The J-Pop group ドリームズ・カム・トゥルー/Dreams Come True is probably one of most successful Japanese pop bands to have come out in the late 80s early 90s. With a staggering 43 オリコン Top Ten Single Hits to their name (11 of which reached #1 ) and record sales in the millions, they are certainly a fan favorite among many particularly females. Their annual "WONDERLAND" concert performances would consistently play to sold-out and packed arenas. Despite their record label troubles, one of their strengths has always been the accessibility of their music which would appeal to a wide and diverse range of audience from pre-teens, to 30-40 somethings, to even older generations. Their impact on the Japanese music scene can even be felt now as they have influenced a number of current artists such as the similarly structured いきものがかり.
Affectionately called "ドリカム" or simply just "DCT", the group consisted of 吉田美和/Yoshida Miwa (Vocals), a tiny Hokkaido country girl with an infectious big smile and whose incredible vocal range and Gospel-inspired singing style would clearly set her apart from other Japanese singers of the time and make her one of Japan's leading vocal talents for many years to come; Lanky 中村正人/Nakamura Masato (Base), who despite his somewhat goofy appearance and amusing base playing style, is the creative force behind DCT and who would co-write most of the group's biggest hits; and 西川隆宏/Nishikawa Takahiro (Keyboard) whose model good looks and signature punk styled colored hair would win the hearts of many adoring female fans but whose troubled past and inner demons would eventually cost him his fame and estrangement from the group.
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| "The Voice" - Yoshida Miwa - Image Courtesy of http://albertayu773.pixnet.net/blog/ |
Miwa was born in Hokkaido, Nakagawa Prefecture in a small town called Ikeda. She went to the local elementary and Junior High School there where she formed her first band in Middle School. She was considered an exceptional student and her talents were very much noticed even at a young age (she wrote most of the songs for her band). In high school she would meet and become fast friends with Nishikawa who was from a town called Otobuke in Tokachi Prefecture who also shared a strong love for music. Nishikawa was quite popular in school (especially with the girls whom gave him the pet name of "Nihya").
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| "The Odd Man Out" - Nishikawa Takahiro - Image courtesy of http://www.fujitv.co.jp |
Miwa would met up with a kindred spirit in Nakamura Masato. Originally born in Tokyo, Masa's father was often transferred to various part of Japan due to work so he spent most of his youth living in different parts of Japan like Osaka, Kanagawa and Ichikawa finally settling in Chiba for high school. Having a keen interest in music, he would form a couple of bands including a folksong/rock band and a R&B music band in high school. After spending a year studying English Literature at Aoyama University, Masa left school to pursue his musical ambitions full time.
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| "DCT's Hit Maker" - Nakamura Masato - Image courtesy of http://blog.oricon.co.jp |
Miwa and Masa first met each other when they were both hired as backup performers for the comedy-group-turned-singers the Tunnels when they began their musical tour in Japan (1985-1988). Miwa and Masa shared a similar love for American and British music especially R&B, Disco, Funk and Soul/Gospel music. Miwa would often share her original songs with Masa and get input from him. Sharing the same dream, they decided to form their own band and in 1988 debuted as チャチャ・アンド・オードリーズ・プロジェクト/CHA-CHA & AUDREY's Project. It was a short-lived band that failed to grab any wide attention. Undeterred, Miwa vowed that they would "make their dreams come true" and thus called out to her high school friend Nishikawa and together with Masa regrouped as "Dreams Come True" and released their first single "Anana Ni Aitakute" (3/21/89) from their self-titled debut album. The 『DREAMS COME TRUE』 album was a moderate hit reaching No. 27 on the Oricon Album charts for that month. It would not be until later that year with the release of their second album, 『LOVE GOES ON…』 that they would finally hit success selling a million records and which would go on to reach No. 8 on the Oricon record charts for the month of November. Produced by world-renowned Grammy-winning producer Mike Pela, who had worked with a number or British artists including Boy George, Fine Young Cannibals, Everything But The Girl, Tom Robinson, The Style Council, Gang of Four, Maxwell and Sade among others). While it only produced two singles -「うれしはずかし朝帰り」/"Ureshi Hazukashi Asagaeri" (a song Miwa shared with Masa when they first met up) and 「LAT.43°N 〜forty-three degrees north latitude〜」/"LAT 42 N - Forty Three Degrees North Latitude" the album showcased Miwa's absolutely stirring vocal talents and Masa's catchy pop rhythms and infectious R&B funk compositions.
