B'z are a Japanese rock duo, consisting of guitarist, composer and producer Takahiro "Tak" Matsumoto and vocalist and lyricist Koshi Inaba, known for their energetic hard rock tracks and pop rock ballads. B'z is one of the best-selling music artists in the world and the best-selling in their native Japan, having released 49 consecutive No. 1 singles, 25 No. 1 albums, 3 No. 1 EPs on the Oricon music charts and sold more than 100 million records worldwide.
J-pop, natively also known simply as pops, is a musical genre that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in traditional Japanese music, but significantly in 1960s pop and rock music, such as The Beatles and The Beach Boys, which led to Japanese rock bands such as Happy End fusing rock with Japanese music in the early 1970s. J-pop was further defined by new wave and crossover fusion acts of the late 1970s such as Yellow Magic Orchestra and Southern All Stars, then Eurobeat in the early 1990s, namely Namie Amuro.
Mai Kuraki is a Japanese pop and R&B singer-songwriter and record producer. After releasing her US debut single "Baby I Like" in 1999, Kuraki signed with Giza Studio and released her Japanese debut single "Love, Day After Tomorrow" in 1999. In 2000, she released her debut album, Delicious Way, which debuted at number-one and sold over 2.2 million copies in its first week. The album has spawned four top-three singles, "Love, Day After Tomorrow", "Stay by My Side", "Secret of My Heart", and "Never Gonna Give You Up". Eventually, the album sold over 3.5 million copies nationwide and became the best-selling album in Japan in 2000, and has been the ninth best-selling album in Japan of all-time.
Toshinobu "Toshi" Kubota is a Japanese singer, songwriter, musician, music producer, and radio personality. He has produced six million-seller records and thirty-three Top 40 singles during his career. Kubota is currently part of Sony Music Japan. In addition, he has composed and written songs for many singers including Hiromi Iwasaki, Misia, Toshinori Yonekura, Kyōko Koizumi, and many other recording artists.
Bad Communication is the first mini-album by the Japanese rock duo B'z, released in 1989. The song was the first hit song for B'z. The album also includes the band's first two "E-Style" versions of previous hits—in this case "Out of the Rain" and "Dakara Sono Te Wo Hanashite", both from their debut album. It charted on number 12 at the weekly albums chart list by Oricon, and by 1992 was certified as a million seller by RIAJ.
B'z The Best "Pleasure" is the third compilation album by the Japanese rock duo B'z and released in 1998. It includes many of the group's hit singles from 1989 to 1998. With the exception of "Be There", all the songs are #1 hits on the Oricon charts.
B'z The Best "Treasure" is the fourth compilation album by the Japanese rock duo B'z. It includes many of their hit singles from 1990 to that date: all 14 songs are #1 hits.
Japanese rock duo B'z has released twenty-one studio albums, twelve compilation albums, eight extended plays (EP), fifty-seven singles and nineteen live albums. With more than 82 million sales in Japan, the duo is the best-selling artist in Japan and with 100 million sales one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
"Easy Come, Easy Go!" is the sixth single by B'z, released on October 3, 1990. This song is one of B'z many number-one singles in Oricon chart, and also their first single to stay at number one more than two weeks. The single was re-released in 2003, and re-entered at #7. It sold over 471,000 copies according to Oricon.
"Lady Navigation" is the eighth single by B'z, released on March 27, 1991. This song is one of B'z many number-one singles in Oricon chart. The single was re-released in 2003, and re-entered at #6. This song sold over 1,172,000 copies, becoming their first single to sell over one million copies, according to Oricon. It also charted at #7 in the 1991 yearly charts, becoming their first yearly top 10. The song won "the best five single award" at the 6th Japan Gold Disc Award.
Alone is the ninth single by B'z, released on October 10, 1991. This song is one of B'z many number-one singles in Oricon chart. The single was re-released in 2003, and re-entered at #8. It sold over 1,127,000 copies according to Oricon. It was used as the drama Hotel Woman's theme song. The song was the 10th best selling single of 1991 and the 56th best selling single of 1992, making their only single to chart for two years in the yearly charts.
Ai no mama ni Wagamama ni Boku wa Kimi dake wo Kizutsukenai is a song by B'z, released as their twelfth single, on March 17, 1993. This song is one of B'z many number one singles in Oricon chart. The single was re-released in 2003, and re-entered at #5. The single sold over two-million copies according to Oricon. According to Oricon, the song was their best-selling single in Japan. The song won "the best five single award" at the 8th Japan Gold Disc Award. It was released in the best-of album B'z The Best "Pleasure".
"Super Love Song" is the forty-fourth single by B'z, released on October 3, 2007. The song peaked at number one on the Oricon Charts, and is B'z 40th consecutive number one single, with 180,650 sales. The following week it dropped to #3. The B-side "Friction" was featured on the racing games Burnout Dominator and Burnout Paradise.
"Burn: Fumetsu no Face" is the forty-fifth single by B'z, released on April 16, 2008. The song was used in a commercial for the Kose Esprique Precious company. This is one of the many number-one singles by B'z at Oricon Singles Chart, as well first number one on the newly established Billboard Japan Hot 100 and the Top Singles Sales chart.
B'z The Best "Ultra Pleasure" is a compilation double-album by the Japanese hard rock duo B'z. It was released on June 18, 2008, and it is part of their 20th anniversary celebration. It peaked at #1 at Oricon charts and Billboard Japan Top Albums.
"Tsunami" is a song by the Southern All Stars, released as their forty-fourth single on January 26, 2000.
"UFO" is the sixth single by Japanese duo Pink Lady, released on December 5, 1977 on Victor Entertainment.
"Chameleon Army" is Pink Lady's tenth single release, and their ninth number 1 hit on the Oricon charts. The single sold approximately 1,250,000 copies, and spent six weeks at the top of the Oricon charts. This was their last consecutive number one hit.
Secret of My Heart is the first English-language studio album by Japanese recording artist Mai Kuraki, under the name Mai-K. It was released on January 10, 2002 under Giza USA. Secret of My Heart consists of two songs from the lead single "Baby I Like" and English versions of 8 songs from her debut album Delicious Way, which sold over 3.5 million copies in Japan. However, her fourth Japanese single "Never Gonna Give You Up" is included as the original version.
Japanese singer-songwriter Mai Kuraki has released twenty-five video albums and three video singles, and been featured in sixty-six music videos, two television series, and eleven commercials. Kuraki debuted in 1999, while she was still in high school, through Giza Studio. The label initially marketed Kuraki in the United States under the name Mai K, and released the single "Baby I Like" (1999). However, the single was a commercial failure which prompted the label to send her back to Japan. There, they released her single "Love, Day After Tomorrow", which peaked at number two on the Oricon Singles Chart and was certified million by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAJ). The second single, "Stay by My Side" became her first number one single on the chart. Kuraki's debut album, Delicious Way, topped the Oricon Albums Chart and was certified triple million by the RIAJ.
