HEADLINES: 2011

JANUARY 23, 2011: Remember back in September of last year when I talked up Pink Lady's latest reunion, and the new stuff that would eventually be coming down the pike? Well, we've gone down said pike, and new stuff is officially out! Here's the items in question:

On your left, we have "Pink Lady: Innovation", a 2-disc set of Mie and Kei's longtime and most beloved standards on high-fidelity CD, said to be the high definition of the music set. And on your right we have "We Are Pink Lady", a brand new photo book chock full of pics of Mie and Kei from the good old days back in the late 70's when they ruled Japan's pop musci scene. I've recently ordered both items and will tell you more about them in April! And, of course, if I come across more juicy PL related tidbits, I'll be sure to pass them along to you!

FEBRUARY 12, 2011: Well, the Ladies were at it again as their latest renaissance continues! On February 6th, the Billboard Japan Awards for 2010 were held in Tokyo, and guess who made an appearance----yep, Mie and Kei, as you can see below:

According to longfan fan Tad Park, the Ladies appeared on the show to chat about "Kiss In The Dark", their lone American release that charted as high as 37th place on the U.S. Billboard single chart back in 1979. As the story goes (which I had never heard before), as Pink Lady had gone into the US market while still popular in Japan, Mie told a heartbreaking episode about how "Japan seemed to think that we were abandoning our own country and I heard of tremendous bashing against us later." While Mie and Kei didn't perform, it was more than enough for the legends of J-Pop music to be on the same stage with the likes of Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys, Debbie Gibson, Chaka Kahn as well as Japan's currently popular artists as you can see above.Pretty damn cool, eh?

MARCH 27, 2011: While I have no idea (as of this writing) as to whether or not the March 31st concert will still go on during all the chaos enveloping Japan in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami on the 11th, not to mention the ongoing crisis at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, I have gotten news from fellow fan Neal Natsumeda regarding how Mie and Kei will be spending their summer:

Yes, you read it right, kids! The Ladies are hitting the road and coming to a venue near you----provided of course you live in Japan! Once again, I find myself stunned at these new developments, I figured Mie and Kei would do just the March 31st show, I had no idea they'd be touring again! And touring at 53, that's FIFTY-THREE, boys and girls! To quote Keanu Reeves, "Whoa!" I can't wait to see what happens next! Many thanks to Neal for providing this entertaining tidbit! Oh, and if you want to visit the actual website, just click on the image above! And, as usual, if I come across any new developments, I'll be sure to pass them along to you!

APRIL 24, 2011: While I had n't been able to catch the podcast{?) of the March 31st Pink Lady concert, Graeme Ward had located a four minute YouTube video of clips from the show which had become a benefit of sorts that raised money for the victims of the March 11th earthquake/tsunami. You can check it out below:

Having watched the video (more than once), I found myself both wowed and considerably impressed, considering Mie and Kei look every bit as energetic at 53 as they were when they were in their teens. I'm guessing it must've been quite a lively show. Wish I had been there to see it live!

On April 8th, I received an email from cdjapan where I exclusively shop for all my Pink Lady stuff, telling me of a new offering that will be released in late May. Called Pink Lady in Yoru no Hit Studio - Fuji TV Hizo Eizo Shu, it's a 3-DVD, 420 minute long collection of PL TV footage from their salad days of the late 70's to early 80's. Would this collection include concerts like the Las Vegas show, Jumping Summer Carnival, the Farewell Concert? Your guess is as good as mine, maybe better, but at a whopping SEVEN hours long, you'd think there's more to this collection than just clips of TV appearances. Needless to say, that floored me, and excited me at the same time. However, at almost $172.00 before shipping (Damnation! At that price, you'd think it'd be a Blu-Ray release), it's plenty pricey, even for me, but it's too enticing to pass up! If I come across more info on this item, I'll pass it along to you!

APRIL 29, 2011: I was given some very sad news from a penpal regarding a death in Japan's entertainment industry family. Yoshiko Tanaka, best known to old school J-Pop fans as "Sue" of Candies fame passed away on April 21st from breast cancer. She was 55. Click HERE for an article from Japan Today on her passing.

YOSHIKO "SUE" TANAKA
Sunrise: April 8, 1956 - Sunset: April 21, 2011

Together with her partners Miki Fujimura and Ran Itoh, Candies were a hugely successful singing act in the early 1970's and were the top idol group until Pink Lady exploded on the scene. After Candies broke up in 1978, Sue, back to using her real name, became an actress and had been in over two dozen films and television shows from 1982 to 2010, in 1989, Ms. Tanaka won Japan's Best Actress award for her performance in a post-Hiroshima drama called Black Rain (not to be confused with the Michael Douglas action movie of the same name). Ms. Tanaka is survived by her husband, former golfer turned businessman Kazuo Odate. To everyone who had been a fan of Candies like I was (they were my second favorite J-Pop act after Pink Lady), this was a terrible blow. My deepest sympathies go out to Ms. Tanaka's family and friends.

