Today, I stumbled across an interesting YouTube video that I want to share. It's a list of the Top 100 music artists (singers + groups) ranked by number of records sold from 1968 through 2015. Here's the ranking plus video:
Ranking
https://note.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/detail/detail.php?note_id=377452&print_flag=1
Video:
(Sorry but the video has been taken down.)
If you just want to jump to the top 20, start from here: https://youtu.be/d9AUUMgtnLs?t=30m17s
Of course, it includes things I expect and things I don't expect.
1. I thought AKB48 would make top 10, but they don't.
2. I also thought Exile would make top 10 but they don't either.
3. ZARD makes top 10. That's a surprise to me. Maybe I I'm a little bit ignorant how famous she was in Japan. I like her and her songs personally.
4. Of the top 100 artists, only 4 are enka singers: Mori Shinichi (森進一), Itsuki Hiroshi (五木ひろし), Noguchi Gorou (野口五郎) and Yashiro Aki (八代亜紀). Perhaps, going back all the way to 1968 is not enough to boost the ranking of enka singers :)
5. Moritaka Chisato (森高千里) is in top 100. That's a bit surprising. Again forgive my ignorance.
6. Hirai Ken (平井堅) ranks 52, one place ahead of Koda Kazumasa (小田和正). This is also surprising.
7. Nakayama Miho (中山美穂), Kuraki Mai (倉木麻衣) and Kudou Shizuka (工藤静香) rank 34, 40 and 46 respectively. Again, pardon my ignorance. Are they that dominant during their peak career? Also, Kahara Tomomi (華原朋美) in top 100 is also surprising because I don't think she's that dominant.
8. Also surprising is Checkers (チェッカーズ) in 44th place. I heard of their dominance for one year when I was in Hong Kong. You have to be dominant for at least 5-10 years, I think, to be in top 50.
9. Neither Anzen Chitai (安全地帯) nor Tamaki Kouji (玉置浩二) makes top 100, and that's a little bit surprising. Again, it's probably due to my ignorance. Anzen Chitai may be a bit more underground in Japan than I first thought. They're definitely very very famous among Hong Kong people.
10. First place B'z (81.52 million) outsold 2nd place Mr. Children (58.44 million) by more than 23 million records! I don't think anyone would break B'z record in the near future.
Given the state of the music industry, and that the world's moving from physical to digital, I wonder if this ranking is going to change much in the next 10 years.
Enjoy! This definitely broadens my knowledge of Japanese music as well as Japan's music scene.
Hi, Larry.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much for this list. I certainly hope the video stays up.
I actually just jumped ahead to the Top 20 and to be honest, I wasn't particularly surprised by any of those placements although I was quite happy to see veteran Yuming in the Top 10. I'm pretty sure that AKB48 will crack the Top 10 in the next few years since they are at No. 11.
Although I'm also surprised that Anzen Chitai didn't even crack the Top 100, perhaps it might have been the case that the band was only a huge pop force in the 1980s in Japan whereas some of the Top 10 artists managed to have a number of huge hits in multiple decades...which would explain B'z at the top of the list.
AKB48 may crack that, but I think with so many departures, I feel like they're on a downward slope.
DeleteI'm also that Yuming is in top 10. She's one of the best known singer song writer and it'll be sad without her. I'm also glad to see Nakajima Miyuki ranking high on the list.
One of the new names that I learned from this video, and left an impression on my mind, was TUBE. I never heard of them before I watched it.
Hi there, J-Canuck and Larry.
ReplyDeleteWa-hey, I watched this very video not too long ago. I found it fun to sit through the entire length of it in hopes of seeing if any of my favourites were next - pop favourites, not so much of enka.
I wasn't really surprised that there were only 4/5 enka singers on the list - enka's decline came when aidoru and folk became prominent in the 70's after all. Itsuki, Mori, and Yashiro were expected as they pretty much represent modern enka. No Sayuri Ishikawa, though. Goro Noguchi and Rumiko Koyanagi (I don't know if she's considered enka) were a surprise. Perhaps its because they were promoted like aidorus, especially Noguchi.
Speaking of aidorus, there were A LOT of them here, I realise, even those whom I thought weren't that popular, like Miho Nakayama and VA. And groups like TRF actually managed to make it on the list. Dance music must've been/must be really popular.
As for Anzen Chitai and Tamaki, having watched many of these ranking videos, them not being able to crack the Top 100 didn't really surprise me either. They didn't seem to have many major hits, and as J-Canuck mentioned, they were only popular in the 80's (mid 80's). But yeah, they still seem to be huge in Hong Kong. I always read of Tamaki holding concerts there... They need to come back to Singapore again. :/
Noelle,
DeleteYeah, when I saw the video, the first reaction was to just sit through it and see whether singers and groups I know would come up.
Tamaki has personally said that he loved Hong Kong. That many Hong Kongers like him probably plays a part too.
Hi, Noelle.
ReplyDeleteI did catch No. 100 which was Koyanagi. I figured that some of her hits from the early 1970s must have really sold well. The Komuro Boom during the 1990s really pushed the dance-pop scene with folks like TRF, Namie Amuro and MAX.
B'z is an Oricon beast! Even if they come as far as Toronto, I'm fairly confident that they could sell out a concert hall of fair size since we've got a large Asian population here.