86-551: Morning Musume '24 ( モーニング娘。 '24 , Mōningu Musume Two-Four. ) , formerly and commonly known as Morning Musume ( モーニング娘。 , Mōningu Musume. ) and colloquially referred to as Momusu ( モー娘。 , Mōmusu. ) , is a Japanese girl group , holding the second highest overall single sales (of a female group) on the Oricon charts as of February 2012, with the Oricon record of most top-ten singles, having 64 of them. Morning Musume
172-492: A challenge to sell 50,000 copies of their demo single, " Ai no Tane ", with just five days of promotion events. They managed the feat in four promotion days (spread out over November 1997) in a very grassroots manner, and Tsunku began his mission to create the most famous all-girl group in Japan. In early 1998, the girls were ready with their first official single, " Morning Coffee ". The success of this single (hitting number six on
258-665: A cheery dance sequence. The group soon released another single, " Roman: My Dear Boy ". The song showcased an almost rock flavor and centered its lyrics around offering "a dance" to a boy. This was followed by their twenty-third single, " Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari ", which is unique in that it was actually about the Morning Musume girls themselves—each member got a verse about their personality. This song would later be remade several times as "Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari 2" and "Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari 3", included in their sixth and seventh album respectively. This single also marked
344-530: A crush or lover, and heartache. Some songs sounded upbeat or cheerful and sang about falling in love, whereas others took a decidedly more melancholic turn. Groups like the Shangri-Las , with the song " I Can Never Go Home Anymore " sang about the darker side of being in love. An especially prevalent theme was adolescence. Since most of the girl groups were composed of young singers, often still in high school, songs mentioned parents in many cases. Adolescence
430-946: A different name, One Up Music (One Up is a combination of Warner Music Japan (the label that distributed One Up Music's catalog) and Up-Front Group (One Up Music's parent company)). However, in April 1998, one month before the release of " Summer Night Town ", One Up Music ended its distribution deal with Warner, and was rebranded as Zetima when it merged with Y.J. Sounds (another former Up-Front Group -affiliated label). Distribution rights would be given to Sony Music Japan 's sub label Epic Records for " Summer Night Town ", " First Time ", and all of Zetima's subsequent releases. The group released its fourth single " Memory Seishun no Hikari " in early 1999, reaching number two on Oricon , second to Glay 's " Winter, Again " which had first week sales of 955,780 copies. The song features rap passages by L The Headtoucha and intense vocal harmonization by
516-410: A distinctive call and response chants, with Rika Ishikawa as the center focus. British newspaper The Guardian described the promotional video echoed the song's "strangeness" by placing the group in the middle of what appeared to be a gigantic public bathroom, displaying the girls dancing amongst the urinals and posing for photographs in the stalls; supposedly as a response to hidden camera footage of
602-666: A female group, and a film, the Spice Girls became the most commercially successful British group since the Beatles . Unlike their predecessors who were marketed at male record buyers, the Spice Girls redefined the girl group concept by going after a young female fanbase instead. The cultural movement started by the Spice Girls produced a glut of other similar acts, which include the British-Canadian outfit All Saints , Irish girl group B*Witched , Atomic Kitten and
688-496: A group tailored towards younger audiences with all the members being less than 150 cm (about 5 ft) tall. Mika Todd of Coconuts Musume was later added into the group and Tsunku made them official. Their debut single, " Minimoni Jankenpyon! ", was a number one hit on the Oricon. As an idol group, they were extremely successful, drawing comparisons to the popularity of former girl idol group Speed . " I Wish " and " Renai Revolution 21 " (Yuko Nakazawa's last single) continued
774-573: A more potent sound allowed girl groups to sing powerfully and in different styles than earlier generations. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller would likewise foster the Exciters , the Dixie Cups , and the Shangri-Las . The Shangri-Las' hit single, " Leader of the Pack ", exemplified the "' death disc ' genre" adopted by some girl groups. These songs usually told the story of teenage love cut short by
860-409: A new generation search. The fourth generation consisted of Rika Ishikawa , Hitomi Yoshizawa , Nozomi Tsuji , and Ai Kago , lending a completely different feel to the group by adding the 12-year-old duo of Tsuji and Kago. After their debut single, " Happy Summer Wedding ", (continuing the legacy of number one hits with 1,370,000 copies sold,) Sayaka Ichii left to pursue her own music career. She became
