is the fifth single released by Pink Lady on September 5, 1977. The single topped the Japan charts at number one, having sold 1,650,000 copies, and spent twelve weeks at the top. 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 ...

and

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 ...

, "Wanted" is about a woman who wants revenge on a man who has run off after stealing her heart. With "Wanted", Pink Lady made their first appearance on ''

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 ...

'' in 1977. The song also won the "Popular Award" at the 19th Japan Record Awards. On live performances, 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 ...

point their microphones at each other for the song's first two lines. Historically, the duo wore 1920s style party dresses (Mie in black and Kei in white) on TV performances of the song. 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 ...

. this was the third best selling single from 1977. Pink Lady also recorded an English-language version of "Wanted" in 1978 for international markets as the B-side of "Sergeant Pepper" (the English version of "

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 ...

"). A re-recorded version of the song was included on the 2-disc greatest hits release, ''

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 entit ...

'', released in December 2010.

Track listing (7" vinyl)

All lyrics are written by

; all music is composed and arranged by

Chart positions

Pink Babies version

The 14-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 ...

released their version of "Wanted" on iTunes on July 16, 2014. The song was also included in their "

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 ...

" Type-B single in 2016.

Track listing

Other cover versions

Yellow Magic Orchestra Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO for short) is a Japanese electronic music band formed in Tokyo in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono (bass, keyboards, vocals), Yukihiro Takahashi (drums, lead vocals) and Ryuichi Sakamoto (keyboards, vocals). The group is cons ...

's live cover version of this song, was featured on their 1993 album ''Live at the Kinokuniya Hall '78''. * Female vocal/dance group

Speed In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (ma ...

covered the song in 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''. * Miz and Shiho (of the group Fried Pride) 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 ...

''. *

Kazuya Yoshii is a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter. He is best known as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band The Yellow Monkey. When they went on hiatus in 2001, before officially disbanding three years later, Yoshii started a solo car ...

covered the song in his 2014 album ''Yoshii Funk Jr. ~Kore ga Genten!!~''. * Amiaya incorporated the song as part of their "Pink Lady Mash Up 2015" single.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1977 singles 1977 songs 2014 singles Pink Lady (band) songs Japanese-language songs Disco songs Oricon Weekly number-one singles Songs about revenge Songs with lyrics by Yū Aku Songs with music by Shunichi Tokura Victor Entertainment singles