Momoe Yamaguchi

Momoe Yamaguchi (???? Yamaguchi Momoe) is a Japanese pop singer, actress and idol whose career lasted from 1972 to 1980. She was born in Shibuya, Tokyo on January 17, 1959. She is one of the most popular and notable singers in J-pop history with several songs which are frequently covered to this day.

Biography

Momoe was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1959. Near the time she was born she was left in the care of her maternal grandparents, of whom she has said she has many fond memories. At around 4 years old she was returned to her parents and the family then moved to Yokohama. At an early age her father left, and her mother became a single parent to her two daughters, Momoe and her little sister Toshie. The family moved once again to Yokosuka, where they would stay until Momoe rose to stardom. It is the place she considers home, shown in one of her most popular album tracks "I CAME FROM Yokosuka" (I CAME FROM ???) from her 11th album "Momoe Hakusho" (????).

Related Topics:
Tokyo - Japan - 1959 - Yokohama - Yokosuka

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Momoe appeared on the idol talent search television show "A Star is Born" (?????, sut? tanj?) at the age of 13. She sung the children's song "Kaiten Mokuba" (????, meaning "wooden horse"). Though she only came in second place, she still received several deals, and chose a record contract releasing under CBS/Sony.

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Her first single, titled "Toshigoro" (????), coupled with her first movie of the same name, did not fare very well in the charts, peaking at a low 37 on the oricon. It wasn't until her second single "Aoi Kajitsu" (????, which has been translated into either "unripe fruit", "blue fruit" or "green fruit") that she really became popular. That single broke the top 10 and peaked at number 9. Momoe fans and Japanese pop culture historians alike have acredited the sugestive lyrics of the song to its sucess. The chorus goes "You can do what ever you want with me, it's ok if rumors spread that I'm a bad girl" (Japanese: "??????????????????????????????????" anata ga nozumu nara, watashi nani o sarete mo ii wa. ikenai musume da to uwasa sarete mo ii). All of this coming from a 13 year old Momoe.

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This trend carried on in her career for quite a while. One of her biggest hits, and most memorable songs to this day, is her 5th single "Hito natsu no Keiken" (??????, "an experience one summer"), which includes lyrics like "I'll give you the most precious thing a girl has" (???????????????????? Anata ni onna no ko no ichiban taisetsu na mono wo ageru wa) and "Everyone experiences it at least once, The sweet trap of temptation"?(????????????????????, dare demo ichido dake keiken suru no yo/y?waku no amai wana).

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As time went on, Momoe gained more and more control over her career and strayed away from the songs with suggestive lyrics and went for songs more about a woman being strong and ready to support herself. These changes produced some of her most popular and memorable hits, such as "Cosmos" (??, kosumosu, an autumn flower in Japan), "Ii Hi Tabidachi" (??????), and "Sayonara no Muk? Gawa" (????????) all of which are covered frequently to this day. The most popular single she ever released was "Yokosuka STORY" (????????) in 1976, which sold more than 600,000 copies and peaked at number one on the charts.

Related Topics:
Autumn flower - 1976

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With ever growing popularity in the music industry, she had the same result in film. Her second film, "Izu no Odoriko" (?????) based on the Yasunari Kawabata novel, introduced her to Tomokazu Miura. Though Momoe at the time was just 14, and Tomokazu was 22, they hit it off and had great screen chemistry. They starred in a total of 14 of her 17 movies together, one every winter and summer.

Related Topics:
Yasunari Kawabata - Tomokazu Miura

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Near the end of her career Momoe became very sophisticated in her music. Much like the Beatles, who started out without much artistic experimentation, but ended with influential musical production, Momoe's later career posseses many changes which are not typical of pop idols. Because she wanted to make a rock song before she ended her career, "Rock 'n Roll Widow" was brought out, which was included on the concept album Moebius's Game (????????). Her 21st album, "Phoenix Densetsu" (?????), was, in fact, written as a rock opera. Her 12th and 18th albums, "GOLDEN FLIGHT" and "L.A. Blue", which were both recorded overseas (in London and Los Angeles respectively) include heavy influences of the music of the country they were recorded in. And just the overall sound of her later songs and albums have a much more mature and complex sound than her early songs.

Related Topics:
Beatles - Rock - Concept album - London - Los Angeles

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With constant on screen romance between Momoe and Tomokazu Miura, an off screen romance grew. During a trip to Hawaii in early 1979, Tomokazu proposed to Momoe. She accepted, and she also said that she would retire from the entertainment industry to do so. Momoe officially announced their relationship at a concert in October of 1979, and the official announcement about their marriage date and her retirement was made in March of 1980. And after only 8 months after the announcement, she had her farwell concert at the famous Nippon Budokan on October 5th 1980, released her last album "This is my trial" on October 21st 1980, and released her last single "Ichi E" (??) on November 19th 1980.

Related Topics:
1979 - 1980 - Nippon Budokan - October 5th - October 21st - November 19th

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On October 15th 1980, Momoe offically retired from show business, and on November 19th 1980, Momoe and Tomokazu were married. Though rumors have been circulating since her retirement that she would come back, she has kept to being a housewife and mother to 2 sons ever since her retirement.

Related Topics:
October 15th - 1980 - November 19th

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