5 hours ago, romiskes said:

 

Cute that she's doing the same sound as Wagakki Band, it's like they haven't left.

I'd greatly appreciate it if someone could tell which of these 'Blue' songs is the most ATRL-friendly. Miss Shizuka isn't really for the gays, but she still deserves a fair chance. Blue Zone is the song miss Kumiko auditioned with for Morning Musume, by the way.

 

 

 

 

20 minutes ago, Suilen said:

I'd greatly appreciate it if someone could tell which of these 'Blue' songs is the most ATRL-friendly. Miss Shizuka isn't really for the gays, but she still deserves a fair chance. Blue Zone is the song miss Kumiko auditioned with for Morning Musume, by the way.

 

 

 

 

I would say Blue Rose. It reminds me of Janet Jackson, kind of a dance and rock fusion.

37 minutes ago, Suilen said:

I'd greatly appreciate it if someone could tell which of these 'Blue' songs is the most ATRL-friendly. Miss Shizuka isn't really for the gays, but she still deserves a fair chance. Blue Zone is the song miss Kumiko auditioned with for Morning Musume, by the way.

 

 

 

 

Oh wow. I don't think there's a wrong choice here because they're all good, but for me the more instant one and the one that stood out the most as far as catchiness and boppability goes was definitely Blue Zone! 

19 minutes ago, Curaga said:

I would say Blue Rose. It reminds me of Janet Jackson, kind of a dance and rock fusion.

I agree it did give me Janet vibes as well! A bop. 

I was more inclined towards Blue Zone because the video is a bit campy, but not everyone will be checking out the videos along with the playlist so let's go with Blue Rose, maybe the Janet comparisons will benefit her.

 

THE 80S SHOWA ERA IDOL RATE

Welcome to the 80s Showa Era Idol rate, potentially the first of its kind (on this forum or otherwise)! In this edition, we will be rating the most prominent Japanese idols that debuted in the 1980s. A bit of the context: In 1980, Momoe Yamaguchi, who was considered THE idol, retired from the industry. A replacement was needed, and two main candidates emerged: Seiko Matsuda and Akina Nakamori. The rivalry between the two marked the period, and while one may say that Seiko was victorious, as she's now referred to as 'The Eternal Idol', Akina has left her mark as well. Her performance of Nanpasen, for example, is so well-regarded that people often forget that it's a cover. Both idols had their experimental and trying to break into the US phases, some successful, some not very much.

Kyoko Koizumi aka Kyon is said to be the third after them. She managed to maintain her popularity for two decades and experimented a lot with her sound, adopting Latin, house and jazz genres.

Miho Nakayama was a great example of someone who made it both as a singer and an actress, garnering the biggest hit among her fellow idols (Sekaijuu no Dare yori Kitto) and being fondly remembered for starring in Love Letter.

Shizuka Kudo proved that it was viable to become a successful solo artist after being in a group, and many idols that came after her followed her blueprint. Shizuka's collaboration with Miyuki Nakajima, one of the most significant Japanese singer-songwriters, helped her shed the idol image.

Chisato Moritaka is someone who managed to establish herself as both an idol and a singer-songwriter and was a huge creative force behind her career. The quirky videos you might've seen were her own ideas.

Momoko Kikuchi is an idol who plunged into city pop with her first album and mostly maintained that sound. She also started a temporary band called RA MU that allowed her to branch out.

The era had many more idols, and it's impossible to fit them all, but you'll be given an opportunity to sample 4 more icons and decide whether you'd like to hear more from them: Yoko Oginome, Mihako Honda, Hiroko Yakushimaru and Yuki Saito. If the rate turns out to be a success (for j-pop standards), we might see more rates devoted to the Showa Era in the future.

 

 

 

RULES

 

1. Rate each song from the list on the scale from 1 to 10. Using decimals is allowed.
2. There will be no 0s and 11s, BUT you can mark a song as your favorite/least favorite (of all the songs) like this.

