Madonna -- Vogue

Chika Dance, meet Kaguya Vogue!

It should be a most interesting talk with my anime buddy on the phone tonight when it comes to the latest episode of "Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai"（かぐや様は告らせたい）which is approaching the end of an eventful Season 2. My impression on the show in general has been that it's been hitting me as a mix of "The Big Bang Theory", "Frasier" and "Family Guy", and Episode 9 which I caught on Saturday has especially struck me as that last show with all of the pop cultural references ("Peanuts", for heaven's sake!). In fact, I think even Seth MacFarlane might have gone "Whoa!".

But as I hinted at the top of the article, a lot of fans of the anime had been wondering whether there would be another cute little dance by one of the characters to level up with or even top The Chika Dance that surprised viewers at the end of Episode 3 in Season 1. Well, what it lacked in length (all of 20 seconds) was more than compensated by the main character's stab at voguing just to get that calming ritual to be able to stand up to Miyuki's perceived advances. Heck, there was no coyness in hiding that it was indeed a parody of Madonna's "Vogue" if the viewers caught that image on Kaguya's smartphone (the feather boas opening the sequence sealed the deal). Lady Donna and "Pose" indeed! Certainly, the reactors in the reaction videos were once again delightfully caught off-guard.

Not surprisingly, the space under the music video for Madonna's "Vogue" on YouTube have been liberally peppered since the weekend with comments about the fact that "Kaguya-sama" had sent the writers there. So, once again, I have another Reminiscing of Youth article.

To be more precise, though, it should be a Reminiscing of J-Canuck's 24th Year since that was how old I was when "Vogue" was released in March 1990. Knowing about her since she came up with her early 1980s hits of "Holiday" and "Borderline", Madonna kept on hitting home runs out of the park throughout the rest of the decade, and she did it again at the beginning of the final decade of the 20th century with this song accompanied by a newfangled hand jive.

I was in Gunma, Japan at the time and naively (capital N) tried to incorporate "Dick Tracy", the 1990 film starring Warren Beatty, Al Pacino and Madonna based on the original comic, into my lessons at the junior high schools that I was teaching at. But, really, it was no dice with the students. It was even hard with "Batman" the previous year. "Vogue" did end up on the soundtrack for the movie, which I think is an underrated work considering how much effort was placed into the setting, costumes and makeup, etc., and yep, along with the CD single of the song, I did buy that soundtrack and it's on the shelf behind me. I will have to listen to that one again this week sometime.

"Vogue" hit No. 1 in Canada, America and even Japan, and ended up as the No. 5 song on the US Billboard Hot 100 for the year.

So, what were the Top 3 singles on Oricon for March 1990 when one of Madonna's most famous songs was released?

1. Lindberg -- Ima Sugu Kiss Me

2. Dreams Come True -- Egao no Yukue (bring down the volume for this one)

3. Hiroshi Takano -- Niji no Miyako e

As much as the three chart-toppers for that month enjoyed performing live, nope, they didn't get into the Vogue thing.

Lindberg -- GAMBAranakucha ne（GAMBAらなくちゃね）

I'm kinda surprised that this single by Lindberg has yet to be arranged as some sort of enlivening theme song for an anime such as was the case for "LITTLE WING", which became the ending theme for the not-so-well animated "Brave Witches".

The title says it all. "GAMBAranakucha ne" (Gotta Do Our Best), Lindberg's 19th single from March 1994 has got those inspirational lyrics by vocalist Maki Watase（渡瀬マキ）and rocking beat by drummer Makinori "Cherry" Koyanagi（小柳"cherry"昌法）to spearhead any motley crew to give it their all in some kind of adventure.

The melody does sound familiar to me but didn't quite stay in the mind like some of their other hits such as "Ima Sugu Kiss Me"（今すぐkiss me）or "Believe In Love". Still, this was another No. 1 hit for Lindberg and became the 88th-ranked single for 1994. The song was also present on the band's "LINDBERG VII" which came out in June of that year. It peaked at No. 3.