946-597: A number of girl groups emerged, such as the Andrews Sisters . The late 1950s saw the emergence of all-female singing groups as a major force, with 750 distinct girl groups releasing songs that reached US and UK music charts from 1960 to 1966. The Supremes alone held 12 number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 during the height of the wave and throughout most of the British Invasion rivaled
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#17327837263491032-410: A slight rock flavor, featured Kaori Iida, Rika Ishikawa, Nozomi Tsuji, Makoto Ogawa, Miki Fujimoto, Sayumi Michishige, and Reina Tanaka. Sakuragumi released two singles: " Hare Ame Nochi Suki " and " Sakura Mankai ", and Otomegumi released two singles as well: " Ai no Sono: Touch My Heart! " and " Yūjō: Kokoro no Busu ni wa Naranee! ". The last single of Morning Musume in 2003 to feature the entire group
1118-537: A total of 20 million copies in Japan within three years, with Variety calling them "Japan's top girl group", while Max still hold the record for girl group with the second most consecutive top 10 singles in Japan. Throughout the 2010s, AKB48 sister groups have been launched or will be launched in Indonesia, China, Thailand, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Several new Japanese idol groups appeared in
1204-624: Is the fourth single from the J-pop idol group Morning Musume , released on February 10, 1999 as an 8 cm CD. It sold a total of 410,850 copies, and reached number two on the Oricon Charts . In 2004, it was re-released as part of the Early Single Box and again in 2005 as a 12 cm CD. Lead vocals of this single were Natsumi Abe and Asuka Fukuda . Prior to this single's release, on January 17, 1999, Fukuda shocked viewers of
1290-564: The Great Depression . The Boswell Sisters , who became one of the most popular singing groups from 1930 to 1936, had over twenty hits. The Andrews Sisters started in 1937 as a Boswell tribute band and continued recording and performing through the 1940s into the late-1960s, achieving more record sales, more Billboard hits, more million-sellers, and more movie appearances than any other girl group to date. The Andrews Sisters had musical hits across multiple genres, which contributed to
1376-660: The Honeyz , who all achieved varying levels of success during the decade. Throughout the 2000s, girl groups from the UK remained popular, with Girls Aloud 's " Sound of the Underground " and Sugababes ' " Round Round " having been called "two huge groundbreaking hits" credited with reshaping British pop music for the 2000s. Despite her being a solo artist, Amy Winehouse's 2006 album Back to Black contained heavy influence from 1960s girl groups and garnered Winehouse comparisons to
1462-671: The Spice Girls , the 1990s also saw the target market for girl groups shift from a male audience to an increasingly female one. In the 2010s, the K-pop phenomenon led to the rise of successful girl groups including Girls' Generation , Twice and Blackpink . One of the first major all-female groups was the Hamilton Sisters and Fordyce , an American trio who successfully toured England and parts of Europe in 1927, recorded and appeared on BBC radio – they toured
1548-582: The disco craze and beyond, female acts included First Choice , Silver Convention , Hot , the Emotions , High Inergy , Odyssey , Sister Sledge , Mary Jane Girls , Belle Epoque , Frantique , Luv' , and Baccara . Groups of the 1980s like the Pointer Sisters , Exposé , and Bananarama updated the concept. In Latin America, there were a number of dance-oriented popular girl groups during
1634-544: The 1950s era would also give advice to other girls, or sing about the advice their mothers gave to them, which was a similarity to some male musical groups of the time (for example, the Miracles ' " Shop Around "). Adolescence was also important (especially starting in the 1950s) from the other end: the consumers were "teenagers [with] disposable income, ready access to automobiles, and consolidated high schools that exposed them to large numbers of other teens. Mass teen culture
1720-599: The 2010s and created a fiercely competitive situation in the music industry, which has been referred to as the "Idol sengoku jidai " (アイドル戦国時代; lit. Age of the Idol Warring States). Since 2009, Hallyu (Korean wave) and K-pop became increasingly significant in the entertainment industry. Its influence spread across Asia and began to reach the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and the Americas. At
1806-496: The 2010s. Japan has the music industry's second largest market overall and the largest physical music market in the world, with the physical sales Oricon Singles Chart being dominated by J-pop idol girl groups. In the late 1990s, vocal/dance girl bands Speed and Max gained prominence in Asia, and paved the way for succeeding Japanese girl groups, such as Morning Musume , AKB48 , Perfume , and Momoiro Clover Z . Speed sold
