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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, April 29, 2014

SMAP -- $10


Well, I took this shot of a baby-faced SMAP from the ancient pages of Myojo recently, so I decided to see if I could dig up an appropriately "young" song from the boys' discography. And by the way, that is indeed former member Katsuyuki Mori （森且行）at the upper-left there who had his time with the group from 1988 to 1996.


At the time I saw SMAP perform "$10" on the 1993 Kohaku Utagassen, I couldn't really tell the various Johnny's Entertainment groups apart beyond the top group of the 1980s, Hikaru Genji. So, I just saw the group as "Unknown Johnny's Group" singing about currency. Obviously, things got a whole lot better for Nakai-kun, KimuTaku and the rest of the unit since then. As it was though, I was able to remember the refrain from "$10" as the guys gave the multiple-choice question of prices for love.


"$10" was written and composed as the guys' 10th single (November 1993) by singer-songwriter Kenji Hayashida （林田健司）with Hiromi Mori（森浩美）, who helped out on a lot of SMAP's other tunes, also giving her contributions on the lyrics. It peaked at No. 5 on Oricon and a remix version was included on their 5th album from February 1994, "SMAP 005", which got as high as No. 2.

Check out Hayashida's version of "$10"!
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6 comments:

  1. Marcos V.April 29, 2014 at 10:59 PM

    Hi J-Canuck.

    Interesting SMAP song. I don't know a lot of songs by them before 1996's Aoi Inazuma, which was also composed by Kenji Hayashida, if I'm not mistaken. Well. "$10" features a catchy chorus with some house influences, especially the album remix. I quite liked it, so thanks for the tip. Sometimes I forget SMAP was a relevant J-Pop aidoru group during the 90s. Although their songs are not great, I still enjoy KimuTaku's dramas, even the newer ones.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. J-CanuckApril 30, 2014 at 2:41 PM

      Yep, I came across "Aoi Inazuma" through SMAP's discography on Wikipedia. That's another one that I had forgotten. If you wanna write about that one, give it a go.

      I tried to watch his latest one, "Ando Roid" but kinda gave up after Episode 2. Mariya did a nice job on her husband's original song of "Your Eyes", though.

      Delete
    2. Marcos V.May 1, 2014 at 12:33 PM

      "Aoi Inazuma" is also a good pop song. I posted something about it a couple of minutes ago.

      About "Ando Roid", I downloaded the full show with English subs. I still need to watch it. Based on your opinion the show is not that great, but I will give it a try. I like KimuTaku.

      Delete
  2. Amir ZaimSeptember 12, 2019 at 10:45 AM

    Hi. I'm just found this song when I bought some collection of Japanese blank tapes from Japanese import pawn shop. I managed to upload this song into my soundcloud account here below:

    https://soundcloud.com/amirzaim/smap-10

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    Replies
    1. J-CanuckSeptember 12, 2019 at 11:04 AM

      Hello, Amir.

      You got lucky with those tapes, I see. What do you think of the song?

      Delete
    2. Amir ZaimSeptember 12, 2019 at 1:11 PM

      Really nice beat...amazed with this song!

      Delete

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