is the sixth single by Japanese duo Pink Lady, released on December 5, 1977 on

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 Ent ...

Background

As with their previous singles, the music was composed by

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 ...

and the lyrics were written by

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 ...

. "UFO" is about a woman who falls in love with a man she describes as "out of this world". The original studio version only has one "UFO" chant in the beginning of the song; live performances added two chants during the instrumental and towards the end. Live performances of the song are known for Pink Lady's silver sequin outfits and their elaborate dance choreography. The performance begins with Mie and

Kei Kei may refer to: People * Kei (given name) * Kei, Cantonese for Ji (surname), Ji(姫) * Kei, Cantonese for Qi (surname), Qi(奇, 祁, 亓) * Shō Kei (1700–1752), king of the Ryūkyū Kingdom * Kei (singer) (born 1995), stage name of South Kor ...

waving their microphones before doing the "UFO greeting" (placing the right open palm above the back of the head). Much of the choreography then involves exaggerated alien movements.

Release and reception

With a total of 1,950,000 sales, "UFO" was Pink Lady's biggest selling single, and spent ten consecutive weeks at the top of the Japanese singles chart. According to

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 ...

, "UFO" was the best selling single of 1978, and the duo's third consecutive million selling single. This was also their fifth of nine consecutive number one singles. The song also peaked at number one on the Japanese Music Labo chart. The song received the grand prize at the 20th

Japan Record Awards is a major music awards show, held annually in Japan that recognizes outstanding achievements in the Japan Composer's Association. Until 2005, the show aired on New Year's Eve, but has since aired every December 30 on TBS Japan at 6:30 P.M JST a ...

. "UFO" was the number one song in the first three episodes of the long running Japanese music program ''The Best Ten'', and was voted the best song of 1978 by the program. In 2015, the song was ranked No. 4 in

JASRAC The , often referred to as JASRAC, is a Japanese copyright collection society. It was founded in 1939 as a nonprofit organization, and is the largest musical copyright administration society in Japan. Overview JASRAC's main business activity i ...

's Top 10 Works Distributed in Japan. Because of its use in UQ Mobile's commercial, the song advanced to No. 3 in 2018, receiving the Bronze Award. It peaked at #2 and received the Silver Award in 2019.

Other uses

In 1978, Pink Lady performed a version of the song with different lyrics for TV commercials promoting Nissin Yakisoba U.F.O. "UFO" is featured in the Japanese video game '' Just Dance Wii''. It was also featured, along with "Monster," on ''

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 ...

'', making them the only two Pink Lady songs to be performed on that show. Pink Lady re-recorded the song for their 2010 double-album ''

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 ...

''. Far East Mention Mannequins, or FEMM, released their own cover of the song in 2016.

Track listing (7" vinyl)

All lyrics are written by

; all music is composed and arranged by

Chart positions

Pink Babies version

The 10-member tribute group

Pink Babies was a 14-member Japanese female idol group that was active from 2014 to 2017. Created by songwriter/producer Shunichi Tokura as part of his "Pan-Pacific Project", the group was a tribute to the 1970s J-pop duo Pink Lady, performing only songs ...

covered the song on February 15, 2017 as their second and final physical release, with "

Monday Mona Lisa Club is the 15th single by Japanese duo Pink Lady, released only five days after their previous single " Kiss in the Dark". The song was produced by Robby Adcock, and was recorded in Los Angeles. The 12" single featured an extended remix of the song ...

" as the B-side. Three versions of the single were offered; each one includes two different songs - one of which is a

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 ...

cover. Two months after the release of this single, Pink Babies announced their disbandment, with their final show held at Mt. Rainier Hall Shibuya Pleasure Pleasure on May 26.

Track listings

All music composed and arranged by

, lyrics written by

except "Itoshi no New Orleans" by Shizuka Ijūin.

Chart positions

Other cover versions

* The song was performed live by

Chisato Moritaka (born 11 April 1969) is a Japanese pop singer who also is notable as a songwriter. She is affiliated with Up-Front Create, a subsidiary of the Up-Front Group.

as part of her Pink Lady Medley in the concert video ''

Moritaka Land Tour 1990.3.3 at NHK Hall is a live video by Japanese singer/songwriter Chisato Moritaka. Recorded live at the NHK Hall in Shibuya, Tokyo on March 3, 1990, the video was released on September 18, 2013 by Warner Music Group, Warner Music Japan on Blu-ray and DVD formats; ea ...