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#17327837263491892-529: The Beatles in popularity. In later eras, the girl group template would be applied to disco , contemporary R&B , and country -based formats, as well as pop . A more globalized music industry gave rise to the popularity of dance-oriented pop music led by major record labels. This emergence, led by the US, UK, South Korea and Japan, produced popular acts, with eight groups debuting after 1990 having sold more than 15 million physical copies of their albums . With
1978-650: The Bonnie Sisters with "Cry Baby" and the Teen Queens with " Eddie My Love " showed early promise for a departure from traditional pop harmonies. With " Mr. Lee ", the Bobbettes lasted for 5 + 1 ⁄ 2 months on the charts in 1957, building momentum and gaining further acceptance of all-female, all- black vocal groups. However, it was the Chantels ' 1958 song " Maybe " that became "arguably,
2064-497: The Chantels and others was followed by an enormous rise in girl groups with varying skills and experience, with the music industry's typical racially segregated genre labels of R&B and pop slowly breaking apart. This rise also allowed a semblance of class mobility to groups of people who often could not otherwise gain such success, and "forming vocal groups together and cutting records gave them access to other opportunities toward professional advancement and personal growth, expanding
2150-530: The Japanese pop charts) brought them three new members known as the second generation: Kei Yasuda , Mari Yaguchi , and Sayaka Ichii , bringing the total member count to eight. The second single, " Summer Night Town ", was the first single of the new lineup—a mature pop tune about unsuccessfully attempting to hide one's true feelings. Their third single, " Daite Hold on Me! ", continued in the same vein musically as Summer Night Town, and managed to hit number one on
2236-480: The Korean wave's globalization accelerated. These newer girl groups gradually shifted towards more "girl crush" concepts and it became more common for members to be involved in writing or production. Popular South Korean girl groups include Blackpink , Twice , Aespa , NewJeans , IVE and Red Velvet amongst others. Girl groups have a wide array of subject matter in their songs, depending on time and place and who
2322-487: The Lucky 7 audition would be added to Morning Musume, citing that he had set his expectations extra-high this year in hopes of finding an "ace". This was the first time an audition had ended with no new members. In November 2004, Morning Musume released " Namida ga Tomaranai Hōkago ", a ballad that featured Asami Konno, Miki Fujimoto, Sayumi Michishige, and Rika Ishikawa. Following this single Morning Musume Early Single Box
2408-680: The Murmaids took David Gates ' " Popsicles and Icicles " to the top 3 in January, the Carefrees ' " We Love You Beatles " scraped the top 40 in April, and the Jewels ' "Opportunity" was a small hit in December. Over 750 girl groups were able to chart a song between 1960 and 1966 in the US and UK, although the genre's reach was not as strongly felt in the music industries of other regions. As
2494-574: The Ronettes. UK girl group continued to have success in the 2000s and 2010s, with acts such as Mis-Teeq , the Saturdays , StooShe and Little Mix , one of the successful acts to come from the British version of The X Factor . Although the emergence of dance-pop focused acts in Asia paralleled their British counterparts in the 1990s, girl groups in Asia sustained as a successful format through
2580-640: The Three Degrees (which had roots in the 1960s and in 1970, like the Chantels in 1958, began their top 40 pop career with "Maybe"). Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles was a US 1960s girl group whose image Vicki Wickham , their manager, helped remake in the early 1970s, renaming the group Labelle and pushing them in the direction of glam rock . Labelle were the first girl group to eschew matching outfits and identical choreography, instead wearing extravagant spacesuits and feathered headdresses. During
2666-847: The Toys and the Sweet Inspirations , the only girl groups with any significant chart presence from the beginning of the British Invasion through 1970 were Motown girl groups with the Supremes being the only girl group to score number one hits. The distinct girl group sound would not re-emerge until the 21st century, where it would influence modern-day English-speaking pop-soul soloists who have been met with international success, such as Amy Winehouse , Adele , Duffy and Melanie Fiona among others. In addition to influencing individual singers, this generation of girl groups cemented
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2752-536: The UK charts at the time was Eternal , but even they "remained largely faceless". Amidst the American domination of the girl group format, the Second British Invasion saw the UK's Spice Girls turn the tide in the mid-1990s, achieving ten number 1 singles in the UK and US. With sold-out concerts, advertisements, merchandise, 86 million worldwide record sales, the best-selling album of all time by
