"...You can't keep your mouth shut because of something of this magnitude."
In the TV screen, the young lead singer stood on the simple stage of LIVEHOUSE, facing the audience. The look on his face showed the anxiety of facing the unknown. But more importantly, he knew that he was about to face the unknown.
, but still have the determination to dare to fight.
"The idiots will keep singing, anywhere."
The lead singer on the TV was holding the microphone in his hand, staring with hesitant but determined eyes, "But I will always stand here!" This look seemed a bit nervous.
As soon as the words fell, the band members behind him plucked the instruments in their hands in perfect harmony and played the prelude of the song. It was the song "I'm Standing Here" that caused a big topic.
The opening performance was the first time the band sang "I'm Standing Here" in public, and was captured by the camera arranged by Shinichi Iwahashi.
At that time, Shinichi Iwahashi had not yet decided to accept them. The band wrote this song. Once it was performed in public and the attitude was made public, it meant that the escape route was completely cut off, and the "resistance" must be determined to the end.
With no way out and an unknown future, under such circumstances, he still chose to stand on the stage, face the audience, and say, "I will always stand here!" This approach is of course full of courage.
However, it is also easy for the general audience to be disgusted and think that they only shout empty slogans. Slogans must be shouted, and they must be shouted loudly. But they must be loud and understandable by the general public.
Because of this, Shinichi Iwahashi recorded the first time the band stood up to sing this song under pressure before everything had been decided.
Resistance is something that cannot be turned back. Once it has been sung for the first time, the band will lose the simple, pure and slightly fragile determination when they first stood up, and become more and more radical, making it difficult to arouse the public's enthusiasm.
empathy.
…
Kawaguchi, an office worker who said "this guy" in his mouth and was sitting in front of the TV, should have been disapproving when he heard the lead singer's words before the show started. He felt that they didn't know the bounds of the world and just shouted slogans casually.
However, looking at the worried but determined look of the band's lead singer, I couldn't bear to feel such contempt.
Throughout the second half of September, the matter of THE BLUE HEARTS was a hot topic of public discussion.
Newspapers and media added fuel to the flames, music fans' aroused emotions needed to be vented, commentators seized on hot topics to add fuel to the fire, and TV Asahi secretly worked hard after realizing that the matter had become a big topic.
And every week you can see the underground single "I'm Standing Here" on the singles charts.
It started at No. 19. After it became popular, the ranking rose to No. 11 the next week. The very next week, the popularity continued to rise, and the ranking rose to No. 5 on the weekly list.
At the same time, TV Asahi announced a preview of a documentary program about the incident that will be broadcast.
It is an unprecedented record for an underground single to reach fifth place on the weekly chart. The birth of a new record has also made this matter even more popular.
TV Asahi chose this program to air at just the right time to attract all the attention.
There has been a lot of buzz for more than half a month, and the information about this band and the creative background of this song has already spread from the underground to the ground, from the music fan circle to the mainstream, and the general public has also heard about it.
Musicians in the underground music circle have put aside their prejudices and supported THE BLUE HEARTS, and in the mainstream music industry, some creators who are usually more daring to speak out and comment have begun to express their opinions on this matter on their own radio programs.
There is so much to say when it comes to "creative freedom", especially for creators.
Music fans are extremely indignant about this matter, and young people are also indignant about it. Even "ordinary people" like Kawaguchi, who are neither music fans nor are over the age where they can be easily incited, have no idea about the ins and outs of this matter.
He took the initiative and passively to get a general idea. At the trading company where he worked, some colleagues also discussed this matter during lunch break.
On the one hand, Kawaguchi felt that it was ridiculous for a punk band to be asked by its investors to delete its songs. On the other hand, he felt that a band that was so resistant and would rather terminate its contract and go underground than compromise was inflexible.
He even secretly speculated that this band was using this to gain fame and reputation.
Otherwise, it’s obviously just a song, is it worth it?
