Tokyo Reborn: Dark Superstar

Chapter 24 Keiko Kanda and Akina Nakamori

RB No. 7-1, Konan -chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Sony Records Headquarters.

In 1950, RB's first tape recorder was born here, followed by recording studio condenser microphones and stereo headphones.

This is the top recording studio in Asia.

High-quality music, comfortable creative environment, easy-to-use recording and production, consistent sound standards, complete distribution channels, and consistent listening experience.

In the 20s, Sony Music implemented the concept of "For The Music (born for music)" and built all links of the entire music ecological industry chain.

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Bunta Takakura arrived at the Sony Records headquarters half an hour early and walked around the nearby Sony Exhibition Hall, which recorded the glorious development of Sony Music...

Ten years later, the exhibition hall here was moved, and the land was jointly developed by Sony and Huanda Group into high-end residential buildings.

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Takakura Bunta wandered downstairs for more than ten minutes, visiting the ancient battlefield sites from his previous life.

beep...

That Takano Koichi alumnus and Sony record producer Keiko Kanda called.

The two made an appointment to meet at Recording Studio No. 3.

Bunta Takakura learned from TBS producer Koichi Takano that his alumnus was once the president of the school music club and worked at Warner Records after graduation.

Kanda Keiko's first collaborative artist was Akina Nakamori, who had just debuted at the time.

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In 1978 and 1980, Akina Nakamori participated in RB TV's talent show "A Star Is Born" twice, but both ended in failure.

Until 1981, when she was 16 years old, she entered the competition for the third time and sang a cover of Yamaguchi Momoe's "Ye Yue Yue".

Because this song matched Akina's thick and full mid-bass, it received the highest score of 392 points since the show was broadcast at that time.

He successfully signed with the agency Yanyin and the record company RB Warner, and dropped out of Nakano High School affiliated with Meiji University.

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The agency and record company arranged some training for Akina Nakamori. It was originally intended that Nakamori Akina's stage name be "Mori Asuna" (Mori Asuna).

The first album "プロローグ〈Prologue"" was popular in the music scene at that time and had a somewhat adult style, so the company's promotional slogan at the time described her as a "beautiful female newcomer with a bit of sexual connotation".

This single is a song with a brisk rhythm and describes the innocence of a girl. After its release, the response was mediocre, peaking at No. 49 on the Oricon list.

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For the second album, Keiko Kanda served as the producer. After discussions with Asna, she decided to change her real name to "Akina Nakamori" as her stage name.

Kanda Keiko believes that the retirement of national idol Yamaguchi Momoe has left a huge gap in the RB entertainment industry, and her vacancy urgently needs a new generation of singers to take over.

Kanda Keiko proposed to use Nakamori Akina’s appearance and voice to be similar to Yamaguchi Momoe to train Nakamori Akina into the next Yamaguchi Momoe.

Therefore, the announcement point of the new album was positioned as "the successor of Yamaguchi Momoe".

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For the second album "Girl A", the song selection is the same as Yamaguchi Momoe's debut.

The album "Girl A" was released and was banned by the RB Broadcasting Association TV station because of its sexually suggestive lyrics. It also attracted attention due to the topic.

The extremely high popularity caused a huge increase in sales, ranking No. 5 on the Oricon list, with a cumulative sales volume of nearly 40 copies, and winning RB's major newcomer awards that year.

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Fight to fame.

Keiko Kanda became Akina Nakamori’s exclusive record producer. After using "Momoe Yamaguchi's successor" and "Enigami Route" to help Akina Nakamori gain a foothold.

She began to encourage Akina Nakamori to have the courage to try a variety of music styles and find her own music style.

In the end, a unique singing style of "Mingcai vibrato" was formed, with medium and long notes that are saturated and penetrating.

During this period, Nakamori Akina had 20 songs and 13 albums that topped the Oricon chart. The albums sold well and won numerous awards. The "Akina fever" was launched in South Korea, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia.

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The two of them cooperated until the appearance of Prince Johnny...

Akina Nakamori and Masahiko Kondo of Johnny's Agency fell in love because of acting.

Akina Nakamori went to Hawaii to shoot a commercial.

Shukan Bunshun broke the news: Kondo Masahiko "accidentally entered" Kanda Keiko's room while drunk, was slapped, had her cheek scratched, and was kicked out.

A press release from Johnny & Associates stated:

"Mahiko Kondo is an ignorant and simple boy. He is very devoted to feelings and believes in love."

"He was very painful after being harassed by a certain music producer. He suffered from depression because he was worried about affecting Nakamori Akina's career as a singer."

Johnny & Associates issued the doctor's diagnosis report on the spot at the press conference.

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This kind of operation, which was commonplace in the 21s, was unprecedented in the Japanese entertainment industry in the 20s.

The show's effect is comparable to the famous scene in which the US Secretary of State takes out a tube of laundry detergent at the United Nations Security Council.

This caused Masahiko Kondo to achieve a sudden reversal in public opinion.

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The entire public opinion trend is towards the plot of "the producer's best friend wants to be the third party, but is rejected by the idol male protagonist"...

In the second week of the incident, Warner officially explained:
  "Kanda Keiko and Nakamori Akina have different musical concepts and have chosen their own paths."

Afterwards, Keiko Kanda left Warner and signed with Sony Records.

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Sony Music's recording studio adopts an internal reservation system, and a large number of singers come to record records every day.

Takakura Bunta came to Recording Studio No. 3 and did not see Kanda Keiko.

The administrators and housekeepers have cleaned the interior and re-adjusted the equipment.

The engineer was testing signal amplification, parametric equalization and insertion effects at the mixing console. He told Takakura Bunta:

"Producer Kanda went to answer the phone and asked you to get the accompaniment score ready first."

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Bunta Takakura looked at the blank sheet of music on the desk, feeling a little worried.

He can sing this song.

But for Takakura Bunta, who did not have any basic knowledge of music theory, it was very difficult to write the accompaniment correctly on a blank sheet of music.

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At this time, a girl came to the recording studio with two cups of coffee.

(End of this chapter)