HEADLINES: 2005

DECEMBER 12, 2004: Our first news item for Y2K5 comes to us courtesy of Dave Z., a huge Pink Lady fan who’s lucky enough to be living in Tokyo. Along with having seen Mie and Kei in concert (Dave tried his best to do the dance steps during the show, but, admittedly, couldn’t hang with the hardcore fans in the audience!), he wrote to me just after I uploaded the goodies for December with the exciting news that there WILL be a concert DVD hitting the market soon! Out-freakin-standing!!!

Oh, and if that weren’t enough, Dave also informed me that the THIRD and final stage of Pink Lady’s tour will be starting up around March or April! Like the Energizer Rabbit, Mie and Kei keep going and going and going! And that’s terrific! Thanks for the news, Dave!

DECEMBER 16, 2004: Four days after I heard from Dave Z., John Vawter checked in with more news about the upcoming PL concert DVD: Called the Pink Lady Memorial Concert, its release date will be February 23, 2005 and will be 2-disc set and costing around $57, though it might change, given the ever fluctuating currency exchange rates. According to information John had gathered, this will be a high definition DVD set that was recorded on November 5, 2004, and will feature multiple angles, focusing on Mie and Kei singularly or together. As of this writing, there's no picture of the cover, but once more information becomes available, you'll certainly be informed!

DECEMBER 25, 2004: I got a most enjoyable bit of news via email from Chris Greenaway who lives in Japan and wrote me about a live TV special about Pink Lady that aired on Christmas Eve. Chris was fortunate enough to have seen the special in its entirety and was kind enough to provide this review of the show:

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On Christmas Eve between 9pm and about 10:45 Pink Lady did a live TV special on TBS TV in Japan. I don`t know the name of the program they appeared on but the host of the show had a jacket that looked like something the Captain from the Love Boat would wear and the entire audience was made up of 14-20 year old grrls dressed head to toe in red. (All of them cute by the way!) They were interviewed for the first 2/3 of the show and the interview not only was the Ladies talking about the past but it was accompanied by very rare video footage and dramatic reinactments of various key moments in their lives.

We have all heard the stories of Mie and Kei knowing each other in high school and becoming friends at the Yamaha music school in their town. However, the story that hasn`t really been documented until this show was how close Mie and Kei were before they ever started singing together. Mie was a basketball player and Kei was a drama student at their school and they crossed paths by chance and became fast friends soon afterward. (Both were impressed with the other`s abilities in basketball and acting respectively.) We hear stories of how they stuck up for each other when problems arose and in cases of family crisis` during their early high school years.

Then we fast forward to their going to Yamaha`s music school. After a few weeks the head teacher suggested that they sing as a duet. (They even say the word "duet" in English!) There, they are worked very hard and they tell a story where Kei couldn`t sing because of a sore throat and Mie slaps her for it. They both apparently cried and made up on the spot. Soon after they got so good that they were asked to sing for Yamaha as their promotional girls locally on stage. The girls sang karaoke to songs by The Candies, who were the reigning queens of Jpop at the time. This is accompanied with extremely rare actual video footage of them singing on a small stage with lots of people cheering them! As time went by they became psuedo rock stars in their town and even started dressing the part! (We are shown dramatizations of this as well as photos.) This is an excellent segment of the interview.

Mie and Kei were passed over for an audition for a record company by Yamaha because they felt the girls were too young and this resulted in them quitting the school. Around this time, (late '75 to early '76 or so,) they were watching tv and saw an advertisement for Star Tanjo and decided to enter. The dramatization we see is the girls making their bib overalls, (the studio audience cheering wildly at the sight of them,) and then we see their winning song from Star Tanjo. They then cover the hard labour the ladies had to endure when they got their promotional deal. They had to do the housework and gardening, (I kid you not) in the house they had to live in while going through around the clock singing and dancing lessons. This was their "cocoon period" as Geishas call it and we are shown that their friendship was what got them through the drugery that was their lives at this point. Six months later they recorded "Pepper Keibu" and we are shown a dramatization of the newly christened Pink Lady performing the song to record executives and none were all that enthusiastic about the song.

Around this point they tell us the story of how they came to be called Pink Lady. Apparently it was because it implied something suggestive, yet graceful and innocent. Mie loved the name right away and Kei really disliked it but it would grow on her over time. (Their reactions to the name in their interview clips were priceless!!!) Then we get clips of their debut on TV, and this gets them tons of notoriety. From there they were on their way. Then we are treated to tons of vintage footage from not only their many singing appearances and guest shots on Japanese dramas but their infinite amount of commercials. (Man, Japanese commericals were as drop dead hilarious then as they are today...)

