Credits

I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Oricon Single Rankings for July 1980

1. Dancing All Night    Monta & Brothers
2. Aishuu Date          Toshihiko Tahara
3. Subaru                 Shinji Tanimura
4. Tonight                 The Chanels
5. Koi no Tsunawatari Akiko Nakamura
6. Ride On Time         Tatsuro Yamashita
7. Rock N' Roll Widow  Momoe Yamaguchi
8. Wakaretemo,          Los Indios & Sylvia
     Suki na Hito
9. Minamikai Kisen      Takao Horiuchi & Tomohiro Taki
10. Yes-No                Off-Course

"Dancing All Night"ダンシング・オール・ナイト)ended up being the top-rated song for the entire year...not bad for a debut single. Meanwhile, the singers for the No. 3 and No. 9 slots, Tanimura and Horiuchi, were the duo Alice in the 1970s. Shinji Tanimura's(谷村新司) "Subaru"()is a perennial karaoke favourite sung like an anthem or a Japanese version of "My Way", by Frank Sinatra.

As for The Chanels, they were a retro-doo-wop group which reflected the inexplicable love for 50s kitsch fashion back in those years. Several of the members, including lead singer Masayuki Suzuki(鈴木雅之), wore blackface during their performances (please do not kill me, NAACP). In another inexplicable move, the group changed their name into the "roll-off-the-tongue"Rats & Star. Still, they had a lot of catchy numbers, and Suzuki later went solo to become a fine soul singer.



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