DESIRE -情熱-
Marrakech

It will help with breaking ties and impact an artist's individual rating (+0.5 for each song marked favorite, -0.5 for each song marked least favorite).
3. Send your scores to me using the PM-friendly list below.
4. Feel free to leave comments next to your scores.
5. A lot of the songs have different/remastered versions. When possible, I included the original recording, but if the sound quality is unsatisfactory, then try listening to the remastered version. Also pay attention to the following songs:
a) Akina's Marionnete has two versions: the one on Fushigi and the one on Wonder. The former prioritizes the production, while the latter prioritizes the vocals. You can rate whichever you like, just make sure to note that in your comment.
b) Kyoko's Yamato Nadeshiko Shichihenge has a longer version. The preferable version of Mizu no Rouge to rate is the Berlin Version, as in the playlist.
c) Chisato Moritaka's early discography isn't available on Spotify, so her early singles are remasted and sometimes remixed. I recommend checking out the video versions of Overheat Night, 17 Sai and Watashi ga Obasan ni Nattemo on YouTube before making your judgement.
6. All artists have: their debut song, their signature song (not necessarily their best-selling one - Akina's Second Love doesn't hold up well compared to her other classics, so Desire was chosen due to its streaming and search interest stats; Chisato's Futari wa Koibito also seems to be relatively forgotten, and Watashi ga Obasan ni Nattemo dwarfs the rest of her songs), at least one album track and one recent song. It was done to simplify the selection process and introduce the audience to the artists' more idolish and GP moments and make the competition slightly more fair.
7. The deadline for the rate is July 27.  

 

The Playlist

 

The PM-Friendly List

 

Spoiler

Seiko Matsuda

 

裸足の季節

赤いスイートピー
Strawberry Time
Marrakech
抱いて…

Baby, Make Love Tonight
Back for More
薔薇のように咲いて 桜のように散って

 

Akina Nakamori

 

スローモーション
十戒 (1984)
飾りじゃないのよ涙は
DESIRE -情熱-
マリオネット
I MISSED "THE SHOCK"
Dear Friend
FIXER -WHILE THE WOMEN ARE SLEEPING-

 

Kyoko Koizumi

 

私の16才
ヤマトナデシコ七変化
NUDIST
水のルージュ (Berlin Version)
FADE OUT
あなたに会えてよかった
Innocent Love
Structure of Romance

 

Miho Nakayama

 

[C]
色・ホワイトブレンド
WAKU WAKUさせて
CATCH ME
Strange Parade
Witches
世界中の誰よりきっと
時計草

 

Shizuka Kudo

 

Kindan no Telepathy
FU-JI-TSU
Koi Hitoyo
"Shuuten"
Doukoku
Gekijou
Blue Rose
Hagane no Mori

 

Chisato Moritaka

 

NEW SEASON
オーバーヒート・ナイト
ザ・ストレス
17才
私がオバさんになっても
Memories
A Biant
Don't Stop The Music

 

Momoko Kikuchi

 

Seishun no Ijiwaru
Sotsugyou
Minamikaikisen
Night Cruising
Broken Sunset
Ivory Coast
Aoyama Killer Story
Again

 

Misc

 

ダンシング・ヒーロー (Eat You Up)
Temptation （誘惑）
探偵物語
Kanashimi yo Konnichiwa

 

Edited July 19, 20251 yr by Suilen

Tagging the people who expressed interest in participating in the rate (and the people who will be hexed if they don't)

 

@D.D.D. @confide in me @Heat Waves @Kyle-x @romiskes @Meloetta Carey @Britneyfan09 @Curaga @Maresia @AMIT

 

Will try tagging those aren't really in the thread but like at least one of the featured idols later.

Edited June 13, 20251 yr by Suilen

Let me activate my ears  

omg they are all so stunning 

Oh wow, there are a lot more idols than I was expecting!  Thank you for putting this together! 

44 minutes ago, Curaga said:

Oh wow, there are a lot more idols than I was expecting!  Thank you for putting this together! 

It might seem a lot, but this is some of the finest music from that period, and there's a lot of variety. Miss Kyoko jumping from Latin pop to synthpop to italo disco to house, whew.

