Miyuki Nakajima
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| Miyuki Nakajima | ||
|---|---|---|
| Background information | ||
| Born | February 23, 1952 (age 55) | |
| Origin | Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan | |
| Genre(s) | Folk Rock, Blues rock | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, composer, lyricist, radio-DJ, author, actress | |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals Guitars |
|
| Years active | 1975 - present | |
| Label(s) | AARD-VARK/Pony Canyon Yamaha Music Communications |
|
| Website | Official | |
Miyuki Nakajima (中島みゆき Nakajima Miyuki?) (born February 23, 1952 - ) is a Japanese singer, composer, lyricist and radio personality.
As a musical artist, she is well-known for her extremely intense and changeable vocal expression and decadent lyrics. In contrast, as a radio host, she was surprisingly loud and talkative. This extreme gap received favorable public reaction mainly in the 1980s, and she has continued to have a deep-rooted reputation as a musician. As two principal Japanese female veteran singer-songwriters, she is often compared with Yumi Matsutoya.
On Oricon, a Japanese official hit chart, Nakajima accomplished several achievements. From 1979 through 1985, she constantly made #1 hit albums, and succeeded on both albums and singles chart in the 1980s. She is the only solo artist who produced several #1 hits on Japanese singles chart for four decades; "Wakareuta (The Parting Song)" in 1970s, "Akujo" in '80s, "Sora to Kimi no Aida ni (Between the Sky and You)" in '90s and "Earthly Stars (Unsung Heroes)" in 2000s. Particularly, "Earthly Stars (Unsung Heroes)" remained on the charts for over 200 weeks. [1] In addition, as a lyricist or composer, she wrote over 90 songs for numerous singers, and made several number one hits—"Abayo" performed by Naoko Ken, "Kosa ni Fukarete" performed by Shizuka Kudo, and "Sorafune (Ship in the Air)" performed by Tokio.
She is also well-known as a Japanese songwriter who has the most cover version which was performed by non-Japanese East Asian singers (especially Taiwan and Hong Kong). For example, "Rouge", the song which she presented for Naomi Chiaki in mid 1970s was covered by Faye Wong in 1992 as "Fragile Woman". Success of this cover version made her a superstar among Asian entertainers.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Miyuki Nakajima was born to the affluent family in 1952 in Sapporo, Hokkaidō. Her father, Shinichiro Nakajima was a gynecologist, and a grandfather Buichi Nakajima was a politician in Obihiro, Hokkaido. In 1957, Nakajima and her family moved to Iwanai , and they lived there until 1964.
[edit] Music career
[edit] Early years
In 1975, Nakajima signed to Canyon Records, and released her debut single "Azami jo no Lullaby" on September 25, 1975.
In May of that same year, her original song "Wings of Love (I Knew Nothing)" was nominated and won the "Popular Song Contest", which was sponsored by her management office "Yamaha Music Foundation". Autumn of that year, Nakajima won grand-prix of another award organised by Yamaha. [2] In May 1976, Nakajima released her first album Watashi no Koe ga Kikoemasuka. Since then, over thirty years, she has frequently released albums.
In 1977, Nakajima's fifth single "Wakareuta (The Parting Song)" reached top of the Oricon single chart. At that time, Japanese top-ten hit charts were dominated by Pink Lady for over six months. However, record sales of "The Parting Song" exceeded their single "Nagisa no Sinbad" for only a week. It was first number one single for Nakajima, and this striking success made her more famous than before. That song was also included in the next year's album Aishiteiru to Ittekure. It reached #2 on the Oricon chart.
One of notable songs in her early career is "Sejou (The World Context)". It first appeared in Aishiteiru to Ittekure. In 1981, "The World Context" was used as background music of TBS popular drama series, San nen B-gumi Kinpachi-Sensei. This tie up made a strong impression to TV audiences. "The World Context" has not ever been released as a single. However, her past album appeared in the chart agains after Kinpachi Sensei was screened.
