The collaborative single between Hideki Saijo and Nahoko Kawai ranked fifth on the charts the week it was released.
This result is certainly not as good as the several champion singles in the project, but it is the first time in several years that this "brother and sister" has a single that has entered the top five of the charts.
After this week's rankings were settled, their agencies and record companies called GENZO to express their gratitude. Even Hideki Saijo himself called Shinichi Iwahashi to express his gratitude.
After the mid-1980s, Hideki Saijo's sales were getting worse and worse, and several of his singles did not even make it into the top 50 of the singles chart.
Fortunately, he is a veteran of many years, and his fans of housewives have always been very affectionate. He can make a lot of money every year just by holding concerts and dinner shows. Releasing records is more like an introduction to his concerts. But even so,
Returning to the center of the music world after a long absence and being seen again is a feeling that even this former idol king cannot resist.
No matter how much continued popularity this gust of wind can bring to Saijo Hideki, it does not prevent him from sincerely thanking Iwahashi Shinichi at this time. He called to express his thanks and extended an invitation to treat Iwahashi Shinichi to a meal.
Celebrities like Hideki Saijo can no longer be simply regarded as "commodities." In fact, at the time when he debuted, the industry was not like it is now, dominated by powerful agencies and launching artists on an assembly line. Those who could become top stars
Hideki Saijo was brought out hand in hand by the big shots who were optimistic about him.
It has been almost 20 years since Hideki Saijo debuted. Not only does he have great autonomy in his own work, but he also has a wide network of songwriters and songwriters he has collaborated with over the years, as well as people behind the scenes in TV stations and the record industry.
, it is not something that ordinary celebrities can compare with.
Although Iwahashi Shinichi is the man in black behind the scenes, he also respects such a veteran star. Hideki Saijo invited him, and he was willing to accept it. Whether he would cooperate again was debatable, but there is always nothing wrong with making friends.
For Hideki Saijo, this is a single that he once again tasted entering the mainstream public eye after being out of fashion for a long time. For the other protagonist of this collaborative single, Nahoko Kawai, this song
is even more significant.
With the current popularity of Nahoko Kawai and Hideki Saijo, no matter who this song is sung by, it will never achieve the same results as it does now. The fact that it reached the top five on the list when it first debuted has a lot to do with the popularity and reputation of the project itself.
relation.
However, although the public loves to follow trends, the sales of this single have been stable and the reputation has not collapsed, which means that the quality of this song has been recognized by the mainstream public.
Putting aside the fans of the idol era, changing her appearance and joining this project gave Nahoko Kawai's talent an unprecedented stage. And she did not show any shyness in her appearance on this stage.
Iwahashi Shinichi first agreed to Nishiro Hideki's invitation to treat a guest, and then received a call from Kawai Nahoko.
"Great~ I'm really relieved now." Nahoko Kawai said on the phone.
To be in the top five of the weekly chart is beyond her imagination. Moreover, it also maintains the record of "every single has been in the top five of the chart since the beginning of the project." She said she was relieved and she meant it sincerely.
Although the two of them have only communicated by phone until now. But with more phone calls, it seems to come naturally, and the atmosphere during the calls has become much more relaxed.
Thanks to the fact that Nahoko Kawai is three years older than Shinichi Iwahashi and that she debuted seven or eight years earlier, her attitude seems gentle and relaxed when communicating with Shinichi Iwahashi, and she occasionally shows a bit of a big sister-like attitude.
tolerant.
Having said that, Japanese idols debuted really early. When Nahoko Kawai was going out of style and transitioning, Shinichi Iwahashi was about to go to Watanabe Productions to steal his skills and become an agent - completely different from the same generation.
Because of this, even though their age difference is only three years, Nahoko Kawai sometimes treats Shinichi Iwahashi as her little brother.
However, we only talked on the phone without meeting each other. Listening to his steady speech, I had the illusion that the person on the other end of the phone was older than me.
This makes Nahoko Kawai have the tolerance and gentleness of an older person on the phone, but also a hint of the naughtiness of a younger person.
"You can tell Iwahashi-san now," she joked, "that one of mine was among the sales last week."
Iwahashi Shinichi did not expect that there would be a follow-up to the last joke. He paused briefly and replied casually, "Thank you, customer, for your support."
