Sweet 19 Blues

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SWEET 19 BLUES
SWEET 19 BLUES cover
Studio album by Namie Amuro
Released July 22, 1996
Recorded Artworks Studio, Baybridge Studio, Heart Beat Recording Studio, Image Recording Inc., Paradise Studio Komazawa, Prime-Mix Studio, Onkio Haus, Record Plant Studios, Sound Chamber, tk sequence 1102st, tk sequence 1103st, tk sequence 1104st, Woodstock Karuizawa Recording Studio
Genre Pop, R&B, Dance
Length 66:46
Label avex trax
Producer Tetsuya Komuro, Cozy Kubo, Max Matsuura (executive producer)
Professional reviews

link
Namie Amuro chronology
DANCE TRACKS VOL.1
(1995)		 SWEET 19 BLUES
(1996)		 Concentration 20
(1997)
Singles from Sweet 19 Blues
  1. "Body Feels Exit"
    Released: October 25, 1995
  2. "Chase the Chance"
    Released: December 4, 1995
  3. "Don't Wanna Cry"
    Released: March 13, 1996
  4. "You're My Sunshine"
    Released: June 5, 1996
  5. "Sweet 19 Blues"
    Released: August 21, 1996

SWEET 19 BLUES is Namie Amuro's first original studio album under the avex trax label, her first with producer, Tetsuya Komuro, and her second album overall. The success of the album helped Amuro accomplish feats never realized by a solo female artist, and made her one of the most popular and successful Japanese artists of all time. Amuro along with her landmark album, changed the landscape of Japanese pop music influencing everything from music style to performance and even fashion. Some of the effects of this phenomenon can still be felt within today's Japanese music industry.

Contents

[edit] Context

Amuro had already a great success with the SUPERS MONKEY'S, the female group to which she belonged. The album DANCE TRACKS VOL.1 had sold over two millions copies, her first four solo singles became million sellers and she was hugely popular at the time, so her album was heavily anticipated. Although SWEET 19 BLUES is her second album, it is considered as her first studio album because her previous release, (with the Super Monkey's) was rather a remix album than an original album, including only three original songs.

Her previous material was mostly produced by Max Matsuura (who will later produce the now famous Ayumi Hamasaki), and her first solo single would marked the beginning of the collaboration between Namie and her producer Tetsuya Komuro, who will produce, write and arrange the majority of her music until her 18th single Say the word in 2001.

[edit] Style

SWEET 19 BLUES marks a great departure from Amuro's work with the Super Monkey's and is one of her most diverse albums, going from pop and dance numbers to R&B, hip hop, and even Gospel.

This album is notable for having many instrumental interludes. It opened with a four-second spoken interlude and an instrumental track called motion. The chorus of the song Don't wanna cry was transformed into a one minute-long orchestral interlude. 77' and Ocean Way also feature classical orchestration. The interlude Joyis a hip-hop track featuring Japanese rapper m.c.A.T, it would be later released in a extended version on the Sweet 19 blues single. The last track, ...soon nineteen is played with an organ and features Amuro whispering the Sweet 19 blues chorus.

The genre the album was a new direction for the singer. It followed her club-dance songs, but unlike its predecessor, took a more R&B oriented style than her previous work. The track Don't wanna cry is the first song of Amuro's career to have R&B tunes. The first song of the album, LET'S DO THE MOTION have drawn comparsions to one of Janet Jackson songs, If. Amuro explained in several interviews that she was greatly inspired by Janet and she was one of her favourite singers. I'll JUMP and Rainy DANCE have both dance-pop and gospel tones. The title track of the album is pop-gospel influenced ballad. It has been considered by most fans and critics as one her best songs. The 13th track of the album, is also a pop ballad, but similar to those she performed during her Super Monkey's days.

SWEET 19 BLUES contains songs with strong hip-hop influences. The tracks Chase the Chance, PRIVATE, i was a fool and Joy features many rap verses by Amuro herself. Those songs follows the common verse-chorus form, with Amuro rapping in the verses and singing in the chorus.

