Retro Idols Part II : More Idols
This is the continuation of my first collection page: "Retro Idols of the 1970s and 1980s" that's already full. 1980s was called "the golden age of idol", there were too many Japanese idols in the past, one page with 100 slots isn't enough to include them all, so this page serves as extended storage to add more retro idols.
For retro idols related videos, stats, data and contents, I will still add them there in the first collection page. This second part is mostly for adding more idols that can't be added there.
Sakaue Toshie (born: March 16, 1964) made her debut in entertainment when she starred in a movie in April 1982. Three months later, July 21, 1982, she made her debut as idol singer. In her singing career, she has released 4 singles and no album. Her debut single was sold 10,730 copies while her three other singles didn't make it into Oricon chart at all so they didn't track her sales. Her total sales are 10,730 + probably a few hundreds or a few thousands more copies. As for her acting career, Toshie has appeared in 2 dramas (1983) and 1 movie (1982). She was also a regular in some tv programs, most notably in "Let's Go Young" and "Quiz Doremifadon!"
Ito Kazue (born: December 7, 1966) was a popular actress and an idol singer in 1980s. When she was a kid, she joined "Toei Children's Training Institute" that trained young actors. Toei itself is a big production company known for producing live action tv series like Kamen Rider and Super Sentai (<--what people called "power ranger") franchises. Of course their trainees would be trained in action stunts too which later would help her when she needed to do action scenes in her dramas. As a kid, she has appeared as extra in "Kamen Rider V3" (1973) and "Kamen Rider Stronger (1975).
Ito Kazue got her first proper role in movie in 1979 and starred in her first drama in 1981. As an actress, she has starred in a total of 103 serial dramas (1972-2019), 58 one-shot dramas (1988-2023) and 28 movies (1979-2022).
As a singer, she actually had released one single in 1978 under the stage name Kana Kazue. But in April 21, 1982, she debuted once again as idol singer under her real name: Ito Kazue. Her singing career wasn't as successful as her acting. She has released a total 14 singles and 5 original albums. From all her singles, only two of them were charted in Oricon chart at #56 and #90, the rest didn't make it at all. There's no information about her total sales.
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Shiraishi Marumi (born: November 27, 1962), real name: Matsuda Mitsue, was an 1980s idol singer. In 1978, she applied for an audition for the role of Go Hiromi's (<-- top 3 male idol in 1970s) girlfriend in his drama. Out of 40,000 applicants, she won the second place so the girlfriend role was given to the winner while she got the role as Go Hiromi's sister. That became her acting debut. January 21, 1982, she made her debut as idol singer (*the same debut year as those infamous 1980s idols: Nakamori Akina, Kyon2, Hayami Yuu, Hori Chiemi, Ishikawa Hidemi, Shibugakitai, etc).
As an actress, she has appeared in 46 dramas (1978-2014) and 1 movie (2003). As a singer, she has released 5 singles and 1 album. There's no information about her total song sales.
Country: Japan
Genre: Pop
Language: Japanese
Tsuchiya Kaori (born: August 26, 1964) was an 1980s idol singer. She made her acting debut by appearing in a drama in 1979. Then on June 21, 1982, she made her debut as idol singer (the same debut year as Nakamori Akina, Kyon2, Hayami Yuu, Hori Chiemi, Shibugakitai, Ishikawa Hidemi, etc).
As an actress, she has appeared in a total of 6 dramas (1979 - 1991). As a singer, she has released a total of 11 singles and 5 original albums. Five of her singles were charted at #46 - #99 in Oricon chart, the rest didn't make it to the top 100 at all. There's no information about her total song sales.
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Osawa Itsumi (born: March 23, 1966) was an idol singer in 1980s. She won grand prix at "HoriPro Talent Scout Caravan" (*a famous audition program by the big agency: HoriPro) in 1981 and made her debut as idol singer on February 21, 1983. Her concept was quite unique compared to mainstream idol singers. She was marketed as an androgynous idol with her boyish haircut and being very tall for idol standard (170 cm, probably about as tall as average Japanese man in that era).
In her career, Osawa Itsumi has released a total of 11 singles and 2 original albums. Three of her singles were charted between #62 - #94 in Oricon chart while the rest didn't make it at all to the chart. There's no information about her total song sales. From 1983-1984, she won 7 newcomer awards including the big ones like "Japan Record Awards", "Japan Song Awards" and "FNS Music Festival".
As an actress, she has appeared in 40 serial dramas (1984-2015), 32 one-shot dramas (1989-2016), and 13 movies (1987-2013).
Country: Japan
Genre: Pop
Language: Japanese
Ota Takako (born: August 13, 1967) was an idol singer in 1980s. She was participant of the infamous talent show: "Star Tanjou!" in 1982 and made her debut one year later in July 25, 1983 (which means she was also one of the Class'83 idols). She was known as her role in the anime: "Mahou no Tenshi Creamy Mami" which she sang the OST and voiced the main character. In 1984, she became one of the regular members in music program: "Let's Go Young!".
As a singer she has released a total of 19 singles, 11 original albums and 2 mini albums. Except her 4 singles, most of those didn't chart in Oricon top 100 so her total song sales recorded are 32,650 copies (plus some few more not recorded by Oricon).
Country: Japan
Genre: Pop
Languages: Japanese, English
Watanabe Megumi (born: January 24, 1964) was an idol singer in 1980s. She had been a model since she was in high school and then debuted as idol singer on April 1, 1982. She has released a total of 8 singles and 2 albums. Of all her singles, only one managed to chart in Oricon chart which it reached #70. There's no information about her total sales. As for her acting career, she has appeared in 10 dramas (1983-2012). She was also active in some variety shows. In October 1982, she became regular cast in a variety show: "Waratte Iitomo!".