Lindberg -- LITTLE WING ~ Spirit of Lindberg ~

Enjoyed the final anime session of the year with my friend today and one of the shows we've been watching over the past several weeks has been "Brave Witches" (ブレイブウィッチーズ), the spin-off of one of the more successful franchises in the last number of years, "Strike Witches" (ストライクウィッチーズ). Though the die-hard fans are probably happy with it, the show has been getting a few bombs thrown it for some surprisingly shoddy CG work that even I could pick out. Both my buddy figure that the errors will get fixed when the Blu-Rays get released in a few months.

Anyways, the ending theme for "Brave Witches" has been appropriately cheerful and uplifting. Titled "LITTLE WING ~ Spirit of Lindberg", my friend told me that it was originally by the band of the same name, and sure enough, the ending credits have vocalist Maki Watase（渡瀬マキ）and bassist Tomohisa Kawazoe（川添智久）taking care of lyrics and music respectively.

As I heard the "Brave Witches" version, I was left scratching my head and wondering when I did hear it before. But then my friend played the original version by Lindberg during the anison hour and then my memory clicked in. The arrangement was different but as soon as I heard Watase's clarion bell voice and those guitars, I remembered "LITTLE WING". What also made it difficult was that the song was never released as an official single but was the opening track on the band's 3rd album "LINDBERG III" from April 1990. This original version was used as a campaign song for a gas station commercial.

I have to say that Lindberg's original is much better than the cover for "Brave Witches" which was sung by rotating pairs of the cast. My bias is that I find Watase's vocals so nostalgically appealing and at points, she sounds just like another boomer, CHAKA of the technopop band PSY-S. As for the album "LINDBERG III", it did hit No. 1 on Oricon and was the 11th-ranking album for 1990. It also has the band's big breakthrough single, "Ima Sugu Kiss Me"（今すぐkiss me）.

Lindberg -- Dream On Dakishimete （Dream On 抱きしめて）

(cover version)

Considering my writing record when it comes to the band Lindberg, I guess this will be my annual entry for the band. Nope, I cannot say that I am a die-hard fan of Maki Watase（渡瀬マキ）and her group but I have enjoyed some of their singles when they have come out. My memory was recently jogged when I heard their 4th single again, "Dream On Dakishimete" (Dream On Hold Me).

Coming out in September 1990, I know it mostly for the refrain when Watase yells out the title. It used to pop up a lot when "MTV Japan" did its weekly rankings and it was also one of the many songs used to promote the winter sports gear store, Alpen, back in the early 90s. Written by Fubuki (?) Asano（朝野深雪）and composed by Lindberg guitarist Tatsuya Hirakawa（平川達也）, "Dream On Dakishimete" got as high as No. 2 on Oricon.

It's kinda too bad that there is currently no sign of the actual song or a concert performance online aside from the commercial jingle in the below Aspen series (Lindberg's entry comes in at about 2:00). Always nice to see Watase bopping about.

Lindberg -- Motto Aishi Aimashou （もっと愛しあいましょう）

My image of the band Lindberg has always been back at the turn of the decade between the 80s and 90s as pop punkette Maki Watase （渡瀬マキ）skipped around the stage while screaming "Ima Sugu Kiss Me"（いますぐKiss Me）. That was back in my Gunma days. Returning to Toronto for a few years, I lost contact with the band but then getting back to Japan in late 1994, I eventually got to hear Lindberg again.