Kawaguchi did not speak out for the band like an excited fan, nor did he take the initiative to participate in related discussions in the company, as if he was indifferent. But in his heart, he secretly thought about this matter.
When he saw the program preview of TV Asahi, he wrote down the date when the program was broadcast, and on that night, he changed the program to TV Asahi on time.
From Kawaguchi's point of view, TV stations produce related programs as if they want to reveal the answers to exam papers.
Before this, other TV stations had not reported on this incident, but no one had ever started to produce a documentary program like TV Asahi. In the program preview, they first put up the slogan "Follow the incident from the beginning"
.
This kind of publicity gives people the feeling that just by watching the program, they will know why things happened and where they will go.
After the band on the TV finished their opening remarks, they performed the song "I'm Standing Right Here" with all their strength, which set a chart record as an underground single and created a huge topic.
Their performance looked raw and simple, without the ease with which they let go of their bold words. In fact, Kawaguchi could feel their uneasiness from the band's performance.
Although he said "I'm standing right here!", this was not a bold statement that was put down casually without knowing the heights of the world. It was a statement made with timidity despite knowing the consequences, with no way out and an unknown future.
A strong will to fight.
Although the performance was raw and simple, the roughness moved Kawaguchi even more.
Through the screen, he seemed to be able to feel the band's courage of "knowing this, but still holding on to their backbone and continuing".
It’s not just for fame and reputation, but for the true belief in one’s heart that one will never compromise and the pursuit that one will never give up.
At the same time, the title of this program was printed on the TV screen: "That is indeed an important thing, and I will never forget it in my life. About creative freedom and prejudice - THE BLUE HEARTS standing here"
The "Standing Here" in the title is a pun on the song "I'm Standing Here" released by the band.
…
On the TV screen, after the opening, the program got to the point.
The female voice-over announcer of TV Asahi introduced the ins and outs of this incident in an unhurried and impersonal tone.
What was broadcast on the screen was a follow-up shot of the band. The members entered the LIVEHOUSE, which had not yet opened for business during the day, and were rehearsing.
Despite facing a career crisis, these band members still continued their music work. Writing songs, rehearsing, going to the recording studio, and entering LIVEHOUSE.
This "business as usual" atmosphere unknowingly conveyed the fact that "the band loves music" to the audience sitting in front of the TV.
He didn’t say “I love music!”, but this orderliness secretly affected the audience.
In itself, when it comes to "punk bands", ordinary people often have the impression that they are very out of tune and crazy, and it is not easy to win the favor of ordinary people.
But this kind of shooting method, combined with the simple performance prepared by Shinichi Iwahashi at the beginning, complement each other. Not long after the show aired, when the audience was not prepared, the band was first left in the audience's mind.
Made a good impression.
"He looks quite handsome."
A couple sitting in front of the TV were watching TV and expressing their thoughts on the content of the program.
"If you really want to say it, having the courage to fight is very handsome in itself." The husband was not shy about praising this band that became a topic.
"The so-called rock and roll must have a bit of rock and roll spirit." He said plausibly.
As a husband, I paid close attention to the band's incident and wanted to know how it would end. He was incited by the song "I'm Standing Here" and he hoped from the bottom of his heart that the band could get out of the predicament.
Tonight, he rarely went home early and changed the program to TV Asahi.
However, as a wife, her interest is not as strong as that of her husband. Although she has often seen things about the band for more than half a month, she does not know anything about it, but if she was the only one at home, she would never go out of her way to watch this.
program.
However, I will go out of my way to watch TV with my husband, and my wife also has things that she cares about.
At this time, the TV screen switched to commercial time.
The wife did not pick up the remote control to change the channel. Not only that, she was still thinking about it in her heart, staring at the TV screen and watching the advertisements with great interest——
It's not accurate to say that. It's not that I watched the advertisement with gusto, but that I was expecting something.
"A few days ago, a series of advertisements called 'Fusion' were aired at this time." The wife told her husband.