'', released on Blu-ray in 2013. *

Yuko Hara Yuko Hara (原由子 ''Hara Yūko'', born December 11, 1956 in Yokohama, Japan, nicknamed "Harabo") is the keyboardist for Southern All Stars. She is also a vocalist and writes many of her own songs. She is married to Keisuke Kuwata, the mult ...

covered the song under the title in her 1991 album ''Mother''. * Japanese pop trio McKee covered the song in Tagalog in their 1996 self-titled album. * Female music group MAX recorded a cover version of this song for the 1997 various artists album ''VELFARRE J-POP NIGHT presents DANCE with YOU''. * Trasparenza covered the song in their 2002 album ''Pink Lady Euro Tracks''. * Chinephile covered the song in their 2003 album ''Kayomania''. *

Keiko Masuda (born on September 2, 1957, in Shizuoka, Shizuoka, Shizuoka, Japan) is a Japanese pop singer and actress. She is better known by her nickname Kei, and is one half of Pink Lady (duo), Pink Lady, the top idol group in Japan in the 1970s. In the ...

self-covered the song in her 2008 covers album and her 2012 compilation album ''Colors ~ 30th Anniversary All Time Best''. * Japanese girl group

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 charts as of February 2012, with the Oricon record of most top ten singles with an ...

recorded a cover of the song for their 2008 cover album ''

Cover You ''Cover You'' is the first cover and tribute album by the J-pop idol group Morning Musume, released on November 26, 2008. The album features songs by Yū Aku (occasionally credited as You Aku) (February 7, 1937 – August 1, 2007), was a Japane ...

''. *

Anna Tsuchiya is a Japanese singer, actress and semi-retired model. Since 2005, she is primarily known as a singer.Oricon pr ...

and

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 ...

recorded a cover version for the 2009 Pink Lady/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 ...

''. * Chiaki Takahashi and

Asami Imai is a Japanese voice actress and singer affiliated with Early Wing. She debuted as a voice actress in 1999 and as singer in 2009 by releasing her first single "Day by Day / Shining Blue Rain" under the 5pb. Records label. She is also well known f ...

covered the song for the 2009 compilation album '' The iDOLM@ASTER RADIO Uta Dojo''. *

Melon Kinenbi were an all-girl Japanese pop group within Hello! Project. They were formed after they successfully passed the 2nd Morning Musume & Michiyo Heike Imotobun Audition. Melon Kinenbi is the oldest group in the history of Hello! Project not to have ...

covered this song in the TV series ''Uta Doki!'' * Sumire Matsubara and

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 ...

covered the song for an NTT Docomo commercial in 2014. * Yuki Murakami covered the song in her 2014 album ''Piano Woman ~Tomodachi kara~''. * FEMM released their cover of "UFO" in 2014 on iTunes within their digital EP ''Astroboy''. * Amiaya covered the song as part of their "Pink Lady Mash Up 2015" single. *

AKB48 AKB48 (pronounced ''A.K.B. Forty-Eight'') is a Japanese idol girl group named after the Akihabara (''Akiba'' for short) area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located. AKB48's producer, Yasushi Akimoto, wanted to form a girl group with it ...

members

Yuki Kashiwagi is a Japanese idol and singer. She is a member of the Japanese idol girl group AKB48 and a former member of NMB48 and NGT48. She auditioned for AKB48 on December 3, 2006, and is now a member of AKB48's Team B. She was previously the captain of T ...

and

Mayu Watanabe is a Japanese former idol, singer, actress, and former member of the Japanese idol girl group AKB48 under Team B. In the annual AKB48 General Elections event, she had consistently been voted by fans to rank among the group's top members. She has ...

covered the song for the 2017 tribute album ''Chikyū no Otoko ni Akita Tokoro yo ~ Yū Aku Respect Album''. The album's title comes from a line of the song's chorus. *

Boys and Men Boys and Men, stylized as BOYS AND MEN, and colloquially referred to as ''BOYMEN'' or ''BM'', is a Japanese idol group established in 2010 in Nagoya. The group is composed mainly of members from the Tōkai region. They belong to Fortune Entertainm ...

covered the song in 2017. * Honoka Minori covered the song in 2018.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1977 singles 1977 songs 2017 singles Pink Lady (band) songs Japanese-language songs Disco songs Oricon Weekly number-one singles Songs about extraterrestrial life Songs with lyrics by Yū Aku Songs with music by Shunichi Tokura Victor Entertainment singles