MAY 8, 2011: The Pink Lady bandwagon continues rolling along like a bullet train at full throttle! Fellow fan Graeme Ward sent me the picture below of PL's May 8th appearance on the TV show Music Lovers where Mie and Kei, resplendent in short, glittery dresses and sky high platform boots performed "UFO" and "Pepper Keibu". Pretty damn cool, eh?

Now, while stills are nice, videos are even nicer, and both Graeme and I are scouring YouTube for same as Mie and Kei continue their latest reunion and all the activities surrounding this event. If anybody out should happen to come across any videos of Pink Lady: Y2K11, by all means, please let me know so I can post same for everyone to see, and I'll make sure you get credit! Have fun looking!

JUNE 7, 2011: Perhaps I'm just a tad paranoid, but I get the feeling that Pink Lady is seriously trying to separate me from what little money I happen to have. First was the $172.00 DVD collection of TV performances that came out back in late May (If anyone out there actually bought that collection, I'd love to hear from you and find out what it's like), now THIS, a brand new collection that features 22 CD singles of all their releases from 1976-1981, complete with covers that mimic the original packaging, plus a karaoke disc, another CD of post-break up tracks and, if that wasn't enough, two DVD's on TV appearances--including Star Tanjo--and concert performances to boot! And the price----$349.00!! Yep, you read it right, folks, THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY-NINE BUCKS!! Holy High Finance, Batman! I didn't pay that much for the tickets I bought to see Mie and Kei live in concert eight years ago! Outrageous! To be honest, I don't kow if even I can spring THAT much cash on a Pink Lady item, but I'll keep it on my mental back burner should I come into some extra cash!

JULY 15, 2011: Remember that 3-disc, 420 minute Pink Lady DVD collection I mentioned back in April? Well, fellow PL fan Neal Natsumeda bought the collection and told me all about that video goodness! Here's what he told me about the colelction:

"I scraped up some moola and ordered the Pink Lady Yoru no Hit Studio DVD.  In a word: YouHaveToGetIt.

I think that even Fuji TV had musical clearance problems similar to trying to get the first season of NBC's "Saturday Night Live" out on DVD.  They sing so many songs from other people and so many others sing the Pink Lady songs on the opening medley that it must have been a nightmare.  Some people were cropped out, others had their faces fuzzed out, and scenes were judiciously cut. But that is trivial compared the the Pink Lady performances.  The video tape must have been stored perfectly because the image was probably clearer that the original broadcast.  The image was clear, the color was gorgeous and I will have to double check, but I think is was in mono only, but the sound was great.  There were lots of performances....two DVDs worth.  All of the music stars of 1977-1980 were there in the background or in the opening medley....Kenji Sawada, Momoe Yamaguchi, Hiromi Go, Junko Sakurada, The Candies, the ever present Akiko Wada, Hiroshi Itsuki, Hiromi Ota and the list goes on.  No wonder the box set is expensive, all of the players (or their management companies) must be getting a few pennies here and there.  The obvious person missing was the female hostess of the show, we only hear her voice and see some appendages as she is cropped out of all the close up scenes and interviews.  The male host is always visible on the left side, but the hostess is cropped out of the right. We only see her in the background.  There was some kind of contract issue going on there.

Each video chapter comprises of one show.  The opening medley, the interview and the performance.  During the interview portion, the Pink Ladies are in  box in the screen and on the side and bottom are listed the broadcast date, the performers that night, and little historical tidbits of that week in Japan.....who was performing where, the price of a beer, and a bunch of stuff that I couldn't read. The fourth disc is filled with Pink Lady appearances at all of the music award shows  that Fuji TV broadcast.  The ladies are dressed to the  nines and the performances are great.  One clip even introduces the ladies and their production team that is with them at their table.  Man, everyone was young.  These are the older gentlemen that were interviewed for the 20th and 30 anniversary documentaries about the Pink Lady Phenom. I believe that Hajime Doi and Aku Yu were there. The third disc is filled with every other appearance that Pink Lady ever made on Fuji TV.  What a potpourri it is.  A candid camera victim, the 100 meter dash, swimming pool antics, comedy skits, a roller coaster ride, man they worked those girls hard. If you have a region free player, buy the DVD.  No fan should be without it!"

Not bad, eh? Looks like I'm gonna have to save up my pennies and get my hands on this colelction!

NOVEMBER 24, 2011: Here's a flat out sensational bit of news to close out Headlines 2011 which had been chock full of exciting news about Pink Lady's current reunion....a 2-disc DVD edition of a PL concert from mid-September will be released in late December! WOW! What a terrific Christmas gift for the true PL fan! You can read all about it HERE! Thanks to cdjapan which sent me a heads up on the upcoming release which I've already preordered and, needless to say, I can't wait to get my hands on this certain to be fun filled gift as I'll get to watch Mie and Kei in action from the show they held. Now, for anyone else who might want to order this DVD, be warned, it's a Region 2 set, so you'll need a region-free machine to play it on! Once I get my copy, I'll be sure to tell everyone about it and provide a review!

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