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Kuwata Yasuko (born: October 30, 1967) , real name: Ikeda Saeko, was an idol singer in the 1980s. She has been good at singing since elementary school and had appeared in many children's singing competitions and local festivals in her hometown in Fukuoka.
In 1982, she won "Toshiba Talent Scout Caravan" and got her contract with a big agency: Sun Music and finally debuted as idol singer in March 21, 1983.
In her singing career, Kuwata Yasuko has released a total of 14 singles and 10 albums. The highest position her song ever reached in Oricon chart is #50. There's no information about her total sales.
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Kobayashi Chie (born: November 20, 1963) was an idol singer in 1980s. When she was in junior high school, she won a talent show on TV and continued to participated in all kind of auditions since then. That was until 1980 when she participated in a big audition with Saijo Hideki (top 3 biggest 1970s male idol) as their brand ambassador, which she won the runner-up (the winner was Kawai Naoko). Being a runner-up apparently disappointed her so she took a break from auditions and song contest for a year and a half. And then it was her 3rd year of highschool when it's time for people to choose their career path, and she once again decided to be singer. She joined another audition sponsored by Yamaha and won it out of 10,000 contestants. She was scouted by the record company: "Pony Canyon" and officially debuted as idol singer on March 21, 1983 (which makes her one of the "class'83" idols)
As a singer, she has released a total of 11 singles and 1 original album. Out of all her singles, only one managed to chart at top 100 in Oricon chart with #99 as the highest position she ever reached. Her total sales are some 4,530+ (*that 1 single with 4,530 sales + another 10 singles and 1 album not recorded by Oricon).
As for her acting career, she has appeared in 5 serial dramas (1987-1999), 2 one-shot dramas (1993, 1998), and 1 movie (1996). Later she found a better success as a baradoru (*bariety aidoru / variety idol / idol specializes in variety show).
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Honda Risa (born: May 27, 1971), real name: Honda Kazue, was an idol in late 1980s to early 1990s. In summer 1986, she participated in "Pocari Sweat Image Girl Contest 1986" (*which was won by Moritaka Chisato) and got scouted by an agency. Risa made her debut as idol singer in July 1, 1988 ( class'88 idols, debuted at the same year as Nishida Hikaru, Wink, Tanaka Ritsuko, etc).
As a singer, she has released a total of 7 singles and 1 original albums. The highest position her song ever reached in Oricon chart was #31. Her total sales are about 44,120 copies. As for her acting career, she has appeared in 22 dramas (1988-2013) and 3 movies (1988-1991). She was also a regular cast in some variety shows. Honda Risa was also popular as gravure idol.
Country: Japan
Genre: Pop
Language: Japanese
Hamada Juri (born: November 1, 1962) was an idol singer in 1980s. She debuted in 1980 which made her one of the first generation 1980s idols.
She was seen as promising before her debut, having belonged to a children theater group and taking singing lessons since elementary school. Then she got a contract from CBS/Sony. She was produced by the same producer who worked with Yamaguchi Momoe (the biggest 1970s idol singer), and they thought Hamada Juri had the same vibe as Momoe, so they prepared her as Momoe's sucessor (they called it "post Momoe"), but unfortunately it didn't go as well as they expected.
In her career, Hamada Juri has released a total of 11 singles and 4 original albums. Five of her singles charted between #51-#100 in Oricon chart, the rest didn't make it into the top 100. Her total singles sales are about 102,000 copies but there's no information about her total sales (all singles + all albums). As for her acting career, she has appeared in 37 dramas (1980-1995) and 2 movies (1984,1985). She was also active in some variety shows.
Country: Japan
Genre: Pop
Language: Japanese
PumpKin was an idol duo in late 1980s with their members: Shiroyama Mikako (born: September 29, 1969), nickname: Mikarin, and Hayashi Chiharu (born: May 22, 1970), nickname: Chao. There's a third member: Ogawa Masumi (born: May 6, 1972), nickname: Ma-tan, who joined PumpKin later to replace Chao when she left the group later.
Chao and Mikarin were backdancers for a late 1980s idol singer: Mizutani Mari. Later they formed PumpKin and debuted on November 18, 1987. In their career, PumpKin have released a total of 6 singles and 1 original album. Their first two singles reached #28 and #46 in Oricon chart, the rest didn't make it into the top 100. There's no information about their total sales. They had no acting career as a group, but as individual, Mikarin - who was child actor long before PumpKin was formed - has appeared in a total of 26 dramas (1980-2020) and 3 movies (1985-1993).
PumpKin disbanded in 1993
RetroPanda
Thu, 24/08/2023 - 16:44
That was from "Idol Miracle Bible Series", a joint project in mid 2000s by several label companies to create some compilation albums for lesser known 1980s - early 1990s idol singers. Ito Miki and Ito Chieri were also parts of it. When I wanted to create this "part 2" page, that's the photo I immediately searched for, and somehow I found one that has a "2" on it, so it's absolutely perfect. The cover for the first retro idol page is also perfect because where again can I find a photo that has both Asaoka Megumi and Wink in it. 😅
It will be hard to find video that only exclusively have mid-level idols in it to put here even before the copyright purge. Maybe if I could find any I'll put it here, thought the chance is slim. Meanwhile just treat this page as the extension of "part 1" page. The number #1 in this list is actually number #101, and the videos there might also related to the people here. 😅
Feedeeri☆
Thu, 24/08/2023 - 16:55
I knew of the Idol miracle bible series mainly because some of my favourite small idols have had them and buying one of those compilation record would be the cheapest and best way to get access to their discography (As I'm typing this, Im listening to Kana Wakabayashi, an idol who has a joint "Idol miracle bible series" copilation with Yukie Kawakami, both really good singers!), but not only do small idols have these but also big ones! Like ad example, the one and only Minako Honda!