2838-713: The US and UK quickly recognized the potential of this new approach and recruited existing acts (or, in some cases, created new ones) to record their songs in a girl group style. Phil Spector recruited the Crystals , the Blossoms , and the Ronettes , while Goffin and King penned two hit songs for the Cookies . Phil Spector made a huge impact on the ubiquity of the girl group, as well as bringing fame and notoriety to new heights for many girl groups. Phil Spector's so-called Wall of Sound , which used layers of instruments to create
2924-503: The US variety and big-time theaters extensively, and later changed their stage name to the Three X Sisters . The band was together from 1923 until the early 1940s, and known for their close harmonies, as well as barbershop style or novelty tunes, and utilized their 1930s radio success. The Three X Sisters were also especially a notable addition to the music scene, and predicted later girl group success by maintaining their popularity throughout
3010-503: The audition "Love Audition 21:" Ai Takahashi , Asami Konno , Makoto Ogawa , and Risa Niigaki , bringing the roster to 13 girls. Their first single " Mr. Moonlight: Ai no Big Band ", (done in the style of big band ) featured fourth generation member Hitomi Yoshizawa as the central focus and main vocalist of the song. In February, " Sōda! We're Alive ", another hit, was released. It featured many different styles combined into one song, centered on Mari Yaguchi. In July 2002, " Do It! Now "
3096-532: The beginning, girl groups such as Girls' Generation , 2NE1 and Wonder Girls were among the leaders of this "Hallyu" wave. The influence of the original girl groups of the United States was not lost on this era of artists, as many adopted visual influences through their "retro" concepts, such as the international 2008 hit " Nobody " by Wonder Girls. From the second half of the 2010s, new generations of Korean girl groups emerged and enjoyed great success as
3182-479: The best-selling album by a girl group in the United States (Diamond certification), while selling over 14 million copies worldwide. Destiny's Child emerged in the late 1990s and sold more than 60 million records. In the mid-to-late-2000s, there was a revival of girl groups. American girl group and dance ensemble the Pussycat Dolls achieved worldwide success with their singles. Danity Kane also became
3268-471: The charts. Groups in these genres, such as SWV , Xscape , 702 , Total , Zhane , Blaque , and 3LW , managed to have songs chart on both the U.S. Hot 100 and the U.S. R&B charts. However, TLC achieved the most success for a girl group in an era where contemporary R&B would become global mainstream acceptance. TLC remains the best-selling American girl group with 65 million records sold, and their second studio album, CrazySexyCool (1994), remains
3354-501: The charts. Leader Nakazawa also started her solo career. " First Time " was released in July 1998, featuring the singles " Ai no Tane ", " Morning Coffee " and " Summer Night Town ". That year, Tsunku also formed Tanpopo , the first subgroup of Morning Musume, with Kaori Iida , Aya Ishiguro, and Mari Yaguchi . Tanpopo touted slower, more mature songs. When " Morning Coffee " was released, however, Morning Musume's label Zetima went by
3440-618: The current 13-person formation,) " The Peace! ", (in a 'full', longer version,) " Mr. Moonlight: Ai no Big Band ", (with added dialog at the beginning,) and "Sōda! We're Alive". Late 2002 was marked by the graduation of Maki Goto and a mass re-shuffle of the sub-units. Tsunku removed Kaori Iida, Mari Yaguchi, and Ai Kago from Tanpopo, adding in Asami Konno, Risa Niigaki, and Ayumi Shibata of Melon Kinenbi to join Rika Ishikawa. Tanpopo only released one single with this lineup before
3526-621: The death of one of the young lovers. The Paris Sisters had success from 1961 to 1964, especially with " I Love How You Love Me ". The Chiffons , the Angels , and the Orlons were also prominent in the early 1960s. In early fall 1963 one-hit wonder the Jaynetts ' " Sally Go 'Round the Roses " achieved a mysterious sound quite unlike that of any other girl group. In 1964, the one-hit wonder group
Morning Musume - Misplaced Pages Continue
3612-461: The era, including the Flans , Pandora and Fandango. In Japan, all-female idol groups Candies and Pink Lady made a series of hits during the 1970s and 1980s as well. The Japanese music program Music Station listed Candies and Pink Lady in their Top 50 Idols of All Time (compiled in 2011), placing them at number 32 and number 15, with sales exceeding 5 and 13 million in Japan, respectively. With