They then go on to address something that has been apparently become a bit of an urban legend in Japan. Mie having a miscarriage or appendectomy and performing the same night. While local tabloid reports claimed she had a miscarriage, in truth is was her appendix that was removed. Did she perform on that same night? Yes she did and we see a dramatization of how she was able to get through the night. (Her entire abdomen was heavily wrapped with saran wrap.) We then see their TV appearance they did immediately after her surgery. (They REALLY loaded this special with classic clips here!)

After almost completely glossing over the New Year`s Eve 1978 debacle completely they show us their strides to make it in America. They were pitched with the idea originally and asked if they wanted to go and Mie immediately said yes and Kei said no. Mie talked Kei into going and she went reluctanly. Up next we see too many clips of Pink Lady & Jeff to count. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to hell. While they emphisize that the show did fairly well in the ratings, they also show numerous American newspaper reviews that confirm the show`s status as one of the worst ever made on Earth. (Worse than Manimal) They talk about Kei`s personal problems a bit and even allude to Jeff Altman`s comments about her crying a lot and talking to her boyfriend on the phone a lot as being true. We also get a lot of Japanese news camera footage of the Ladies coming to and from the US as well as some footage of them going to various movie permiers. (I really want to read a translated version of Kei`s autobiography to hear her side of what was going on with her at that time because she looks seriously messed up during those years.)

We then see a dramatization of their decision to break up. Apparently they wanted to break up as early as 1980 but they had a contract until 1981. This reputes the statement made by their handlers that said that they hung on a year too long by the way. We then see a video montage of their farewell show in Tokyo. Despite the rain, it was clearly a great show (I wonder if it`s out on DVD?). Then they talk about their solo careers. Apparently Mie and Kei appeared on various Japanese dramas, (pronounced "dorama",) and of course they discuss "Call Girl" and Mie`s photo book. Their personal lives after PL and Mie`s marriage and going back to school is also covered. After this is a little chatter in the studio about their comeback and recent tours. Then after the commercial break we get the live concert we have been waiting an hour for. They do shortened versions of all of their hits as well as a few obscure songs from the early days. The sight of all of the cute grrls in red all doing the dances perfectly is priceless. Mie and Kei are dead tired and using a mini oxygen machine and drinking from water bottles and Kei says in Japanese `I'm getting too old for this!` and laughs. The audience cheers them on and they do an encore. While they started the show with UFO, they also finished with it by request from the crowd.

REVIEW!!! This is the best I have seen PL look or sound. The thing I really noticed was that of the footage of the glory days they showed, Kei was almost a non-participant half the time and mouthing the words without singing a lot. This was definately not the case anymore. She is clearly as into everything as Mie is and it has resulted in them sounding better than ever. Concert wise there are a few songs they do much better today because they are older such as "Carmen77" and "Wanted". Unfortunately they cannot carry "Pepper Keibu" or "SOS" as well because they are much older now and it showed. While they sounded great, the songs lacked something. However, their better and bigger hits sounded much stronger than when they first recorded them. In some cases they really got better with age but in other cases PL really should leave some songs behind.

Costume wise, it was very similar to the show Jeff saw in Yokohama and "Carmen77" was the highlight of the show. Unfortunately we didn`t get to see much more than a snippet of them doing that song because they kept showing the audience jumping up and down. As for the long interview segment it was really cool to see the ultra rare footage. (Topped off by an extremely rare Japanese tv performance of "Kiss in the Dark" in Japanese. Unfortunately this version was poorly done at the time and didn`t sound nearly as good as the studio version.) I also found myself riveted by the reinactments of their early and glory days. The they got to play Kei from age 15 to 25 was absolutely dead on the money as Kei. However, the producers weren`t even trying with Mie`s part. The who played her from 1972-1981 looked nothing like her and got the least camera time. However, by and large it was well worth watching.

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Pretty impressive, eh? Many thanks to Chris for proving such a detailed and entertaining review of that TV special!

FEBRUARY 27, 2005: I've got two items for this time time around, but let's lead off with what brought you here in the first place:

KEI-CHAN HAS HER OWN WEBSITE!!

