedding

37. Shabon No Tameiki

38. TWO HEARTS

39. Ame No Jealousy

40. Ashita No Koi

41. Himawari

42. Tasogare Tsushin

43. Onaji Hoshi Ni Uede

44. Yume Wa Neumranai

45. Anata Toita Kisetsu

46. WINNING

47. Itte Shimatta BUS

48. Sayonara Kara Hajimaru Monogatari

49. Yasashisa Ni Kaerenai

50. Anata Dakara Suki Nano

51. Sennen Biyaku

52. Tsuki Hi, Ni Hi

53. Yuki No Hiwa Dareka No Kotowo

54. Nanikaga Michi Wo Yattekuru

55. OUT OF BLUE

56. Kimi Wo Yuku

57. THE FIRST SNOW

58. Yume No Eien

59. Melody

60. LIVE VERSION

61. Miss LONELY

62. Kokoro No Shozai

63. Yousetachi No Rhapsody

64. Sasayaka Na Yuuwaku

65. Mugon No Falsetto

66. Egao De NO-SIDE

67. Misty Heart

68. Picnic

69. Muteki No ONLY YOU (Horror Version)

70. Live Version2

71. Fushigi Pocket

72. TeruTeru Bouzu

73. Katasumuri

The Highs and Lows of CoCo Stage Outfits

One of my Very Favorite CoCo Outfits: Budokan 1992

More Faves: The 1993 Deluxe Edition Concert

The other night Car was telling me about how much she disliked Kazunari Nino’s outfit during Ararshi’s performance of WISH on this past year’s MUSIC STATION SUPER LIVE, and of how despite this, she couldn’t stop watching it.

 I had to tell her that ugly oufits are about the biggest quirk I canNOT over look, and mentioned that there was a CoCo Live concert  where, during the last set,  I hated the girls’ outfits so much, I just couldn’t watch it. In fact, through the 15(!) years of Coco being one of my very favorite j-pop groups of all time, I probably haven’t watched that part of the concert more than 4 times.

The even MORE ironic thing is that  those outfits appeared during the last set of CoCo’s famed Budokan concert (Azusa’s Farewell show) and besides being my FAVORITE CONCERT from the girls, the first two sets that preceded the ugly ones are just about my FAVORITE outfits from them!

Fave Outfits: Set One of the Budokan Concert

Fave Outfits: Set Two of The Budokan Concert

Car said, you have GOT to upload those pictures so I can see your idea of a “good” outfit and a “bad” outfit. Remembering how much she hated most of Princess Princess’ stage costumes, I said, “Somehow, I think you’ll think even the GOOD outfits are crappy!” AHAHAHA But anyway, since I'd already screen-capped most of them, I figured it couldn't hurt!


So Here's the stuff...Here's an example of a GOOD Outfit, one of my faves from the Natsu 92 Concert:

 And right below, is the screencap of my LEAST favorite outfit of all time from the girls, one that dissuades me from EVER putting on side 3 of my CoCo Budokan Concert Laserdisc!

Drumroll, Please....

GAK! I don't know if you can see how awful those suits are in the last one. Looks like someone raided a Hotel Curtain closet for material. Sigh, It's too bad because they're singing the only live performance I have of "Tasogare Tsushin", a song I really like!!

Favorite J-Pop Singles: CoCo / Yume Dake Miteru

CoCo was one of those groups where I had not one but three favorite songs from them, and at any given time of the year, any one of them might be my Number One Favorite!
CoCo was the very first j-pop group I fell in love with (and in fact was the catalyst that would make me totally jump into all things Japanese from music to movies and dramas) so it was natural that I would have strong feelings for just about everything they did, but my “Top Three” (as it were) were even EXTRA special to me, and those songs were:

Naze? (off of album Straight)

You’re My Treasure (off of Sweet and Bitter) and

Yume Dake Miteru (off of album Share).

All three of these songs are number ones in their own way: "Naze?" is, in my opinion, CoCo’s Perfect Pop Tune, absolutely brilliant in its catchy tune, driving beat, and great vocals, (plus the best bridge ever), and "You’re My Treasure (Tooi Yakusoku)" is a sentimental favorite, for this was the first song I loved when I was first getting into the group, and listening to it now, reminds me of those days going to my friend’s house and listening to and discussing what precious information we could find of CoCo, back when info was sooo hard to come by!
And then there’s Yume Dake Miteru.
From the first time I heard it on CoCo’s Complete Singles Collection, I knew there was something special about it. Unlike most of the idol songs at the time with jangly guitars, programmed drum beats and bright keyboards, this one sounded at once both HUGE and EPIC, as if it were the soundtrack to a great Space opera! Opening with a synthesizer symphony and grounded by a heavy thumping beat, this song would slowly build and build, ultimately working its way up to a crashing crescendo!