Five of tracks of the album were remixed. Don't wanna cry, Chase the Chance and You're My Sunshine features new arrangements, while the song Body Feels EXIT was turned into a latin pop-dance number. The album version of present was different from the version of the don't wanna cry single. She performed the song entirely through singing, it doesn't features her talking through the phone during the verses.

The production of SWEET 19 BLUES was mostly done by her producer Tetsuya Komuro who composed, wrote and arranged most of the songs. However, some international songwriters and musicians, such as Sheila E. and Randy Waldman, contributed to the album. The backup singers who worked with Amuro on the album even appeared in some of her music videos.

[edit] Singles

The album contains five singles, released beetween October 1995 and August 1996. They were very successful; four reached the million mark and all hit the top five on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart.

The first single from the album was the upbeat dance number Body Feels EXIT, released only nine days after the DANCE TRACKS VOL.1 album. Her two previous singles, Taiyou no SEASON and Stop the music, featured the singer exclusively and the four others members were only credited as backup singers, so although Body Feels EXIT can be considered as her third single, it marks her official solo debut. It opened at #3 with over 200,000 copies sold in its first week [1] and spent 4 consecutives weeks in the top 10.[2] [3] [4]. The single also became the 70th best selling single of 1995 with over 500,000 units purchased that year.[5]

Chase The Chance, the second single, became her first number one and million selling single. It went straight to number one with opening sales similar to those of her previous single.[6] and spent 9 non-consecutive weeks inside the top 10.[7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] She also made her first appearance at the annual Kokaku Uta Gassen performing the song.

The album's third single, Don't wanna cry, helped her to win the "Grand Prix Award" from the 38th Annual Japan Record Awards. Today, she still remains the youngest artist awarded this prize. The single was a huge success, spending three non-consecutives weeks at #1 and reaching sales of over 1,5 million copies in Japan.[14] Don't Wanna Cry is her second most successful single after the ballad CAN YOU CELEBRATE. The 13th track of the album, present, was a b-side to the single. It is not stated on the liner notes of the booklet, but the album version of the song is different from the version included on the Don't wanna cry single.[15]

You're my sunshine, her 4th single, was also a big hit, spending two consecutive weeks at the top spot. The song is mix of dance and gospel and became one of her signature songs. It became her third consecuitve number one and million selling single, debuting at #1 with over 430,000 units purchased.[16] You're my sunshine became the 13th best selling single at the end of the year.[17]

The final single, Sweet 19 Blues, was released as a recut single a month after the album due to popular demand. It did not achieve the success of her previous records but debut at #2 with over 100,000 copies sold in its first week and sold about 500,000 units[18], a great feat for a post-album single.[19] This single also contains an extended version of the interlude Joy. The single version of the song is slightly different from the album version.

Others songs from the album I'LL JUMP, PRIVATE and LET'S DO THE MOTION were not released in a physical format, but were also popular hits across Japan, as they were used as radio singles prior to the release of the album.

[edit] Commercial tie-ups and theme songs

Many songs of this album were used as themes songs for movies or dramas and commercials, or were simply used to promote the album itself.

LET'S DO THE MOTION was used a special avex commercial to promote the album.[20] [21]

PRIVATE was the theme song of four ad campaigns for the Nissan cars.[22]

Body Feels EXIT, the first single released from the album, was used in eight Taito X-55 TV ads as the image song.[23] Amuro appeared in some of the commercials.

Chase the Chance, the album's second single, was the theme song of the drama the The Chief, that was broadcast on Nihon TV.

Don't wanna cry was the CM song of two commercials for the DyDo Mistio Soft drinks. I'LL JUMP was also used in a commercial for the brand.[24]. Amuro appeared herself in the two commercials promoting the brand.