Serious, like a guy in a record store.
Such a sentence actually made Kawai Nahoko, a joke teller, laugh.
"I am very grateful to Iwahashi-san," Kawai Nahoko said, "I have always wanted to express something...for example, treat you to dinner?"
The two "brothers and sisters" expressed their gratitude in surprisingly similar ways.
However, once Iwahashi Shinichi accepted Saijo Hideki's invitation, he postponed the invitation to Kawai Nahoko for the time being, "I have already listened to the music that Kawai-san provided to Minano-san, and also presented it at the record company's discussion meeting."
An internal audition was conducted.”
Shinichi Iwahashi liked the assignment that Kawai Nahoko handed over. At the discussion meeting, although there were some people who criticized him for using a former female idol to provide the music, after listening to the music, people turned to support him.
There are a lot of people there too.
In the end, the decision to use Nahoko Kawai's lyrics and music as the title track of Minamino Yoko's new single was made at a discussion meeting with a vote of 7 to 3.
Minamino Yoko herself liked the song very much after listening to it. Not only that, she also expressed her support for the song at the discussion.
As an idol being created, she can express her likes and dislikes directly instead of just waiting for people in black to make decisions for her. She is also a straightforward and independent person.
Otherwise, he would not be able to make up his mind to fight and stay in the industry despite the pressure. But on the other hand, after fighting like that, Minamino Yoko is now even more courageous to express herself than before.
This slight change, in a sense, adds more charm to her character.
"Minamino-san's single is scheduled to be released at the end of January or early February, in order to catch up with Valentine's Day. Although the production time is a bit tight, fortunately, there is only one song..."
Iwahashi Shinichi introduced the situation to Kawai Nahoko. He was busy socializing at the end of the year and had no time to enter the recording studio. Due to his schedule, the recording will not be carried out until early January next year. By then, Kawai Nahoko, the lyricist and music provider, will always be present.
.
"How about we have dinner together then?" Iwahashi Shinichi discussed.
Nahoko Kawai naturally had no objection.
"What will be released this week is the collaborative single between Akina-chan and ORIGINALLOVE." Nahoko Kawai mentioned before hanging up the phone.
"It will definitely end perfectly."
Even though Nakamori Akina previously lost the single weekly championship and her momentum is not as good as before, it will not be a problem to get the top three on the list. Kawai Nahoko is quite confident in Nakamori Akina's sales.
Iwahashi Shinichi is also confident. However, his requirements for this final single are by no means "top three".
…
There was so much buzz about this project that even groups such as unknown newcomers and has-been idols have achieved good results, not to mention that for the final single, one of the members of the group is a Tao Pu Shida like Akina Nakamori.
Even though her popularity has declined and she lost the weekly number one spot on the singles chart, her popularity is still sufficient among singers. Even if her popularity declines, she will still attract attention whenever she makes a move.
This project ends with her collaboration with ORIGINALLOVE, so the publicity splendor is comparable to the team-up of Ayako Fuji and BOLAN, who started the project.
Just as TV dramas focus on publicity before they start broadcasting and warm-up before the finale, the same goes for record planning.
For this reason, half of the industry is actually staring at the last single, wanting to see how much ratings the "finale" will get.
After taking over the finishing task, Nakamori Akina also shouldered the pressure of "starring".
Fortunately, her own sales are strong, and the enthusiasm brought by the project is also strong. As soon as the single was released, it immediately set off a buying frenzy in record stores.
Just looking at the early feedback, there is absolutely no problem for this final single to win the weekly championship. Winning the championship is not only the perfect ending to the planned single, but also Akina Nakamori's return to the championship after losing the weekly championship.
As long as she can regain the top spot, whether it is a collaborative single or a solo single, it will be a good thing for consolidating her momentum. For this reason, Yanyin and Warner both attach great importance to this single. After all,
It’s about Nakamori Akina’s popularity.
Shinichi Iwahashi is also paying attention to this single, waiting to see its sales figures that week - for now, the focus of this single is not the ranking, but the actual numbers.
It can bring Akina Nakamori back to the top, and the actual sales figures of the single are also good. On the one hand, this continuous release of singles has ended perfectly, and everyone is happy. On the other hand, the response is good enough. Over at Kenyin, he and Mr. Nozaki proposed
If someone who has been there before collaborates on another album, the other party will take it seriously.