3698-628: The first girl group in Billboard history to have two consecutive number-one albums, as their self-titled debut album (2006) and their second album Welcome to the Dollhouse (2008) both topped the U.S. Billboard 200 . Girl groups have now been more popular compared to the early 2000s. Girl groups continued their success in the 2010s. Miami -based girl group Fifth Harmony formed in 2012 on The X Factor USA . They reached international success with their debut album Reflection , which featured
3784-414: The first true glimmering of the girl group sound". The "mixture of black doo-wop, rock and roll, and white pop" was appealing to a teenage audience and grew from scandals involving payola and the perceived social effects of rock music . However, early groups such as the Chantels started developing their groups' musical capacities traditionally, through mediums like Latin and choir music. The success of
3870-506: The girl group form and sentiment and provided inspiration for many future groups. Entering the 1970s, the Supremes had continued success with top 10 hits " Up the Ladder to the Roof " and " Stoned Love " along with six other singles charting on Billboard's top 40. Only two other girl groups made top 10 chartings through 1974 with " Want Ads " by Honey Cone and " When Will I See You Again " by
3956-498: The group in 1997 through an audition for a female rock vocalist for his band Sharam Q . The audition was held on the Japanese TV show Asayan . The winner was Michiyo Heike , later to become a soloist under what would eventually become known as Hello! Project . Tsunku decided to form a girl group consisting of five of the runners-up: Natsumi Abe , Yuko Nakazawa , Kaori Iida , Asuka Fukuda , and Aya Ishiguro. They were issued
4042-518: The group was put on an indefinite hiatus status. Makoto Ogawa and Ayaka Kimura of Coconuts Musume joined Hitomi Yoshizawa in Petitmoni to replace Kei Yasuda and Maki Goto, but the group did not even release a single, only performing in concerts. Their song "Wow Wow Wow" was later released on the Hello! Project's compilation CD Petit Best 4 . In Mini Moni, Mari Yaguchi was replaced by Ai Takahashi and
4128-619: The group's members. This was Asuka Fukuda 's last single with Morning Musume; Asuka claimed that she was leaving in order to focus on her studies, only to drop out of school soon after. " Manatsu no Kōsen " was released in May and went to number three on the charts. Their sixth single, " Furusato ", was released in July. Second Morning was released in July 1999, and contained the singles "Daite Hold on Me!", "Memory Seishun no Hikari", "Manatsu no Kōsen", and "Furusato". "Daite Hold on Me!" and "Manatsu no Kōsen" were remixed. Tsunku held auditions for
4214-518: The hit " Worth It ". " Work from Home ", the lead single from their second studio album , became the first top-five single in the U.S by a girl group in a decade, following the September 2006 peak of " Buttons " by The Pussycat Dolls at number three. "Worth It" and "Work from Home" remain the most-viewed girl group music videos on YouTube . In the early 1990s, the British music scene was dominated by boy bands. The only girl group making an impact on
4300-769: The idea of girlhood as an identity across race and class lines." The group often considered to have achieved the first sustained success in girl group genre is the Shirelles , who first reached the Top 40 with " Tonight's the Night ", and in 1961, became the first girl group to reach number one on the Hot 100 with " Will You Love Me Tomorrow ", written by songwriters Gerry Goffin and Carole King at 1650 Broadway . The Shirelles solidified their success with five more top 10 hits, most particularly 1962's number one hit " Soldier Boy ", over
4386-411: The late 1950s and early 1960s between the decline of early rock and roll and start of the British Invasion . All-female bands , in which members also play instruments, are usually considered a separate phenomenon. These groups are sometimes called "girl bands" to differentiate, although this terminology is not universally followed. With the advent of the music industry and radio broadcasting,
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#17327837263494472-460: The leaving of fourth-generation members Nozomi Tsuji and Ai Kago in August, to focus on " W ", their new duo group. In April 2004, Rika Ishikawa was caught in a rare scandal, as an audio recording revealed her saying of the group's fans at a show, "look at them. Grownups screaming like that! I can't believe it. So stupid!" In mid-2004, Morning Musume's second best-of album, Best! Morning Musume 2
4558-408: The members that had recently surfaced, filmed from a toilet in their production offices. At the end of January 2001, the best selling Hello! Project album to date was released: Best! Morning Musume 1 . It sold 2,259,510 copies. It featured 15 tracks, the only original song being "Say Yeah! -Motto Miracle Night-". At the end of 2001, four new members joined the group as the fifth generation through