I didn’t know just HOW epic the song could get until I got the CoCo Budokan memorial Laserdisc to see the group perform at the Nihon BUDOKAN.
BUDOKAN!! MAN, I cannot even begin tell you how much this concert blew me away. For one thing, this was the first time I got to see the band as a five piece with lead singer Azusa still in the group. You see, up until this point, we’d only ever seen CoCo Concerts 1993 DE-LUXE EDITION and CoCo Final Concert FOREVER- that is; we’d only seen CoCo performing as a four-piece unit. Aside from the songs on SINGLES and ICHIBAN, we really didn’t know anything about that mysterious fifth member Senou Azusa, and were quite happy to enjoy the performances we saw featuring only Maki, Rieko, Erika and Mikiyo. But then we saw the Budokan Concert, and watching the group with Azusa fronting them, I suddenly realized for the first time how vibrant and COMPLETE the group felt. THIS was truly how the group was meant to be! Songs that I’d loved from the Forever and Deluxe Edition concerts like Onegai Hold Me Tight, Hanbun Fushigi, Otome No Rehearsal and Naze? took on a whole new dimension, because the versions we’d been watching up until then had in fact been drastically changed from the way it was performed when they were a five-piece- when Azusa left the group, all the songs they’d performed up to that point had to be restructured for a 4 piece band to do: all Azusa’s lines had to be reassigned to other members to sing, and the dance routines had to be re-worked to fill the void left by the missing fifth member. Even stranger was when (like in the case of Naze?) they DIDN’T restructure the dance moves, and there was a big HOLE in the stage when the girls froze in their “positions”.

So to suddenly see the group working like a well-oiled IDOL machine, dancing the routines as they were meant to be danced and singing the lines they’d sung on record was nothing short of HEAVEN!! Not only that, the thrill of playing at the Budokan mixed with the sadness of Azusa’s departure made for a concert where EVERYONE was pouring their hearts into every performance!

Side One set me up with a GRAND opening, starting with Haru Milkyway, Live Version, Hanbun Fushiji, and a particularly heartfelt Otome No Rehearsal, where, in the middle of her lines, Azusa becomes overwhelmed with feelings and happy tears start rolling down her face! From there they did some solo songs then back for a fun version of Natsu No Tomodachi… Then it was time For Yume Dake Miteru.

At this point in the concert, a huge screen had dropped down in front of the stage and the audience was treated to a short movie clip as the girls took a brief intermission. Then the clip ended, and as Side Two began, the huge screen slowly began rising up like a curtain lifting, and as the cameras focused on the posed silhouettes of CoCo, WHAM! Yume Dake Miteru started!!

First off I have to say that this silky green ensemble the girls are wearing is just about my all-time favorite outfit worn by the girls, and that’s saying something because I’ve loved LOTS of their concert costumes. Man, they look so, so nice in these dresses!!! And to make it even more special, they wore it for this one performance only, and when they returned onstage after this song, they’d changed to the next outfit!

Another great thing about this perf is that the dance routine for this song almost seems to have been tailor-made for the Budokan Concert. The huge stage has clearly been taken into consideration for the “moves” of this song, and as soon as the song starts, the girls do their best to cover the entire floor, moving out up the runway towards the stage ready to take on the audience, then dividing to extend the performance to the very edges of the arena’s extremities!

Watch this and the girls individual personalities emerge:

If these was any doubt that Rieko was the “princess” of the group, you’d wonder no longer, as her lines are just adorable, and I love how she has to psyche herself up before she sings her part, expending ALL her energy into getting her lines out! Maki has always been the emotional one and I don’t know if there’s anyone who loved this group more than her, and you can see she’s already getting misty eyed, and it would only get stronger as the concert moved on! Erika’s the genki “best friend” member of the group, and for this perf, she’s all smiles, rallying the audience with her arms and running back and forth with energetic gusto! Mikiyo has always been the kind of aloof one, but I love how she always smiles proudly after every line she sings, as if to say “Yatta! I did it!” And then there’s Azusa! MAN, what a singer! Watching the way she just absolutely belts out her lines with the power and confidence of a seasoned singer, its no wonder Pony Canyon wanted to spirit her away towards a solo career!

