are a
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese female
pop music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...
duo of the late 1970s and early 1980s, featuring
Mie (Mitsuyo Nemoto, born March 9, 1958) and
Keiko Masuda
(born on September 2, 1957, in Shizuoka, Japan) is a Japanese pop singer and actress. She is better known by her nickname Kei, and is one half of Pink Lady, the top idol group in Japan in the 1970s. In the United States, they are known for t ...
(formerly Kei, born September 2, 1957). In Japan, they are remembered for a run of pop-chart hits from roughly 1976 to 1979, but in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, they are best known for their short-lived 1980
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
TV variety show ''
Pink Lady'', later released on DVD under the title ''Pink Lady and Jeff.''
Pink Lady is one of only two Japanese artists to have reached the
''Billboard'' Top 40, hitting No. 37 with the single "
Kiss in the Dark";
the other was
Kyu Sakamoto
was a Japanese singer and actor.
He was best known outside Japan for his international hit song "Ue o Muite Arukō" (known as " Sukiyaki" in English-speaking markets), which was sung in Japanese and sold over 13 million copies. It reached numbe ...
with the original Japanese-language version of "
Sukiyaki". They are also the first Japanese act ever to have performed in
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
,
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
, in November 1980.
In June 1979,
''Billboard'' stated the duo had sales of over 72 million in Japan,
and stated in September 1980 that Pink Lady's singles had grossed over 40 million, their album releases over 25 million, and their TV appearances, such as commercials and product sponsorship, near 35 million—a combined total exceeding 100 million.
Biography
Early history
Mitsuyo Nemoto and Keiko Masuda were childhood friends who grew up and attended school together in Japan's
Shizuoka Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,637,998 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the northea ...
. In 1973, they attended the
Yamaha Music School
The Yamaha Music Foundation is an organization established in 1966 by the authority of the Japanese Ministry of Education for the purpose of promoting music education and music popularization. It continued a program of music classes begun by Yamah ...
in
Hamamatsu
is a city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. the city had an estimated population of 791,707 in 340,591 households, making it the prefecture's largest city, and a population density of . The total area of the site was .
Overview
...
. In May 1974, the duo formed a folk group called and passed Yamaha's audition.
Nemoto and Masuda first appeared in March 1976 on
NTV NTV may refer to:
Television
* NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh
* NTV (India), Telugu regional channel
* NTV (Kenya)
* NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia
* NTV (Newport Televis ...
's prime-time TV talent show ''
Star Tanjō!
is a Japanese talent show from Nippon Television that ran from 1971 to 1983. On October 24, 1982, the series was retitled to reflect its switch from monaural to stereo broadcasting. On April 3, 1983, it was again retitled to .
The show was cre ...
'', performing a cover of Pīman's 1974 song .
They were showcased as a cute, fresh-faced folk duo dressed in bib overalls. The duo's performance earned them a contract with
Victor Entertainment
, also known as in Japan, is a subsidiary of JVCKenwood that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It is known as JVC Entertainment in countries where Sony Music Ente ...
. They were also affiliated with the talent management firm , which gave them a makeover to compete with the teen trio
Candies. Songwriter/producer
Shunichi Tokura
, is a Japanese composer and was the chair of the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers (JASRAC) from 12 August 2010 to 31 March 2016.
Early life
Tokura began playing the violin at age 4. He spent his elementary and hi ...
named the duo "Pink Lady" after the
cocktail, while
Yū Aku
(occasionally credited as You Aku) (February 7, 1937 – August 1, 2007), was a Japanese lyricist, poet, and novelist.
Early life
Yū Aku was born as Hiroyuki Fukada (深田公之, Fukada Hiroyuki) in Awaji Island, Hyogo, Japan. His pare ...
was assigned to write lyrics for their songs. Tokura and Aku previously composed hit songs for
Linda Yamamoto
, Chinese: 山本稲; pinyin: ''shan bendao'') is a Japanese singer and model whose latest hit song was in 1973.
Biography
Yamamoto was born March 4, 1951 in Kitakyushu to a Japanese mother and an American father. Her father was a U.S. service ...
and
Finger 5
was a Japanese pop group, initially composed of the four Okinawan Tamamoto brothers Kazuo, Mitsuo, Masao, Akira, and sister Taeko. Their greatest hit was .