4644-489: The nature of her departure, Yaguchi did not receive a leaving concert. Sub-leader Hitomi Yoshizawa took over as the leader of Morning Musume, and Miki Fujimoto became sub-leader as of July 15, 2005. Just days after Yaguchi resigned, on April 27, 2005, the group's twenty-sixth single, " Osaka Koi no Uta " was released. The final version featured Yaguchi still, presumably because they did not have enough time to rerecord and remix it. The lyrics are in an Osaka dialect . This single
4730-419: The new lineup went on to put out several singles and a second album until member Mika Todd left in May 2004, adding Mini Moni to the list of "indefinite hiatus" subgroups. In October " Koko ni Iruzee! " was released, a fast-paced, feel-good song about making the most of life and music's ability to unite the world. It was number one on Oricon . The unique childlike tune " Morning Musume no Hyokkori Hyōtanjima "
4816-588: The next two and a half years. " Please Mr. Postman " by the Marvelettes became a major indication of the racial integration of popular music, as it was the first number one song in the US for African-American owned label, Motown Records . Motown would mastermind several major girl groups, including Martha and the Vandellas , the Velvelettes , and the Supremes . Other songwriters and producers in
4902-432: The physical demands of the group's activities) making Kaori Iida and Kei Yasuda Morning Musume's co-leaders. During this time, Rika Ishikawa was "lent" out to the rather inactive group, Country Musume . She did not officially join, but participated as a feature singers in number of their singles. By July 2001 the string of number one hits had yet to be broken with the release of the single " The Peace! ". The Peace! features
4988-870: The prevalence and popularity of the girl group form. As the rock era began, close harmony acts like the Chordettes , the Fontane Sisters , the McGuire Sisters and the DeCastro Sisters remained popular, with the first three acts topping the pop charts and the last reaching number two, at the end of 1954 to the beginning of 1955. Also, the Lennon Sisters were a mainstay on the Lawrence Welk Show from 1955 on. In early 1956, doo-wop one-hit wonder acts like
5074-717: The single " Kiss in the Dark ", Pink Lady was also one of only two Japanese artists to have reached the Billboard Top 40 . With their 1990 eponymous debut album , the trio Wilson Phillips sold over 5 million copies worldwide and reached five major US hit singles, four of which cracked the Top 10, with three peaking at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 . After the rise of new jack swing , contemporary R&B and hip hop , American girl groups such as En Vogue , Exposé and Sweet Sensation all had singles which hit number one on
5160-434: The sixth generation. The sixth generation's first single was " Shabondama ", which featured "break-up" lyrics, a seemingly spontaneous dance routine, and rolled "r"s . Mari Yaguchi became Morning Musume's sub-leader after Kei's departure and was also put in charge of training and assisting the trainee group of Hello! Project Kids , eventually forming a group with five of them, known as ZYX . Later in 2003, Morning Musume
5246-464: The sixth generation: Miki Fujimoto , Eri Kamei , Sayumi Michishige , and Reina Tanaka . Eri Kamei, Sayumi Michishige, and Reina Tanaka successfully passed the traditional auditions; however, Miki Fujimoto was a solo singer in Hello!Project at the time. After appearing on the New Year's music program "Kōhaku Uta Gassen" with several Morning Musume members dancing as backup, Tsunku added her as part of
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#17327837263495332-485: The sole "miracle" member of the new generation. On April 10, 2005, photos were taken of Mari Yaguchi with Shun Oguri (scheduled to be published in a gossip magazine Friday! on the 15th). On April 14, 2005, Yaguchi announced that she would "retire" from Morning Musume and would continue on with solo activities. In her public statement, Yaguchi said that due to the scandal and its publicity, she could no longer sustain an "idol" image befitting of Morning Musume. Because of
5418-435: The television show Asayan with her decision to "graduate" from Morning Musume and continue with her studies. "Never Forget", one of the coupling tracks on the single, is often traditionally sung by band members at their graduation concerts and/or final TV appearances with the group, prior to embarking on solo careers or new groups. All songs written by Tsunku . This 1990s Japanese single –related article
5504-546: The third generation of Morning Musume, and Maki Goto was added. Goto was 13, the youngest member of Morning Musume at the time. The group's seventh single, " Love Machine ", sold 1,760,000 copies, making it a major hit; it is still their highest-selling single as of 2012. It was Maki Goto's first single and Aya Ishiguro's last. Goto was paired with Kei Yasuda and Sayaka Ichii to form the subgroup Petitmoni (also known as Pucchi Moni). Petitmoni's first single, " Chokotto Love ", sold over 1,123,610 copies. " Koi no Dance Site "
