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 groups in the late 1970s, particularly electronic synth-pop band Yellow Magic Orchestra and pop rock band Southern All Stars.
Arashi is a Japanese boy band consisting of five members formed under the Johnny & Associates talent agency. The members are Ohno Satoshi, Sakurai Sho, Aiba Masaki, Ninomiya Kazunari, and Matsumoto Jun. Arashi officially formed on September 15, 1999, in Honolulu, Hawaii, and made their debut CD on November 3, 1999. The group was initially signed to Pony Canyon and released one studio album and six singles—beginning with their 1999 eponymous debut single before moving to the Johnny's subsidiary label J Storm in 2001, which was initially set up for their succeeding releases. While their debut single sold close to a million copies, the group took a mixture of pop and alternate/contemporary approach to its music which attracted core followers, but subsequently faced commercially slow sales.
Distance is the second Japanese album released by Japanese-American J-pop singer Utada Hikaru, released on March 28, 2001 in direct "competition" with A Best by Ayumi Hamasaki.
Misia, commonly stylized as MISIA, is a Japanese singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born in Nagasaki, Misia moved to Fukuoka at the age of 14 to pursue a recording career. There, she continued her secondary education and briefly attended Seinan Gakuin University before withdrawing to focus on her musical career. She was signed to BMG Japan in 1997, after auditioning for record producer Haruo Yoda.
The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album is a soundtrack album from the film of the same name, released on November 17, 1992, by Arista Records. The album's first side features songs recorded by American singer Whitney Houston, who starred in the film, while side two features the work of various artists. Houston and Clive Davis were co-executive producers of the album.
A Song for ×× is the major-label debut album and second album overall by Japanese pop artist Ayumi Hamasaki, released January 1, 1999, by Avex Trax. Primarily a rock-pop album, it features musical composition and arrangements by Yasuhiko Hoshino, Mitsuru Igarashi, and others.
Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 1 is the first compilation album by Hikaru Utada, released on March 31, 2004. It features all A-sides of her hit singles to that date, including 11 number-one hits and all 15 tracks reached the top 5. The album version was remastered by Ted Jensen. The album was released on iTunes in April 2004.
Moment is Japanese J-pop band Speed's greatest hits album following their first album, Starting Over and second album, Rise. Moment was released on December 16, 1998 and contains all the commercially released singles from their first and second albums along with additional tracks. Debuting at number 1 on the Oricon charts and eventually selling 2.32 million copies, Moment is the best-selling album by a female group in Japanese music history.
The discography of Japanese R&B singer Misia consists of nine studio albums, three compilation albums, one extended play (EP), one live album, six remix albums, twenty-six singles, twelve promotional singles, eighteen video albums and thirty-seven music videos. In 1997, Misia signed a recording contract with BMG Japan and joined the then up-and-coming talent agency, Rhythmedia. Under the sub-label Arista Japan, Misia released her first single, "Tsutsumikomu Yō ni..." in February 1998, followed by "Hi no Ataru Basho" in May. In June, her debut album, Mother Father Brother Sister, opened at number three on the Oricon chart. The album peaked at number one three weeks later and stayed in the top five for eleven consecutive weeks. Mother Father Brother Sister was certified double million and won a Japan Record Award for Best Album, as well as a Japan Gold Disc Award for Pop Album of the Year. In 2000, Misia's second studio album, Love Is the Message, debuted at number one and was certified double million. It won a Japan Record Award for Best Album and a Japan Gold Disc Award for Pop Album of the Year. The album spawned three top ten hits: "Believe," "Wasurenai Hibi" and "Sweetness." Misia's first remix album, Misia Remix 2000 Little Tokyo, was released three months later and shot to number one. It sold over 800,000 copies and is the second best-selling remix album of all time in Japan.
Mother Father Brother Sister is Misia's debut album, released on June 24, 1998. It debuted at #3 on the weekly albums chart with 330,660 copies sold. The album stayed in the Top 3 the next two weeks and on its fourth week, reached the top of the charts with 277,990 copies sold. The album remained in the Top 5 for eleven consecutive weeks and sold over 2.58 million copies in Japan alone. It won the award for Best Album at the 40th Japan Record Awards.
Marvelous is Misia's third studio album and first self-produced album, released on April 25, 2001. It sold 881,150 copies in its first week, peaked at #1 for two consecutive weeks, and spent five weeks in the Top 5. The first pressing of the album came in sleeve case packaging. Marvelous is the 118th best-selling album of all time in Japan. It came in at #8 on the overall yearly chart, however Marvelous was the second highest selling original album of 2001, behind Hikaru Utada's Distance.
Misia Greatest Hits is Misia's first compilation album and last release with Arista Japan, released on March 3, 2002. It sold 587,210 copies in its first week and peaked at #1 for two consecutive weeks. Misia Greatest Hits was the highest selling compilation album of 2002. It is the 30th best selling compilation album and 90th best selling album overall of all time in Japan. The album includes an enhanced music video for the unreleased track, Amai Koibito, featuring Melonpan.
are a Japanese duo consisting of Koichi Domoto and Tsuyoshi Domoto under the talent agency Johnny & Associates. Although the members share the same surname, the only relation they have to each other is that they both hail from the Kinki region, hence the duo's name. KinKi Kids hold the Guinness World Records for having the most number of consecutive No.1 singles since debut.
The discography for the Japanese band Mr. Children consists of 16 studio albums, 4 compilations albums and 35 singles. They are one of the best selling artists in Japan.
Flashdance: Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture is the soundtrack to the 1983 American musical and romance film Flashdance, produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer and starring Jennifer Beals and Michael Nouri. It has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best selling albums of all time. The film is set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and follows Alex, a welder and exotic dancer and her dreams of becoming a professional ballet dancer. In 1984, the album received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year and won for Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special.
"Love Me, I Love You" is the seventeenth single by B'z, released on July 7, 1995. This song is one of B'z many number-one singles in Oricon chart. It sold over 1,393,000 copies according to Oricon, giving their 10th million selling single. B'z became the first artist in Japan to have 10 million sellers consecutively. It was used as the drama Gehai Hiiragi Mata Saburō's theme song.
"Love Phantom" is the eighteenth single by B'z, released on October 11, 1995. This song is one of B'z many number-one singles in Oricon chart. The song was used as ending theme for The X-Files during the height of its popularity in Japan. The single sold over 950,000 copies within one week. It sold over 1,862,000 copies according to Oricon. The song won "the best five single award" at the 10th Japan Gold Disc Award.
"Onna no Michi" (女のみち) is the debut single by Shiro Miya & Pinkara Trio released on May 10, 1972 in Japan. The lyrics are simple, but sad. The song is written about a woman who devoted herself to her only man but was deserted by him and was crying. The single became a mega-hit song and had been recognized as the best-selling song in Japan until "Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun" was released.
Love Bebop is the twelfth studio album by Japanese singer Misia. It was released on January 6, 2016, through Ariola Japan. The title, which is synonymous with love freestyle, was inspired by the evolving LGBT movement in Japan, leading Misia to draw a parallel between the growing societal recognition for all forms of love and the various messages of love depicted on the album. On the album's eponymous title track, Misia quotes former American president Barack Obama, who declared "love is love" in a speech given in the aftermath of the Supreme Court of the United States's landmark decision to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide. The album yielded five singles, "Shiroi Kisetsu" / "Sakura Hitohira", "Orphans no Namida" and the digital exclusive double A-side single "Nagareboshi" / "Anata ni Smile :)".
