HEADLINES: 2006
JANUARY 17, 2006: Thanks to fellow fans Alan Newman, Tom White and Mitch Osawa, I've got some mondo juicy tidbits to kick off the Y2K6 Headlines Page! With this being the 30th anniversary of Pink Lady's debut in 1976, merchandise aplenty is starting to trickle into the stores in Japan to commemorate this hallowed event. We start with the biggest and best item that's on the way: the Pink Lady Platinum Box.
Now, I could be mistaken on this, but I do believe that in the case of the latter albums, this will mark the first time they've been released on CD. Also, from what I've read from my contributors, the CD's can be bought separately, or all together in a box set, sort of like how Capitol Records had recently re-released the Beatles early albums. Oh, and if that wasn't enough, Iina also related the news that the Pink Lady movie will also be released on DVD in late July! How about that! That will mark the first time the movie's been re-released since it's debut wa-a-a-a-a-a-ay back in 1978! While I have no particulars about the release, one can only hope it'll have English subtitles for the benefit of us American fans who want to follow along with the movie! And the 30th anniversary merriment rolls right along! if I come up with more goodies, you'll be the first to know! I promise!
JUNE 27, 2006: As promised, I've managed to dig up some additional info on the upcoming release of the 1978 Pink Lady movie on DVD in Japan. For starters, here's what the packaging for the release looks like, courtesy of HMV.com:
JUNE 1, 2006: I just got wind of this exciting bit of news not more than several hours ago! According to fello PL fans Iina and Tom White, the first four Pink Lady albums: "Pepper Keibu", "Challenge Concert", "Summer Fire '77" and "Bye-Bye Carnival" will soon be released on CD! Ain't that cool?
JULY 17, 2006: As the 30th anniversary of Pink Lady continues apace, there's more musical goodies on the way. On August 23rd, "America! America! America!" (a.k.a. The Vegas Album), "'78 Jumping Summer Carnival", "Two From The Star" and the soundtrack from the Pink Lady movie will hit the stores in Japan on CD. And that's not all....
On September 21st, "Live At Budokan", "Magical Music Tour", The U.S. Album" and "We Are Sexy" will grace the shelves. It looks like the entire Pink lady catalogue will be re-released before the year ends, something I find to be very exciting, especially for fans here in the States who may never have had the chance to collect all of PL's music. As always, if any additional news comes my way, I'll be sure to give you the 411!
As previously mentioned, the movie will be released on July 28th, it's Region 2, so have that Region-free machine to play it on, it'll be in widescreen, something I think is pretty neat, especially since I have a widescreen HDTV, however, it'll only have Japanese subtitles. Hardly a surprise since this isn't something that's bound to command a whole lot of sales here in the U.S. Oh, and it's selling price is about $39.00, kinda pricey for a DVD, heck, you can buy box sets of TV shows for that much these days. Still, for any devoted Pink Lady fan who never got to see their charming cinematic masterpiece, now's your chance to add this to your collection, as I plan to do!
According to info they dug up for me, this box set is chock full of goodies: 4 CD's, consisting of the original 22 single releases from 1976 to 1981, unreleased studio recordings from the same time period, live recordings from Mie and Kei's salad days and recordings from the U.S. album release. As neat as that is, the REAL gem are the two DVD's that accompany the set, they being footage from NHKs "Let's Go Young" broadcast (filmed from 1977-1980 and is available for the first time ever on DVD). Mitch informed me that this was a very popular song and variety show on which Mie and Kei made several apperances. Also there's live footage from the Live At Budokan shows from December 25 and 26 of 1978 (also available for the first time ever on DVD). And, if that isn't enough, there's also a lyrics and explanation book, LP-size deluxe color photobook, and original playing card set. How awesome is that? The release date for the box set is March, which, by the way, coincides with the month Mie and Kei appeared on "Star Tanjo" thirty years ago. Below is a pic of what the whole collection looks like. I've already ordered my copy from CDJapan which costs about 21,000 yen, or $180.00 American after shipping costs and whatnot. Once I get my hands on it, a review will follow!
And that's not all, folks! Another item which I've already ordered and is on its way to me even as I type is another CD collection called "Rare Trax". This CD consists of all the remix versions of PL's famous hits, some of which came from the 1990 "Remixes" CD,a nd others I've never heard of before. Almost instantly, I found that to be highly insteresting and will no doubt make for good listening once it arrives. Again, I'll have a review of it for you. And while we're on the music front, Mitch reports that Kei-chan recently released her first new single since the "Voice Cologne" CD in 1990, called "Kiseki no Hana" (A Flower of Miracles") with the B-side being a brand new version of "Sparrow", Kei's first single from 1982. Pretty cool, eh? Once I get a copy, I'll review it as well.
However, there's yet more! Remember that 30th anniversary graphic I created and showed off on the Editorial Page last month? Well, here's what our friends over in Japan have whipped up for the occasion:
Not bad, eh? Not to toot my own horn, but I think mine looks a little cooler, and it's in color to boot! Heh! Still, it's great to know that the machinery is in motion to celebrate Mie and Kei's 30th anniversary together as one of THE most celebrated, and beloved performing groups of all time in the Japanese arena. And I'm certainly glad to be a part of it all in my own small way! While I have no firm proof, I'm sure that what you've seen above may well only be the tip of what figures to be a veritable pink iceberg of news and goodies! I'll do my very best to keep everyone posted on what happens in the future!