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| The Dream Begins - DCT's first album "Dreams Come True" - Image courtesy of http://www.suruga-ya.jp. |
DTC's 4th album 『MILLION KISSES』 (released 11/15/1991) was so titled as a thank you to their fans for their overwhelming support of their last couple albums and was yet another No. 1 Oricon Album Chart topper earning over 2 million in sales. The album was selected as album of the year in the 34th "Nihon Record Taisho". The two Top Ten Oricon singles from this album were the melancholy pop tune 「忘れないで 」/"Wasurenaide" (No. 5 Oricon) and the bright and chirpy 「Eyes To Me」 (No. 1 Oricon). "Eyes To Me" was said to have been inspired by Barry White's "Can't Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe" and was used as Fuji Film's Super HG400 campaign song. This song was also selected and sung by them in their first appearance at the 42nd NHK Kohaku Utagasen for 1991 (they would consistently appear in every Kohaku thereafter).
Their next album 『The Swinging Star』 (released 11/14/1992) would be their biggest seller up until that point, generating over 3 million in sales (a first in Japanese Music CD sales History) and would produce a number or Top Ten singles including the funky 「決戦は金曜日」/"Kessen Wa Kinyobi" (inspired by Cheryl Lynn's "Got To Be Real") and the giddy and sweet 「晴れたらいいね」/"Harettara Ie Ne" (which was selected to be the theme song to NHK's 1992 Morning Drama program 『ひらり』) both of which reached No. 1 on the Oricon charts.
After two more No. 1 Oricon albums 1993's 『MAGIC』 and 1995's 『DELICIOUS』, Miwa would release a solo album in 1995 called 『beauty and harmony』 in 1995. Miwa would collaborate with a number of top musicians and producers on the album including Jazz musician Micheal Brecker and David T. Walker (who worked with Stevie Wonder and the Jackson Five, Diana Ross and Carole King among others), doing studio work on both coasts (in New York and Los Angeles). Miwa would also team up with frequent DCT backup vocalist 浦嶋りんこ/Arashima Rinko to form the soulful duo of FUNK THE PEANUTS (a tongue-in-cheek name play on the 60-70s duo ザ・ピーナッツ/The Peanuts).
Masa was also busy with his own side projects as well including doing some movie and CM soundtrack work as well as composing the music for the first two installments of the SEGA game series "Sonic The Hedgehog".
Their next album, 1996's 『LOVE UNLIMITED∞』 (released 4/1/1996) would mark a turning point for DTC. Not only did they slowly shift away from their pop influenced earlier song towards a more mature R&B sound but they would part ways with longtime producer Pena and their record label and distributor Epic/Sony signing on with rival Virgin - Toshiba/EMI. "Love Unlimited" would produce perhaps one of their greatest hit singles, the epic love song 「Love Love Love」. "Love Love Love" would not only be another million selling No. 1 Oricon song for them but would also become one of the all-time beloved romantic songs in Japan, often played during Valentine's Day.
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| Nishikawa, Miwa and Masa - Cover for the single "Love Love Love"- Image courtesy of http://www.from68.com |
Wikipedia mentions that part of the reason DCT left Epic/Sony was due to Toshiba/EMI's promise to help DCT make headway into foreign markets primarily the U.S. J-Pop was just starting to make its way to finding audiences outside of Japan but was still primarily only being embraced by Anime enthusiasts, ex-pats and other Japanophiles. While some Japanese artists had found limited success in the U.S. (Shonen Knife, Sakamoto Kyu, Pizzacato Five, Pink Lady, Loudness, Matsuda Seiko) it was hoped that DCT's would break open the music barrier. To this end Producers Youssou N'Dour and SIKISHA were brought in to help DCT produce an album that would appeal to foreign audiences. Picking up from their R&B flavored "Love Unlimited", 『SING OR DIE』 (released 11/15/1997 in Japan; 7/16/1998 in foreign markets) was a bit of a shock as the songs featured in this album sounded less like DCT and more like any number of generic Hip Hop and R&B groups of the time (the title was a humorous jab at former label Sony/Epic and their somewhat tenuous relationship with them). Despite these changes, the Japanese version would still manage to top the Oricon album charts for November and produce three Top Ten Oricon singles - 「そうだよ」/"Sodayo" (No. 4 Oricon), 「Peace 」 (No. 8 Oricon) and 「Marry Me」 (No. 8 Oricon). The "World Wide" Version (which featured Miwa singing English versions of all the songs featured in the Japanese version) would fare worse, generating little worthy buzz and failing to make any impression in the US Billboard Charts.
