Ben Folds Five was an American alternative rock trio formed in 1993 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The group comprises Ben Folds, Robert Sledge and Darren Jessee. The group achieved success in the alternative, indie and pop music scenes. Their single "Brick" from the second album, Whatever and Ever Amen (1997), gained airplay on many mainstream radio stations.
J-pop, natively also known simply as pops, is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in traditional music of Japan, and significantly in 1960s pop and rock music. J-pop replaced kayōkyoku in the Japanese music scene.
SMAP was a Japanese boy band, composed of Masahiro Nakai, Takuya Kimura, Goro Inagaki, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, and Shingo Katori. The group was created in 1988 by music producer Johnny Kitagawa, founder of Johnny & Associates, originally as a six-piece with Katsuyuki Mori, until his departure from the band in 1996. The name stands for "Sports Music Assemble People". After making their debut in 1991, the group took the Japanese entertainment industry by storm, becoming one of the most successful boy bands in Asia. The group is often referred to as a "national treasure" and a "fortune and property of the country" in Japan.
Namie Amuro is a retired Japanese singer. She rose to prominence as a teen idol, and transitioned into a leading pop artist due to her versatility across music styles and visual presentation. Due to her career reinventions and longevity, she is known as an icon across Japan and Asia. She has been referred to as the "Queen of Japanese Pop", and her influence domestically has drawn equivalent comparisons to artists such as Janet Jackson and Madonna in Western pop culture.
O-Zone was a Moldovan Eurodance group produced by Dan Balan. Originating in 1998 as a duo consisting of Dan Bălan and Petru Jelihovschi before the latter's departure, their official trio lineup in 1999 consisted of Dan Bălan, Radu Sîrbu, and Arsenie Todiraș.
Concentration 20 is the third studio album by Japanese singer Namie Amuro, released July 24, 1997, by Avex Trax. The album's genre is a fusion of styles including pop, dance and rock. Unlike Amuro's previous effort, Sweet 19 Blues, which primarily had lyrics written by Tetsuya Komuro, Concentration 20's lyrics were mostly written by Marc Panther. Komuro did, however, compose and arrange most of the album's songs and wrote the lyrics to three of them, it was Namie's second solo album since the beginning in 1997.
Super Monkey's were a Japanese pop-singing and dancing group that spawned the careers of Namie Amuro and some members of the girl group MAX. The group was active between 1991 until 1996.
"Larger than Life" is a song by American boy band Backstreet Boys from their third studio album, Millennium. It was released on September 7, 1999, as the second single from the album. It was written by band member Brian Littrell with Max Martin and Kristian Lundin, who also produced the song along with Rami Yacoub. The song is a "thank you" for their fans' encouragement and devotion. Music critics praised its memorable melody, singalong lyrics and the band's vocal performance. It was also on Blender's list of the 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born.
"Dschinghis Khan" is a song by German disco group Dschinghis Khan. It was the West German entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1979 and released as the first single from the group's debut album, Dschinghis Khan (1979). It was a number one hit in West Germany, and a top 10 hit also in Austria, Finland, Norway and Switzerland. Cover versions by a number of other artists were subsequently released as singles and album tracks.
Kōji Tamaki is a Japanese singer-songwriter and actor. He has been well known as frontman of the rock band Anzen Chitai that debuted in 1982 and enjoyed a successful career, particularly during the 1980s. In the 1990s, he also began his career as a solo artist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Japanese vocalists.
"('Cause) I'm Your Girl" is the debut single by South Korean girl group S.E.S., released via SM Entertainment on November 1, 1997, as part of the group's debut studio album I'm Your Girl. An R&B K-pop track, it was both written and produced by SM in-house producer Yoo Young-jin. The Japanese-language version of "('Cause) I'm Your Girl" was included in the 12cm release of their Japan debut single "Meguri Au Sekai", with a special remix single released afterwards on December 10, 1998, through VAP.
"Odoru Pompokolin" is a song by Japanese pop group B.B.Queens, serving as their debut single on April 4, 1990. It was used as the original ending theme of the anime series Chibi Maruko-chan. On July 9, 1990, "Odoru Pompokolin" reached the top of the Oricon Singles Charts, and again on July 23, on August 20, before serving as the number 1 weekly song throughout the month of September 1990. It ultimately remained on the charts for a total of 54 weeks, sold 1.9 million copies, and won both record of the year and pop rock song of the year at the 32nd Japan Record Awards as well as the 1991 JASRAC Award.
