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In the July 2002 editorial, I asked readers to submit their top ten favorite Pink Lady songs from the original 22 releases from 1976 to 1981. Some of you were kind enough to respond to my little challenge, and not only did you come up with some interesting selections, you even includied reasons as well! So I decided to create this page to display your lists (and mine) for all to see. If anyone out there would like to have some fun and contribute to the list, then by all means, drop me a line at treetop.jeff@verizon.net and I'll hook you up! So, let's get down to business and list our fave PL tunes!!!
JEFF BRANCH 1) WANTED: This was the very first PL tune I heard after I arrived in Japan in 1977 and will always be my favorite. In my mind, this is Mie and Kei's signature song 2) MONDAY MONA LISA CLUB: This wasn't just a hot Disco tune, it was radioactive! I'm shocked this didn't top the J-Pop charts in 1979 3) PEPPER KEIBU: For my money, this was PL's cutest song with a sweet and charming pop beat 4) KISS IN THE DARK: Had this been released a year earlier in the U.S. than it had, I'm sure it would've hit number one 5) CARMEN '77: A cool and sassy tune with a funky Latin beat and a powerful bass line 6) MONSTER: This song was as straightforward a rock and roll tune as it gets, it also sports my favorite PL dance routine 7) CHAMELEON ARMY: PL's last number one hit, C-Army was a foot-tapping treat! At ease, soldiers! 8) OH!: One of the very few ballads PL did, and, in my opinion, this was the absolute best, a really wonderful and moving song 9) NAGISA NO SINDBAD: An ode to all those mondo cool beach party songs from the 60's, complete with a beach party dance number 10) SOUTHPAW: This song was said to be a tribute to Japanese baseball legend Sadaharu Oh. And, as we all know, Kei-chan's a southpaw MITCH OSAWA 1) NAGISA NO SINDBAD 2) UFO 3) WANTED 4) SOUTHPAW 5) TOMEI NINGEN 6) JIPANGU 7) CHAMELEON ARMY 8) PEPPER KEIBU 9) MONDAY MONA LISA CLUB 10) NAMINORI PIRATES SAICOINK 1) MONDAY MONA LISA CLUB 2) CARMEN '77 3) WANTED 4) SOUTHPAW 5) UFO 6) MONSTER 7) LAST PRETENDER 8) TOMEI NINGEN 9) ZIPANGU 10) NAMI NORI PIRATES LADY-X 1) MONSTER: the first song of theirs I heard, in a remake on the "Hyperdoll" CD 2) WANTED: Seems to be a favorite of my Japanese pals, as well. Epitomizes PL's image of being sexy, yet aggressive. 3) NAMI NORI PIRATES (fast version): Old-fashioned rock'n'roll, I love it! 4) PEPPER KEIBU: What nerve it took, to take a pop music icon created by the Beatles (Sgt. Pepper) and turn him into a character spoiling the fun of two young lovers! But in those days, PL was all about doing things nobody else had had the nerve to do. :) 5) MONDAY MONA LISA CLUB: Maybe not a big chart smash, but a classic disco song that stands the test of time. 6) CHAMELEON ARMY: Said to be for the fans, it is indeed like an anthem for the Army, with co-sargeants Mie and Kei firmly in command! 7) SOUTHPAW: Very inventive, comparing love to the game of baseball! 8) TOMEI NINGEN: Pretty amazing, how the puns even translate well into English. Refreshing change from the usual love songs. 9) NAGISA NO SINDBAD: Another old-fashioned rock song, and the Tina Turner-esque dance moves are an added bonus. 10) LAST PRETENDER: A shame this New Wave song didn't get the recognition it deserved. When I got my first PL album on CD, it was the first song that I latched onto and played again and again!
DAVID ZIKOVITZ
1) TOMEI NINGEN 2) MONSTER 3) DO YOUR BEST 4) NAGISA NO SINDBAD 5) CARMEN '77 6) UFO 7) SOS 8) MONDAY MONA LISA CLUB 9) SUPER MONKEY 10) WANTED
LINA
1) UTAKATA: This may be a strange choice for number one, but hey, I've always been a total sucker for good disco tunes! I fell in love with the song immediately. 2) KISS IN THE DARK: Disco again. This used to be my favourite before I heard Utakata. Great melody, great lyrics. 3) CARMEN '77: Pink Lady goes Latin! The thing I like the most about this song is the strong bass line. 4) TOMEI NINGEN: The first thing I noticed about this song was the lyrics. I've always thought it would be cool to be able to become invisible. The melody is very upbeat and "jumpy". 5) WANTED: The beginning of this song is very impressive. I also like the chorus very much. 6) MONDAY MONA LISA CLUB: Once again a great disco tune. 7) OH!: One of the best ballads I've heard. It really sounds like a goodbye song... For some reason the ending reminds me of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody". 8) SOS: Sounds like Candies! One of Pink Lady's cutest songs ever. 9) DO YOUR BEST: Makes me think of Queen again. Sounds more rock 'n' roll than most of PL's other songs. 10) LAST PRETENDER: This one reminds me of Yellow Magic Orchestra. Maybe it's a weird song but it's still good!