With so much running integrated into this performance, I have to say that every other performance I’ve seen of this song since (like on Music Station and the like) has looked a bit strange as they would be doing basically the same dance moves as Budokan, but running only two or three feet back and forth. In Budokan, it’s like they’re going for a goal running the distance of a lit-up football field towards a total otaku touchdown!! (and in that, I must say they succeeded)

As the song slows down to its finish and the girls retreat back to the back of the stage to resume their poses, I love how Azusa looks over her shoulder, as if to say, “We Came, We Saw, We Kicked Your Ass!”

Coming right off their awesome album SHARE, I think its safe to say that for this BUDOKAN show, CoCo was at their absolute PEAK! Emotions are running high during this show because it is Azusa’s very last concert before departing to a solo career, and the girls are making every minute count: They look absolutely beautiful, their voices have NEVER been better, and they are pouring their HEARTS into each song they sang! This Concert is the finest example of what the group was all about, and there’s NO BETTER example of this than their majestic performance of YUME DAKE MITERU.

They would later repeat this dramatic formula for their twelfth single CHIISANA IPPO DE (to satisfying success, I might add) but for sheer magnitude and importance in the anthology of CoCo, Yume Dake Miteru will always be the group’s “A Day In The Life”!

Funny thing about this single: Though it’s a Favorite J-Pop Single, the version that I love is actually the ALBUM version. One of the best things about the live version of Yume Dake Miteru was that it had an insanely great ENDING, and the single version FADED OUT! So imagine my surprise when, listening to the SHARE CD for the very first time, and hearing the song have the SAME ENDING as the LIVE CONCERT!!! WOWWW- It seems that they’d only faded out the single version in consideration of radio airtime!  WHEW!!!

Lend your eyes and ears to CoCo, performing my favorite song from them, wearing my favorite outfits, at my Favorite Concert from them! It’s a J-pop Favorite Triple Threat!!!

The CoCo DVD Box Set is Here!!!!

Yes, you read right, the CoCo DVD Box Set is finally here- AND IT IS BEAUTIFUL! I cannot express how EXCITING it is to hold actual DVD cases of each of these concerts...after years of temptation to purchase Hong Kong Bootlegs JUST to have the CoCo concerts on disc, it REALLY is like a DREAM COME TRUE to have the REAL thing in my possession!

Long Time Coming: The CoCo DVD Box Set!!

Ever since the arrival of DVDs on the video landscape, me and my friends have been scrambling to acquire DVD versions of all those J-pop Concerts and PVs that we’d cherished and loved in the Laserdisc/VHS age, and while we’ve been blessed enough to have seen both Princess Princess AND Moritaka Chisato get the DVD treatment, Idol Groups like CoCo and Ribbon were strangely absent- it seemed to us that Pony Canyon just didn’t think it was worth it for them to put out anything by those groups!

It wasn’t until they got around to digitally remastering CoCo’s music in (more or less) complete CD sets that we began to have hope that Pony Canyon would finally give CoCo’s video catalog the digital treatment it deserved- and as if to assure us, they even included a taste in the form of a bonus in the CD set- a DVD of “Legend”, the video/live singles collection! Was this a sign of good things to come?!

Well, we were to find out that YES, this WAS a turn in our favor, for we were to soon read of an announcement that Pony Canyon was re-releasing both CoCo AND fellow Paradise Gogo Alums RIBBON’s videos in DVD Box Sets!!!! YATTA!

When we finally got the listing of the contents of the CoCo box set, there was both GOOD news, and a bit of SAD news as well- Thought they were to include all of their concert videos (including-thank God- The BUDOKAN and FOREVER concerts), they were to leave out CoCo’s Video Clips collection THE COCO COLLECTION in favor of the aforementioned LEGEND, a move that truly bummed me!

Maybe it’s the fact that I came into CoCo just as their final album “Sweet and Bitter” came out that I’m so nostalgically attached to the CoCo Collection (as the video collection was basically the five music video clips from said album), but I find this an important oversight! This is the video where the PV for “You’re My Treasure” is from, for crying out loud!

Ah, but after digging out and re-watching all my carefully archived CoCo laserdiscs, my excitement returned, and I was to find myself saying to myself “I can’t believe I’m going to finally get these concerts on DVD!”

Here are my highs and lows of the upcoming COCO DVD BOX SET!!!

HEART-TO-HEART / CoCo First Concert

Like most first concerts, this one is a bit hard to watch at times because the girls are so reserved and unsure of themselves at this time, but it is interesting to see and compare these performances with their later, confident takes in later concerts. Take this performance of “Koisuru Niwatori” with the same song in “Forever”, and you see a group that has grown to become the idol group’s idol group!

