Don't know why my mind works this way, but what with all the tsunami video I've been watching today I thought of this.
Hope you're planning a better weekend than they're having in Sendai Prefecture. But speaking of Japan, here's Mei and Kei of ピンク・レディー ("Pink Lady") reprising their 1976 hit "Pepper Keibu":Not sure whether it's cute or creepy that this cover is from 2004 when the former pop-tarts were in the forties. But they can still play that funky music. I'm looking for my platform shoes and disco bell-bottoms.
Wel, IMHO the '04 cover is a bit creepy, but perhaps they're deep into the cougar thing in Japan, too (?)
ReplyDeleteApropos of nothing, a friend suggested I view a You Tube online to understand what Zumba is (his wife does it, and his def.: "What white women do standing up that they do not do whilst lying down.") I was fascinated, and one class had a Japanese women doing a very polite version of the jungle stomp. Your vid reminds me of how differently every culture defines hot (or "cool").
The Pink Ladies have a very Soviet feel; they are working very hard to appear louche, ISTM.
They really are middle-of-the-road aidoru, "idol singers"; these goofy manufactured pop-tarts have been a staple of the Japanese entertainment industry since at least the Seventies. Here's the Wiki entry: "It is commonly said female Japanese idols represent the perfect female form in Japanese society. They are symbols of female sexuality and are often dressed erotically. For this reason they are often idolized by both males and females. Male audiences' infatuations with an idol's good looks are fed with detailed information about the idol's measurements, favorite colors, food, hobbies, blood type, etc. Female audiences are interested in imitating their style, hair color, fashion, etc."
ReplyDeleteSo this appears to be an attempt by an Eighties pop phenom to recreate their initial teenage appeal; to us it does give out a strange cougar-y vibe (tho in their forties Rei and Mie are hardly "cougars" to me - more like "age-appropriate stalking opportunities" if you go for that sort of thing. And the robodancing was also very Eighties Japanopop; sort of disco to a higher power.
But very odd withal, indeed.
Thank you for the explanation of aidoru. They looked perfectly nice, just a bit rigid.
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