People behind the scenes were paying attention to the sales of the single. In front of the stage, Akina Nakamori and her partner ORIGINALLOVE devoted themselves to participating in music programs to promote, each performing their own duties.
At the same time, as the chief producer of the project, Shinichi Iwahashi is also responsible for communicating and negotiating with the producers of "THEBESTTEN".
Since the beginning of this project, every single has been in the top five of the singles chart that week, and there are many champion singles among them. Although the ranking method of "THEBESTTEN" needs to be considered based on other data, these singles
The rankings of the songs on the show and the charts are slightly different, but every single is in the top ten, there is no doubt about this.
However, since the beginning of planning, no group of singers has appeared on "THEBESTTEN".
The week when the single was released, the chart could not be calculated, so it was impossible to participate in the song competition of "THEBESTTEN" that week. When the chart came out the next week and the TV station invited me, I was told that "I don't want to take away the light of this week's protagonist."
reasons to block it.
The reason is reasonable. Since it is a project, it must be different from regular singles. But even so, the entire project does not allow singers to appear in "THEBESTTEN", and TBS TV station is not without dissatisfaction.
However, by not participating in the show, he did not deliberately avoid "THEBESTTEN", but had other plans. What Shinichi Iwahashi wants is to get higher-level treatment from this show.
At the end of the year, after the single list statistics are suspended, in the last few weeks, the "THEBESTTEN" program team will also suspend the rankings and instead broadcast special programs, inviting singers to have a party together.
Shinichi Iwahashi's idea is to prepare a special program for this project at the end of the year. At that time, the singers who participated in the project will come on stage together to perform a special performance that belongs only to this project.
This idea has been approved in advance by the agencies of the singers involved in the project. As long as the special program can be negotiated, the schedule will be freed up.
It's such a pleasure to work together, so of course I deserve this.
The final single of Nakamori Akina and ORIGINALLOVE has not yet been sold, but everyone has already known about it. Therefore, it does not prevent them from discussing the performance with the production team of "THEBESTTEN" as soon as the single is released.
So far in the planning process, although these singers have gone to other programs to audition for songs, it has never happened before that they have come together. If they nodded in agreement, they would have surpassed all the music programs and got the strongest card.
Just thinking about it, you can imagine how great the ratings will be.
The production team of "THEBESTTEN" never imagined that this was what they had prepared for them. The specifications for the year-end special program were very high, but considering the popularity of the project, there was almost no second answer other than a promise.
After the matter was settled, the "THEBESTTEN" program team began to make preparations, and the participating singers' agencies also began to arrange their schedules. Iwahashi Shinichi himself also had a card waiting to be played——
When the terms of the project were first discussed, he did not want the copyright, but the benefit he wanted was the income from the album.
Now, all the singles are about to be released, but the album is still in his hands and has not been released. In other words, although his production fee as a producer has been stabilized, the benefits of GENZO have not yet been seen.
According to Shinichi Iwahashi's plan, after this week's closing single, the special program of "THEBESTTEN" will be broadcast next week, and the album will be released immediately.
…
The plan has been set long ago. As soon as the final single is released, the album distribution preparations will be arranged - absolutely not in advance, not even in one day. Now, the special program has been agreed with the producer of "THEBESTTEN"
,Everything is ready.
Late at night, after inviting guests and attending the party, Shinichi Iwahashi went home. When he checked his mailbox, he got the closing picture of "Kiss" from it.
It was sent by Akina Nakamori.
Iwahashi Shinichi returned home, opened the package, and couldn't help but smile when he saw the single. Naturally, there were envelopes containing a "tasting impressions" survey and an origami homework along with the single.
Although he produced the song, Shinichi Iwahashi still opened the single and put it into the record player. He opened the envelope while listening to the song.
After taking out the letter paper, he gently poured it out, and the origami was in his hand.
It's very skillful to do something like this.
What fell into his hands was an origami puppy. The hiragana name of "Kenta" was written on the puppy's body. Even so, the appearance of this origami puppy definitely had nothing to do with a Yorkshire terrier.
.
Iwahashi Shin put the origami aside and went to see what he thought of the taste...
