Remember the miniature singing Japanese fairies from the Godzilla movie Mothra? They were The Peanuts, and their appearance in three Godzilla movies launched hugely successful singing careers. Here's an MP3 of The Peanuts serenading Mothra, and there are two full albums worth of The Peanuts MP3s here.
But as successful as The Peanuts were, they merely paved the way for another female Japanese duet, Pink Lady, who ruled Japanese popular culture for three years in the late Seventies, and dropped off the radar just as suddenly after their attempt to break into the US market sputtered following their TV show, Pink Lady and Jeff.
Pink Lady and The Peanuts both represent an archetype of Japanese pop music - twin female singers who sing, act, talk and dance in unison. While the basic act has been updated with the times, it hasn't completely disappeared. Puffy Ami Yumi fit the mold, and in a weird way, so do Afrirampo, g-strings and pasties notwithstanding. Here's a realaudio archive of Osaka's Afrirampo rocking it on Brian Turner's 9/14/2004 show. They may not talk in unison the way The Peanuts did, but the old archetype of matching doll-women singing and acting cute wont fade away. It runs deep. Girls just like to have fun. And wear matching dildoes.
I was aware of the girls wanting to have fun part, but the matching dildo thing was a new one to me. It's good news though!
Posted by: Denny | June 24, 2005 at 05:31 PM