Seiko Matsuda, Akina Nakamori, Kyoko Koizumi… Legends in abundance! The golden age of idols has arrived!

Seiko Matsuda and Momoe Yamaguchi… their first and last performance together was

The year 1980 was also the year in which Momoe Yamaguchi, who had made her way through the ’70s, got married and retired. Momoe’s breakup concert was held in October 1980, when Seiko’s third single “Kaze wa Akihiro/Eighteen” was released in the afterglow of the hit “Blue Coral Reef. Pink Lady also announced their breakup in September of the same year (their breakup concert was held in March 1981), and the timing of the baton exchange between female idols representing the 70s and 80s, respectively, was like a strange coincidence, like fate. I can’t help but feel a sense of fate.

In September of the same year, Seiko ranked No. 1 in “The Best Ten” with “Blue Coral Reef,” and Momoe Yamaguchi ranked No. 10 in the same week, making this their first and last collaboration.

The following year, 1981, Ito Tsukasa made her debut with “Shoujo Ningyo (Girl Doll). She played the role of Toshihiko Tahara’s younger sister in the Tanokin trio’s variety show “Tanokin Zenryaku Throw! Iyo Matsumoto made her debut as Toshihiko Tahara’s younger sister in “Tanokin Zenryaku Tekketsu”, and made her debut as a singer with “Sentimental Journey” the same year.

Debut of “Hana no ’82 Group

Then came the year 1982. Like the Cambrian Explosion, which suddenly caused an explosive diversification of life on the earth, many popular idols appeared on the scene that rivaled or surpassed those of 1980, and later came to be known as the “Hana no ’82 group.

Akina Nakamori and Kyoko Koizumi were representative of this group. Other major female idols who debuted in 1982 included Hori Chiemi, Hayami Yu, Ishikawa Hidemi, Mita Hiroko, and among male idols, Shibukitai (Matsumoto Iyo, who debuted in October 1981, is also sometimes treated as a “1982 group”). ) In addition to these girls, most of the other female idols from this period had “Seiko chan cut” hairstyles at the time of their debut, which shows how influential the influence of Seiko Matsuda was.

Akina and Kyoko were both former members of the “Chusan Trio,” which led the female idol world in the 1970s, and the “Star Birth! which produced the “Chuzo Trio” that led the female idol world in the 1970s and Pink Lady. The following year, the program that had contributed so much to the history of Showa idols came to an end, as if it had fulfilled its role in the history of Showa idols.

The popularity of the group from 1980 showed no sign of waning even after the arrival of the group from 1982, and perhaps because of their strong light, the following debutantes from 1983, including Itumi Osawa, Maiko Ito (now Maiko Ito), Sayuri Iwai, Yasuko Kuwata, Akiko Matsumoto, and Yumi Morio, all gained a certain level of popularity, but they were not as popular as the group from 1983. Yumi Morio, and others all achieved a certain level of popularity, but as a result, they were regarded unfavorably as “poor performers.

It is interesting to note that in many cases, these popular idols did not become popular immediately after their debut. When we look at the debut songs of idols in 1980 and 1982, two of the most prolific years in idol history, we can see that they did not all suddenly break out with their debut songs.

• Seiko Matsuda “Barefoot Season
• Naoko Kawai’s “Little House in the Big Forest
• Yoshie Kashiwabara “No.1
• Junko Mihara “Sexy Night
• Hori Chiemi “The Girl of the Sea Breeze
• Hiroko Mita “The Virgin Who Came Running
• Kyoko Koizumi “My 16th birthday
• Hidemi Ishikawa “The Fairy Age
• Yu Hayami “Hurry Up! First Love
• Akina Nakamori “Slow Motion

Male idols, such as SMAP and Arashi from the former Johnny’s, also took a long time to make their breakthrough. It may be that taking time to gain popularity little by little is more likely to lead to greater and longer-lasting popularity than suddenly selling out after one’s debut.