Yūko Andō (singer)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

(born 9 May 1977) is a Japanese singer-songwriter and former actress. Andō is part of the Horipro talent agency.


Biography


Early life and career

Born in
Kanagawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...
, as a child, music was never a special hobby of Andō; rather she had more of an interest towards drawing. During her college years, driven by her strong interest in creating things, Andō decided to pursue a film making career. However, unable to catch a break with the studios, she then followed her friends and family's advice to join a talent agency in hopes of becoming an actor. This landed her a few spots as an extra in TV dramas. One of the auditions for a play she passed during her Junior year at
Ferris University is a private women's college in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. It is a part of . The predecessor of the school was founded by American Presbyterian missionaries in 1870 with the assistance of James Curtis Hepburn, primarily to teach the Englis ...
required her to sing on stage. At that time, one of the evaluators was
Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...
music charts founder Sōkō Koike and by his recommendation, she decided to pursue a career as a singer-songwriter. Before debuting as a singer, Andō appeared as a regular in the popular TV drama "
Ikebukuro West Gate Park , usually referred to by its initials ''IWGP'', is a series of urban mystery novels by Ira Ishida. It was adapted into a drama television series directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi. The television drama then got a manga adaptation. An anime ...
" (2000) and the 1999 movie "
Saimin Saimin is a noodle soup dish common in the contemporary cuisine of Hawaii. Traditionally consisting of soft wheat egg noodles served in a hot garnished with diced Scallion, green onions and a thin slice of , modern versions of saimin include ad ...
".


Debut and success

In 2002, Andō sent film director Yukihiko Tsutsumi, whom she had gotten to know on the set of "Ikebukuro West Gate Park" a demo tape of "Rinjin ni Hikari ga Sasu Toki". Upon hearing her demo, Tsutsumi decided he had to include it in the movie he was then directing, 2LDK, as ending theme. She was credited as . In July 2003, Andō debuted under the Avex-owned sub-label, Cutting Edge, with the mini album "Sally". That same year she performed live for the first time at a convention concert held for Avex shareholders. In November 2005, Andō's "Nouzenkatsura (Reprise)" was used in Gekkeikan's commercial for the "Tsuki" liquor. Because Andō was not credited in the actual commercial, the company was flooded with inquiries from people wanting to know the name of the singer, who for a period was confused to be Clammbon's Ikuko Harada. The song, based on a poem written by her grandmother over the loss of her husband, propelled Andō's second full album, ''Merry Andrew'' into the Top 10. The album was certified gold with over 100,000 copies sold. Following the success of the song, Andō was branded by the media as the "late-blooming princess" and "singer-songwriter of the next generation". In December 2006, Andō embarked on her first live tour. In April 2009, she released her first compilation album which featured a variety of songs handpicked by Andō herself. That same year, she wrote and performed the ending theme song, "Paxmaveiti", for the
Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...
video game '' Professor Layton and the Last Specter''. On 8 August 2010, she appeared at the World Happiness 2010 rock festival in Tokyo.


Artistry


Recording process

Andō writes and composes almost all of her songs, except for the occasional covers and collaborations with other artists. Andō's recording process consists of writing lyrics and composing melodies which she then records
a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...
and passes over to Ryūji Yamamoto who is responsible for all her songs' arrangements. Yamamoto arranges Ando's demos based on these recordings. Pre-production meetings are held with Yamamoto, Andō and her producer, Yuji Andō, where they decide on the final direction for a track and select the musicians for the recording.


Influences

Like many other singer-songwriters before her, Ando's greatest influence is Chara, whom she first discovered through a friend in high school. For her big audition at Avex, Andō sang Chara's "Break These Chain". Another artist Andō listens to and lists as influence is Naoko Ken. Her lyrics tend to have
happy ending A happy ending is an ending of the plot of a work of fiction in which there is a positive outcome for the protagonist or protagonists, and in which this is to be considered a favourable outcome. In storylines where the protagonists are in phy ...
s. This has also been remarked in an interview by movie director and friend Yukihiko Tsutsumi, when he called her a "big happy end freak". Another influence is
Yellow Magic Orchestra Yellow Magic Orchestra (abbreviated to YMO) was a Japanese electronic music band formed in Tokyo in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono (bass, keyboards, vocals), Yukihiro Takahashi (drums, lead vocals, occasional keyboards) and Ryuichi Sakamoto (keyboards, ...
, whose 1983 song " Kimi ni Mune Kyun" she covered in her 2009 record ''Paxmaveiti''.


Collaborations

In recent years, Andō has started composing and writing for other artists, such as Yui Aragaki and Hisayo Inamori, as well as collaborating with them on her own songs. Andō also often records covers of songs from the 70's and 80's for her singles which she calls the "serious adult covers series".