A couple of weeks ago, my good friend, and intrepid Pink Lady reporter John Vawter discovered that Kei has her own place in cyberspace! I've checked it out myself, and it's pretty damn cool! To whet your appetite, here's a screen capture of the site's main page. If you wanna go right there, just click on the picture:

As you can see, it's laid out pretty nicely and has lots of neat stuff (provided you can read Japanese) like Kei's profile, her schedule (both solo and with Mie on PL's tour), news items written by Kei herself (whoa!), infomation on stuff like her autobiography, a picture gallery and a BBS. Lady-X from Arizona whom I told about the site was kind enough to put in a plug for my website there. If you're a fan of Kei-chan, then, by all means, swing by her site! You won't be sorry!

FEBRUARY 27, 2005: Now, if it weren't for the exciting news about Kei's website, i would've led off with this little tidbit:

PINK LADY GOES POSTAL!!

No, it's not what you think, thank God! Even better, Mie and Kei were honored in Japan with their own stamp, or rather a stamp of one of their most popular songs, "UFO"! The proof is in the pudding which you can see below:

Pretty cool, eh? While it would've been nicer to have seen Mie and Kei's lovely faces grace the stamps in their ever famous silver space outfits, this is the next best thing since, in Japan, E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E knows the girls are forever linked to those three magical letters. Many thanks to John for sending me this really neat item!

FEBRUARY 27, 2005: One last item for your reading pleasure. Ever hear the old saying, "Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery"? Well, John dug up this item from a Yahoo Japan Pink lady auction page. From what he told me in a message he sent, the picture below is supposed to describe how TRULY devoted fans of Kei-chan can imitate her trademark hairstyle from her salad days with Pink Lady. And here's the proof:

Apparently, judging from the illustration at the bottom, plus the Japanese script above, this was meant to provide instructions on how girls can look just like their favorite pop star. Now, since Mie-chan wore her hair in an uncomplicated pageboy, her hairstyle was fairly easy to mimic, but Kei's, as you can see is just a wee bit harder. When I first saw that pic, it got me to wondering is some enterprising soul over in Japan ever came up with the idea of selling wigs that mimicked the girls' hairstyles. Lord knows, more than enough PL stuff was marketed back in the day, I'm surprised something like this wasn't!

CORRECTION: In the item above, I described Mie-chan's hairstyle from her salad days with Pink Lady as a pageboy, but Lady-X informed me that it was actually a layered bob. Well, you learn something new every day! And now, on with the other items:

MARCH 6, 2005: Speaking of Mie, fellow fan John Day dropped me a message about a TV show she had been on in early February. The show was called "Wording Game", a game show on Japan's NHK network which John recorded via TV Japan. John was kind enough to burn the game show on a DVD and send it to me, and it was pretty neat. If you think we Americans have the monopoly on wacky game shows, then you need to see what the folks over in Japan churn out! Anyhoo, during Mie's apperance on the show, she did some moves from "Southpaw" to wow the crowd, as you can see below from stills John was kind enough to have sent me:

Pretty cool, eh? I especially like the one just above with the shot of Mie at age 20 imposed on the screen. As for the show itself, once I figure out what it's all about, I'll give you the 411 on it!

MARCH 27, 2005: My ever intrepid PL newshound, John Vawter checked in with several items early in the month of March, one very sad which I'll save for last. The first item regards a poll on a Japanese website where visitors can vote on their favorite Pink Lady song. I think the site is also handling ticket sales for the Pink Typhoon Tour. Anyhoo, when I checked out the link right after John told me about it, "Kiss in the Dark" was the top song. How about that. However, when I checked back again a couple of weeks later, "Monster" was at number one, so I'm guessing the poll is ongoing and changes from day to day. Very interesting! Below is the link, even though it's in Japanese (D-UH!), if you run it through a translator like Alta Vista, you can see the titles in English!

http://t.pia.co.jp/cgi-bin/pinklady/vote.cgi

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Item 2 from John: He had found, in his words, a large and messy PL site in Japanese called "OH! Step! Pink Lady! you can check it out here:

http://oh-step2.hp.infoseek.co.jp/index.html

According to John, the site has PL's career divided up into sections, and each section has its own page(s). While surfing the pages, John found this rather intriguing item from the website about Pink Lady & Jeff:

http://f47.aaa.livedoor.jp/%7Epinklady/USA.html

From the translation John did, the webmaster seemed to speculate about why PL&J was made, why it was cancelled after only 6 shows (and after pulling in 22% ratings), and why it was released to DVD for US markets only. He seemed unaware of the show's reputation here. He also quotes from Kei's book, and the from the translation, it would appear that the girls were approached to do more shows, but Kei wanted to return to Japan. The site, which I've visited has an abundant number of pics, many of which neither John or I have ever seen before, including stills from PL&J as well.