VERNE INNHEL
1) PEPPER KEIBU: I’m a sucker for cute idol songs and this one is definitely cute. And the dance moves certainly don’t hurt. And I’ve come to appreciate it even more after watching the Pink Lady movie. The Western Story brought Sheriff Pepper to life. 2) S.O.S.: Another cute song. Nice little harmonies on this one. 3) UFO: After I first hear Kiss In The Dark, I went out in search of more Pink Lady songs and this was the first one I heard and when I finally saw them on TV perform this song, that was it. Can’t go wrong with 2 Japanese girls wearing sequined space outfits with antenna hats. The intro reminds me of the soundtrack from the Godzilla versus Monster Zero (King Ghidrah) movie. For me, this song defines Pink Lady. Must be seen performed to truly appreciate it. 4) WANTED: Great riff in this song. Simple yet very effective. Almost heavy. I wish I wrote it. The girls sing this song with much conviction. Then get tender in the middle. And back again to the heavy stuff. 5) CHAMELEON ARMY: Man, this is a great song! I don’t blame Pink Lady fans for adopting this as their fight song. 6) SOUTHPAW: I’m partial to this song because – I’m lefthanded. Well, actually, I’m ambidexrous because the nuns at Catholic school made me use my right hand to write since lefthandedness was considered “evil.” I write and play guitar right handed but everything else is lefthanded. So I have something in common with Kei and Jimi Hendrix. 7) NAGISA NO SINDBAD: This has a cool supporting riff in between verses. The twin vocals of Mie and Kei mesh perfectly. And that finale rocks too. 8) MONSTER: You know, I wasn’t too keen on this song before (wasn’t top 10 anyway) – until I saw Mon-chan in the Pink Lady movie! He reminds me of Booska from Ultra-Q. I love this song now. Funny how that worked out. 9) KISS IN THE DARK: Ok, I’ll admit that I’m not a huge fan of disco, but this was such a good song that I went out and bought the record. 10) PINK TYPHOON: Yeah, it’s a Village People song, but I love this version also. I like how they changed the funny middle part of the song “They want you as the new recruit!” to “You want Mie! You want Kei!” and made it their own song.
DJ TOTORO
1) NAGISA NO SINDBAD: Well, I really like pop music from the 70s, and Japan made the best pop music in the 70s, and as japan's best pop group in the 70s (or any other time!) was PL, and as PL's best song in my opinion is this song, then not only is this my favourite PL tune, it is also my favourite record in the world. It was also the first PL song I heard, and like other people who have voted, it was a special moment for me when a grey world turned Pink. 2) ALWAYS HITTING THE BULLSEYE: Is this the most exciting start to any album ever? Well, I cannot think of a rival. This song makes me want to learn japanese so I can work out what Mie and Kei are singing about. 3) BLACK IS BLACK: This is my favourite song from my favourite PL LP, Summer Carnival '77 - really I could pick 10 brilliant songs from this album alone, Mie and Kei were at their best on a live stage I think. 4) LAST PRETENDER: An extraordinary track. This sounds to me the best song that YMO or Yano Akiko never recorded. It really reminds me of a famous song by Yano-san called Harusaki Kobeni...except her song came out after PL's !! It also is the saddest song in PL's entire career in my opinion. 5) WANTED: Up until this song, there were other acts that could maybe have done PL's style - some of PL's early songs remind me of Candies and a little of Yamaguchi Momoe also. Nobody before or since has ever sounded like the run of 6 singles that began with this song. It is also my favourite PL chorus. 6) DRAGON: This song is so far ahead of the pack rhythmically and melodically it makes me wonder what could have been if it wasn't for the Kohaku Uta Gassen catastrophe. It is so brave musically to move between a verse and a chorus so different from each other but somehow to make it work, and I can only think of two people who could possibly have pulled it off. Perhaps you can guess their names (my little joke ^_^) 7) SOS: Cute but radical at the same time. The more I learn about Japan's history the more I am impressed by PL - it took quite a lot of guts to get up and perform tracks like Pepper Keibu and S.O.S. I think in 1976; there really is no precedent for the way that PL put over a track - those dance routines are blinding!! I think one of the best compliments that can be paid to PL is how they changed the pop scene so much and so quickly that by 1977, even established artists like Candies had to change their performance style. 8) CATCH LIP: When I think of all the brilliant songs I have left out of my list like Monster and Southpaw and Utataka and dance floor killers like Pepper Keibu, I think how can I put this in the list...but I have just listened to it and it totally blows me away, so I have to put it in. And I think the b-sides should be bigged up now and then, they show a different side to PL, and to be honest would have probably have been number one hits if they were released as A-sides! That's class! 9) CHAMELEON ARMY: I am so glad that PL made this song for the fans. In many ways it is the perfect song for PL to perform. There's just something about that dance routine in those costumes to this tune that encapsulates everything there is to love about PL. 10) MONDAY MONA LISA CLUB: PL had talent to spare and showed up a lot of american disco artists singers in their second language, but for me, though PL are still as great as performers as they ever were, there is something a little lacking about a couple of their later records and LPs - it's not Mie and Kei's fault that maybe their manager's tried to push them in a different direction and go to America. |
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SCORECARD 8: WANTED (1) 7: MONDAY MONA LISA CLUB (1) 6: NAGISA NO SINDBAD (2) 5: CHAMELEON ARMY, MONSTER(1), SOUTHPAW, TOMEI NINGEN (1) 4: CARMEN '77, LAST PRENTENDER, PEPPER KEIBU (1), SOS, UFO 3: KISS IN THE DARK, NAMI NORI PIRATES 2: DO YOUR BEST, OH!, ZIPANGU 1: ALWAYS HITTING THE BULLSEYE, BLACK IS BLACK, CATCH LIP, DRAGON, PINK TYPHOON, SUPER MONKEY, UTAKATA (1) First place vote in parenthesis |
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