Earlier this month, I was doing my usual maintenance through the entries under the year 1980 and discovered that the YouTube video for obscure sister duo Bal Balloon's（バル・バルーン）1980 "Stardust Serenade"（スターダスト・セレナーデ）had been taken down. Quite disappointing especially since it was a pretty decent City Pop tune, although I was able to find an excerpt of it on Apple.
I also mentioned in that article that Rika Matsuda（松田りか）and Mami Matsuda（松田マミ）had once started their career in the early 1970s under the name Chewing Gum（チューインガム）. They were much more into the folk music back then, and here is their 2nd single from October 1972, "Okada-san no Tegami" (Okada-san's Letter). Ahh...that oboe. Anyways, Mami was the lyricist and Rika was the composer as this bittersweet song talks of the usual tearful splitting of a friendship or romance between the titular Okada-san and the significant other as the former's family is on the verge of moving away to another town.
The name change didn't stop with Chewing Gum going to Bal Balloon. Bal Balloon had its day between 1980 and 1982 before it then underwent another change to Lucky Lips（ラッキーリップス）and then back to Chewing Gum in 1983. But wait there's MORE! No, what I mean is that the Matsuda sisters took on the name MORE in 1985. The fans probably demanded year-by-year updates.
Wow, "Rika Matsuda (older sister. She was in junior high school when she debuted), Mami Matsuda (younger sister, same elementary school 5th grade)." They had talent rather early in life at 12 and 13 years of age!
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