The Okinawa-based group performed catchy songs, wore matching outfits and had choreo ...
. Hajime Doi supervised the duo's dance choreography while Yōko Noguchi designed their costumes. In addition, Nemoto and Masuda took the stage names of and , respectively. By the time the girls re-appeared on the show five months later, their image had completely changed - they were now dressed in slinky, beaded, short-skirted white dresses, performing upbeat pop tunes.
Peak of popularity
Pink Lady epitomizes the Japanese concept of the pop-star , singing catchy, hook-filled pop songs, often with a disco flavor (in later years especially), and performing almost perfectly synchronized dances to accompany their songs.
They made their debut in August 1976 with the single "
Pepper Keibu
is the debut single by the Japanese hit duo Pink Lady. The single was released on August 25, 1976, under the Victor label. "Pepper Keibu" reached a peak chart position of number four, with a total of 1,050,000 sales. The titular song won the du ...
", which peaked at No. 4 on
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...
's charts. From 1976 to 1979, Pink Lady had a streak of nine No. 1 hits starting with "
S.O.S."; five of which were consecutive million-selling singles according to Oricon; these include "
Nagisa no Sindbad
is Pink Lady's fourth single release, released on June 10, 1977, with a total of 1,450,000 sales, This single stayed at the number-one spot for eight weeks.
According to Oricon, this was the best selling single of 1977.
The song's dance choreog ...
", "
Wanted," "
UFO
An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...
" (their biggest-selling single, with 1.95 million copies sold), "
Southpaw, and "
Monster".
This record was held until February 1983, when
Seiko Matsuda
, known professionally as , is a Japanese pop singer and songwriter, known for being one of the most popular Japanese idols of the 1980s. Since then, she is still actively releasing new singles and albums, doing annual summer concert tours, win ...
's "Himitsu no Hanazono" became her 10th consecutive No. 1 single. With their 1978 single "
Chameleon Army", Pink Lady stayed at Oricon's No. 1 position for a combined total of 63 weeks - a record they held until
B'z achieved a total of 64 weeks in January 2015 with their single "
Uchōten". The duo became commercial pitchwomen for various products, ranging from shampoo to radios to children's books to
ramen
is a Japanese noodle dish. It consists of served in a broth; common flavors are soy sauce and miso, with typical toppings including , nori (dried seaweed), menma (bamboo shoots), and scallions. Ramen has its roots in Chinese noodle di ...
noodles. Just about every product Pink Lady endorsed enjoyed a massive uptick in sales.
As one example,
Ito En
() is a Japanese multinational drinks company specializing in tea production, distribution, and sales. Ito En is the largest green tea distributor in Japan. The Ito En Group includes subsidiaries based in Japan, Indonesia, the United States, Aus ...
's business skyrocketed when the duo said on TV that they lost weight after drinking 10 cups of
oolong tea a day, triggering a massive demand and prompting Ito En to order 5,000 tons of oolong tea in 1979 and revolutionize the sales of canned oolong tea a year later.
The peak of Pink Lady's popularity was in 1978, during which they headlined a concert at
Korakuen Stadium
was a stadium in Tokyo, Japan. Completed in 1937, it was originally used for baseball, and was home to the Yomiuri Giants for nearly 50 years. For various periods of time, it was also the home stadium of six other professional Japanese baseba ...
in Tokyo with over 100,000 fans in attendance.
In addition, they made their first concert appearance in the United States (at the
Tropicana Tropicana may refer to:
Companies
*Tropicana Entertainment, a former casino company that owned several Tropicana-branded casinos
*Tropicana Products, a Chicago-based food company known for orange juice
Hotels and nightclubs
*Tropicana Casino & Re ...
in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
),
and starred in their first major full-length motion picture titled .
The duo also traveled to
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
to film a TV special and have photos taken for a special photobook. Furthermore, they became cartoon stars with the airing of , a 35-episode
anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
television series directed by
Katsuhiko Taguchi
is a Japanese rally driver.
Career
Taguchi began rallying in 1994.http://www.ralliart.com/katsu/profile/index.html He based most of his rallying in Australia and New Zealand, competing in his first World Rally Championship event on Rally New Z ...
and aired on
Tokyo 12 Channel. The series was commissioned by T&C Music, with animation production by
Toei Animation
() is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including ''Sally the Witch,'' ''GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' ''Mazinger Z'', ''Galaxy Express 999'', ''Cutie Honey'', ''Dr. Slump'', ' ...
