I really love my new job (teaching at the Elementary Schools in Watari) but there is one snag to the whole gig. My commute takes me by several geeky venues at which I am sorely tempted daily to pick some geeky items.
Case in point, this 1986 DorMei Godzilla figure purchased at Second Street, a second-hand store. Awesome looking though slightly off-model.
Speaking of Godzilla, I saw this poster in the window of 7-11 suggesting you buy advanced tickets. The bad news is that the Mecha-Godzilla mentioned at the bottom of the poster is no longer available to win.
Across the street is the incomparable Mandai. I was there when I first started the job in April and managed to depart without buying a thing. During my last trip, I was not so fortunate.
3 mini-discs of Pink Lady, a disco duet from the 80s. Click that link and you'll understand my obsession.
Two Dynamic Game Blocks of Go Nagai's characters. Though I'd heard of シスタージル Sister Jiru, I've never seen ゴール Goal before. If I can find the others as cheaply as 150￥, I plan to get the rest.
A couple of Dark Knight Bearbricks. The Catwoman was twice as expensive as the Batman.
A couple of packages of loot, one of some Ultraman figures et al. and one of Attack on Titan stuff. I'll open those later.
And the best for last, two cars from Wacky Races; the Japanese version is called チキチキマシン猛レース (Chiki-Chiki Machine Fierce Race). I got the best two of these probable Gacha-capsule cars, #1 is the Boulder Mobile driven by the Slag Brothers and #2, the Creepy Coupe driven by the Gruesome Twosome.
Now that I know these exist, I have to track down the others!
I haven't spoken of Pink Lady in a while, most memorably here,
Unfortunately some of the links are now defunct so after hearing the latest news, I decided it's time to revisit them. Unfortunately, I'm unable to embed the clip, so if you're interested learn all about their reunion here.
They plan to tour together for the first time (since their last reunion 5 years ago) but I encourage you to check them out, they look pretty good for a couple of gals who are my age! You can find out a little bit more info if you visit their respective websites at Mie or at Kei.
Watch this to see their UFO invasion from '84.
Before that, they got together with their junior rivals, Morning Musume. These gals can bust a move!
I'd be remiss if I didn't revisit their American debut show entitled "Pink Lady & Jeff" which has been heralded as one of the all-time worst shows. I have to give them some credit for they were completely over their heads in this one, with mistranslated instructions, wacky sketches and not to mention that Disco was fading by then.
Here's a quickie promo by NBC. How could it miss?
Here's another treat for you, Boogie Wonderland!
I just discovered that they were so popular upon return to Japan that they featured in an anime, 魔法の天使クリミマミ (Mahō no Tenshi Kurīmī Mami or Creamy Mami, the Magic Angel).
Even more fascinating is that they inherited their own rival-clone, Pink Lady X!
Ahh, pretty crappy, I'll leave you with their American top 40 hit at #37 with Kiss In The Dark with Leif Garrett butchering Japanese at the end!
A while ago, I made reference to Pink Lady so I'll now focus on another J-pop group of the 70's, Candies or as they're known in Japanese, キャンディーズ!
ラン/Ran (伊藤蘭), スー/Sue (田中好子) & ミキ/Miki(藤村美) were their stage names and they entertained from '72-'78 where they released a whole whack of EPs and LPs.
Personally, I don't particularly like their music all that much, but it is a nice flashback to a simpler time of disco tunes, cheesy synch steps and a trio of foxes who would parade around in skimpy outfits.
I don't have the entire collection of their Premiums that came with a drink from 7-11 a few years back (unlike this uber-fan), but here is what I've got for you with a few YouTubes thrown in for good measure. (Forgive me if their outfits don't match up to the videos but they do match up to the tunes.)
To end with, this is a video of Pink Lady vs Candies in honour of the Olympics. Who do you feel comes away with the Gold?
Today is 雛祭り (Hina Matsuri or the Doll Festival) and in honour of that, the Cartoon Network is showing back-to-back episodes of PowerPuff Girls and PowerPuff Girls Z. So far all of the episodes have featured Sedusa for some reason! If anyone embodies Girl's Day, it's her!
Yet in my humble opinion, no one better enCAPSulates the holiday than these living dolls, Pink Lady. ピンク・レディー were a Japanese female pop music duo of the late 1970s and early 1980s, featuring 根本美鶴代 (Mitsuyo Nemoto or "Mie") and 増田恵子 (Keiko Masuda or "Kei"). (This picture is from their Greatest Hits album, the only one I own so far.)
There's a terrific site from uber-fan Jeff that is worth checking out. Now this Jeff is different from THIS Jeff who co-starred with the gals in a short-lived and universally panned Variety show called Pink Lady & Jeff back in 1980. True gluttons for punishment can even buy the series! (Mie is on the left, Kei on the right.)
I don't have a bottle cap for the above Boogie Wonderland from the Pink Lady show, but I do have caps for the following hits:
#1 ペッパー軽侮 Pepper Keibu '79. I got these caps a few years back when I lived in Soma. This was their first big hit. (Best bit: Telling me "I love you!"...Your magazine rifle...Is killing me...Ah, ah! No chance to win)
#2 S.O.S. '76. (Chorus: S.O.S.! S.O.S.!...Listen, listen, somebody is calling for help...Today again somebody...A lady is in a pinch!)
#3 カルメン Carmen '77. (Best verse: Yes, I am Carmen!...Ah-, look like sexy, but not much!...Women are the species to...Change suddenly!...Next time...I'm surely gonna make you shake)
#4 渚のシンドバッド Nagisa no Sindbad '77. Notice the white bottom to this cap? It includes a soundbite from the song. These came as special rarity editions, I only got two of them. (Funny line: "I'll sneak in your room at dawn"...Hey, boy! You're going too far!)
#5 ウォンテド Wanted '77. Another soundbite edition plus the regular one. (Lovely S&M lyrics: If I find the son of a bitch...
It won't be a joke next time...I'll hold you in my arms...and torture you with my kisses!)
#6 UFO '77. Top seller. (First verse: Simply by putting hands together...and staring at each other...We can love and talk...Sweeter than kisses...Harder than whispers...You shake my heart)
#7 サウスポー Southpaw '78. I love the direct pronunciation: "Sa-oo-su-poa" (Cool opening line: Super player with...uniform No.1 is at bat...Lightly raising a leg...like a flamingo)
#8 モンスター Monster '78. This one is pretty scary. (Last verse: Monster! Ah...you are too gentle...Monster! You've gotten hurt too much, haven't you?...Monster! Lovely my baby...Monster! Have a sweet dream...Monster has come...Monster has come!)
#9 透明人間 Tomei Ningen '78. This similarly spooky song is about the Invisible Man! (Shock....Shock....Ah....shock!
Shock!)
#10 カメレオンアーミー Chameleon Army '78. Click on any of the above links to hear the songs! (Last few lines: They're almost here! Chameleon!...Coming out, hiding, very changeable...covered with sequins, Chameleon Army!)
Let's end with the gals sailing through "In the Navy"!