You're my sunshine was the theme song of the three commercials for the SEA BREEZE products. The first ad was promoting a sun lotion, the second a shampoo and the last a deodorant.[25] It was also used in commercial for the "Digital Dance Mix", a video game developed and published by Sega. Namie is the main character of the video game.[26]

Joy was used in a commercial for the Maxell UD2 as its image song.[27]

The title track, Sweet 19 Blues, was choose as theme song of the teenage Japanese movie That's Cunning!~Shijousaidai no Sakusen, which Namie starred in as the lead female role, and was available on the film's soundtrack.[28] The singer appeared at the movie premiere in Japan. The song was also used to promote the Namie Amuro World '96 home video.[29]

[edit] Album packaging

When released, the Japanese edition of the album was available in four different sleeves, which is unique to Amuro's albums .[30] The first three covers were limited 100,000 copies each. Subsequence copies with the fourth sleeve were the regular version.[31] The others editions of the album have a regular cover. All the pictures of the booklet are in black and white.

[edit] Sales

When the album was released, it debut at the top spot with nearly two millions units purchased in its opening week, which was the largest opening sales for a record at that time.

SWEET 19 BLUES reached #1 in on the Oricon Album Chart with an amazing 1,921,850 copies sold, which is Namie's best first week sales for an album to date and 9th highest opening sales of all time in Japanese music history.[32] The album was also at #1 in its second week on stores, but with only over 300,000 units sold. It stayed in the top 10 for nine consecutive weeks and in the top 20 for twelve weeks, selling over 3,3 millions units in Japan during its original chart run[33] including 3 millions in its first two months and over 4 millions copies in total.[34][35] SWEET 19 BLUES is currently Namie's highest selling album and is the 104th million selling album in Japan.[36]

For a brief period in 1996, the album became the biggest selling album of Japanese music history[37] before being outsold by her own producer. SWEET 19 BLUES ranked 2nd in 1996 Oricon Yearly Chart after globe (to which Tetsuya Komuro belongs).[38] This album ranks at 13th for total sales in Japanese music history[39] and 6th best selling album from a Female Solo Artist.

SWEET 19 BLUES was the biggest selling album of all time album by a female artist in Japan until the release of First Love, Utada Hikaru's debut album, which is now the best selling album ever in the country.[40]

[edit] Track listing

The liner notes included in the album are not clear on who wrote what particular song. As it is presented in the CD booklet, all songs are attributed to Tetsuya Komuro, Cozy Kubo, Akio Togashi, Takahiro Maeda and Randy Waldman as it makes no other distinction otherwise.

  1. "watch your step!!" – 0:04
  2. "motion" – 0:50
  3. "LET'S DO THE MOTION" – 4:07
  4. "PRIVATE" – 5:36
  5. "Interlude ~ Ocean way" – 1:05
  6. "Don't wanna cry (Eighteen's Summer Mix)" – 5:40
  7. "Rainy DANCE"
  8. "Chase the Chance (CC Mix)" – 3:42
  9. "Interlude ~ Joy" – 1:19
  10. "I'll JUMP" – 5:19
  11. "Interlude ~ Scratch Voices" – 0:04
  12. "i was a fool" – 4:36
  13. "present" – 4:35
  14. "Interlude ~ Don't wanna cry Symphonic Style" – 1:23
  15. "You're my sunshine (Hollywood Mix) – 5:42
  16. "Body Feels EXIT (Latin House Mix) – 8:51
  17. "'77~" – 1:45
  18. "SWEET 19 BLUES" – 5:38
  19. "...soon nineteen" – 1:52

[edit] Personnel

  • Namie Amuro - vocals, background vocals
  • m.c. AT - vocals
  • Sheila E. - backing vocals, percussion
  • Joey Johnson - backing vocals
  • Lynn Mabry - background vocals
  • Ricky Nelson - background vocals
  • Tracy Whitney - background vocals
  • Valerie Williams - background vocals
  • Kinbara Chieko - strings
  • Cozy Kubo - keyboard, synthesizer
  • Tetsuya Komuro - backing vocals, keyboard, synthesizer
  • Kazuhiro Matsuo - guitar
  • Tatsuya Murayama - strings
  • Raphael Padilla - percussions
  • Michael Paulo - saxophone
  • Neil Stubenhaus - bass guitar
  • Michael Thompson - guitar