Actually, yesterday I found a video performance of a small idol that had at the beginning some other idols, and as soon as I saw it I thought to myself "this looks like a video that RetroPanda would put in their " x idol seen with other idols" category"
Usually its hard to find videos of idols togheter if they're not too big, but sometimes you manage to find them togheter on small singing shows! If not the second best source is first hand stories of people who were at joint events of idols, but those are usually a last resort if a video can't be found TT
RetroPanda
Thu, 24/08/2023 - 17:50
Yeah, it will be very rare. I can only think of this video that shows almost the entire "Class '83" idols:
and maybe some Momoco Club videos minus Nori-P and Tomomi. Or some "Let's Go Young" video if they cut the part of Akina and Kawai Naoko. Or video from early 1990s when most idols were mid levels.
Feel free to post retro idols videos if you like to. 😄
Feedeeri☆
Thu, 24/08/2023 - 18:36
Omg, thanks for the 1983 video (its so cute)!! I've been listening to their songs so much, I'm beginning to like them a lot! I recognized almost all of the singers (exept the two male idols (?) and two enka singers (not sure if those two are also idols). For the rest we have two "Endorus" (Idol + enka, a real coined word! Ive found like ten endorus for now?), Maiko Orie and Junko Yanagisawa. Endorus actually date back all the way to the 70's, but I think its interesting that two of them debuted in 1983, since the concept was a bit niche. There are some star tanjou winners (Akko!), audition veterans (Chie Kobayashi, participated in lots of auditions and almost always won. Arrived second the audition where Naoko Kawai won!) and Itsumi Osawa, who won the HoriPro talent caravan (I added the song with wich she entered some time ago!). For the rest, there are a lot of other idols I enjoy in this video (Happy that there are smaller ones like Yuko Kimoto or others that I enjoy like Mayumi Hara, but Im sad that theres no Yukie Kawakami, she won the biggest "price" in her star tanjou rounds!)
I didn't even think of Let's go young, but you reminded me that they have a lot of idols interacting! I saw a video with Juri Hamada and two other idols I think?, but also the fact that they have so many idols as part of their "sundays" group will atleast give us some clips ^^.
Thanks a lot for the offert! I'm not that good at finding videos, but if I do Ill check if you have uploaded them and then if you haven't I'll post them! (´▽｀)
The video in question is a performance of 1983 idol Yasuko Kuwata (classmate of Yukko ((I think more than half of that class had idols)), known for her good vocal skills) with her song Garasu no Love Letter. At the beginning of the video you can see Tsujisawa Kyoko, not sure if the other two girls are idols, but I think that one is either an idol or the host since I saw her in Tsujisawa Kyokos video from the same day ^^
Sorry for the long message lmao, just found the 1983 video really precious and important (；´∀｀)
RetroPanda
Thu, 24/08/2023 - 23:08
Yeah, it's a rare video, I hope they (Fuji TV or whoever keep deleting old idol videos on Youtube these days) don't delete it. The two guys were most likely male idols. I only know Morio Yumi, Iwai Sayuri (in her signature looks; the ponytail,etc) and Ito Maiko (*so many Ito btw: Ito Maiko, Ito Miki, Ito Chieri, Ito Kazue, etc), but it's cute to watch them walked to the stage one by one. Seems like there's Kikuchi Yoko (one of the three Nanno classmates who have died).
"Let's Go Young" mostly used idol singers in their show unlike "Yoru no Hit Studio", so there must be a lot of idols including newcomers who just debuted. They'd usually sing behind Akina or Kawai Naoko.
Yeah, it's because most schools back then prohibited their students from becoming celebrities. Either they got expelled, or dropped out, or moved to a few schools that allowed it like Horikoshi or Nakano. Horikoshi even had special classes for athletes and celebrities, that's why they had so many young celebrities as their students.
This is surely a very precious footage. All the "class '83" are shown in it. If this is gone too, I'll be sad. lol
Feedeeri☆
Fri, 25/08/2023 - 09:42
Yes, I swear to god Ito and Watanabe are the most common idol surnames, Ive seem plenty of them TT (Noriko is the name Ive seen the most in contrast)
Lets go young and Asahi Desu! (I can't remember the full name, my memory is kind of bad (；´∀｀)) are the best source of footage since it usualy doesnt get deleten, especially Asahi Desu, they're really chill with copyright to be honest
Yea, an idol (Norie Hayashi, HoriPro Talent audition winner) said that one of her teachers told her to prepare to drop out TT (Wich sounds like the opposite of what any teacher should tell to a student). And, a bit of a sad story, Akko (Akiko Matsumoto, entered with Os Mes Kiss) actually had so little activities that she won the perfect attendance award at Horikoshi, and she even had time to get a part time job later on (Poor Akko). Also, I forgot to mention it last time that we talked about Yoko Kikuchi, but Nanno has 4 classmates who died (all idols). Just a few months after their class reunion in 2010, Yuri Matsumoto took her own life : (. Its a shame, I really got into her songs and I was really sad to learn of her passing, may she rest in peace
Idol footage is such a roulette, Shoko and Miporins coming of age day, the hawaii trip, Shi chan with her dog, the Iwasaki sisters, Onyankos first concert where you could see most of the members (The one that you used for reference when you talked about them!), all deleten TT. At this point I hope that the footage of Akina talking about how she became Friends with Kyon Kyon isnt deleten
RetroPanda
Fri, 25/08/2023 - 11:40
Yeah, there's a lot of Noriko too: Sakai Noriko, Ogawa Noriko, Matsumoto Noriko, Kamachi Noriko (<-- Matsuda Seiko real name), etc.
