March of 2006 holds a very significant importance to us as Pink Lady fans. It was in March 30 years ago when Mitsuyo Nemoto and Keiko Masuda, two fresh-faced 18 year olds from Shizuoka (Japan's equivilent to Kansas, making them country girls) appeared on the then popular TV program, "Star Tanjo" (Birth of a Star), a show that found new performing stars, just like the old "Star Search" here in the States. Dressed in bib overalls, the girls sang a cute little song called "Cookie" and won the competition. Five months later, the phenomenon known as Pink Lady was born.
In March of 1981, the fabulous career of Pink Lady came to an end as Mie and Kei, on the verge of breaking up after a five year roller coaster of success, failure and everthing inbetween, serenaded their fans one last time on a chilly, cloudy, rainy afternoon at Korakuen Stadium, the venue where, just three years earlier, the girls enjoyed their greatest live performance in the fantastic Jumping Summer Carnival. The atmosphere that day had been electric for what was an emotional farewell to Pink Lady, the legendary song and dance act that had captivated an entire nation.
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Mie and Kei's performance on Star Tanjo, and the 2th anniversary of the Farewell Concert, I've put together a pictorial, courtesy of a video I bought while in Japan back in 2003, a documentary filmed in 1984 that was done in two parts. The first segment was basically the history of Pink Lady, from Star Tanjo, their dizzying rise to fame, the Kohaku Uta Gassen debacle to Pink Lady & Jeff. The second part of the video was the concert itself, Mie and Kei's emotionally gripping farewell to their fans (or so everyone thought at the time).
I've broken this special feature up into two parts: Alpha (the begininng) covers the history segment while Omega (the ending) covers the concert. I'm sure you'll find this a most fitting tribute to the everlasting legacy of Pink Lady on this, the month a star was both born, and dimmed (though temporarily). Enjoy!