5590-399: The trend of happy pop songs becoming staple hits for the group. Morning Musume also began their tradition of performing in musicals each year, breaking new ground as idols with their musical Love Century: Yume wa Minakerya Hajimaranai . In April 2001, group leader Yuko Nakazawa left to focus on her solo career (stating her age as a factor as well—she felt it was limiting her ability to meet
5676-410: The vocalist of Japanese group Cubic Cross and later married fellow member Naoki Yoshizawa (no relation to Hitomi Yoshizawa). With Ishiguro and Ichii gone, both Tanpopo and Petitmoni revised their lineups—Hitomi Yoshizawa joined Petitmoni, and Ai Kago and Rika Ishikawa were added to Tanpopo. Meanwhile, Mari Yaguchi had started performing informally with Ai Kago and Nozomi Tsuji in concerts as Mini Moni ,
5762-526: The years. In the 1990s through the present, with the prevalence of such groups as the Spice Girls, there has been a strong emphasis on women's independence and a sort of feminism. At the very least, the music is more assertive lyrically and relies less on innuendo. This more recent wave of girl groups is more sexually provocative as well, which makes sense within pop music within this time frame as well. Memory Seishun no Hikari " Memory Seishun no Hikari " ( Memory 青春の光 , Memory: The light of youth )
5848-416: The youth culture of western Continental Europe was deeply immersed in Yé-yé , recording artists of East Asia mostly varied from traditional singers, government-sponsored chorus, or multi-cultural soloists and bands, while bossa nova was trendy in Latin America. Beat music 's global influence eventually pushed out girl groups as a genre and, except for a small number of the foregoing groups and possibly
5934-434: Was " Go Girl: Koi no Victory ", which had the members girlishly proclaiming the victory of their love. In January 2004, Natsumi Abe (known as "the face of Morning Musume" to the general public) left to pursue a soloist career. Her last single was " Ai Araba It's All Right ", Morning Musume's last song to sell more than 100,000 copies until ' One Two Three / The Matenrou Show '. "Ai Araba It's All Right" had uplifting lyrics and
6020-410: Was Ai Kago, Nozomi Tsuji, Kaori Iida, Mari Yaguchi, and Rika Ishikawa's last credited studio album. On January 30, 2005, then-leader and the last member from the first generation Kaori Iida left to pursue a solo singer/artist career, with Mari Yaguchi taking on leadership role with Hitomi Yoshizawa as subleader. Her last single was " The Manpower!!! ", which sung about the abilities of the human race and
6106-471: Was also Rika Ishikawa's last. She left on May 7, 2005, to assume full-time leadership of the Hello! Project trio known as v-u-den . Girl group A girl group is a music act featuring three or more female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of whom were influenced by doo-wop and which flourished in
6192-518: Was also a popular subject because of an emerging audience of young girls listening to and buying records. Adolescence was also reinforced by girl groups in cultivation of a youthful image, since "an unprecedented instance of teenage girls occupying center stage of mainstream commercial culture". An example of this youth branding might be Baby Spice from the Spice Girls . This was shown through flourishes like typically matching outfits for mid-century girl groups and youthful content in songs. Girl groups of
6278-503: Was also the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles theme song. The beginning of 2005 also saw the beginning of Musume Document 2005 , which covered behind-the-scenes material, historical footage, and interviews. In February 2005, Tsunku started another audition for Morning Musume's seventh generation. He noted that he was still intent on finding an "ace". This audition resulted with Koharu Kusumi finally being chosen as
6364-529: Was born." As the girl group structure persisted through further generations, popular cultural sentiments were incorporated into the music. The appearance of " girl power " and feminism was also added, even though beginning groups were very structured in their femininity. It would be simplistic to imply that girl groups only sang about being in love; on the contrary, many groups expressed complex sentiments in their songs. There were songs of support, songs that were gossipy, etc.; like any other musical movement, there
6450-643: Was formed in 1997 by rock singer-songwriter turned record producer Tsunku , who later composed the vast majority of the group's songs over the decade. They are the lead group of Hello! Project that specialises in upbeat, pop-oriented music coupled with dance performance. The group produced several splinter groups, and often collaborates with other Hello! Project acts, including Country Musume , Berryz Kobo , Cute , Melon Kinenbi , and V-u-den . The group's name can be translated as "Morning Girls" or "Morning Daughters"; it consists of members mostly in their late adolescence and early 20s. Japanese producer Tsunku started