They took a big gamble, dropping out of highschool for short idol career with tough competition and low chance of success.
I've read about that but couldn't remember her name. Some idols unfortunately didn't make it into their 50s.
It's still there. Seems like they can't find retro idol videos with english title....yet. But damn, the Hawaii video, the "queens" videos, Miporin in cat ears and other cute videos, those footages from "Yoru no Hit Studio" and "The Best Ten", are almost all gone. It's so sad, they basically just erase the idol history.
Feedeeri☆
Fri, 25/08/2023 - 11:58
The miporin tap dancing video is gone?! Σ(っ °Д °;)っ I was thinking of rewatching it recently, but I guess I was too late TT
Its the english titles and the criptic ones, like ad example I saw a keiko Watanabe clip that was called something like WTNBKKO, those are usually the ones wich last the longest or dont get deleten. But I wish more people uploaded to BiliBili, people usually dont go looking for copyrighted clips on there!
RetroPanda
Fri, 25/08/2023 - 15:32
That's gone too. Their channel got deleted too although it was one of the most complete collections that had been safe for years. They have restarted their account again but only added a few videos for now. Still need a long time until they re-upload all their vast collections.
Yeah, Kohaku videos aren't titled as Kohaku anymore these days.
So far it looks relatively safe since bilibili.com is a Chinese platform unlike YouTube. Maybe they'll just ignore copyright claims from Fuji TV, etc.
Feedeeri☆
Sat, 02/09/2023 - 12:00
Not sure if these can count as idols seen with other idols, so I'll first send them here ^^ (Also sorry, still dont know how to make videos play on lyrics translate, so I'll just post the YT links)
The same as the 1983 video but with 1984 idols! We have: Yukko! (0:50), Yukiko Okamura (0:59), Sachiko Ogura (1:08; Seems like shes an endoru, and since she debuted in late 1983 they included her here), Kyoko Koto (1:18), Satomi Taki (2:14), Kumi Tanaka (2:24), Zhang Lihua (2:35; unsure if shes an idol/endoru but when you search her name and add idol she appears), Kyoko Tsujisawa (2:44; Second time I see her in these idols with other idols videos), Yoko Nagayama (2:53), Shinobu Horie (3:15), Yuri Matsumoto! (3:25), Yukari Yamamoto (3:37; From the same office as Akina so she was marketed as her little sister) and Keiko Watanabe (4:08)!
Idols winning awards, we have: Kyoko Tsujisawa (First to win an award, white dress), Yukari Yamamoto and Kumi Tanaka (Second to win awards, Kumi should be the one in the blue dress and Yukari the one white and black one), and then the grand price goes to...Yukko! She performs Dreaming girl -Koi, Hajimemashite- at 6:30, enjoy~ (Unsure if the ones who didn't win anything are also idols, some of them seem familiar)
At Awards again I think? But this time with 1980 singers! The highlights are: Yoshie Kashiwabara (0:33), Tomoko Ishizaka (0:44), Yoko Katori (0:54), Seiko! (2:05), Juri Hamada! (2:16), Naoko Kawai (2:23), Yoshimi Iwasaki (2:33) and Chiemi Kai (2:51)
And finally, another award ceremony, this time with Miyuki Imori, Minako, Noriko Matsumoto, Michon, Mikako Hashimoto and Maiko Okamoto! And the winner is...Minako! And they brought her family on stage! (Including her grandma ( ⸝⸝´꒳`⸝⸝), reminded me of that one Akina video ( ；∀；)) And poor Minako, she didnt even get time to recover and they already started playing Temptation And the second winner is...Michon! They also brought her family ♡(੭´͈ ᐜ `͈)੭. She performed Ame no High School!
RetroPanda
Sat, 02/09/2023 - 23:56
Thanks for all these rare and valuable videos. To put video, simply click on the blue film strip icon (next to emoji).
video 1
Wow, so this is the "Class'84" idols!! There are a lot of them I never heard before. There were quite some less popular male idols too. It's nice to see Okada Yukiko entered with her "Little Princess" song. I've probably heard about a Nagayama Yoko before. And yeah, I've read Akina has once especially mentioned a rookie idol name in a show to promote her, but can't remember if that's her. Even the "queen" had "little sister" too. lol. But I don't see Kikuchi Momoko and Oginome although these two were probably the biggest idols of "Class'84".
video 2
Sato Kayo a.k.a Okada Yukiko a.k.a Yukko-chan has won almost all newcomer awards available in her debut year.. O(≧▽≦)O .
video 3
Wow, the first generation 1980s idols!! They were all there: Yoshie, Yoshimi, Kawai Naoko, Toshi....and the "queen", the "eternal idol", "the one who made Pink Lady stats looked small": Matsuda Seiko who was nominated with her iconic song "Aoi Sangoshou" !!
video 4
Now it's the infamous 1985 idols. But wait, (0:32) that dude! I didn't know he was a male idol. Seems like he is in the 1980s idols' reunion video from June 2023. Nice to see Matsumoto Noriko and Michon won something. It's always a touching scene to watch them winning award and sang with their family members on stage. Honda Minako deserved the award.