[edit] 1980s
In the early 1980s, Miyuki Nakajima was most popular singer-songwriter in Japan. From April 1979 to March 1987, she also worked as a disc jockey for Nippon Broadcasting System radio program, All Night Nippon. Her humorous talk in this program was well-received by youth, and she became more popular as a musician. "Akujo" Nakajima's eighth single released in 1981, sold 800,000 copies and reached number one on the oricon chart. [3] Following the success of the single, her 1982 album Kansuigyo became a top selling album in Japan on that year's hit chart. [4]
By contrast, her record sales were on the decline in the mid 1980s. In those years, she groped for her own musical style. Many gorgeous people's names were listed on her albums. Those records were mixed by Bob Clearmountain and Steve Boyer, and mastered by Ted Jensen. The singles released in 1985, "Tsumetai Wakare (Cold Farewell)" and "Atai no Natsuyasumi" featured Stevie Wonder on harmonica and synthesizer. [5] [6] In this era, Nakajima was worked with some important musical partners. In her records and concerts, Tsugutoshi Goto and Kazuo Shiina worked as the producer, arranger, composer and bass player. Goto and Nakajima also united songwriter team in the end of 1980s to early 1990s, and they wrote many songs for idol singer Shizuka Kudo. In the album 36.5 C and Nakajima Miyuki, she collaborated with Yoshihiro Kai, a reader of Kai Band. He produced 36.5 C, and composed the single "Kamen" (It also including in Nakajima Miyuki).
[edit] Works with Ichizo Seo
In 1988, Nakajima released her 18th studio album, Goodbye Girl. This album was produced and arranged by Ichizo Seo. Seo was known for his work on many albums, such as Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi, Takuro Yoshida, Chage and Askahad worked on many musicians records, Mariya Takeuchi and Rita Coolidge. Nakajima considered him as the best musical partner for her, and she has been working with him since the end of the 1980s.
Seo produced many of her masterpieces in the 1980-90s. Especially, East Asia is well-received among reviewers , listers and musicians. Koshi Inaba, a vocalist and lyricist of B'z selected this album as a one of the best albums released in 1992. "Asai Nemuri (Shallow Sleep)", First single from East Asia became first millionseller record for Nakajima.
[edit] Recent years
Nakajima's recent albums are recorded by famous American studio musicians. After 1996 album Paradise Cafe, she recorded with Vinnie Colaiuta, Neil Stubenhaus, Gregg Bissonette, Russ Kunkel, Dean Parks, Michael Thompson and Leland Sklar.
Since her debut in 1975, Nakajima has signed with Pony Canyon Records. Though, in 2000, she left "Canyon/AARD-VARK" and signed to her own record label "Yamaha Music Communications". On November 3, 1999, her final albums for Pony Canyon, Hi: Wings and Tsuki: Wings were released. These records sold only 40,000 copies, and they are her lowest-selling studio albums.
At Yamaha Music Communications, She has released six albums and three singles. Her latest album Lullaby Singer was released in November 2006.
[edit] Production work
Since her debut in 1975, Nakajima has also worked as a songwriter for other singers. In early years, she has written many songs for famous comedian and singer, Naoko Ken. Their combination began in 1976 single "La-La-La"/"Ame ga Sora o Suteru Hi wa".
In 1970s and 1980s, Nakajima wrote songs for Junko Sakurada, Yoshie Kashiwabara, Kiyoshi Maekawa, and Tokiko Kato. Keiko Masuda, former Pink Lady vocalist single "Suzume (Sparrow)" was released in 1981, and sold about 300,000 copies. [7]
From mid 1980s to early 90s, Nakajima succeeded as a lyricist for others. She wrote lyrics for Hiromi Gō, Yoko Nagayama, Ryoko Moriyama, Ken Takakura and Nae Yuki. These tunes were composed by famous and influential songwriters, such as Ryuichi Sakamoto, Masashi Sada and Kyohei Tsutsumi. Particularly, the songwriter team with Tsugutoshi Goto was quite successful. They wrote about twenty songs for Shizuka Kudo, and five singles reached number one on the oricon chart. Her 1993 single "Dokoku (I Cried All Night)" sold over 900,000 copies, and it became her biggest hit single. [8] After the end of their combination, Nakajima often wrote song for Kudo.
In recent years, Nakajima has written songs for the rockband, Tokio. The song titled "Sorafune" became the third biggest hit for them.
