Judy and Mary -- Kujira Juu-Ni Gou （くじら12号）

As strange as it may sound, I get rather nostalgic whenever I hear Judy & Mary. It's hard to believe that a band with the spirited and spritely YUKI which just seemed to have permanent residency on the charts broke up well over a decade ago. One example of a song that stayed on Oricon for a good long while is "Kujira Juu-Ni Gou" (Whale No. 12) from February 1997. It looked like every time I watched "Countdown TV" on TBS early on Sunday mornings, that particular J&M song was always there.

Written  by Tack and Yukky and composed by Judy & Mary guitarist Takuya, the band's 11th single had a video that I wished were still up there on YouTube (there actually is one but the sound has been muted); watching J&M videos are also a source of nostalgia for me as well. I always saw Judy & Mary as being this quirky outfit so the title "Kujira Juu-Ni Gou" didn't particularly faze me initially, but now that I've re-discovered it, I have been curious.

According to the J-Wiki article on "Kujira Juu-Ni Go", the band was apparently using an analogy of whale watching all the way up in the cold seas around Hokkaido (although the area isn't mentioned specifically) for cheering on a soccer team. Supposedly Uniform No. 12 refers to the supporters of a J-League team, although the very footnote for this statement lays it out that this was never the original intention for the No. 12.

Whatever the explanation for the lyrics and title, the song was another hit for Judy & Mary, hitting as high as No. 5 on Oricon, and eventually becoming the 72nd-ranked song for 1997. It also became a track on the band's 4th album, "The Power Source" which came out in March of that year, hit No. 1 and was the 4th-most successful album.