Feedeeri☆
Sun, 03/09/2023 - 09:54
**Update** I understood now, thanks a lot for the instructions, they helped a lot!
I think its because at the time of filming, they hadn't debuted yet! Same thing in the 1983 video, I saw that atleast one idol wasn't in the video and she debuted in july, so I'm assuming this was filmed before june/july, if not even earlier. Also, you might have heard of Yoko Nagayama because she redebuted as a really famous enka singer (I think shes been invited to Kohaku a lot too). Im unsure if theres a 1985 version of these videos, but I assume that the 1983 video was the first ^^ But if you want a video with Oginome, I found one!
(I'm still trying with the video feature (Im a bit slow with these things ^^", as soon as I figure it out I'll edit the message!) Another awards ceremony (it starts at 3:34), this time also with idols that debuted earlier/not in 1984! We have: Yukko! (4:00), Yukiko Okamura & Yoko Oginome! (4:17), Orange Sisters & Sachiko Ogura (Finally, its the first time I see the Orange Sisters outside of a live performance), Kyoko Kato (4:50; I think the one next to her is an enka singer?), Satomi Taki (5:36), Kumi Tanaka & an endoru maybe? (Again, unsure, her song seemed to be enka but I can find her if I search her name and add "Idol") (5:53), Kyoko Tsujisawa & Yoko Nagayama (6:13), B O Y and Kanako Narikiyo! (6:27), Shinobu Horie (6:43), Keiko Watanabe (7:19) and lastly, Chiaki Watanabe! (7:31). Again no Momoko Kikuchi? There was a Momoko, but the writing of the name was different TT Yes, Yukko was truly one of the best rookies of her year, whenever she went she got awards, and that didn't stop at 1984, it continued in 1985 and in 1986, she was truly talented! The reunion video from June also had an idol for wich I have a video, but since you havent covered her and the two idols that appear I'll save it untill its either hers or her friends turn⁓
RetroPanda
Sun, 03/09/2023 - 10:35
I see, that must be the reason. I think I know a short hair idol who was mid-level when she was idol but made a breakthrough once she switched to enka and became regular Kohaku performer (as enka singer), I think she's Nagayama Yoko. She appeared in "Yan Yan Uta Studio 10th anniversary" video from 1986 (*video that has Saito Yuki wore two ponytails (´∀｀；)" ). There's too many of these "idols" in 1980s, sometimes I get them mixed up.
I love the video intro. It already used some simple CGI so it gives some modern feel and it shows the previous winners (*I saw Mori Masako, Matsumoto Iyo among them). The opening also looks as epic as Kohaku. At (5:03) there's Kikkawa Koji, the guy who burned his guitar in Kohaku 1985 and scared Kawai Naoko. I don't know if he counts as male idol or rocker or both. There's so many names I've never heard before. Videos like these prove that "Class'83" were not the bottom of the barrel or "bad harvest", there's a bunch of B-list idols spread evenly in each year of 1980s - some even won newcomer awards. Maybe Kikuchi Momoko was still out of the radar yet until she had her first song with 300k+ sales in November 1984.
Okada Yukiko could have such a potential career. I could see her at Kohaku. The poor Yukko...
Feedeeri☆
Sun, 03/09/2023 - 10:58
And shes not the only one! Sayuri Ishikawa (If Im not getting her name mixed up) debuted as an idol, turned into an enka singer and was invited to kohaku so, so many times. I also get mixed up with names, sometimes I can't remember their debut years or sometimes I dont even remember their names, there are simply so, so many idols TT
So thats why I recognized his name, and I think he can be classified as an Idol! I've seen two metal idols and a rock/pop-rock idol, unsure if the same works for male idols, but I'd think so! And to be honest, so so many 1983 idols had good backgrounds, I mean some of them won Star Tanjou and one of them even won the grand price! Its not their fault that they sold badly, and its sad that people call them a poor class. Maybe? But they had some very small idols like Chiaki Watanabe, who had 3 singles wich never entered the top 100, so maybe she was invited but Momoko couldn't attend for some schedule conflict
Yukko could have truly become such a big idol, Hana no Image is such a good song, it would have no doubt become her second number 1. If she didn't die, Im pretty sure she could have been invited to Kohaku 1986 : (
RetroPanda
Sun, 03/09/2023 - 12:22
And if we go further to the past, there's Mori Masako (one of the "hana no chusan" with Yamaguchi Momoe and Sakurada Junko) who was quiet big as idol but became much bigger as enka singer.
Sometimes rocker could be idol too, like The Checkers. I don't know about Kikkawa Koji.
Schedule conflict seems more logical. Kikuchi Momoko already had song with 100k sales since her debut, there's no reason for her to lose to those people.