6536-514: Was much variation in what was being sung. A prominent theme was often teaching "what it meant to be a woman". Girl groups would exhibit what womanhood looked like from the clothes they were wearing to the actual lyrics in their songs. Of course this changed over the years (what the Supremes were wearing was different from the Spice Girls), but girl groups still served as beacons and examples of certain types of identities to their audiences through
6622-485: Was producing. Songs also had a penchant for reflecting the political and cultural climate around them. For instance, songs with abusive undertones were somewhat common during the 1950s–1970s. One notable example was the song " He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss) " by the Crystals . During the "golden age of girl groups", lyrics were disparate, ranging from songs about mean dogs to underage pregnancy. However, common sentiments were also found in ideas like new love, pining after
6708-476: Was released and featured "Yah! Aishitai" as the only new track. It had a lukewarm reception at best, compared to their first best-of compilation. Auditions for the seventh generation (named "Lucky 7" to commemorate the seventh generation, the seventh year of Morning Musume, and seven audition sites across Japan) were held in various Japan cities in late 2004, resulting in six finalists. However, on January 9, 2005, Tsunku surprised everyone by announcing that no one in
6794-462: Was released at the same date as Koi no Dance Site. Aya Ishiguro left the group before the single was released in order to marry Shinya , drummer of visual kei rock band Luna Sea , leaving the group with seven members. The second event of 2000 was the creation of " shuffle units ", in which all members of Tsunku's then 16-member family, Hello! Project , were shuffled around to form three one-time groups: Akagumi 4 , Kiiro 5 , and Aoiro 7 . The idea
6880-518: Was released in February 2003 as the group's seventeenth single. It is significant because it was a cover song, marking the first time Tsunku did not write a single's lyrics. April brought the notably successful single " As for One Day "—a synthesizer-driven song about lost love—which sold 129,893 copies and hit number one in Oricon charts, and was the last time a Morning Musume single hit number one until " Aruiteru " (released late 2006). This single
6966-423: Was released in early 2000, reaching number two and selling over a million copies—400,000 away from reaching "Love Machine"'s success. The single had the highest 1st week sales than any other Morning Musume's singles, an enormous amount of 600,860 copies. Even with this large number, the single did not reach number one because Southern All Stars 's biggest hit single, Tsunami , which sold total of 2.93 million copies,
7052-455: Was released. It was a 9-CD set containing their first eight singles with a bonus track on each one, as well as a karaoke CD of some of their more popular tunes from the early years. Finally, at the end of 2004, the group's yearly album was released. Their sixth studio album, named Ai no Dai 6 Kan , hit stores in December. It contained three singles: " Roman: My Dear Boy ", " Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari ", and " Namida ga Tomaranai Hōkago ". This
7138-471: Was released. This single finally broke the line of number one hits and came in at number three—a surprising fact to many, considering it was Maki Goto's last single. Morning Musume's fourth studio album, 4th Ikimasshoi! was released in March 2002 after a two-year wait. It is the first studio album from the group to reach number one on Oricon . It featured the singles " Renai Revolution 21 ", (rerecorded with
7224-402: Was split into two subgroups so that it could tour more cities (especially smaller cities that could not support a 15-member troupe). Morning Musume Sakuragumi , which focused on slower and more traditional love songs, included Natsumi Abe, Mari Yaguchi, Hitomi Yoshizawa, Ai Kago, Ai Takahashi, Risa Niigaki, Asami Konno and Eri Kamei. Morning Musume Otomegumi , which had more upbeat pop songs with
7310-518: Was the last for Kei Yasuda. Before the auditions for the sixth generation were held, the group released the album No. 5 . It was unique in a few ways. It was the last studio album to feature Kei Yasuda and Natsumi Abe as full members of the group. It was also the first Morning Musume studio album to feature a former member, as Maki Goto guests on "Megami (Mousse na Yasashisa)" and "Ganbacchae!". It only featured two singles: " Do It! Now " and " Koko ni Iruzee! ". In mid-2003, four new girls were added as
7396-449: Was to battle for the highest single sales. This was achieved by Akagumi 4 which boasted Maki Goto as the lead vocals. In March, their third studio album, 3rd: Love Paradise was released. Despite having " Love Machine " and " Koi no Dance Site " on its track list, it did not manage to claim the number one spot, but did sell more than 800,000 copies, making it Morning Musume's highest-selling studio album to date. This year also brought
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