More problems would surface when Nishikawa would be involved in a serious car accident in mid 1996 right as DCT was to go on a National Tour. Nishikawa's private life troubles would continue to be a distraction for DCT for the next couple of years. Nishikawa continually feeling as if the "odd man out" ultimately announced his leaving DCT on March 24, 2002. After leaving DCT Nishikawa would do some work as a club DJ and would also team-up with his older brother to form the musical duo "Nishikawa Brothers". Nishikawa's life however would turn for the worse again as during a domestic argument with his sister-in-law, he would be arrested for domestic abuse/assault. During a routine drug check while being processed it was discovered that he tested for narcotics and was charged with drug possession/drug use. He would have received a one year prison sentence but was instead issued a suspended sentence and a three year probation.
Returning to his hometown in Hokkaido, he again tried to find work as a DJ working in local area clubs. In 2006, Nishikawa's drug abuse would get him in trouble again when he was arrested for drug possession while staying at a Shinjuku hotel. He would be sentenced to one year and six months in prison.
Nishikawa would serve out his sentence and would quietly go back to work as a DJ eventually opening up a club called "Reboot" in Sapporo where he is still manager to this day.
With the lackluster performance of their albums 『the Monster』 (1999) and 『Monkey Girl Odyssey』 (2001) and tiring of the fights for creative control with Toshiba/EMI, DCT would leave the label in 2002 to create their own independent label ディシーティレコーズ/"DCT Records" which Masa and his girlfriend would oversee. Joining up with distributor Universal they would return to their classic pop sound of old much to the relief of their legions of fans.
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| And then there were two - Miwa and Masa - Image courtesy of http://www.artinbase.com |
Miwa would also find love and happiness with Video Director 末田健/Sueda Takeshi, whom DCT worked with on many of their PVs. Nine years Miwa's junior and married to another woman at the time, Sueda would eventually divorce his wife to marry Miwa in an informal ceremony in 2004 (the marriage was not officially registered).
Yet, tragedy would strike as Sueda would pass away only three years into their marriage in 2007 from cancer. Miwa would release a loving tribute song "And I Love You" and accompanying album in tribute to Sueda in 12/12/2007.
In 2012, Miwa would find happiness again when she announced in March her marriage to fellow musician 鎌田樹音, lead singer of FUZZY CONTROL a man nearly 20 years her junior.
DCT has released a number of "Best of Albums" over the years including 『BEST OF DREAMS COME TRUE』 (1997), 『DREAMAGE-DREAMS COME TRUE “LOVE BALLAD COLLECTION』 (2003), 『DREAMAGE-DREAMS COME TRUE “LOVE BALLAD COLLECTION』 (2004) and 『DO YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE?/DREAMS COME TRUE GREATEST HITS "THE SOUL 2』 (2009) but my favorite is 『DREAMS COME TRUE GREATEST HITS "THE SOUL"』 which has most of their major hits and a few other notable songs. Here's the track list:
ディスク：1
1. A theme of the WONDERLAND
2. うれしい!たのしい!大好き!(‘EVERLASTING’ヴァージョン)
3. あの夏の花火
4. 決戦は金曜日(ヴァージョン・オブ“THE DYNAMITES”)
5. 薬指の決心
6. 笑顔の行方(オリジナル・ヴァージョン)
7. あはは
8. 7月7日,晴れ
9. LAT.43°N~forty-three degrees north latitude
10. なんて恋したんだろ
11. Ring!Ring!Ring!(S・H・Hヴァージョン)
12. うれしはずかし朝帰り
13. あなたにサラダ
14. 晴れたらいいね
15. よろこびのうた
16. 朝がまた来る
ディスク：2
1. LOVE LOVE LOVE
2. すき(アルバム・ヴァージョン)
3. 愛してる 愛してた
4. 悲しいKiss
5. 三日月 試聴する
6. WINTER SONG(“雪のクリスマス”ワールドワイド・ヴァージョン)
7. The signs of LOVE(ETERNITY“DELICIOUS”ヴァージョン+)
8. 未来予想図
9. 未来予想図2
10. 星空が映る海
11. サンキュ.