Feedeeri☆
Thu, 07/09/2023 - 10:21
The 1983 video but with 1980 idols! (seems like the 1983 edition was not the first one ^^"), but we have: Yoshimi Iwasaki (0:16), Chiemi Kai (0:28), Yoshie Kashiwabara (0:37), Yoko Katori (0:47, she was running so fast XD), Naoko Kawai (0:56), Chiba Manami (1:15), Midori Nakagawa (1:23, endoru?), Patty Lynn (1:33, she was marketed as the next Agnes Chan since she was also from Hong Kong), Rie Hiki (1:42, won the HoriPro talent scout audition), The one and only Seiko Matsuda (1:52), Miyuki Yokoyama (2:17, unsure if shes an idol or an enka singer to be honest). And the winner is...Naoko Kawai! (Performance starts at 2:50)
From the bio of the 1984 video, it seems this was a music festival, but they dont remember the name ^^". The 1980 one seems to imply that this was established before 1980, so maybe there are some 1970's versions out there. For now I hope that there are the 1985 and 1982 versions online, those would be very interesting to watch ^^
RetroPanda
Thu, 07/09/2023 - 11:39
Wow, the "class '80", the first generation 1980s idols who started the idol golden age. People focused on "class '82" and "class '85" but they forgot that "class '80" was also full of big stars.
-Yoshimi has won a lot of newcomer awards, she's definitely not just "Hiromi's little sister".
-Yoshie looked like an underdog compared to Seiko and Naoko, but she was also belong to the cream of the crop bigger than most 1980s idols.
- Kawai Naoko!! OMG, this person is too precious! She had it all, an almost perfect idol singer. I can't have enough of her songs. Hope she'll come back to singing someday.
- The idol "queen" Matsuda Seiko!! Once she entered, "Aoi Sangoshou" started playing. A precious scene that needs to be replayed at least a few times. 😅
- There's also (1:03) Tahara Toshihiko a.k.a Toshi the male idol.
- The rest although failed to make it big, but they also came with some solid backgrounds like "Star Tanjou!" contestant and "HoriPro Caravan" winner.
The 1982 and 1985 versions would be hype.
Class '82: the other "queen", Kyon², Chiemi, Hidemi, Yuu... and they might even include Iyo.
Class '85: I'd love to see a certain idol with ponytail came out with "Sotsugyo" playing on her entrance, and a certain extremely cute idol with a mole on her chin, joined by Miporin, Asaka Yui, Honda Minako, etc.
Feedeeri☆
Thu, 07/09/2023 - 12:09
Yes, Yoshimi is more than just Hiromis little sister! Shes a top idol and a top singer in her own right! (But I do find the footage of her performing Aka to Kuro for the first time with Hiromi watching with tears in her eyes to be so cute ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა)
Yoshie was for sure a big singer and idol, not many could surpass her (and not many can say that they got a rose from the prince of Japan!), but I do love that in her performances of her debut song (Called N.1), she wore a shirt that said "YOSHIE K. N.1", a smart way to make sure that people remembered her and it kind of seemed like they were saying that the "anata wa number 1" was Yoshie herself~
Naoko was a biiiiiiiiig idol and force to be reckoned with, shame that one of her kohaku performances was ruined by that guitar breaking rocker dude TT
The rest were between mid level and lower mid level, if ranked it would probably go: Yoko (her debut song is very catchy and it sold well), Midori Nakagawa, Miyuki Yokoyama (unsure about the her stats), Chiba Manami (I saw her on a b-class idol compilation, so I assume that shes a mid-level), Chiemi Kai (Star somehow only got to rank 103 on the oricon charts), Rie Hiki (debut song placed at 199) and last Patty Lynn (Only released one single)
I would love to see who would win in the 1982 one, and depending on when they filmed the awards it could honestly go any way, but if they included Iyo and filmed it before Akinas Shoujo A, Hidemi and Chiemis hits, I think Iyo might have been the winner. I would love a 1985 version for the same reasons, like who will win? The ponytail sukeban idol, the then unknown rookie Nanno, the soon to be big actress Miporin, the candid girl or Minako, the cute idol and powerful voice? And thats not even getting into the possibility of Noriko Matsumoto and other smaller idols being there! So many good contenders, but who would have won? Maybe we'll find out if the festival is online~
Feedeeri☆
Sat, 23/09/2023 - 15:53
https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1b14y1u7A8/?spm_id_from=333.999.0.0
Oh god, where do I begin?
The 1982 awards ceremony! (Originally posted on that YouTube account I told you about, reposted by that Bilibili account I told you about, kinda like a full circle moment ^^)
The singers coming in at 0:31
(A commercial break from 1:35 to 3:35)
Past winners (1970's idols): Saori Minami! (5:42), Masako Mori (6:03; first idol to have won Star Tanjō!), Agnes Chan! (6:13), Junpei (6:22), Hiromi Iwasaki! (6:52), Mizue Takeda (7:52), Mako Ishino (8:07) and Mariko Kurata! (8:39)
Past winners (1980 idols): Seiko! (9:51 with that iconic song, enjoy the performance~)
The 1982 idols!: Kaoruko Arai! (15:58), Hidemi Ishikawa (16:10), Iwai Tomoko (16:21, Endoru? Heard the Presenter say enka and idol when he introduced her), Cappuccino (16:43, I heard him say idol, but I've never heard of her (；´∀｀). If she is an idol, then that bring the amount of idols that I found that debuted in 1982 to 55), Megumi Kawashima (16:56), Atsuko Kawada (17:05), Sawako Kitahara (17:30; was in a group named Pansy with Chiemi Manabe and Hisako Mitsui), Kyon Kyon! (17.41), Marumi Shiraishi! (19:08), Miki Nakano (19:23), Akina! (19:35), Yu Hayami! (20:02), Chiemi Horie (21:33), Iyo Matsumoto! (22:00), Chiemi Manabe (22:10), Kimiko Mizuno (22:34), Mita Hiroko (22:46), Hisako Mitsui (22:56), Kaori Ichikawa (23:21), Megumi Watanabe (32:33)
(commercial break)
Some performances, among them Seikos! (31:18)
(A cm break before announcing the winners!)