.
Voice actresses
Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...
Michiko Nomura
is a Japanese actress and voice actress.
Career
Nomura was previously affiliated with Tokyo Actor's Consumer's Cooperative Society, then Aoni Production and now she is affiliated with Ken Production, an agency founded by the late Kenji Utsumi ...
and
Junko Hori
is a Japanese actress and voice actress represented by Production Baobab.
She is known as the voice of the protagonists in 3 Fujiko Fujio works, ''Obake no Q-tarō'', ''Ninja Hattori-kun'', and '' Chimpui''. As a dub artist she is known for the ...
voiced Mie and Kei respectively. Pink Lady won the Grand Prix at two of Japan's most prestigious music awards, the
20th Japan Record Awards and All Japan Popular Music Awards.
Between 1977 and 1979, Pink Lady hosted nine television programs between four networks, ranging from children's shows to
variety shows
Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a compèr ...
and game shows. Because many of these shows aired on the same day, Mie and Kei had to commute from one network to another, with both of them having an average daily sleep time of 45 minutes. The duo's hectic schedule created the term in Japan's entertainment world.
Pink Lady's net worth at the time was estimated to be between 20 billion and 50 billion, but T&C Music initially paid Mie and Kei 300,000 per month each on their first year; afterwards, their salary was raised to 3 million per month. As for the rest of the profits, it was reported that T&C Music was a subsidiary of a secret firm run by a
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the ter ...
syndicate, which collected 70% of the earnings.
However, New Year's Eve 1978 represented the beginning of a downturn for Pink Lady. Mie and Kei turned down an invitation to perform on
NHK
, also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee.
NHK operates two terrestr ...
's long-running annual New Year's Eve television music program ''
Kōhaku Uta Gassen
, more commonly known simply as ''Kōhaku'', is an annual New Year's Eve television special produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. It is broadcast live simultaneously on television and radio, nationally and internationally by the NHK net ...
'' (''Red and White Song Battle'') to host their own TV special on NTV.
Their decision backfired, as ''Kohaku'' garnered ratings nine times higher than Pink Lady's show. In addition, T&C Music announced that they had invited students from a school for the blind to the studio for the taping of the show, but the school denied that any such arrangement had been made. Critics accused Pink Lady of using blind children to promote their own TV special.
The duo were not invited to perform again on ''Kōhaku'' the following year, and in fact did not perform on the annual special until 1988 - well after the duo had disbanded.
In May 1979, Pink Lady performed a charity concert at the
Osaka Expo '70 Stadium
, also called Osaka Expo '70 Stadium, is an athletics stadium located in the Expo Commemoration Park, the site of Expo '70, in the city of Suita, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has a capacity of around about 21,000.
The stadium was the home ground ...
in front of 200,000 spectators, of which all profits went to
UNICEF
UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...
. It was the biggest event of its kind up until then.
Pink Lady in the United States
In the beginning of 1979, Pink Lady focused on the American market.
Mie and Kei appeared as guest stars on a
Leif Garrett
Leif Garrett (born Leif Per Nervik; November 8, 1961) is an American singer, actor, and television personality. He worked as a child actor, then in the 1970s became famous as a teen idol in music. He later received much publicity for his dru ...
TV special that spring,
performing what was to be their first American single, a disco tune called "Kiss in the Dark,"
recorded phonetically in English and released by
Curb Records,
followed by an entire English-language album (a collection of disco tunes and ballads, including a cover of
The Left Banke
The Left Banke was an American baroque pop band, formed in New York City in 1965. They are best remembered for their two U.S. hit singles, " Walk Away Renée" and "Pretty Ballerina". The band often used what the music press referred to as "baroq ...
's 1966 classic "
Walk Away Renée
"Walk Away Renée" is a song written by Michael Brown, Bob Calilli, and Tony Sansone for the band the Left Banke, released as a single in July 1966. Steve Martin Caro is featured on lead vocals. It spent 13 weeks on the US charts, with a top s ...