The husband said "Oh" and was not very interested, "What fusion?"
"It should be an advertisement for a record. Enka singers collaborated with rock bands. Hideki-san also formed a band with Kawai Nahoko that didn't look like a band. By the way, DREAMS COME TRUE also shared the stage with Yashiro Aki-san. Akina-chan also participated.
Already..."
The wife's words were garbled, and the husband heard them and felt confused, "What are all these?"
"That's why it's called 'integration'." This time, the wife said plausibly, "It's to enable these people to cooperate."
The husband showed an expression that said, "What a fool." "How could there be such a stupid thing?"
"How rude!" said the wife.
Rather than saying good things about the planned album, it's better to say that she is unhappy with her husband's disdainful attitude towards the things she cares about.
During this gap, the commercial will finish and the program will continue.
After the commercial broadcast ended, the program was restarted with a male announcer as the narrator. The content of the program also explained the ins and outs at the beginning, showing the band's daily relaxation after the incident, and gradually became serious.
Let’s start to discuss the matter of “creative freedom”.
When the program started, the husband forgot about his wife's attitude and continued to watch the content of the program that he cared about.
The wife, on the other hand, was a little dissatisfied with her husband's attitude, and became uninterested in the content of the program, wanting to get up and leave.
But at this moment, a sentence on TV attracted her attention——
"...Producer Shinichi Iwahashi noticed this troubled band."
Hearing the name, the wife turned her attention to the TV again.
Although she is not very interested in what THE BLUE HEARTS will be like, my wife has a great reaction to the name "Shinichi Iwahashi". Or should I say, this is the name she is most familiar with in the past few days.
At the same time, as a wife, I have been confused by a question in the past few days.
That is, who is the producer Shinichi Iwahashi?
As if to answer her question - or, to answer the question of thousands of viewers like her in front of the TV, the narration of the program introduced something about the producer.
"Shinichi Iwahashi has planned an all-female rock music festival and participated in the production of "Band Paradise". He has a strong influence among underground musicians. He has discovered and recommended many bands to debut and is trusted by underground musicians.
.”
As the narrator said this, the TV screen was duly shown with scenes from the "NAON YAON" music festival held two years ago. The person performing hard on the stage was the now popular girl band PRINCESS PRINCESS.
"In addition, he also personally serves as the producer of singers such as Chisato Moritaka and ZARD, and is highly anticipated by the industry..."
With these words, the TV screen switched to the official photo provided by Shinichi Iwahashi's record company. In the official photo, Shinichi Iwahashi was wearing a suit, young and capable, and a wife. Seeing such a face
, my heart suddenly felt refreshed, and even the unpleasantness just now faded away.
That producer Shinichi Iwahashi is a young and handsome guy!
As for the husband, after listening to this introduction, he looked at Shinichi Iwahashi with admiration, saying, "He is a remarkable person." It is rare for him to be able to enjoy both the underground and the mainstream.
Listening to her husband's praise of Shinichi Iwahashi, the wife remembered her husband's negative review of the planned album just now. Her unhappiness just now completely disappeared, and she wanted to ridicule him and get a little "revenge".
If he finds out that the producer of the planned album is this great Iwahashi-san, let’s see how he reacts.
"That~" the wife said in a long tone, deliberately trying to show off.
The husband's attention was always on the TV, "What?"
"This is producer Shinichi Iwahashi."
The husband said "Oh" but still couldn't bear to take his attention away.
In the TV screen, the band's guitarist Masari Mashima was sitting in front of the camera and telling, "I talked to Iwahashi-san's friend and wrote a song about this incident. When Iwahashi-san heard it, he said, '
Then let’s perform it once and have a look. Then, he lent us his recording studio and his LIVEHOUSE.”
"Producer Shinichi Iwahashi is amazing, isn't he?" the wife said.
The husband nodded, "Indeed." He expressed his thoughts on Mashima Masari's words just now, "He is an upright man."