Mind you, it was just one song but I got the impression that there was quite a bit of a sea change in the band since those early 90s. "Motto Aishi Aimashou" (Let's Love Each Other More) was released as Lindberg's 23rd single in November 1995, and it sounded more like something I would have heard from folks like Puffy, Jitterin' Jinn or even B.B. Queens. It certainly wasn't rock...more like a cute brand of pop thanks to Watase's heightened vocals with some ska and something more eclectic thrown in. Heck, even the band members resembled more like B.B. Queens with the outfits and the glasses. Maybe it was J-Nerd Pop.

http://music.163.com/#/song?id=771924

It was definitely catchy, though. I almost wanted to hop around like a kangaroo, and I'm sure the kids would've have loved to dance to it at school. Written by the lead vocal herself and composed by Lindberg bassist Tomohisa Kawazoe（川添智久）, the song managed to get as high as No. 5 on Oricon according to its website.

The song got new life a few years back in 2011 when voice actress/singer Iori Nomizu （野水伊織）sang a cover version of "Motto Aishi Aimashou" as the theme song for the anime "Morita-san wa Mukuchi"（森田さんは無口...Miss Morita's Mute）.

Lindberg -- Believe In Love

Another boppy, happy-happy-joy-joy song by the good folks at Lindberg. After getting their big break nearly a year-and-a-half previously with "Ima Sugu Kiss Me" （いますぐKiss Me) as the theme song for a popular Fuji-TV drama, I came across another one of their other hits as the theme for another Fuji-TV program, albeit from a different genre. Written by vocal Maki Watase（渡瀬マキ）and composed by bassist Tomohisa Kawazoe（川添智久）, "Believe In Love" is one of those uptempo "There are plenty of fish in the sea" songs of encouragement. Released in July 1991, it eventually became the 29th-ranked song of the year.

As I mentioned, "Believe In Love" was the final opening theme song for another popular Fuji-TV show, "Yume de Aetara" （夢で逢えたら....A Sweet Nightmare). For a lot of Japanese folks currently my age or even younger, this was the successful "Saturday Night Live" of the country for the few years it was on, as opposed to the failed attempt to actually copy "SNL" on the same channel about a couple of years ago. For those Japanese comedy fans, it may be quite a revelation to see the opening credits of the show and find an almost cherubically young group of comedians who would become some of the most famous entertainers in the country such as the comedic duos of Downtown (jaws may drop on seeing Hitoshi Matsumoto in the early 90s) & Utchan-Nanchan, and impressionist Michiko Shimizu.

The opening credit sequence is probably one of the longest I have ever seen for a variety show and pretty much explains the lyrics to "Believe In Love". Enjoy the ancient fashion!

Lindberg -- Ima Sugu Kiss Me (今すぐkiss me)

As we went from the 80s into the 90s, one of the musical trends in Japan was the band boom. And one of the big bands was Lindberg. Named after the famed aviator Charles Lindbergh (without the 'h' though), guitarist Tatsuya Hirakawa（平川達也）, bassist Tomohisa Kawazoe（川添智久） and drummer Masanori Koyanagi（小柳昌法）were right behind former aidoru-turned-vocal sparkplug Maki Watase（渡せマキ）.

I first came across "Ima Sugu Kiss Me"when I was watching this Fuji-TV Monday night 9 pm drama titled "Sekai de Ichiban Kimi ga Suki"（世界で一番君が好き....I Love You The Most in the World). Now back then, 9 pm on Monday for Fuji-TV was the prime programming slot for the star-powered, super-popular trendy dramas. So, the band had quite the ace in the hole when the song was selected to be the theme for this drama.

Then I came across the music video which in itself has become one of my memories of life in Japan during that time. Seeing the bouncy spiky-haired Watase just bopping along like a stray electron in the popular Harajuku fashion of the time has been seared into my brain. I also love her voice which seems to be that of a prepubescent choir boy just at the point of breaking...try to imagine that voice leading a rock band!

The band's 2nd single, released in February 1990 and composed by guitarist Hirakawa and written by Miyuki Asano（朝野深雪）, hit the top spot and became the 3rd-ranked song of the year.....a big boost for a new band that would continue for 12 years. In 2009, Lindberg got together one more time just to celebrate their 20th anniversary. Strangely enough, considering where their name come from, all of the members are terrified of air travel.