12. 琥珀の月
13. LOVE GOES ON…
14. 眼鏡越しの空
15. 時間旅行
16. HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY
I'm not really a big fan of DCT's later works. Outside of a few songs like the fun 大阪LOVER/"Osaka Lover", the folksy sounding "MERRY-LIFE-GOES-ROUND" and the underrated love song めまい/"Memai" (Giddiness) I think DCT was at their pure best under the influence of Producer Mike Pela. I also miss Nishikawa's synth accompaniment as well as it gave a lot of their earlier songs a very Europop flavor.
J-Canuck has already covered a number of DCT songs such as うれしい！たのしい！大好き! , "Winter Song" , 決戦は金曜日, 笑顔の行方, "Love Love Love" so I'll just cover a few other songs.
「時間旅行」 is one of my favorite of DCT's non-singles. It was the 12th track on their 『WONDER 3』 album. Written and composed by Miwa with arrangements by Masa, it has the classic DCT sound - an upbeat tempo, happy lyrics and Miwa's soaring vocals. I'm not sure why it wasn't released as a single but it definitely should have been. It has been featured a lot in DCT's concerts including this slowed down version of the song which was performed at their "WONDERLAND" concert in 1999.
「あの夏の花火」 is another great DCT song that wasn't released as a single. It was the 2nd track from their tremendously popular and successful 『The Swinging Star』 album and is the perfect Summer song with its lyrics about fireworks and summer love. I especially love Nishikawa's synth accompaniment throughout the song. This clip comes from DCT's "WONDERLAND" concert in 1995 and opens with Miwa momentarily collapsing on stage from exhaustion. Even then, I am amazed at how Miwa is able to maintain her powerful vocals during her live concerts.
「7月7日,晴れ」 was the theme song to the 1996 Toho/Fuji TV romance/drama movie 『7月7日、晴れ』 which also featured two other DCT songs in its soundtrack - 「うれしい!たのしい!大好き」 and 「SUKI (WORLDWIDE VERSION)」. 7月7日,晴れ was originally featured as the 9th track in the 『LOVE UNLIMITED∞』 album. Written and composed by Miwa with arrangements by Masa, the song is another classic DCT love song with very sentimental lyrics and Miwa's soaring vocals.
Dreams Come True has been making music for over two decades now and they definitely show no signs of stopping. At 48, Miwa is still as beautiful and youthful looking as when she first debuted and her impressive vocals have only become even more stronger with age. While the loss of Nishikawa and Pela has certainly altered their sound from the cheery, Europop and Synth-heavy songs of early albums to more mature and soulful sounding songs of later albums, they are still an influential force in Japanese pop music. With loyal legions of fans still buying their records and attending their "Wonderland" concerts, Dreams Come True will continue to enjoy a bright and prosperous future ahead.
Miwa and Masa have definitely proven that "dreams <do> come true".
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| Nishikawa, Miwa and Masa - Dreams Come True 1989 - Image courtesy of http://rustingworld.blogspot.com |
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| Masa and Miwa - Dreams Come True 2009 - Image courtesy of http://music.goo.ne.jp |
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| Masa and Miwa - Dreams Come True 2012 - Image courtesy of http://www.musicman-net.com |
Hey, JTM.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comprehensive article on DCT and for those photos. Hard to believe that Miwa Yoshida is actually a bit older than me with those looks!
I never became a die-hard fan of Dreams Come True, but getting a collection of their hits was a priority for me. However, "Million Kisses" was probably their most solid album. I've got a friend who's also a follower of this blog who makes it an annual (if possible) tradition to catch a DCT concert.