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And now, the last item, and, like I said, it's a sad one. Kazuhiko Soma, the man who forever changed the Japanese music world with the creation of Pink Lady died in early February from cancer at the age of 60. Soma had been the man who groomed and guided Mie and Kei into becoming the legendary superstar pop act that they are today. According to the translation John did, Mr. Soma was apparently he was the man who discovered Mie and Kei for T &C (the company that managed them) and it was his mother's house where they stayed in-between Star Tanjo and their breakthrough Pepper Keibu TV performance, and there he groomed them and taught them the dance moves that made the girls famous.

A funeral ceremony for Mr. Soma was held at the Daughters of Saint Paul Church in Tokyo. Virtually everyone in the Japanese entertainment business, including Mie and Kei attended, and apparently Kei spoke at it, saying that Pink Lady was his dream, and that his dream lives on. It was said that Mr. Soma also had some connection to America, that it may have been his idea to try to break them in America, and that he may have been to America before Pink Lady and got some ideas for the group while here here. Anyway, a very sad occasion for Mie and Kei, but, as long as people continue to love Pink Lady like we do here in the States, the memory of Mr. Soma, clearly a visionary will never die.

APRIL 18, 2005: I let this item fall through the cracks while working on other things for the website over the last couple of months, but the planned February release of the Pink Lady concert DVD from their current tour (as first reported on by John Vawter back in December) had been postponed. However, John recently informed me that the DVD has now been rescheduled for a late August release. John also speculated that this performance could well be Mie and Kei’s final concert appearance on May 27th.

Given that it’s coming out three months after the show, it stands to reason that John’s assumption could be right on target. In any event, we won’t know for sure until the DVD hits the streets. If this video is the final show, the final concert performance for Pink Lady, then it would behoove you as a fan to invest in this DVD when it comes out so you can share vicariously in the historical importance of the event. Of course, we’ll keep everyone informed if and when any additional news becomes available.

APRIL 23, 2005: Fellow PL contributor Lady-X was kind enough to grace my home with this most unique item that makes telling time so much more fun----THE KEI-CHAN KLOCK!!

As you can see from the picture above, the ever adorable Kei graces the face of a battery powered clock Lady-X created for me. It’s currently gracing the hutch of the computer desk in my office, right above where my computer sits, so it’s like Kei’s smiling down on me while I work on the PL website. How incredibly cool is that? I’m such a lucky bloke to have something like that! Many thanks, Lady-X!!!

MAY 12, 2005: From the keyboard of good friend and intrepid reporter John Vawter comes these entertaining tidbits:

Kei-chan will be releasing a CD of her hit songs from her solo albums. Called "Ultimate Best", this CD is scheduled to be released in late July. Once I get my hands on a copy, I'll be sure to tell you all about it!

Next up is another PL website:

http://www.pink-lady.info/

I've visited the site and it opens up with a way cool Flash intro. From there, it has sections for the just completed tour and info about upcoming CD and DVD releases. Plus, if thate weren't enough, there's links to the solo websites both Mie and Kei have. After all, in the 21st century, it's flat out impossible to be a celebrity if you DON'T have a website! But the really big news, according to John (and verified by fellow fan David Z. who lives in Japan) is that the "30th Anniversary" Memorial Concert (said to be the last performance on May 27th) will be coming out in late August. It's to be a 2-DVD set selling for 12,000 (little over $111.00 American as of this writing), so for that price, I imagine it'll be rather fancy! below is the pre-order link:

http://www.nandaro.net/nshop5/index.cfm?intViewItemCount=1&strPRODID=991Z005&intCATID=10000

Want more? According to an item on Mie's website:

http://yuiitsunomirai.com/

Pink Lady postage stamps (with their picture on them) were issued on May 20th. Now that is wickedly cool! John himself said it best in his message to me about this recognition: "I can think of no greater honor really, this proves that they go beyond just idol status into true icons." I couldn't agree with John more! Lastly, there's been some buzz on Kei's website about a possible volumes 3 and 4 of the Choreography DVD series which I imagine would cover all the songs PL released from 1979 on, like Zipangu, Pink Typhoon, Nami Nori Pirates, Kiss in the Dark and, hopefully, Monday Mona Lisa Cub among others. While this seems to be purely rumor at present, nevertheless, we'll keep everyone updated if this comes to pass!