"). When "
Kiss in the Dark" debuted on the ''
Billboard'' charts that summer, Pink Lady became the first Japanese recording act to chart in America since
Kyu Sakamoto
was a Japanese singer and actor.
He was best known outside Japan for his international hit song "Ue o Muite Arukō" (known as " Sukiyaki" in English-speaking markets), which was sung in Japanese and sold over 13 million copies. It reached numbe ...
hit No. 1 with "
Sukiyaki" 16 years earlier. "Kiss In The Dark" reached No. 37 on ''Billboard''s
Top 40
In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...
,
(No. 49 on the ''Cash Box'' magazine chart). Their
U.S. album reached the highest position of No. 205, according to ''Billboard''.
Afterwards, the duo appeared with comedian
Jeff Altman
Jeff Altman (born August 13, 1951) is an American stand-up comedian and actor who has appeared as a guest on '' Late Night with David Letterman'' and '' Late Show with David Letterman'' a combined 45 times. Altman mesmerized contemporaries like ...
in the
variety show
Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical theatre, musical performances, sketch comedy, magic (illusion), magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is ...
''
Pink Lady and Jeff
''Pink Lady'' is an American variety show that aired for five weeks on NBC in 1980, starring the Japanese musical duo of the same name. The show also is referred to by the title ''Pink Lady and Jeff'', referring to co-star Jeff Altman. The show w ...
,'' a mixture of musical numbers and sketch comedy.
The fact that Mie and Kei knew very little English limited their potential as comedians, and also caused them a great amount of stress, since both were essentially forced to memorize dialogue neither could understand. On top of that, they were forbidden to perform any of their Japanese hits until late in the show's short run, being forced to struggle through English-language disco and pop hits such as "
Yesterday" and "
Knock on Wood." ''Pink Lady and Jeff'' lasted only six weeks in prime time on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
before being pulled off the air, and to this day is celebrated by many as one of the worst television shows in history, as well as single-handedly killing off the variety show format that had been a staple of American television since its early days.
Frustrated by their show's failure, Pink Lady returned to Japan and never again attempted a run at the U.S. market. The albums and singles they released in America are now out of print, and one of the only ways for U.S. fans to get hold of Pink Lady's music is through Japanese imports.
Decline, disbandments, and reunions
Pink Lady's lack of visibility at home while they were filming their variety show in Hollywood, as well as the decline of disco music, hurt their record sales even in Japan. Tokura sued T&C Music for unpaid royalties totaling to 17,700 after the management firm lost millions of dollars on investing in ''Pink Lady and Jeff''.
In addition, Kei was in a publicized affair with singer
Goro Noguchi
is a Japanese singer and actor. He debuted as a singer in 1971 and earned a spot on the Kohaku Utagassen
is the Japanese word for amber.
Kohaku (琥珀) may refer to:
Music
* Kohaku, a song by Mikuni Shimokawa
Characters
* Kohaku (''Dr ...
since 1979. This affair angered the duo's management, who forced her to choose between her career and her relationship with Noguchi. Kei chose to become engaged to Noguchi.
On September 1, 1980, the duo held a press conference at the
Akasaka Prince Hotel to announce their disbandment within six months.
Four years and seven months after their formation, Pink Lady performed their
final concert at Korakuen Stadium on March 31, 1981 before going their separate ways.
T&C Music went bankrupt shortly after the duo's disbandment.
Following their breakup, Mie and Kei pursued separate careers as solo singers and actresses, with Mie retaining her stage name and Kei using her real name. Masuda's engagement to Noguchi was broken when he had an affair with actress
Keiko Saito
is a Japanese actress and talent.
Filmography TV dramas
; NHK
; Nippon TV
; Tokyo Broadcasting System
; Fuji Television
; TV Asahi
; TV Tokyo
Films
Variety, life information programmes
Documentaries
Bibliography
Discogra ...
.
The duo reunited in 1984 to release the album ''
Suspense'' under
VAP Records and perform some reunion concerts before once again disbanding. Pink Lady's second reunion occurred in 1989 for the 40th ''Kōhaku Uta Gassen''; they also performed in the 41st installment of the New Year's Eve special a year later before going their separate ways for a third time.
In 1990, the duo were featured in a TV special where Mie visited Masuda in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
before they took a train to
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
and
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
. This special coincided with the release of Masuda's French-language album ''Simples Confidences'' (released in Japan as ''Voice Cologne'').
