The Imo Kin Trio was three tarento: Ryoichi Yamaguchi, Koji Nishiyama, and Kenji Nagae（山口良一・西山浩司・長江健次）as overaged high school boys appearing on the Fuji-TV variety show "Kin-Don! Yoi-ko, Warui-ko, Futsuu no ko" （欽ドン！良い子、悪い子、普通の子...Kin-Don! Good Kid, Bad Kid and Normal Kid). which ran from 1981 to 1983. These "kids" were probably almost or just as popular as the Tanokin Trio, whose name they were parodying, of Masahiko Kondo, Toshihiko Tahara and Yoshio Nomura. The song ended up being the 4th-ranked tune of 1981. Would love to find an original appearance by them on one of the ranking shows just to show the nutso choreography.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Imo Kin Trio -- High School Lullaby
The Imo Kin Trio was three tarento: Ryoichi Yamaguchi, Koji Nishiyama, and Kenji Nagae（山口良一・西山浩司・長江健次）as overaged high school boys appearing on the Fuji-TV variety show "Kin-Don! Yoi-ko, Warui-ko, Futsuu no ko" （欽ドン！良い子、悪い子、普通の子...Kin-Don! Good Kid, Bad Kid and Normal Kid). which ran from 1981 to 1983. These "kids" were probably almost or just as popular as the Tanokin Trio, whose name they were parodying, of Masahiko Kondo, Toshihiko Tahara and Yoshio Nomura. The song ended up being the 4th-ranked tune of 1981. Would love to find an original appearance by them on one of the ranking shows just to show the nutso choreography.
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Hahah. The greatest lyrics of all time: "100% kataomoi, baby I love you so, suki suki baby". No, these guys were not completely serious.
ReplyDeleteYeah, not exactly Grammy-worthy lyrics....perhaps I could've helped them out on them, but then again, it most likely would not have cracked the Top 10 in that case. :)
ReplyDeleteHeh, that choreography amuses me greatly. It's a shame I didn't get to save that one old performance from Youtube before they took it down. Well, nico nico douga still has one of those, but the choreography is not exactly the same as the original.
ReplyDeleteThere's also Teardrop Tanteidan, which is also quite funny. This time they're parodying Pink Lady instead of YMO. :)
Btw, I've been a fan of your blog since I stumbled across it a month ago, but this is my first time commenting. Glad to meet someone from Toronto who's also into New Music and City Pop, as those are my favorite styles from Japanese music. Your post on Yutaka Kimura's "Japanese City Pop" really pushed me to go out and buy the book, so now I'm gradually discovering nice albums thanks to it. Thanks a bunch! Your blog is awesomely informative also.
Hi, nikala and thanks for commenting. Oh yeah, I am very curious as to who taught the guys their dancing 'technique'....kinda reminded me how my Grade 2 class was forced to dance. :)
ReplyDelete"Japanese City Pop" is a godsend, isn't it? After getting it a couple of years ago, I was able to discover...and purchase...a number of discs from Taeko Ohnuki, Junko Ohashi and EPO, plus discover Hitomi Tohyama, Tomoko Aran and Makoto Matsushita. In fact, just for the Xmas crush, I'll probably get Matsushita, Miki Matsubara and maybe another Ohnuki album.
Glad to hear that there is also another fellow City Pop fan in T.O. BTW, where in Toronto are you based? I'm in North York. Also, I'm also interested in finding out which singers you enjoy in New Music/City Pop.
I've been enjoying doing the blog for the past year, but I have to keep up the maintenance since videos get suddenly dropped by the YouTube powers-that-be.
Anyways, hope to hear from you again.
I'm actually from Brampton, though I do come to Toronto for work and to see friends.
ReplyDeleteAs for singers I like, Taeko Ohnuki is definitely one of them. I especially enjoy her early 80's technopop material. My other favorites include Off Course, Akiko Yano, Minako Yoshida, Anzen Chitai, Tatsuro Yamashita, Motoharu Sano, Tulip, Sing Like Talking... The list can go on. I've bought a number of albums from those acts. My musical tastes are quite broad though, since I also enjoy some idols, folk, rock, and new wave.
Junko Ohashi is a recent discovery of mine. I have "Paper Moon" and "Crystal City" on my to-buy list. Any other recommendations?
And keep up the good work! :)
Strangely enough, the single "Paper Moon" by Junko Ohashi is gonna be my next profile.:) I've got "Crystal City"...the title track is great, and "Funky Little Queenie" has Ohashi REALLY screaming out. Not sure if you have Minako Yoshida's 1982 "Light'n Up" but that's a definite recommendation. And Sing Like Talkin' is always wonderful, especially their 1994 album, "Discovery".
ReplyDeleteYup, as you can see from the blog, my Japanese musical tastes are very broad as well....anyone from Taeko Ohnuki to Morning Musume! As for Ohnuki, my personal favourite is her album "Cliche"(1982).
Let's keep in contact!
Look at what I found! An original performance video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jlk4zU6mt3E
ReplyDeleteI'll never get tired of watching this.
P.S. The spacing of the first line was not intentional.
DeleteHi, nikala!
ReplyDeleteThanks for finding the video of the boys doing what has to be one of the gutsiest and nutsiest pieces of choreography (performance art?) ever shown on Japanese TV. Yes, I think the year-end parties in 1981 were probably chock-filled with Imo Kin Trio wannabes!
It's Kenji Nagae.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I've made the correction above.
Delete