 

11 hours ago, Suilen said:

It might seem a lot, but this is some of the finest music from that period, and there's a lot of variety. Miss Kyoko jumping from Latin pop to synthpop to italo disco to house, whew.

 

Oh oops, I didn't mean that it looked like a lot to take on... Just more variety than I was expecting which is great! 

 

  

22 hours ago, Suilen said:

2. There will be no 0s and 11s, BUT you can mark a song as your favorite/least favorite like this.

DESIRE -情熱-
Marrakech

Is there a limitation on marking favorites and least favorites? Like, one favorite per artist? Or one favorite for the whole ballot? 

11 minutes ago, Curaga said:

Oh oops, I didn't mean that it looked like a lot to take on... Just more variety than I was expecting which is great! 

 

  

Is there a limitation on marking favorites and least favorites? Like, one favorite per artist? Or one favorite for the whole ballot? 

Your favorite for the whole ballot. It won't make a difference if you have only one 10, for example, but if you have several, then let me know which one is more equal than others. The same goes for 1s. 

 

@Britneyfan09 we could use some promo in the title to catch the attention of people who don't go here, at least until the end of June. Then I'll just rely on tagging them for reminders.

9 minutes ago, Suilen said:

Your favorite for the whole ballot. It won't make a difference if you have only one 10, for example, but if you have several, then let me know which one is more equal than others. The same goes for 1s. 

 

@Britneyfan09 we could use some promo in the title to catch the attention of people who don't go here, at least until the end of June. Then I'll just rely on tagging them for reminders.

Sorry, I meant to do that yesterday. All set!

i wanted to include songs like Seiko's all to you and Akina's Aibu (produced by TK), which would probably be a better fit than a bunch of other songs, but they aren't on Spotify and not really officially on YouTube, and I wanted everything to be in one playlist not to inconvenience the participants.

2 minutes ago, Suilen said:

i wanted to include songs like Seiko's all to you and Akina's Aibu (produced by TK), which would probably be a better fit than a bunch of other songs, but they aren't on Spotify and not really officially on YouTube, and I wanted everything to be in one playlist not to inconvenience the participants.

Seiko's あなたに逢いたくて〜Missing You〜 and 惑星になりたい are unavailable on Spotify for me in the US, but maybe I'm the only one. The other 58 are available. 

I was able to listen to all of あなたに逢いたくて〜Missing You〜 on YT, but only about a minute of 惑星になりたい (but maybe I just couldn't find the right video...)

2 minutes ago, Curaga said:

Seiko's あなたに逢いたくて〜Missing You〜 and 惑星になりたい are unavailable on Spotify for me in the US, but maybe I'm the only one. The other 58 are available. 

I was able to listen to all of あなたに逢いたくて〜Missing You〜 on YT, but only about a minute of 惑星になりたい (but maybe I just couldn't find the right video...)

That's going to be a problem... What about her second most-streamed song, 赤いスイートピー? That could work as a replacement for her signature song. 惑星になりたい can also be replaced with something, though it being produced by Nakata was probably going to give it an advantage.

1 minute ago, Suilen said:

That's going to be a problem... What about her second most-streamed song, 赤いスイートピー? That could work as a replacement for her signature song. 惑星になりたい can also be replaced with something, though it being produced by Nakata was probably going to give it an advantage.

赤いスイートピー is available!

8 minutes ago, Curaga said:

赤いスイートピー is available!

What about this one?

 

Let me know if anything else isn't available down the line, I have some emergency picks just in case.

Just now, Suilen said:

What about this one?

 

Let me know if anything else isn't available down the line, I have some emergency picks just in case.

Yes, that one is also available. Those were the only 2 grayed out on the playlist for me. Thank you! 

She didn't have to go so hard

 

 

ooh an unexpected find!

52 minutes ago, Kyle-x said:

She didn't have to go so hard

 

I'm curious about which debut song will be the highest, all of them are pretty idol-ish compared to what came next, maybe miss Shizuka will snatch due to the production, though miss Kyoko did a lot with a more traditional one.