Staff from TV stations and record companies referred to the girls as "little monkeys" when referring to the group SUPER MONKEY'S.
For a girl idol group that just debuted, the performance of this group’s debut single was neither good nor bad. Although it did not get a decent ranking, it at least entered the top fifty of the rankings. Compared with those
A newcomer who doesn't even make a splash is still much better.
It is a common practice in the industry not to make a final decision on the future of a new artist until the first three singles are released.
However, after the debut single was released, the feedback collected by the record company from all parties was not optimistic. During the idol ice age, this girl group from Okinawa did not have the charm to make the audience take a second look.
Many people in the industry believe that this group with Amuro Namie as the absolute center highlights Amuro Namie's central position too much, giving the audience the feeling that it is not like a girl group, but more like a female singer and her
Several backup dancers.
As for Namie Amuro, who has a dark complexion and looks like a little monkey, where does her charm lie?
If you are just a beautiful girl idol with youthful vitality and dark complexion, then you will not be able to leave a deep impression on the audience at all.
SUPER MONKEY'S's debut was unremarkable. However, Baba Shunichi and Hirai Tetsuo's determination was not affected at all, and they continued to steadily advance the next step of the group's debut in accordance with the original plan.
The end of the year is approaching, and this year, VERMILLION Records has obtained two appearances at the Red and White Song Concerts, slightly less than GENZO Records’ three. These two record companies alone sent four bands to perform at the Red and White Song Concerts, plus the
With quotas from several major record companies, and the stage of this year's Red and White Song Concert, the pop group is still dominated by the band.
However, TRF, which will make its debut at the Red and White Song Festival this year, seems to have announced that a new era is about to begin.
At this moment when everything is still unclear, Junichi Baba, who only has the SUPER MONKEY'S card in his hand, seems to be determined to have his own way.
...But opportunities are often hidden in unexpected moments.
The image of Nakamori Akina returning from her wedding vacation with her tanned skin was repeatedly broadcast by TV stations. After that, she participated in TV programs with this image and shot a special feature for a fashion magazine. At the end of this year, suddenly, there was a wave of
Tan topic.
Tanning was popular until the early 1980s, and it still had a place in the Japanese fashion industry. However, from the late 1980s, the aesthetics of women changed, and the fashion industry began to regard whiteness as beauty.
Fashion is a cycle, and the same fashion element will become popular again after a few years or more than ten years.
People who have experienced the trend of tanning will not find it strange, but for the new generation who regard whiteness as beauty, Akina Nakamori has once again become the queen of fashion in their minds. When fashion magazines follow Akina Nakamori's tanned skin color as she pleases, they follow the trend.
When the tanning topic was launched, the attention of the new generation of young people also turned to the unfamiliar old fashion of "dark skin".
Thanks to Akina Nakamori, even Namie Amuro appeared as a model in a fashion magazine for teenage girls.
Namie Amuro, who has a dark complexion and was teased to look like a little monkey, suddenly revealed her own charm.
Iwahashi Shinichi is regarded as a strong rival, but the trend set by this strong rival's wife can still bring an opportunity to his newcomers. The entertainment industry is such a place, if you have the idea of being incompatible with a certain force,
You can't really stand on it.
Of course, Baba Shunichi knows that relying on the opportunities brought by this sudden drop in popularity cannot last long. After this gust of wind passes, Namie Amuro and SUPER MONKEY'S will still be the ordinary girl group that came to Beijing from Okinawa.
However, when the heat comes, seizing every opportunity that can be seized is what the operators of the combination must do.
Taking advantage of this gust of wind, Baba Shunichi and Hirai Tetsuo came up with a bold idea and decided to give this group the biggest opportunity to appear since their debut: to appear on the Kohaku Utakai.
Of course, the nameless girl group is not qualified to appear on the Kohaku Utakara Gala. However, the feedback given to this group by industry insiders gave Junichi Baba inspiration for his actions.
Industry insiders believe that the group's ranking highlights Amuro Namie's central position too much, making the group look like a girl singer and her backup dancers. In this case, Baba Shunichi turned to seek a way to bring SUPER MONKEY'S to Kohaku Kaikai
The singer acts as a backup dancer - such an opportunity.
The two sets of singers who will appear on VERMILLION records are both bands, and the group cannot follow the singers from their own record company on stage. However, with BURNING's strength in the industry, it is not difficult to find such a partner for cooperation.
At that time, as long as the name of the backup dancer group is written in the subtitles of the introduction, it will be a promotion.
However, this approach is just a little cleverness and cannot be put on the stage. For Junichi Baba, this is just an opportunity that he seizes when the heat comes.
In this trend that Akina Nakamori accidentally started, what he really saw was a possibility. That was: the girl he brought back from Okinawa might be able to become a trendsetter.
Akina Nakamori's unintentional act gave the younger generation a kind of popularity they had never seen before. After that, this fashion will have a successor who will become the fashion leader of the younger generation.
Namie Amuro's personal characteristics are really strong. If you put her in the group, all the attention will naturally fall on her. Such a girl is destined to shine, and the people around her are destined to be her foil.
Baba Junichi saw various possibilities in her. How to realize those possibilities will be his job as a producer.
…
The girl group was ridiculed as "monkeys" by TV producers. Iwahashi Shinichi later met them when they attended BMG Records' year-end reception in mid-December.
VERMILLION Records, like GENZO Records, does not have its own distribution network, so it entrusted BMG Records to serve as the company's distributor.
Of course, this sentence will have to change in the coming year. Next year, GENZO will start to establish its own distribution network. These two independent record companies have emerged in recent years, and they have fewer and fewer similarities with each other.
The president of VERMILLION Records, Daiyuki Nagato, naturally attended this reception. Shinichi Iwahashi and Daiyuki Nagato had friendly cooperation several times, and they met by chance at the reception. Both parties were polite and considerate.
However, after a few words of greeting, Nagato Daiyuki took the initiative to say goodbye. In the venue, Shinichi Iwahashi met again with VERMILLION records executive Baba Shunichi, who he had met several times before.
As soon as Nagato Daiyuki left, Baba Shunichi came with his back foot.
Iwahashi Shinichi was somewhat aware that Baba Shunichi had been paying attention to things here since just now.
