Diazepan Medina
LT
Natalia Arlovskaya
RetroPanda
Tue, 24/05/2022 - 02:50
Matsuda Seiko, real name: Kamachi Noriko, born: March 10, 1962, dubbed: "the eternal idol" (永遠のアイドル, eien no aidoru), was undisputedly the biggest idol in 1980s whose stats had far surpassed the stats of any 1980s idols (*except her arch rival Nakamori Akina) and the previous generation of 1970s idols.
Kamachi Noriko
During her junior high school years, she wanted to be a stewardess or a nursery teacher. Entering high school in 1977, Kamachi Noriko who was a big fan of Go Hiromi (a top 3 biggest male idol in the 1970s) and always went to his concerts everytime they were held in her hometown in Fukuoka, began to aspire to become a singer. In the spring of 1977, she participated in a singing audition for the first time but was eliminated in the second round. In August, 1977, she applied for the infamous idol audition program: "HoriPro Talent Scout Caravan" and got eliminated again.
In 1978 when she was in her second year of high school, she participated in another infamous audition, the "Miss Seventeen" contest, held by Sony and the Seventeen magazine. Her motivation to participate, beside wanting to become singer, were the prize for winning was an invitation to the Disneyland in the US (*Tokyo Disneyland wouldn't open until 1983, this was 1978) , where she would be able to meet her beloved Mickey Mouse , and because the guest judge for the national competition was her idol, Go Hiromi. She participated without telling her parents, but when she passed the regional stage and required to go to Tokyo for the final, she couldn't hide it anymore. Her strict father firmly opposed her daughter entering entertainment industry. Her school - like most Japanese schools at that time that prohibited their students to work in entertainment - also warned her that she needed to drop out if she still insisted. Kamachi Noriko had no choice but to withdraw.
Meanwhile after the final stage, Muneo Wakamatsu, the director of CBS Sony's Planning and Production Department at that time, didn't find any outstanding talent among the finalists. He scoured through the demo tapes of the contestants from each region, about 100 people, without seeing their pictures, purely based on their voices. He was struck by the singing voice of Kamachi Noriko, who won the Kyushu regional competition, and was convinced that "this girl will definitely be a hit," so he decided to personally scout her.
^ real demo tape of Kamachi Noriko, singing the song of late 1970s idol Ishino Mako (who later became her classmate in Horikoshi High School).
Kamachi Noriko had abandoned her dream because of her school rules and her father opposition, but Muneo Wakamatsu, unable to give up, went to her parents home to negotiate directly. Her father didn't budge. And began the painful six months of joint effort by Noriko and Wakamatsu, trying to convince her father. In the end, her father gave his consent, with a condition: if she didn't show any signs of success in 3 years, she needed to come back.
The next job was to find her a talent agency. Noriko attended the Hirao Masaaki's (*a popular composer) Music School in Fukuoka (*her hometown) twice a week to practice. Hirao was impressed that "Many girls dream of becoming singers, but it's rare to see a girl who can imagine herself succeeding beyond that". Meanwhile Wakamatsu tried with a big agency Watanabe Productions. They didn't care much about her demo tape, only judged her based on her picture, deemed her "wont look good on TV" and rejected her. He then approached another agency, Production Ogi, the president also rejected her.
In May 1979, Wakamatsu, who was busy looking for an agency, next approached Sun Music, headed by the caring president Aizawa Hideyoshi. At first, he was turned down because they already had other idol candidate they were promoting, but after several negotiations, it was decided to hold an interview the following month. In June, Noriko's presentation was held in front of 20-30 staff members, including Aizawa. Seeing her for the first time - the girl who just came to Tokyo from the countryside - his first impression was she didn't look "stylish" or "invigorating". The male staff members were similarly uninterested. In the end, she was not immediately hired, but after several discussions and Aizawa was influenced by the enthusiastic recommendation of a senior employee / music producer who had heard her sing in person, he was moved, leading to a contract.
Pre-debut
She was given two stage name candidates: "Nitta Akiko" and "Matsuda Seiko", she chose the later. She moved to the Sun Music boarding house attached to the company president's house (who lived with his wife and kids). It was customary for Sun Music trainees who lived in the boarding house to join the morning jog with the company president every morning. During the 30 minutes jog, she was taught a variety of things, from the mindset of an entertainer, manners, and how to interact with people in the entertainment industry. On the way, they would stop at a small shrine to pray. To finish her last year of high school, she transferred to Horikoshi High School, a popular high school destination for idols and young celebrities in that era - one of the few high schools in Japan at that time that allowed their students to become celebrity.
