ESSAY 12
PINK LADY AGAIN: NO SUSPENSE
One fan's view on Mie and Kei's 1984 reunion concert
by Jeffrey C. Branch
When Mie and Kei left the field at Korakuen Stadium after their incredibly emotional farewell concert on March 31, 1981, it was assumed by their fans, both in the stadium that fateful day, and watching at home on television that they’d never see the girls sing together as Pink Lady again. There was considerable precedent supporting that viewpoint as once idols retired from, or quit performing, more often than not, they stayed retired, as was the case with such notable celebrities like Candies and Momoe Yamaguchi. And with Mie and Kei having launched successful careers as solo artists (along with Mie’s semi-notorious star turn as a hooker in Call Girl), it was thought that Pink Lady, the entity that made the girls unbelievably popular in Japan was dead and buried. However, just like Dracula, Pink Lady would rise from the grave.
Little under three and a half years later, on September 2, 1984, Pink Lady officially reunited and triumphantly returned to Japan’s pop culture scene for an exciting concert, called, ironically enough, “Forever Pink Lady”. Descending from the rafters at the start of the show on what looked like a trapeze in skin tight, hot pink bodysuits and shiny silver pumps, Mie and Kei, 26 and 27 respectively (the show was held on Septmber 2nd, Kei’s birthday) were more beautiful than ever as they matured from the fresh-faced girlishness of their late teen years and into full-blown adulthood. And when they launched into a medley of their chart-topping hits in what I called the first act of the concert, complete with their famous dance routines, it was clear the Ladies hadn’t lost a step since that rainy afternoon in March of 1981. Watching a tape of the show which I had been provided with by a fellow fan, it was like going back in time to Pink Lady’s heyday.
As excited as I was watching the show on tape a scant few years ago, I’m sure PL fans back in the day must’ve been giddy as hell when they found out that their heroines were back together and ready to rock the house. And for those lucky fans who had tickets to that show, no doubt in my mind that they must’ve been on cloud nine as a Pink Lady concert was more than just a show, it was an experience. The talent, the charm, the amazing energy Mie and Kei put into a show was nothing short of phenomenal, and they put it all on display in their return to their glory years. And, as an added treat for the faithful, Mie and Kei sang two songs from “Pink Lady Again: Suspense”, their first studio album since 1980 (and, sadly, their last since) as the crowd were treated to the slick and sophisticated new musical stylings of Pink Lady which was nothing like their familiar bubblegum pop sound that made them so insanely famous.
Now I suppose people wondered if this reunion would be a brief one-time deal with Mie and Kei taking fans on a whirlwind nostalgia trip before going their separate ways, or if the girls would stay together, reclaim their crowns as the Queens of J-Pop music and usher in a brand new era of Pink Lady mania. As it turned out then, and over the course of the next two decades, it wound up being somewhere in-between as Mie and Kei balanced their solo careers as singers and actresses with occasional reunions as Pink Lady, either to satisfy their fans or perhaps themselves, or both. And where was I at the time? Still in the Navy, stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, but, as fate would have it, I had considered returning to Japan prior to 1984 when I was due to transfer. The thought of going back to Tokyo was very enticing to me, but I couldn’t manage to swing the transfer. Who knows, if I had gone back, I might’ve seen that show.
That first reunion wound up being the impetus for many more get togethers by Mie and Kei over the next twenty years, including their return to the stage of Kohaku Uta Gassen in 1988, ten years to the day after Pink Lady’s moronic handlers had the girls snub the show, which, in my mind, kickstarted Mie and Kei’s fall from grace as recording stars to, most recently, the stellar 2003-2005 Japan tour which I was extremely fortunate enough to have attended, thus fulfilling my most cherished dream that had been deferred for twenty-five years to see a Pink Lady concert. Bottom line: if the girls hadn’t reunited back in 1984, perhaps nothing else that followed would have happened. Every time Mie and Kei graced a stage and/or a TV screen, their already remarkable legend only grew as old fans reconnected with the Ladies while new fans discovered their unique brand of J-Pop magic and, like everyone else, fell in love with Mie and Kei.
So, in the end, the name of that 1984 reunion concert wound up being extremely prophetic, because, in the hearts and minds and souls of us as fans of Mie and Kei, the legend of Pink Lady will truly live forever.
