Shonen SUNDAY 1997

 

Favorite J-Pop Singles: Nishida Hikaru / Oh My God!! Da Ne~

It's been a Nishida Hikaru kind of weekend here! In my last post I talked about how J-pop artist Nishida Hikaru had taken one of her slower, jazzy songs and turned it into a quick-tempo’ed rocker with Bibidebu, and now here’s one of her songs where she went the OPPOSITE way, turning her fast paced pop tune “Oh My God!! Da Ne” into a smoky, bluesy number!

Oh My God!! Da Ne is a song off of one of Hikaru's early albums , the 1990 "Tokimeki No Prologue", but I've always thought of it as one of her later songs because I first heard it on her 1994 compilation album,  "The Very Best Of Hikaru Nishida" (which came after her Sundance album). In any case, it was a song I dug very very much!

This song has always been a staple of Hikaru's Live Concerts, this particular performance of the song is from her 1991 tour MANATSU-JOUZU promoting her new album “Esprit” . This is the beginning of the “classic” Hikaru Era for me, with Hikaru as bright and peppy as a Pony Canyon Idol should be:

Fast forward to over half a decade later, late 1997 from her last tour and concert video “Hippy Happy Groove”, Hikaru has grown up and become a fetching young woman and her stage set refelcts this- this show is a LOT more like a regular club performance (though she does get genki and peppy as the show progresses) featuring a female vocalist and her band!

Such a strong, tuff take on Oh My God (love the parts where she’s struttin’ across the stage, so cool!) And though I wasn't able to get a CD release of Bibidebu Dance Version, I WAS able to get a copy of this slow blues version of Oh My God when they released a Live CD of the Hippy Happy Groove Tour!

So great listening to it again- And if you wondered just how much more mature this Hikaru Concert was compared to the earlier ones, THIS is what Hikaru was wearing under that overcoat :

HOLY COW that ain’t standard Idolwear!! Ya know, we always knew that Hikaru had the goods but this is the first time I think we get to see her rockin' it onstage! Thass a real LADY up there! 

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Favorite J-Pop Songs: Nishida Hikaru / Bibidebu

Though most of Queen’s radio-listening public only know of their “stadium stomp-and-chant” version of “We Will Rock You”, those who have heard and seen their live concerts know that there is in fact a FAST (and incredibly catchy) Rock N Roll Version of the song (at the time of the “News of the World” tour, it was their opening song, no less) with pounding drums, droning bass and sonic guitarwork! This version was so different from the studio recording that BOTH versions were featured in a single concert!

 Speaking about Queen and J-pop in the same breath might draw ire from some, but when I hear the two versions of We Will Rock You, I can't help think about Nishida Hikaru and her song "Bibidebu" off of her album Love Always, because when she performed it live in concert, she did just about the same thing, giving the audience TWO versions of the song- one paced slowly and one played fast!  

 The Love Always album is really more of a Mini Album, with a mere 8 songs to its register, but what GREAT songs they are! Performed in a variety of styles, the “Bibidebu” track is Hikaru’s ode to those classic old jazzy torch songs, with tinkling ivory piano, brassy horns and a cool, smoky shuffling beat:

Though Hikaru did a tour for the Love Always album, it was the following year’s “Sophisticated Yanchya Lady” tour (promoting her next album “A File Of Life”) which REALLY showcased Bibidebu and made me love it! Unlike the previous tour which played all the Love Always tracks equally,  in THIS concert , they OPENED the show with Bibidebu!! The Concert starts in darkness, and as Hikaru appears on top of the stairs, WHAM, the horns blare out, and then Hikaru enters the stage, shuffling out as cool as a cat! I was like WHOA, what a beginning!!