[edit] Production

  • Producers - Tetsuya Komuro, Cozy Kubo
  • Mixing - Keith "KC" Cohen
  • Vocal Direction - Akihiko Shimizu
  • Photography - Itaru Hirama
  • Art Direction - Tycoon Graphics

[edit] TV Performances

[edit] Charts

Album - Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)

Release Chart Peak Position Sales Total Chart Run
22 July 1996 Oricon Daily Albums Chart #1
22 July 1996 Oricon Weekly Albums Chart #1 3,359,420 42 weeks
22 July 1996 Oricon Yearly Albums Chart #2

Singles - Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)

Release Single Peak Position Chart Run Sales
25 October 1995 "Body Feels EXIT" #3 19 weeks 881,640
04 December 1995 "Chase the Chance" #1 20 weeks 1,361,710
13 March 1996 "Don't wanna cry" #1 22 weeks 1,389,700
05 June 1996 "You're my sunshine" #1 12 weeks 1,098,520
21 August 1996 "SWEET 19 BLUES" #2 13 weeks 452,890

[edit] References

  1. ^ Oricon Weekly Singles Chart of November 6th, 1995
  2. ^ Oricon Weekly Singles Chart of November 13th, 1995
  3. ^ [http//www.musictvprogram.com/corner-ranking-1995-11-20.html Oricon Weekly Singles Chart of November 20th, 1995]
  4. ^ Oricon Weekly Singles Chart of November 27th, 1995
  5. ^ 1995 TOP 100: SINGLES
  6. ^ Oricon Weekly Singles Chart of December 18, 1995
  7. ^ Oricon Weekly Singles Chart of December 25, 1995
  8. ^ Oricon Weekly Singles Chart of January 1st, 1996
  9. ^ Oricon Weekly Singles Chart of January 15th, 1996
  10. ^ Oricon Weekly Singles Chart of January 22th, 1996
  11. ^ Oricon Weekly Singles Chart of January 29th, 1996
  12. ^ Oricon Weekly Singles Chart of February 5th, 1996
  13. ^ Oricon Weekly Singles Chart of February 12th,1996
  14. ^ List of number one singles of 1996 in Japan
  15. ^ Wiki theppn:SWEET 19 BLUES
  16. ^ Oricon Weekly Singles Chart of June 17, 1996
  17. ^ 1996 TOP 100: SINGLES
  18. ^ Sweet 19 Blues single informations
  19. ^ Sweet 19 blues single opening sales
  20. ^ Sweet 19 Blues Special CM (LET'S DO THE MOTION)
  21. ^ Screencaps of Namie's avex CMs
  22. ^ Screencaps of Namie's Nissan CMs
  23. ^ Screencpas of Namie's Taito CMs
  24. ^ Screencaps of Namie's DyDo CMs
  25. ^ Screencaps of Namie's SEA BREEZE CMs
  26. ^ Screencaps of Namie's Sega Saturn CM
  27. ^ Screencaps of Namie's Maxell CMs
  28. ^ That's Cunning soundtrack chion.com, website about Amuro Namie (Movie section)
  29. ^ Amuro Namie World CM captures
  30. ^ SEB's JPOP AREA Namie Amuro Discography
  31. ^ Namie Amuro Sweet 19 Blues CD Album chion.com, website about Amuro Namie (CD Section)
  32. ^ List of highest opening sales for an album in Japan
  33. ^ SWEET 19 BLUES album trajectory
  34. ^ Amuro Namie History
  35. ^ SWEET 19 BLUES album informations
  36. ^ List of million selling albums in Japan
  37. ^ Japan's star puts new meaning into girltalk The London Independent, September 30, 1996 by Richard Lloyd Parry (findarticles.com)
  38. ^ List of best selling albums in 1996 in Japan
  39. ^ List of best selling albums in Japan of all time
  40. ^ Hikki's page
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