Character

* Since her debut, Andō has been blogging on her official website under the name of "Nee-yan", which her staff and fans have adopted as a nickname for her. * She has a hard time managing stress and pressure and is said to often feel ill and nervous before going on stage. She enjoys performing however dislikes MC-ing. * The only instrument she can play is the basic rhythm guitar. * On her radio show, she is known for answering her listeners' questions in a very direct and honest manner. * Ever since her debut, Andō has taken charge of her own make-up and styling. This has appealed to female fans and landed her many fashion magazine gigs. * On her first appearance on the
Music Station , stylised in all caps, 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 sy ...
television program, she revealed she that prefers staying indoors and seldom leaves her home. * Andō takes part in the creative process for many of her music videos and has collaborated with many directors on MVs such as "Sally", "Dramatic Record", "Wasuremono no Mori", "Rinjin ni Hikari ga Sasu Toki" and "Utai Zen'ya". She also draws many of her CD covers, for which she is credited as Üchary Andrew. * As a child she loved watching the
Kon Ichikawa was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His work displays a vast range in genre and style, from the anti-war films '' The Burmese Harp'' (1956) and '' Fires on the Plain'' (1959), to the documentary '' Tokyo Olympiad'' (1965), which won t ...
directed " Kosuke Kindaichi" series and since then has been a fan of novelist Seishi Yokomizo's work, to the point of creating a special corner called on her J-Wave radio show "Oh! My Radio" . * She attended the same middle and high school as fellow singer-songwriter Hitoto Yo. * Yukihiko Tsutsumi is often seen at her concerts and has branded her the "best female singer of the last few years" on his blog. * She is allergic to
crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...
s and therefore does not eat lobster or crab. She also dislikes bananas. * She often cuts her hair haphazardly, which she ends up regretting most of the time. * When driving her car, she gets angry easily, and when she is, she switches to the Kansai dialect, which she was brought up speaking. * She dreams of one day building a home where she can live happily with her family. * On the morning show " Mezamashi TV", she commented on sharing the same name pronunciation as news anchor Yūko Andō, saying "I feel inexcusable for having the same name as such a well-rounded person, (compared) I'm a pretty useless human being". * In May 2011, she announced that she was pregnant with her first child on her official blog. Ando announced the birth of the child in the October of the same year.


Discography


Singles


Studio albums


Albums


Mini albums

#''Sally'' (9 July 2003) #''And Do, Record.'' (28 January 2004) #''Acoustic Tempo Magic.'' (12 March 2014)


Cover albums

#''Otona no Majime na Cover Series'' (2 March 2011)


Compilation

#'' The Best '03-'09'' (15 April 2009)


DVDs

#''The Moon and the Sun.'' (19 April 2006) #''Tour 2008 "Encyclopedia." Final'' (7 January 2009)


Piano Score

#''Yuko Ando Selection For Piano'' (22 July 2006)


Filmography


Acting


Movies

* ''Mamotte Agetai!'' (1999) * ''
Saimin Saimin is a noodle soup dish common in the contemporary cuisine of Hawaii. Traditionally consisting of soft wheat egg noodles served in a hot garnished with diced Scallion, green onions and a thin slice of , modern versions of saimin include ad ...
'' (1999) * ''A Drop of the Grapevine'' (2014) * ''And So the Baton Is Passed'' (2021) * ''
Kyrie ', a transliteration of Greek , vocative case of ('' Kyrios''), is a common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, also called the ( ; ). In the Bible The prayer, , "Lord, have mercy" derives from a Biblical phrase. Greek , ...
'' (2023)


TV

* ''
Ikebukuro West Gate Park , usually referred to by its initials ''IWGP'', is a series of urban mystery novels by Ira Ishida. It was adapted into a drama television series directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi. The television drama then got a manga adaptation. An anime ...
'' (2000)


Commercial

*
Hitachi () is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1910 and headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company is active in various industries, including digital systems, power and renewable ener ...
au ''W32H'' * Sapporo Beverage Co., Ltd. '' Gerolsteiner''


Theme songs

* Film " 2LDK" (2003) - End theme song "Rinjin ni hikari ga sasu toki" * TV series " Meteor Garden" (2001) - End theme song for BS TV "Sally" * TV series "
Gilgamesh Gilgamesh (, ; ; originally ) was a hero in ancient Mesopotamian mythology and the protagonist of the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', an epic poem written in Akkadian during the late 2nd millennium BC. He was possibly a historical king of the Sumer ...
" (2003) - End theme song "Wasuremono no Mori" * Film " Jigyaku no Uta" (2007) - Title song "Unabara no Tsuki" * Video game " Professor Layton and the Last Specter" - Title song "Paxmaveiti" * TV series " Attack on Titan: The Final Season" (2020) - End theme song "Shōgeki"


Radio

*Splash Dream (Date FM, February 2004) *Middle Tempo Magic (North Wave, July–December 2004) *Oh! My Radio (
J-Wave J-Wave is an commercial radio station based in Tokyo, Japan, broadcasting on 81.3 FM from the Tokyo Skytree to the Tokyo area. J-Wave airs mostly music, including J-pop, C-pop, and Western music, covering a wide range of formats. The station i ...
, October 2006 – March 2007)


See also

* List of J-pop artists


References


External links


Andrew Page
Yuko Ando Official Site * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ando, Yuko 1977 births Living people Avex Group artists Japanese women pop singers Actresses from Kanagawa Prefecture Singers from Kanagawa Prefecture Japanese women singer-songwriters 20th-century Japanese actresses 21st-century Japanese women singers 21st-century Japanese singer-songwriters Ferris University alumni