HARU WA COCO KARA / Live at Nakano Sunplaza 1991

The girls were in fine form touring for their incredible third album STRAIGHT when they caught this terrific show, and what a transformation the girls had made since their first outing in Heart To Heart! By this point each member’s “role” had become more clearly defined, with Azusa taking the “Leader” role, Rieko the “Cute” role, Maki the “Friendly” role, Erika the “Happy” role, and Mikiyo as the “Spacey” one! Ahahaha! Highlight performances for me include “News Na Mirai” and the first ever perf of “Naze?”

BUDOKAN '93 / Haru Wa CoCo Kara Special

With her awesome singing, it seemed inevitable that the powers that be would spin Azusa off onto a solo career, and so it was that the 1992 tour would be her last with the group. At this time, CoCo was enjoying what I consider to be their absolute peak- hot on the heels of their album SHARE, and it was announced that Azusa’s farewell concert would be held at the Nihon Budokan!!

The occasion was marked with a stellar four-sided Laserdisc complete showcasing the concert shot on film! Almost the entire concert was presented here (at the time, I actually DID think the whole concert was here, but found they’d extracted “Onaji Hoshi Ni Uede” for later) and that in itself was rare and appreciated!

Special mention must be made of how emotional this concert is for the girls here. Most concerts would save the tearful goodbyes for the concert closure, but I love the way that emotion overtakes the girls in the most random of places! Azusa sheds some happy tears during a performance of “Otome No Rehearsal”, and at the end of the second half when they are performing “Kimi No Uta, Boku No Uta”, it’s clear just how close Rieko and Azusa were!

Highlights: The aforementioned Otome and Kimi No Uta, Hanbun Fushigi, Naze, Shiawase Kamone, Onegai HOLD ME TIGHT and a killer perf of "Yume Dake Miteru” that is probably my favorite CoCo performance of all time!

NATSU ’92 Concert Tour

After the epic Budokan concert, almost any follow-up would seem lackluster, (I remember even uberfan Dan-O being disappointed with this pared-down video-shot concert), but with the simultaneous release of both Azusa and Rieko’s solo concerts at the same time, budget was surely on everyone’s minds…

Still, there are so many good things this concert has to offer!

First off, this is the first concert featuring the newly restructured 4-member CoCo, and it is interesting to hear the old familiar tunes reworked as to redistribute Azusa’s lines to the other girls. And then there is the wonderful SOUND! This Concert is probably the best recorded of all of them, and the thumpin’ performance of “Naze” alone is worth the price of admission!

Most of the fun is hearing some of the new songs like ‘Yasashisa no Hoosoku”, and “Natsuzora No Dreamer” performed for the first time, and we even get to see a perf of “Kamisama Ijiwaru Jyanai”!

On a side note, this concert looks like it was taken after a well-deserved break- the girls look radiant, Maki in particular looks great, and Erika looked slightly sunburned!

CoCo DOCO

Now, THIS is the one I have a problem with. I mean, I applaud them for leaving out “Waiiha De CoCo”, but really, there’s simply NO justification for the DVD set to exclude “The CoCo Collection” in favor of including THIS strange venture.

Watching this David Lynchian abstract movie reminded me of the first time I saw The Beatles’ “Magical Mystery Tour”…excitement leading up to the initial viewing, followed by crushing disappointment!

The story of a CoCo-Obsessed Indian man (looking a lot like that Hindu that taught Rainbow Man his powers) who uses his magicks to collect the most valuable of CoCo Collectables:The girls themselves!

Actually, I’m making this sound better than it is. Nuff about this!

(The only other thing I’ll mention is that Dayone does a killer imitation of that Indian dude!)

1993 DELUXE EDITION

This was one of the very first CoCo concerts I’d seen and owned, and when you’re consumed with CoCo obsession and have only a handful of Videos, they tend to be watched and re-watched till they’ve reached mythic proportions!

They did a funny twist on the arrangement here, having the blistering “Equal Romance” encore at the end of the show appearing as the OPENING for the Deluxe Edition Video, INSTANTLY getting you into the fever of the performance, and it’s probably one of the best Disc openers ever!

This concert was taped during this odd period in CoCo’s careers, where they had the girls performing carnival tricks and singing, calling it the CoCo Showtime (or something) and though we’re only getting the tail-end of it, there’s still enough of the gimmicks involved here to make me cringe- Gads, they’ve got the girls dressed in tutus, riding unicycles and juggling while singing!!!

Fortunately, there are enough cool performances here to keep this disc in the “fave” category, and the disc is even capped off with the PVs of both Koi No Junction AND Yokohama Boy Style!

FOREVER / Tokyo Bay NK Hall Final Concert

Although this is CoCo’s very last concert, the show highlights the span of the group’s entire 5 year career, creating more a celebration of CoCo rather than the END, and I know that for me as well as a handful of other friends, this is the concert that made me realize how special this group was, and made me want to see and learn more about them!