Japanese female vocal/dance unit, MAX has released five studio albums, two compilations, three remix albums, and 31 singles. Three of their albums, Maximum (1996), Maximum Groove (1998), and Maximum Collection have topped the Oricon album charts. Four of their albums, including Maximum, Maximum II (1997), Maximum Groove, and Maximum Collection have been certified million selling albums by RIAJ. The group have 15 consecutive top ten singles, 16 overall. Their sixth single, "Give Me a Shake" (1997) is their best selling single and their only single to top the Oricon singles chart. Since their debut on May 10, 1995, the group has amassed sales of over 10 million albums and singles in Japan.
"Grace of My Heart" is MAX's 11th single released under Avex Trax. The title track was used in commercials for Communicase Gum. Its B-side, "Getting Over" was used in a series of commercials for DyDo Mistio soft drinks including one commercial featuring Namie Amuro. Upon release the single debuted at #2, becoming their second highest ranking single behind "Give Me a Shake" which debuted at #1.
"Give Me A Shake" is MAX's 6th single released under Avex Trax. Until the release of this single, all of MAX's music was covers of Italian Eurobeat songs, "Give Me A Shake" is their first original Japanese language song. Upon its release the song debuted at #1 on Oricon weekly charts, becoming their first and only top charting single. The song brought the group their first Japan Record Award grand prix nomination and allowed them to make their first appearance on Kōhaku Uta Gassen.
"Koisuru Velfarre Dance ~Saturday night~" is MAX's debut single released under Avex Trax. It is a Japanese language cover of the song "Saturday Night" released in 1994 by Whigfield. As the song was originally recorded for the opening of Avex's Velfarre club, it was meant to be MAX's only release as the group was created solely for promoting the club. However, following the official demise of their original group Super Monkey's, the group released another single "Kiss Me Kiss Me, Baby" beginning their reign as one of Japan's most successful and enduring girl groups.
Girl's Talk is the first Japanese studio album by South Korean girl group Kara. It was released on November 24, 2010, in four editions: CD+DVD, CD+Photobook (28-pages), CD-Only First Press coming with Korean versions of the songs "Sweet Days", "Love Is", and "Binks" and a CD-Only Normal Press coming with no bonus tracks. The album has topped the Oricon Weekly Album Charts several times and was eventually certified as Double Platinum by the RIAJ.
The discography of Japanese R&B singer Toshinobu Kubota consists of nineteen studio albums, ten compilation albums, two tribute albums, and over seventy singles. In 1985, Kubota signed with Sony Japan and began producing and writing songs for many of label's singers and groups. Under the label, Kubota released his first single, "Shitsui no Downtown" in June 1986, followed by "Time Shower ni Utarete" in December. Both songs were well received by radio, placing fifty-three and thirty-five on the Oricon Singles Chart. In September 1986, his debut album, Shake It Paradise, peaked at number twenty-two and remained on the Oricon Albums Chart for seven consecutive weeks. Shake It Paradise became certified million. The following year in 1987, Kubota's second studio album, Groovin', debuted at number thirty-three and was certified million. In February 1988, Kubota released "You Were Mine", which debuted at number two. In September 1988, Kubota released his third album, Such A Funky Thang!. The album peaked at number one and was certified million. The album also spawned the top-charted single "Dance If You Want It", which peaked at number three. In 1989, Kubota released his compilation album, The Baddest. The album also peaked at number one and was certified million.
"Endless Game" is the 41st single released by Japanese boy band Arashi. "Endless Game" was used as the theme song for the drama Kazoku Game starring Arashi member Sho Sakurai. It reached number one on the Oricon Singles Chart and was the 10th best-selling single in Japan in 2013, with 557,217 copies.
"Circus Left Town", also known as "Circus" is a ballad written by the British recording artist Eric Clapton. The rock musician wrote the song about the last night he spent with his then four-year-old son Conor. Although Clapton played and recorded the song for his 1992 million seller live album Unplugged, he decided to release the title six years later as a re-recording for both his 1998 effort Pilgrim and as a single release. However, Clapton played the song live for his 1992 Eric Clapton World Tour, before it came out on any recording formats.