And the first winner is...Chiemi Horie! (39:11; performance at 40:00)
Next winner is...Shibutakai! (42:01; performance at 42:36)
Then we have...Kaoruko Arai! (43:49; performance at 44:28)
4th winner is...Mita Hiroko! (46:04; performance at 46:39)
5th is Iyo! (48:23; performance at 48:58)
Right after we have Kyon Kyon! (53:22; performance at 54:03)
(cm break)
Then the next is Kimiko! (58:14; performance at 59:01)
Yu Hayami! (1:00:04; performance at 1:01:04)
Second to last, Hidemi Ishikawa! (1:06:16; performance at 1:07:07)
Last but no least, Sawako Kitahara! (1:09:05; performance at 1:09:37)
This was hard to write ๑﹏๑
RetroPanda
Sat, 23/09/2023 - 18:25
That was in "Japan Music Awards" (Nihon Kayo Taisho). It was started at 1969 so it predates 1970s idol by a year (but ended in 1993).
Minami Saori debuted at 1971 with her infamous "17sai" and immediately won major award. Too bad Asaoka Megumi didn't win this, but she won "Japan Records Awards" if I'm not wrong. Mori Masako won a lot of awards it seems. Agnes Chan with her iconic looks. Sakurada Junko still looked like a kid (well, she was a kid in early 1970s, like Momoe). Yoshimi's sister: Iwasaki Hiromi, idol powerhouse in both popularity and vocal skill; maybe Croket already watched her since then. Takada Mizue and Ishino Mako were also big deal. Seems like I just mentioned Kurata Mariko a few days ago. A lot of tears but it's nice to see even 1970s idols could easily compete with non-idol singers.
Tahara Toshihiko a.k.a Toshi the male idol was the 11th winner. OMG, the "queen" Matsuda Seiko with her "Aoi Sangoshou". It also shows that Toshi and Seiko have shared the same stages so many times. Even Matchy was already there.
Class'82 full of flowers 🌸🌺🌻🌹🌷🌼💐. I'm so glad to see familiar faces like Hidemi, Kyon², Yuu, Iyo, Chiemi, Shibugakitai. And Nakamori Akina; who would think that the cute girl with her "Slow Motion" song could become "the other queen" to challenge the dominance of Matsuda Seiko. Mita Hiroko clearly wasn't as big as those previous names but she also had her place. Shiraishi Marumi and Watanabe Megumi were barely mid-level but even them were nominated in the awards too. I don't know about the rest of them but they all also look interesting; I might have seen some of them in the songs you uploaded. 🤔
Thank you for the video and your effort to write the long description. 😆
P. S: I might have seen Warabe in one of the CMs.
Feedeeri☆
Sat, 23/09/2023 - 19:09
Despite 1970 being the first year for idols, a lot of things happened! The first idol (Kyoko Yoshizawa, preceded Yuki by just a couple of days/weeks iirc), the first idol group (Golden Half), the first top idols, the first foreign idols (Golden Half again), maybe even more ^^. Mori Masako was I think one of the very first generation top idols? If not the its a low level top idol or very high upper idol situation, but she did become a super famous enka singer ^^
I bet Seiko has met a lot of idols, actually thinking about it apart from Juri Hamada I didn't know wich idol friends Seiko had ^^"
Yes, the flower class! I have a really softplace for Akinas Slowmotion era and the Prologue album, seeing her dressed in cute stage outfits, smiling while being on these small shows really warmed my heart. Can't decide wich I like more, the cute Akina or the Cool Akina ヾ(≧▽≦*)o.
I've told you about Megumi Kawakima mainly because she was the reson for Kaori Tsuchiyas debut date pushback (Now that I think about it, there was no Kaori in that video?! Was it because she debuted in august?), but I haven't really heard her full debut, just happened to hear some clips of it on a compilation of 1982 debuts (Was debating if I should post it under your Marumi translation for Orionza no Mukou since there was a brief clip of it, was unsure since it wasn't the whole clip TT)
As for Chiemi Manabe, Sawako Kitahara and Hisako Mitsui they were in a group called Pansy, wich I've uploaded. I added them as "Former Members" in the related category, so maybe you saw them from there! The other I believe I haven't told you about, mainly because I only know them by name (But I do know Kaoruko Arai, mainly because I saw a clip where Akina claps for her on a show!)
Thanks! I feel a bit bad cause I couldn't find one of the idols (she was near the end, her debut photo had her with her hands cupped on her chin and a blue backdrop), but try as I might I couldn't understand the host nor the writing of her name TT
So thats why they seemed familiar! Makes sense now that you point it out, The Mi-Kes (Pun intended), the cute cm for a kid targeted product (They were a nursery rhyme group! ((Cough Cough aka their agency tried to not pay the music tax by saying it was a nursery rhyme cough cough)), the fact that this would have been around their debut date, it all matches up! (but the cookies really do look good, wonder if they still exist)
RetroPanda
Sun, 24/09/2023 - 00:39
Ah, I've seen her picture but it's hard to say who is the first ever Japanese idol. I've seen some black and white videos from the 1960s with some idol-like singers, not sure if they were already called "idol". There's also "Four Leaves", a male idol group who debuted in 1967, etc. Mori Masako is not first generation since she debuted in 1972, but yeah, even pre-enka idol version of her was already top idol with her debut song sold 514k copies and her other singles sold between 100k-300k copies. Her full stats.