What a cool and SASSY song this was! I never realized how good this song was until seeing it performed here! And from there they went right into another Love Always song "Tsukiyo No Mermaid" which was great, too, and then they moved on to the new FILE OF LIFE songs as well as a few old favorites. I was thoroughly immersed in the show, Like most Pony Canyon artists, Hikaru was blessed with awesome stage musicians and the charismatic dancers and background singers, all of which helped to make a SOLID show!  Little did I know that the best was yet to come!

After the end of the "main" portion of the show, (giving her fake "goodbyes" which everyone in the audience knew was a sham) Hikaru left the stage, but she returned for her ENCORE set to perform two more songs, one the playful "Go Paradise" with singers SWEET BEAT SOUL whom I've mentioned before here) and then, to my surprise, they did Bibidebu AGAIN...but WHOA- this was a version I'd never heard before- fast, poppy and FUN! 

Queen used their rocking version of We Will Rock You as the opening song to their concert, conversely, Hikaru uses the dance version of Bibidebu as the CLOSER of her concert, since she'd opened the show with the slow version, having this peppy version seemed like a perfect "reprise" to it, perfectly "Book-Ending" the entire show!

I gotta tell you, the first time I watched this, I was so freaking blown away- I already loved the jazz version, but to have this dancey track with Hikaru, her band and the dancers all rocking out and wrapping up the big show with so much happiness and passion my GOSH, it made me love the song even MORE! So, so catchy!!!

Just about the only drawback being that since it was at the end of a very energetic show, Hikaru is really out of breath for most of the song, and it’s times like this that I really, really wish that there was a proper STUDIO recording of the fast version. But twas not to be! 

 I found out that they released a CD of the 1994 Sophisticated Lady Concert and leapt up with happiness thinking that AT LEAST I’d have the LIVE version! But I guess that since they already included the song ONCE  (and space was limited) they CUT the fast version from the CD! ARGHHH.

Sophisticated Lady Live CD 

Watching the live performance again, it occurs to me that maybe Hikaru's voice was a bit TOO MUCH out of breath to justify releasing it on CD, but my GOSH does it ROCK live, in context of the whole concert video, this is such a powerful ending, everyone’s spirits are high and they’re all happily exhausted knowing they’ve given the audience a GREAT show! Lucky for us, we can watch it over an dover again!

Sophisticated Lady Video. Couldn't they have used the Live CD cover?

PS, I have a confession to make- Much as I LOVE Hikaru’s Sophisticated Yanchya Lady Concert, my GOD, I HATED the Laserdisc Cover,  featuring Hikaru in this prickly shag wig-(she wore wigs in a couple of sets in the concert, I didn't like either but this was by far the worst, UGH!) MAN, why couldn’t they have used the CD COVER as the Laserdisc cover, too?

Ooh, wait, the paper insert has the CD artwork!

 But then I happily realized that the Laserdiscs’s inside photobooklet had the CD cover as its picture, and by sliding the booklet insert inside the laserdisc plastic  OVER the offensive cover, I could recreate the CD cover! 

What if I slide it OVER the crappy cover?

SUCCESS! Now my Laserdisc has the cover I Like!

I stuck it over the other cover, and until I removed it to take this picture, I’d never taken it off! Egh, WIGS, how I HATE them! OK, time to put the good over back on….

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Favorite Hikaru J-Dramas: Chance! (1993)

Chance

[1993]

The story of a washed-up rock superstar attempting as comeback, Chance stars Mikami Hiroshi as egotistical and unwieldy rock musician Yuji, while Nishida Hikaru plays Aoi, the girl forced into the role of his ever-suffering manager and caretaker…and eventually, the only one who truly believes he can really make a comeback!

With wonderful songs by Toshinobu Kubota, this  is one really sweet drama, one I really wish more people had the chance to check out. Chance! was an early show written by the “Queen Of Romance Dramas” Eriko Kitagawa, who would later go on to pen both “Long Vacation And Aishiteiru To Ittekure”!