Matsuda Seiko starred in her first drama in October 1979
In January 1980, she joined "Sunday's", a group of backing vocals / backup dancers / assistants on the popular teen music program "Let's Go Young"
^ (6:11, blue dress) Matsuda Seiko as Sunday's member. The main singer is late 1970s idol: Ishino Mako, her classmate in Horikoshi High School.
Debut: the born of Matsuda Seiko
Matsuda Seiko finally made her singing debut on April 1, 1980 as one of the first generation 1980s idols. Her first single fared decently, reaching #12 on Oricon chart. At the end of April 1980, she performed for the first time on the popular Fuji TV music program "Yoru no Hit Studio". In July 3, she made her first appearance on TBS "The Best Ten", with her song ranked at #11 (alongside her best friend / classmate / fellow idol Iwasaki Yoshimi's song). Her popularity quickly skyrocketed thanks to her clear singing voice and her cute, almost "funny" demeanor.
^ her first time on "Yoru no Hit Studio".
In 1980, the biggest 1970s idol Yamaguchi Momoe announced her retirement. Meanwhile, Seiko second single "Aoi Sangoshou" , although charted at #2 on Oricon chart, was ranked #1 on "The Best Ten" music program for the first time. They finally met on that music program!
Matsuda Seiko and Yamaguchi Momoe
^ the soon to retire 1970s idol "queen" Yamaguchi Momoe met the rookie idol Matsuda Seiko who would soon become the idol "queen" of 1980s. A passing of the torch moment! That was the first and the last time they met on TV.
Seiko third single finally topped the Oricon chart and starting from then, her stats just went wild! Up until then, the record of longest streak of Oricon #1 ranked songs was 9 consecutive times by second biggest 1970s female idol : Pink Lady, the duo who took late 1970s by storm and casually released million selling songs . Seiko made their stats look cute with her streak of 24 consecutive singles that topped the Oricon chart~!!
Each of Matsuda Seiko single's chart position on Oricon chart from 1980 - 1989:
#12 (debut song), #2 (Aoi Sangoshou), #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #2.
Soon after Yamaguchi Momoe retired, there was the term post-Momoe. Some newly debuted idols would try to be the so called "post-Momoe" , imitating her style and singing in hope of replicating her success. Meanwhile, Matsuda Seiko went on with her own style and redefined the idol genre itself. The post-Momoe trend soon died down and replaced by newer and fresher idol style pioneered by her. Her trademark haircut, the "Seiko-chan" cut also became a trend not only among normal teenage girls but even among idols. Although she herself only used that haircut until 1981, the "Seiko-chan" cut became a staple haircut for most idols in the first half of 1980s.
Transformation from the small town girl Kamachi Noriko into the idol "queen" Matsuda Seiko
Some pictures:
https://www.monomagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/8-2-1024x683.jpg
^ Matsuda Seiko and Muneo Wakamatsu, the producer who discovered her
https://stat.ameba.jp/user_images/20230505/01/donald5523jp/0f/d1/j/o0656...
^ Matsuda Seiko and Aizawa Hideyoshi, the late Sun Music president
About this song
"Aoi Sangoshou" is one of her most iconic songs. Released on July 1, 1980 as her second single, this song reached #2 on Oricon chart and sold 601,720 copies. It started at #87 on the chart and quickly climbed to #29 --> #22 --> #17 --> #12 --> #9 --> #6 and finally stop at #2, it couldn't proceed further because Oricon #1 rank that week was occupied by the male idol Tahara Toshihiko. But after this song, her stats started to go wild that all her singles reached #1 on Oricon chart for 24 consecutive times (and would get another #1 in 1996 so in total, Matsuda Seiko has 25 Oricon #1 rank songs). This song then ranked #7 on August Oricon monthly chart, #2 on September monthly chart, and #8 on October monthly chart. At the end of the year, it was ranked #15 on Oricon yearly chart (15th highest selling song in 1980). This song also won her various awards including in two biggest award shows: "Japan Record Awards" and "Japan Music Awards". This song also brought Seiko to her first Kohaku Uta Gassen in 1980. With this song, her legacy as the idol "queen" began.
This song was used in Glico ice cream commercial:
^ the one in 0:35 - 1:01.
But because of that, she couldn't perform this song in "Yoru no Hit Studio" until few years later, because one of their sponsors was Morinaga, the competitor of Glico.
She performed this song in "Kohaku Uta Gassen" 1980
Her live performances :
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^ on "The Best Ten" that have their own ranking system different from Oricon chart, this song won #1 and became her first song to be ranked #1 on "The Best Ten"
^ and that was the episode when the rookie idol - soon to become the 1980s idol "queen" - met Yamaguchi Momoe, the 1970s idol "queen" who was about to retire. That was the only time Seiko and Momoe seen together on TV, marking the passing of the baton.
