''Virgin Blue'' (バージンブルー) is the tenth single by the

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 hip-hop group

Lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

, released on March 8, 2006, eight months after their previous single '' Baby Running Wild.'' It peaked in the top ten on the

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 ...

charts at #9 and remained on the charts for one full month. Limited editions of the single included one of ten

trading card A trading card (or collectible card) is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing (fictional or real) and a short description of the picture, along with other ...

s or a special prize. "Virgin Blue" is a cover of the 1984 song of the same name, originally released by the six-member

rock band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

SALLY as their debut song. Four years after Lead's release, they would perform an updated rendition on their single ''Speed Star★'' titled "Virgin Blue 2010."

Information

''Virgin Blue'' (バージンブルー) is the tenth domestic single by the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

hip-hop group

, seven months after their

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

Lead! Heat! Beat! ''Lead! Heat! Beat!'' (stylized as ''LEAD! HEAT! BEAT!'') is the third studio album by Japanese hip-hop group Lead. The album ranked No. 15 on Oricon and remained on the charts for four weeks. The album was released on August 10, 2005, nearly a y ...

.'' The single debuted well on the

Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track download sales. In J ...

s, taking the #9 slot for the week and remaining on the charts for four consecutive weeks. The first press editions of the single included one of ten possible

s and a special ticket that offered buyers the chance to win one of 500 live event tickets or an original promotional item for the single. ''Virgin Blue'' was released as a standard CD, not carrying a CD+DVD counterpart. While a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "Virgin Blue" was released for syndication upon the single's release, it would not be available for fans to purchase until the release of the group third

compilation Compilation may refer to: *In computer programming, the translation of source code into object code by a compiler **Compilation error **Compilation unit *Product bundling, a marketing strategy used to sell multiple products *Compilation thesis M ...

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

, ''

Movies 3 ''Movies 3'' (stylized as ''MOVIES3'') is the third compilation DVD released by the hip-hop group Lead. It charted at #40 on the Oricon charts, where it remained for two weeks. Unlike their first two compilation films, ''Movies 3'' contained eve ...

,'' released two years later in August 2008. The CD carried the title track, the coupling track "Cosmic Drive" and both songs' corresponding instrumentals. The single's title track was a

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

of the

SALLY's song "Virgin Blue," originally released on July 1, 1984 as their debut song. While SALLY's original song carried more elements of rock, Lead's rendition was given a more upbeat pop/ hip-hop sound, updating to the current musical trends and style. The song was originally composed by

musical composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

Suzuki Kisaburo with the lyrics written by Sagara Yoshiaki. However, for Lead's 2006 version, the music was performed by Haya from the group Summer Snow Surprise. Takuya Harada wrote and composed the single's b-side "Cosmic Drive," which was an upbeat blend of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

and

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...

. The song's lyrics were written by Kaji Katsura, who is best known for their works with the Japanese group

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and

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 ...

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

After School. In 2010, Lead would release an alternate version of "Virgin Blue" on their single '' Speed Star★.''

Track listing

Charts

References

External links

Lead Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Virgin Blue 2006 singles 2006 songs Lead (band) songs Pony Canyon singles