When you are watching the girls go through the songs, they are so happy performing the tunes, you at once realized what an awesome backlog of terrific songs this group had. After a kick-ass opening with Koi No Junction and a showcase of their solo songs, they came back with a suite of songs from their Strawberry era; this set has to be one of my faves of all time! And when you thought it couldn’t get better, they unveiled this Super Medley running over 14 minutes and covering the highlights of practically their entire catalog!! For new fans like us, it was really like a crash course in CoCo's Music!

From there they went onto covering songs from later albums like Share and Sylph, and by the time they got to the final Sweet and Bitter album songs, we were all set for the emotional conclusion to the concert. It was hard to get through their melancholy takes on both Minna Daijyobu (which started out happy, til they realized this was the last time they'd be doing it) and last single You're My Treasure, and I don't think there will ever be a sadder song than the final, live performance of "Kore Kara", hontoni.

A wonderful, memorable concert followed by an equally touching documentary following CoCo as they go about working on their last tour together, through rehearsals and arrangements, to all the backstage hijinks during a live concert, all building up to that last final show.

LEGEND

When constructing a sort of “Greatest Hits in video format” for CoCo’s singles, Pony Canyon decided to take several different perfs of each song and edit them into a seamless overview of the different looks of the girls’ career. What they would do was select ONE of the perfs, and, using the sound from that clip, edit in other performances. The great thing about this was that they drew their perfs not only from other concerts we had, but a limited few that we’d never seen before!

It was here that I first got to see CoCo singing Equal Romance on Paradise GoGo, (that idol show that started it all!) a cool perf of “Muteki No Only You” from the highly touted “Otomejuku Matsuri” concert, and it even included excerpts of an absolutely awesome performance of "Natsuzora No Dreamer” that had been cut out of the Deluxe Edition concert! Throw in studio footage of the girls during the recording of “Sylph”, and you had a pretty entertaining package!

* * * * * * *

This awesome DVD Box is set for Release September 16, 2009, and while it retails for ￥ 31,500 Amazon Japan has already slashed the price to a comfortable ￥ 23,310. My first thought was to wait and see how much CD Japan would be listing it at, but yappari, I couldn’t wait and ordered it right there!

Hopefully if enough Otomejuku fans order the CoCo Box Set, this will open up venues for more Pony Canyon releases like the AWOL “CoCo Collection” and the supposed RIBBON DVD Box Set, which has strangely dropped off the Site, out of mind and sight!

Come on, Pony Canyon! Gotta give us fanboys our due!!!

Comments From Original Post:

Yametekudasai wrote:

Kick me out of the club! I TOTALLY forgot about "Waiiha!"

I read some paranoid posts on the "2ch" message board about the box set being taken off the Pony Canyon "coming soon" listings but I double checked and it's still there.

The ribbon set is still MIA, unfortunately...

zdorama replied to Yametekudasai’s comment:

It may be paranoid, but even I have to wonder why the CoCo DVD Box Set still says "tenative" next to the title.

You would think that something that's supposedly coming out around a month from now would have dropped that by now.

And with the sneaky way the ribbon DVD set disappeared, I wouldn't put it past them to pull the set without even a mention!

Yametekudasai wrote:

I think the actual name of the DVD package is still temporary. I'll believe that the release date is still solid.

I am quite concerned, however, about the quick pull of the ribbon DVD collection. Come on guys, the eighties is over -- let's move on to OUR decade!

p.s. if the ribbon DVD box isn't released by November or December then I'm gonna ask Masa to find me the P^2 DVD set!

zdorama replied to Yametekudasai’s comment

Good luck with that Puri Puri DVD set- I saw on Yahoo Japan someone selling for $700.00!

Gads, I can't believe both you AND I didn't buy that when it came out. Actually, I can't even remember if I KNEW about it! All I know is that my Princess Princess DVD collection doesn't have Platinum Days I and II, and that's a damn shame, as they're SO important!

BTW, Did I EVER get a copy of the Platinum Days you ripped? I was searching for it the other day, and just could not find it! So I watched the Laserdisc again.

sigh.

Yametekudasai wrote:

Holy shiieeettttt!!! I was just being cheap/poor. $700?!! What the hell do they think this is, Kikaida laserdiscs or something?!!

I feel sick...

FYI Amazon Japan is still the cheapest online place for the CoCo box, according to this website (now called: "CoCo SPECIAL DVD-BOX") And STILL the cheapest: I got the e-mail saying I saved an additional Y222 on the box set! BANZAI!