MAY 29, 2005: Just as I was wrapping up the news items for this month, Dave Z. emailed me with a report on the final PL show of their two year tour. An onsite reporter! How cool is that? And now, in dave's own words, his views on the final show:

FOREVER WITH YOU....

... or so says the commemorative ticket I received at the Pink Lady Memorial Concert Special Grand Finale - and what a finale! They sang practically everything from Pinku No Ringo to Remember (Fame), complete with a massive backup band which included an entire string section, and several musicians who played and sang with them in the 70s. They sang so much, it took more than four hours to get through it all - almost four and a half! Luckily, this time, I was prepared for the dancing, thanks to the choreography DVDs - although my arms and legs are quite a bit longer than the average Japanese person, so I managed to hit the girl beside me (who was dressed in like Carmen) a few times by mistake. All in good fun though.

Some of the concert's highlights were an English medley from their American album (after which Kei admitted that she could never speak English properly and turned down several offers to be on talk shows and make appearances because she was uncomfortable, eventually forcing both of them to return to Japan), a whole set of Cookie songs sung with only an acoustic guitar (and a quick and hilarious clip of their original audition footage), and Pink Typhoon featuring the entire creative staff joining them on stage, dancing in perfect unison. They finished with an emotional rendition of Oh! which left few dry eyes in the house.

Overall, a brilliant evening - totally fulfilling (although I was a bit disappointed we didn't get Super Monkey Songokuu - but they did it during Monster Panic, so it wasn't so bad). It couldn't have been a better way to (once again) finish their long and flashy careers (and Yahoo! News Japan speculates they'll be back eventually).

The concert was also a wealth of information regarding the upcoming DVD release. It will be out on August 25th. Or should I say DVDs - it'll be a double-disc set, with regular and deluxe versions available. The first DVD will be the complete concert from May 26th (the day before the final - I believe it was the Unforgettable Final Ovation setlist, which means it wasn't 4 1/2 hours). The second disc will be a kind of "best of" concert disc, featuring the best stuff from their entire series of tours from 2003 onwards, and including the final concert on the 27th. The deluxe edition will be the same DVDs, but in a big pink and silver plastic bubble shaped like a UFO, and containing 2 original figurines. They'll be 7,000 and 12,000 yen respectively.

Also coming soon, on June 30th, is a new Pink Lady commemorative stamp collection - 10 stamps in all, each one featuring the girls in costumes and poses from their 10 biggest hits (from Pepper Keibu to Chameleon Army). These are actually from the same photo session as their choreography DVDs, so nothing original here, but at least their faces are on stamps now.

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Remarkable, huh? Especially the part about the final show lasting FOUR HOURS! Only Bruce Springsteen's been known to go that long when he's on tour with The E-Street Band! More than evver, I can't wait to get my hands on the DVD set and see this incredible show for myself!

JUNE 19, 2005: As reported by David Z. and John Vawter last month, Pink Lady has been honored in Japan with their images on stamps. And below is the proof:

As you can (though barely, this was the largest sized picture of the stamps I could find), there are ten stamps of Mie and Kei in the recreations of their 1970’s costumes from the two volumes of the dance choreography DVD’s. Pretty cool, huh? Now, I don’t know if the stamps are available commercially, online or otherwise, but if anyone over in Japan would like to send me a set of those stamps, I’ll only be too happy to reimburse you. I’ll have more to yak about the stamps in my August editorial.

OCTOBER 24, 2005: Well, it’s been awhile since we’ve had any Pink Lady related news, but, lo and behold, I’ve got two musically related items for your perusal.

First up, Kei-chan’s released a greatest hits CD, called “Kyukyoko no Best” which is now out on the market. While I don’t have a track listing, I’m sure it’ll feature songs from her three early 80’s albums, perhaps something from 1989’s “Voice Cologne”, maybe even a new song since artists often put new songs on best hits collections. I’ve just placed an order for the CD, when I get it, I’ll give you the lowdown.

Second, a new Pink Lady CD called “COLEZO! Twin Pink Lady”. This is something of a wild card since I have no idea what it’s all about, save for the fact that it’s a 2-disc set, I have no track listing, not even a picture of what the CD looks like. I also plan to order this as well. I hope this won’t be yet another best hits collection which, in my mind, would be disappointing. When I find out what the deal on this release, due to come out in December, I’ll be sure to let you know!