I remember I had tried to get my friend Golden to watch Hikaru's previous drama "Ue O Muite Aruko" but he stopped watching it 'cause he said his Mom though it was too wacky. I then gave him this drama, saying it was a more serious drama and very, very good, but he refused to watch it, D'oh!

Well, it's his loss. Chance is such a great little drama.

A Random Photo

  A photo that my friend Dan-O sent me from Guam. thought it was a candid shot of Hikaru somewhere but upon closer inspection, looks like a zoomed in cropped shot from a group photo or something?

Dunno, but MY does she look nice! Dan sent me this photo circa 1997 or so, so she was in her prime!

Just for Fun: Hikaru Sticker Set!

 Not sure where this whimsical sticker set originally came from ( I personally got it from a collector on ebay) , but by the little info in the bottom corner, it's an official Manase Pro Nishida Hikaru Collectible!

Sophisticated "Yancha" Lady '95 One Sheet

 One Sheet promo for Hikaru's Sophisticated "Yancha" Lady Concert Tour, her latest single "C'mon3", album A File Of Life as well as a single she made with Sweet Beat Swing (the awesome vocal duo guy and girl who accompanied Hikaru in concert) , the bubbly "Go! Paradise!"

Never was able to get my hands on this single and it wasn't until Hikaru's Complete Singles Collection that I finally got the song! Hikaru and Sweet Beat Swing performed this on the Sophisticated Yancha Lady Concert laserdisc, such a great song !!!

"A File Of Life" Flyer

 An 8x10 promotional flyer advertising Hikaru's new single C'Mom3, her new album A FILE OF LIFE, and her new concert laserdisc "Sohphisticated Yancha Lady"!

A Wonderful Addition To My Hikaru Nishida Collection!

As one of my all-time top favorite J-pop artists ever, I am always on the lookout for books, magazines and collectibles for my humble Hikaru Nishida collection, and just the other month I came across a real find- a Hikaru Nishida PROGRAM from her 1995 "Sohpisticated Yancha Lady" Tour!!!

Though I have many, many Tour Programs some from concerts I've attended and some which I acquired through music shops (mostly Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks stuff), this was the first time I'd ever seen one for a Japanese Artist, much less one I LOVED!

I wasted NO TIME purchasing it, and just the other week it came in! Such a striking collectible- as programs go, this is HUGE, filled with pages and pages of beautiful Hikaru photos and pin-ups!

Additionally, this package included a few MORE collectibles: A couple of Hikaru flyers promoting her "A File Of Life" Album release (though on the sheet it calls it simply "Of Life"???) , two one-sheets promoting her "Sophisticated Lady" Concert release, and  as well as an 8x10 sticker sheet! Not sure if these came with the Program initially or the seller just threw 'em in to sweeten the deal, but You can bet I was in seventh heaven!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Goro 1991 04.25

 

My Hikaru Nishida Collection (So Far!)

After watching my Hikaru Nishida PV Collection video (twice!), I just HAD to dig up all my Hikaru Goods, and decided to take pics of 'em all! In celebration of the this awesome Nishida Hikaru DVD release, I present my entire Nishida Hikaru Collection along with its new addition!

Updated: 07/13

First up, my Nishida Hikaru 3cm Singles Collection…

Then Albums, EPs and Maxi-Singles…

Hikaru Photobooks and Magazines:

And my Hikaru Videos including the *new* DVD Collection!!!

Just about the only thing I wish they could have included were the commercial inserts that were in the original two video clip collections because those were just as fun to watch as the videos themselves! But I’l still pleased as punch here- So NICE to see my favorite Pony Canyon Idol girls in DVD format! Now if only RIBBON can FINALLY get a DVD treatment of their own, I will be SET!

* This Single was a song Hikaru sang with a group called Sweet Beat Soul, MAN, whatever happened to these guys? They accompanied Hikaru on a couple of her later concerts and they were SOOOO GOOD! The guy and girl had such beautiful voices, they really gave the concerts an added PUNCH!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com