^ Her iconic performance singing at the airport runway, broadcasted on "The Best Ten". For this short performance, they needed to obtain permission not only from the airlines but also from eight ministries and agencies.
^ on "Yan Yan Uta Studio"
^ on "Let's Go Young"
^ on "Let's Go Young" again
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^ on "TV Jockey" (later they would change the show's name into "Super Jockey").
^ on "Uta no Big Stage", seen together with the male idol Tahara Toshihiko.
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^ winning award in "Japan Record Awards". There's her mother.
^ winning award
^ more award
^ award after award
^ yet another award
^ more!
^ in 1981
^ in 1983
^ in 1984
Cute version!
English version ("Blue Coral Reef")
And finally, Seiko sang this song in "Yoru no Hit Studio" in 1987
^ with everyone: (0:39, 0:58) Nakamori Akina (the other "queen", Seiko arch-rival, the only idol who could match her in 1980s), (0:59) Toshi, (1:01) Shibugakitai trio, (1:02) Kawai Naoko and Asaka Yui, (1:05) Watanabe Marina... and other non-idol singers.
in 1994:
in "The Best Ten" reunion episode in 2000
In her career, she has released a total of 82 singles and 54 original albums (and a lot of "Best" albums, special albums, etc). Her total song sales (all singles + all albums) are about 30,189,327 copies. 25 of her singles (*24 of those consecutively) and 19 of her albums have reached #1 on Oricon chart. 15 of her singles have reached #1 on Oricon monthly chart. In "The Best Ten", a popular ranking based music program that had their own ranking system different from Oricon chart, Seiko has won the #1 spot for a total of 44 times. Matsuda Seiko has performed in "Kohaku Uta Gassen" (*an annual song battle only for the elite singers of the year) 24 times (1980-1988, 1994-1996, 1999-2001, 2011, 2013-2020). She also has decent acting career, which she has starred in a total of 21 dramas (1979-2012) and 15 movies (1981-2019).
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How big exactly was Matsuda Seiko?
- Total song sales (all singles + all albums) : 30,189,327 copies. (*for comparison, some of the biggest 1980s super idols deserved to compete for the position of "the 1980s third biggest" have total sales in the range of 12+ to 15+ million copies. Normal big idols in 1980s have total sales in the range of 1-5 million copies).
- The chart position of each of her single released from 1980 -1989 alone:
#12 (debut song), #2, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #1, #2.
She got 1 more #1 in 1996, so in total, Matsuda Seiko has 25 Oricon #1 ranked singles (*as comparison, the 3rd biggest female idol in 1980s has 11 Oricon #1 ranked songs) .
- Number of songs that topped the Oricon monthly chart: 15 (3rd all time highest in Japan's history, 1st among solo singers)
- Her songs have been ranked #1 in "The Best Ten" music program for a total of 44 times, the 3rd highest in the show's history.
- Matsuda Seiko was the highest selling artist of the year of 1984 according to Oricon.
- She has performed in Kohaku Uta Gassen for a total of 24 times (1980-1988, 1994-1996, 1999-2001, 2011, 2013-2020).
- She has held a total of 121 concerts at Nippon Budokan (*elite concert venue in Japan) as of September 2022; the 2nd most of all time among Japanese singers, the most among female Japanese singers.
Seiko in her movies:
"Nogiku no Haka" (1981)
^ her first lead role
"Plumeria no Densetsu - Tengoku no Kiss" (1983)
"Natsufuku no Eve" (1984)
"Caribe: Ai no Symphony" (1985)
^ co-starring with the actor: Kanda Masateru. Four days before the movie release, Matsuda Seiko (who just broke up with Go Hiromi few months earlier) and Kanda Masateru announced their engagement and got married soon after. They had a daughter, Kanda Sayaka, in 1986. Seiko and Kanda Masateru divorced in 1997.
Seiko in commercials:
Seiko on various TV shows:
On the infamous talkshow: "Tetsuko no Heya"
Matsuda Seiko, the "eternal idol".
...and decades have passed...
Seiko in the modernized MV of "Aoi Sangoshou" in 2021:
Matsuda Seiko in her 40th anniversary concert, 2021:
^ the song starts at 01:14
in 2022
in 2023:
Seiko in December 2023
And....this is Matsuda Seiko in 2025
Matsuda Seiko newest single + MV in 2025 to commemorate her 45 anniversary (April 1, 1980 - April 1, 2025) !!!~
Feedeeri☆ 
Audio-only video as backup: