Pink Lady -- Pepper Keibu (ペッパー・警部)

"UFO" may have been the song to launch Pink Lady into space, but they debuted a year earlier with a tune that is also firmly part of the duo's legacy. The title had me scratching my head for years, but I finally did my due diligence and dug for the answers. According to the J-Wiki writeup, once again legendary lyricist Yu Aku （阿久悠）was behind Pink Lady's very first tune with Shunichi Tokura（都倉俊一）as composer, though reportedly he hadn't been too confident in the ladies at first. It had been thought that "Pepper Keibu"(Inspector Pepper) was Aku's commentary on the Lockheed Scandal which had brought down Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka(?!) in the same year of the song's release, although when I took a look at the lyrics, my impression was that it was about a cop's somewhat overzealous interest in the girls. 

Instead, J-Wiki reports that the title may have been influenced from a number of sources: Inspector Clouseau of the "Pink Panther" series, the cola Dr. Pepper which was gaining popularity in Japan, a 1950s kayo kyoku by singer Shiro Sone（曽根史朗） titled "Wakai Omawari-san"(若いお巡りさん....Young Patrol Cop), and even The Beatles' "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts' Club Band". The report said that "it had been analyzed that...." which hints that it's not the final word on the origin. For me, I'd wondered if Aku had just watched episodes of that old 70s NBC cop show "Policewoman" which starred Angie Dickinson as Detective Pepper Anderson. Seems as good a theory as any.

In any case, after its release in August 1976, "Pepper Keibu" finally cracked the Top 20 on November 29 1976 where it eventually peaked at No. 4. It would end up being the 14th-ranked song of 1977. It was also included in the January 1977 album of the same title.

This is a shortened performance of the song by Pink Lady. There were some criticisms against them due to the height of their skirts....man, those were innocent times.

And as a bit of a bonus for you folks, I've got a medley between the two titans of girl groups, Pink Lady and The Candies on a 1977 episode of Yoru no Hit Deluxe where Mie and Kei once again perform their debut. Enjoy it while you can since the video can be deleted any time.