[edit] Notable hit singles written by Miyuki Nakajima
| Year | Song title | Artist | Japanese singles chart | Co-writer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | "Abayo" | Naoko Ken | 1 | - |
| 1977 | "Shiawase Shibai" | Junko Sakurada | 3 | - |
| 1978 | "Kamome wa Kamome" | Naoko Ken | 7 | - |
| 1978 | "Kono Sora o Tobetara (If I Could Take to the Sky)" | Tokiko Kato | 14 | - |
| 1988 | "Fu-Ji-Tsu" | Shizuka Kudo | 1 | Tsugutoshi Goto |
| 1988 | "Mugo,n...Iroppoi" | Shizuka Kudo | 1 | Tsugutoshi Goto |
| 1989 | "Kosa ni Fukarete" | Shizuka Kudo | 1 | Tsugutoshi Goto |
| 1990 | "Watashi ni Tsuite" | Shizuka Kudo | 1 | Tsugutoshi Goto |
| 1993 | "Dokoku (I Cried All Night)" | Shizuka Kudo | 1 | Tsugutoshi Goto |
| 2006 | "Sorafune" | Tokio | 1 | - |
[edit] Selected discography
Main article: Miyuki Nakajima discography
[edit] Top 3 albums at the Oricon chart
This is the list of the albums which reached top 3 on the Original Confidence weekly albums chart.
| Year | Album title | Highest Position | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | 愛していると云ってくれ (Aishiteiru to Ittekure) | 2 | Studio album |
| 1979 | 親愛なる者へ (Shinainaru Monoe) | 1 | Studio album |
| 1979 | おかえりなさい (Okaerinasai) | 1 | Studio album |
| 1980 | 生きていてもいいですか (Ikiteitemo Iidesuka) | 1 | Studio album |
| 1981 | 臨月 (Ringetsu: Month of Parturition) | 1 | Studio album |
| 1982 | 寒水魚 (Kansuigyo) | 1 | Studio album |
| 1983 | 予感 (Yokan: Hunch) | 1 | Studio album |
| 1984 | はじめまして (Hajimemashite: How Do You Do) | 1 | Studio album |
| 1985 | Miss M. | 1 | Studio album |
| 1985 | 御色なおし (The Change) | 1 | Studio album |
| 1986 | 36.5 C | 2 | Studio album |
| 1987 | 歌暦 (Utagoyomi) | 1 | Live album |
| 1988 | 中島みゆき (Nakajima Miyuki) | 3 | Studio album |
| 1988 | Goodbye Girl | 1 | Studio album |
| 1989 | 回帰熱 (Kaikinetsu) | 2 | Studio album |
| 1990 | 夜を往け (Yoru o Yuke) | 3 | Studio album |
| 1992 | East Asia | 2 | Studio album |
| 1994 | Love or Nothing | 1 | Studio album |
| 1996 | 大吟醸 (Daiginjō) | 1 | Compilation album |
| 2001 | 心守歌 (Kokoromoriuta, Lullaby for the Soul) | 3 | Studio album |
| 2002 | Singles 2000 (Compilation) | 3 | Compilation album |
[edit] Top 3 singles on the Oricon chart
This is a list of the singles that reached the top 3 on the Oricon weekly singles chart.
| Year | Song title | Highest Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1977 | "わかれうた (Wakareuta: The Parting Song)" | 1 |
| 1981 | "悪女 (Akujo)" | 1 |
| 1982 | "誘惑 (Yūwaku)" | 2 |
| 1982 | "横恋慕 (Yokorenbo: Unrequited Love)" | 2 |
| 1992 | "浅い眠り (Asai Nemuri: Shallow Sleep)" | 2 |
| 1994 | "空と君のあいだに (Sora to Kimi no Aida ni: Between the Sky and You)" / "ファイト! (Fight!)" | 1 |
| 1994 | "旅人のうた (tabibito no Uta: Wanderer's Song)" | 1 |
| 2000 | "地上の星 (Chijō no Hoshi: Earthly Stars)" / "Headlight Taillight" | 1 |
[edit] Filmography
- Tokyo Biyori (1997)
- Sayonara Color (2005)
- Glass no Tsukai (2005)
- Mamiya kyodai (2006)
[edit] Notes and References
- ^ [1]
- ^ List of the Performers at the 6th World Popular Song Festival
- ^ Yamachan Land: Album Chart Daijiten | Miyuki Nakajima
- ^ Yamachan Land: Album Chart Daijiten | Top selling albums by year (1982)
- ^ Overview and Covers of "Cold Farewell" on Japanese Stevie Wonder Fan Site
- ^ Personnel of "Atai no Natsuyasumi" on Fan Site
- ^ Yamachan Land: Single Chart Daijiten | Pink Lady
- ^ Yamachan Land: Single Chart Daijiten | Shizuka Kudo