In 1996, to commemorate their 20th anniversary, Pink Lady reunited for a third time to release the compilation ''
Pink Lady Best Selection'' and "Pink Eyed Soul", their first new single in 12 years.
To celebrate the new millennium, the duo performed in the 51st ''Kōhaku Uta Gassen'' in 2000 and became the most featured act in the New Year's special. Following the performance, they disbanded once again.
In 2003, Pink Lady made a fourth reunion following the immense popularity of the
pachinko
is a mechanical game originating in Japan that is used as an arcade game, and much more frequently for gambling. Pachinko fills a niche in Japanese gambling comparable to that of the slot machine in the West as a form of low-stakes, low-st ...
game a year earlier.
In addition, Mie and Kei earned royalties of 100 million each after the pachinko game sold over 100,000 units.
They announced a series of nationwide tours beginning with . In 2004, the duo hosted the tour , as well as doing collaboration performances with
Morning Musume
, formerly simply and colloquially referred to as , are a Japanese girl group, holding the second highest overall single sales (of a female group) on the Oricon, Oricon charts as of February 2012, with the Oricon record of most top ten singles ...
and
SMAP
SMAP was a Japanese boy band, composed of Masahiro Nakai, Takuya Kimura, Goro Inagaki, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, and Shingo Katori. The group was created in 1988 by music producer Johnny Kitagawa, founder of Johnny & Associates, originally as a six-pi ...
. In 2005, the duo announced their farewell tour in Japan, titled . That same year, they released two choreography DVDs for all their singles up to "Chameleon Army".
In October 2007, Pink Lady sued
Kobunsha
Kobunsha ( ja, 光文社 ''Kōbunsha'') is a Japanese publishing company. It publishes literature, manga novels, and women's magazines.
Company history
Kobunsha was established on October 1, 1945, and belongs to the Kodansha group.
The company h ...
for 3.7 million after the publisher's magazine ''
Josei Jishin
is a Japanese weekly women's magazine, which has been in circulation since 1958. Published by Kobunsha, it is the first weekly women's magazine in Japan, which targets single- working women.
History and profile
''Josei Jishin'' was established ...
'' used photos of the duo on an article on dieting through dancing without their permission. The case was rejected by the
Tokyo District Court
is a district court located at 1-1-4 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the ...
. In February 2012, the Supreme Court rejected the duo's appeal based on the
right of publicity
Personality rights, sometimes referred to as the right of publicity, are rights for an individual to control the commercial use of their identity, such as name, image, likeness, or other unequivocal identifiers. They are generally considered as ...
.
On September 1, 2010, Pink Lady held a press conference at Victor Studios to proclaim: and announce their comeback by releasing a specialized
photo-book
A photo book or photobook is a book in which photographs make a significant contribution to the overall content. A photo book is related to and also often used as a coffee table book.
Early
Early photo books are characterized by their use o ...
titled . ''
Innovation
Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entity ...
'', a two-disc album with re-recorded versions of their past hits, was released in December of that same year. A concert tour was followed in March 2011, which marked the 30th anniversary since their first official disbandment in 1981.
On December 30, 2017, Pink Lady appeared at the
59th Japan Record Awards to pay tribute to Yū Aku, who posthumously received the Special Award for the 50th anniversary of his songwriting career. They performed a medley of "Pepper Keibu", "Wanted" and "UFO" in the show. A year later, the duo appeared at the
60th Japan Record Awards
The 60th Japan Record Awards was held on 30 December 2018. The Tokyo Broadcasting System Television network televised the show live from the New National Theatre Tokyo in Tokyo. This is the last Heisei-era Japan Record Awards.
Abstract
Nogizak ...
to pay tribute to Keizō Takahashi, who hosted the
20th Japan Record Awards ceremony where "UFO" won the Japan Record Award. For this event, they performed a medley of "UFO", "S.O.S.", "Nagisa no Sindbad", and "Southpaw".
On December 13, 2019, Pink Lady released the song "
Meteor
A meteoroid () is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space.
Meteoroids are defined as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than this are classified as micr ...
" for the anime film ''Yo-kai Watch Jam the Movie: Yo-Kai Academy Y - Can a Cat be a Hero?''. This was the duo's first new single in over 15 years. Also in the same month, the duo's 12 albums released from 1977 to 1979 were remastered in digital format and distributed to various subscription services.