Seiko friends were Yoshimi and Ishino Mako (both were her classmates in Horikoshi High School), and then Toshi. She was probably also quite close with Kawai Naoko. But I'd bet my money that Seiko and Akina are not friends, they'd just have mutual respect at most, and probably quite familiar with each other since they would often met in award shows, Kohaku, "Yoru no Hit Studio", "The Best Ten", "Yan Yan Uta Studio", etc.
Then the mid 1980s version of Akina, the perfect balance between her cute version and her cool version. (；´∀｀)
I also notice from these videos that there were quite a lot of random male idols. They're not just Johny's.
LOL. That tax evasion part is funny when I read about them. But to me their songs sound like some kind of lullaby (maybe because they wore nightgowns) or folk song, different than typical idol songs.
Feedeeri☆
Sun, 24/09/2023 - 09:22
Now that you remind me of it, I've seen a "1960's idols, volume 1" video! I couldn't gather their names but they did seem to fit the bill for an idol ^^. Other than them, I know of a Child Idol and a singer that had the idol feel from the 1960's, but then again the girl with the idol vibe could have just been a very young singer ^^"
Yes! But she did have her cute moments even later on, like when she slaps peoples head when she laughs
The one I recognised was Junichi Nitta, since hes one of two male idols that I've heard songs from ^^. I also intend to hear the male spin off of Onyanko, but I always forget (；´∀｀). But I know that Johny had a monopoly on the male idol market, and from what I read it wasn't something pretty. But they did have female idols too! I'm a fan of their last female idol group, its nice that Johny has pages for every artist they every had, with a lot of pictures too! ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა
Warabe had a really jam packed idol carrer, didn't they? I always forget how much "gossip" there can be in the idol world;The small idol that allegedly was pictured with the Queens husband, idols almost getting into fist-fights (Miyuki Sugiura and Miho Morikawa), and much much more (；´∀｀). But the B-side of their first song was counted as a popular song, so their agency had to pay part of the tax in the end
RetroPanda
Sun, 24/09/2023 - 10:22
There's also an Emy Jackson who was counted as idol singer (by wikipedia), who debuted in 1965 (few months before Akina was even born), so "idol" singers most likely already existed in 1960s. I also wasn't sure back then if Rosanna Zambon (Hide's wife) was idol since she looked like typical early 1970s idol.
The unorthodox / cool-type idols (Akina, Oginome, Kudo Shizuka, etc) were actually cool only when they sang, but looked cute once they talked with the host (in "Yoru no Hit Studio" ,"The Best Ten", etc) or interacted with other idols. They're still idols after all. And Akina smiled with her eyes, add that with her caring personality to idols her junior. Too bad her head-slap compilation videos already deleted from Youtube. lol (；´∀｀).
I'm not sure but I might have read about Johny's tried to scout Nishimura Tomomi's current husband (was a member of the boyband: CHA CHA back then). It shows that there's some decently popular male idols outside of Johnny's. Is that Shojotai? Johnny's had a "Shonentai" (literally boy group) and a "Shojotai" (literally girl group), a very creative naming sense they had there.
I've read about that. They must had a really bad day for Japanese celebrities to fistfight (and it's kinda funny to imagine Sugiura Miyuki and Morikawa Miho fight, there's no one got hurt after all). In a hypothetical scenario, I can only imagine idols who look to have strong personalities (assertive, outspoken, blunt) like Kudo Shizuka or Kokusho Sayuri to get into a big argument, even that most likely won't turn physical.
Lol, the tax thing is still funny. ( ≧▽≦ )"
Feedeeri☆
Sun, 24/09/2023 - 10:36
Co-op idol duos were a thing, so I think that Hide & Rosanna can be considered the first/precursors to the trend
The last female group under johny's was "Orange Sisters"! They have two singles and two/three albums, and they entered the top 100 once with their debut song that peaked at 98 circa iirc. I don't know why, but I really like their song Namida no Kiss Mark ♪(´▽｀). Also, there was a group called Otometai, but I don't think they were affiliated with Shojotai and Shonentai
Miyuki Sugiura was quite the character from what I read, the fist fight, once told Itsumi Osawa that she hated her to her face, rumors of her making Mami Yamase cry...the list could go on TT. But I can immagine Sayuri Kokusho getting into an argument with someone who doesn't take the entertainment industry seriously (cough cough Eri cough)
RetroPanda
Sun, 24/09/2023 - 12:20
Johnny's also had some female idol groups but they're not as successful as their male counterpart.
lol. poor Itsumi, and even Yamase Mami too. She must be hard to work with.
Kokusho was a leader type who was strict with people not going with the rules, and she said she was very competitive. They should made a "Sukeban Deka 4" back then with Kokusho as the lead actress. and put Ito Kazue as the main antagonist. (；´∀｀)
Feedeeri☆
Sun, 24/09/2023 - 12:25
Imagine if she was paired up with Eri Nitta and someone else whos carefree, that would be quite fun to watch XD
But I do see her as a no-nonsense detective, maybe they could even sneak in Tomoko Takabe alonside Kazue? But I would also love to hear the songs for it, Sukeban Deka insert songs were always so cool ヾ(≧▽≦*)o
Feels strange to see the idol page empty, but on a sidenote I really like the image that you chose for it! I can recognize Mayumi Hara (cover of kesshin and a promotional picture of Koibito Nante), Noriko Watanabe, Yuri Kunikaze and Nami Shimada! Nice contrast to the image of the first list that had a lot of top idols ^^