In July 2020, Mie and Masuda were selected in the women's category of the 6th Platinum Age Awards, which honors celebrities over the age of 60.
Legacy
During Pink Lady's reunion in 1996,
Dentsu
Dentsu Inc. ( ja, 株式会社電通 ''Kabushiki-gaisha Dentsū'' or 電通 ''Dentsū'' for short) is a Japanese international advertising and public relations joint stock company headquartered in Tokyo. Dentsu is currently the largest advertis ...
and
Hakuhodo
is a Japanese advertising and public relations company. It is headquartered at Akasaka Biz Tower in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo.
History
Hakuhodo is one of the oldest advertising agencies in Japan and was founded by Hironao Seki at Nihonbashi-Hon ...
created , a next generation duo which consisted of and . This incarnation was not recognized by the original duo. Pink Lady X renamed themselves PLX and released three singles before disbanding a year later.
Pink Lady's music has been used as background music in several
anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
series (aside from the aforementioned ''Angels of Splendid Fame'' biographical series), including ''
Lupin III Part II
''Lupin the 3rd Part II'' is a Japanese anime television series produced by TMS Entertainment. Part of the ''Lupin III'' franchise, it is the second anime television adaptation of the ''Lupin III'' manga series created by Monkey Punch. Althou ...
'', ''
His and Her Circumstances
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masami Tsuda. It was serialized in ''LaLa'' from 1996 to 2005 and collected in 21 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Hakusensha. It depicts the romance between "perfect" student Yukino Miyazawa an ...
'', ''
Alice SOS
is a Japanese anime television series animated by J.C.Staff. It was broadcast every second week on NHK from April 6, 1998, until January 28, 1999.
Story
Takashi loves reading books and especially loves ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. One ...
'', ''
Natsu no Arashi!
is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Jin Kobayashi. The manga was serialized in Square Enix's ''Gangan Wing'' ''shōnen manga'' magazine from August 2006 to September 2010, with its chapters collected in eight bound volumes. ''Nat ...
'', and ''
Gun Sword
, is a Japanese anime television series animated by AIC A.S.T.A, written by Hideyuki Kurata, and directed by Gorō Taniguchi.
Plot
The story is set on the "Planet of Endless Illusion", a place where rogues of all sorts gather. The protag ...
''.
On August 1, 2008, Pink Lady were portrayed by Morning Musume members
Ai Takahashi
(born September 14, 1986) is a Japanese singer and actress formerly associated with the Hello! Project and is best known as the leader of Morning Musume and Hello! Project until 2011. She is also a former member of its popular subgroup Mini Mon ...
as Mie and
Risa Niigaki
is a Japanese actress and singer. She was a fifth-generation member of the Japanese pop group Morning Musume. She joined Morning Musume in 2001 along with 3 others- Ai Takahashi, Asami Konno and Makoto Ogawa. She grew up in Yokohama after movin ...
as Kei in the NTV special .
In 2009, the Yū Aku tribute album ''
Bad Friends
is a 2009 tribute album, is kade from , which translates to "Bad friend" and is the origin of Yū Aku's name.
The final track, "Kawahara no Ishikawa Goemon" was originally recorded by Eiichi Ohtaki (under the pseudonym "Niagara Fallin' Stars") o ...
'' was released, featuring covers of Pink Lady's songs by
Anna Tsuchiya
is a Japanese singer, actress and semi-retired model. Since 2005, she is primarily known as a singer.[Oricon pr ...](_blank)
&
Mari Natsuki
, more commonly known by her stage name , is a Japanese singer, dancer and actress. Born in Tokyo, she started work as a singer from a young age. In 2007, Natsuki announced her engagement to percussionist Nobu Saitō, with their marriage taking ...
,
Watarirouka Hashiritai 7
was a Japanese female idol group, and a subgroup of Japanese female idol group AKB48. Under Pony Canyon, the group debuted in January 2009 with the double A-side single " Hatsukoi Dash/Aoi Mirai."
History
In October 2008, Yasushi Akimoto announc ...
,
Checkicco,
Yu Takahashi
is a Japanese singer-songwriter. He debuted on a major label in 2010, with his singles "Subarashiki Nichijō" and "Honto no Kimochi".
Biography
Takahashi grew up in Yokote, Akita, in the Tōhoku region of Japan. He started to learn the electri ...
&
Nana Yanagisawa
is a Japanese fashion model and actress. She appeared in ''Kamen Rider Kiva'' as Megumi Aso, one of the lead heroines. She also starred in '' Kamen Rider Kiva: King of the Castle in the Demon World'' as this role. She also had a guest appearanc ...
, and many more.
In 2011, the Japanese music program ''
Music Station
is a Japanese music television program. Broadcasting live weekly on TV Asahi since October 24, 1986, it currently airs from 9PM-10PM on Fridays. The program is also colloquially known as , , and . The show is currently syndicated throughout th ...
'' listed Pink Lady in their Top 50 Idols of All-time based on their sale figures supplied by Oricon. The duo were placed no. 15, with sales exceeding 13,000,000. ''Billboard'', however, states they sold over 15 million singles and 2.25 million albums.
In 2014, Tokura introduced the 14-member
tribute group as part of his "Pan-Pacific Project". Pink Babies released their covers of "Nagisa no Sindbad", and "UFO", as well as a music video for "Wanted" before disbanding in 2017. On September 3, 2018, seven of the original members reunited for one night only for the
NHK BS Premium special , which aired on September 30.
Discography
* ''
Pepper Keibu
is the debut single by the Japanese hit duo Pink Lady. The single was released on August 25, 1976, under the Victor label. "Pepper Keibu" reached a peak chart position of number four, with a total of 1,050,000 sales. The titular song won the du ...
'' (1977)
* ''
Hoshi kara Kita Futari'' (1978)
* ''
Magical Music Tour'' (1979)
*
''Pink Lady'' (1979)
* ''
We Are Sexy
is the fifth studio album by Japanese idol duo Pink Lady, released through Victor Entertainment on December 1, 1979. The album contains two medleys, covers, and a Japanese version of their first American hit " Kiss in the Dark". Several of these ...
'' (1979)
* ''
Suspense ~Pink Lady Again~'' (1984)
* ''
Innovation
Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entity ...
'' (2010)
Filmography
TV
* (
NTV NTV may refer to:
Television
* NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh
* NTV (India), Telugu regional channel
* NTV (Kenya)
* NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia
* NTV (Newport Televis ...
, 1976 October 9 - 1977 March 26)
* (
TBS, 1977 October 11 - 1979 March 27)
* (
TV Asahi
JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Compan ...
, 1977 October 16 - 1978 March 26)
* (NTV, 1978 August 26 - 1979 August 25)
* (
Tokyo 12 Channel, 1978 April 6 - September 28)
* (Tokyo 12 Channel, 1978)
* (TV Asahi, 1978 October 5 - 1979 March 29)
* (NTV, 1978 October 11 - 1979 September 26)
* (TBS, 1978 April 6 - September 28)
* (TBS, 1978 October 24 - 1979 June 26)
* (NTV, 1978 December 31)
* (TBS, 1979 April 10 - 1980 February)
* ''
Pink Lady and Jeff
''Pink Lady'' is an American variety show that aired for five weeks on NBC in 1980, starring the Japanese musical duo of the same name. The show also is referred to by the title ''Pink Lady and Jeff'', referring to co-star Jeff Altman. The show w ...
'' (
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
, 1980 March 1 - April 4)
* (TBS, 1984 September 9)
''
Kōhaku Uta Gassen
, more commonly known simply as ''Kōhaku'', is an annual New Year's Eve television special produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. It is broadcast live simultaneously on television and radio, nationally and internationally by the NHK net ...
'' appearances
Film
* (
Toho
is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer ...
, 1978 December 16)
* (
Toei, 1979 March 17)
* (Toho, 1979 September 8)
References
Bibliography
*
External links
* (Victor Entertainment)
* (Mie)
* (Keiko Masuda)
Pink Lady at Idol.ne.jp
*
{{Authority control
Japanese girl groups
Japanese idol groups
Japanese pop music groups
Japanese dance musicians
Japanese musical duos
Victor Entertainment artists
1976 establishments in Japan
Musical groups established in 1976
Musical groups from Shizuoka Prefecture
Singing talent show winners
Toei Animation television