Yoko Minamino: “Actually, I’m getting into Kodansha before Beat Takeshi.

Yoko Minamino (55)’s new single “Sora o Mieru Kakero / Sora o Mieru Hito” (Look up at the sky / Important person),” released on June 23, immediately sold out!　This is not Showa era news, but Reiwa news.

She said, “At the end of last year, I had the opportunity to perform live at an event celebrating the 35th anniversary of my debut, and it was so much fun and I was so happy!　At that time, we decided to make an album if we were going to do a live concert, so we wrote two new songs for the first time in 16 years. June 23 is my birthday, and it was also my 18th birthday when I made my debut as a singer with “Too Shy”. Shonen Magazine” and “Young Magazine,” both of which had me on their covers, were also released on the same day.

It is a milestone day for me. Speaking of magazines, I once went to the editorial department to protest. In fact, I went to Kodansha (Otaku) before Beat Takeshi (75) (laughs).

Nanno, who was one of the “Four Heavenly Kings of Idols” with Yui Asaka (52), Shizuka Kudo (52), and Miho Nakayama (52), has many famous songs. I Wanted to Talk to You” and “Sigh and Net. and “Sigh de Net.” Eight of his singles have reached No. 1 on the Oricon charts in a row. According to broadcaster Toru Kizaki, “Yoko Minamino was the first of the self-produced idols. Nanno recalls.

I never thought I would self-produce, but I had an idea or an image of what I wanted to do,” Nanno recalls.　I would tell the staff, ‘This is the kind of song I want to do. I asked the director, writers, and arrangers, saying, ‘This is the kind of song I want to do,’ and I selected songs for the album and the single from a large number of songs. We were able to experiment in many ways. Looking back, it was a very enjoyable and special time.

Still, she was hesitant about resuming her singing career, saying, “As you all know, I’m not very good at singing (laughs),” but her love of music outweighed her hesitation.

My father loved classical music and film music, and my mother loved folk songs, so I grew up in an environment where music was always around me. The music I listened to most in my life was the soundtrack to the movie “A Tale of Love,” Carmen Caballero’s “To Love Again. We had an 8-track car stereo in our car, and this song was always playing. 8-track cassettes only hold 3 or 4 songs, so we had to listen to the same song over and over. This song was always playing when the family went hiking or when we were excited. So it was imprinted with a good impression. Even after my debut, I listened to it every day. In fact, even now, I listen to it when I want to boost my spirits before work, or when I want to cool down.

Nanno has nearly 500 movie soundtrack CDs at home. When he was in elementary school, he was influenced by his mother and fell in love with Masashi Sada (70), Takuro Yoshida (76), and “Akai Tori” (Red Bird).

I used to write the lyrics on loose-leaf paper and give them to my friends. I never got any response (laughs). When he entered junior high school, the era of sparkling Western music such as Stevie Wonder (72) and “Duran Duran” arrived. I listened to music all the time, except in class, when I was with my friends, and when I took the train home.”

Nanno, who had been immersed in music his whole life, turned to the singing side at the age of 18, as mentioned earlier. If becoming a singer was unexpected, “the world of idols was also unexpected,” he says.

I thought there would be a huge number of people involved in my debut, like agencies, record companies, and TV stations, but that wasn’t the case. The cover of Shonen Magazine is in my own clothes (laughs). (Laughs.) I had been wearing my hair in a half-up or ponytail by myself, but they said, ‘That’s fine, isn’t it? I was like, “That’s fine.

One time I had my makeup done for a photo shoot, and I felt very uncomfortable. So I removed it with toilet paper. I still ended up with a two-page article, but when I looked at it, I was disappointed because the picture was not good at all. I wanted revenge, so I went to Kodansha in my school uniform on my way home from school and complained to the photogravure staff, saying, “This is Yoko Minamino, the person who took my picture the other day, but it’s not me. Let’s take another shot,’ and we ended up with a 46-page article.

From there, the days of raging waves began. He had no time to go home, so he brought his futon to work, and when the shooting of the drama finished even a little early, he called the studio and worked hard on the recording.

I really didn’t have much time, so I thought up the choreography in the car on the way to the studio. Whenever I released a new song, I would first unveil it on Night Hit (“Night Hit Studio” on Fuji Television), but I would sit on the left side of the backseat with the microphone in my left hand and think about the choreography by hand, so when I sang on Night Hit, I would only do the right hand movements. When I sing on “Night Hit,” I just do the right hand movements. As I go on various singing shows, the choreography seems to get better and better.

This summer, 37 years after her debut, she revisited the struggles of her idol days. For the first time in her life, a concert with a full orchestra was scheduled.

It was something I had never wished for, something that was just a dream come true, so before I could even think about it, I said, ‘Yes! I accepted the offer before I could even think about it. Since then, I have been sleepless every day, wondering if my voice would work and what I could do to please the audience. Is it because I don’t sleep well due to the extreme heat? (Laughs). But I’m not very good at singing, but I love music, so I wanted to convey my feelings in my own way.

The decision to hold the concert was also based on her gratitude to her loved ones.

When the concert was decided, my father was still in good health. He was in a nursing home for the elderly, and for the past two years with the COVID-19 crisis, he has only been talking on his cell phone through the glass. …… wanted to give him the chance to hear the classical concert he loved. Unfortunately, my father passed away at the end of May, but I am sure he is looking forward to the concert in heaven with my mother, a music lover, who passed away before him.

The “Nanno Fest” will be held at Tokyo Opera City (August 15) and Rohm Theater Kyoto (August 28), and will include “so many songs from my idol days” and “world classics” that “I wish I had a whole day to enjoy them. The festival will be held at Tokyo Opera City (August 15) and Rohm Theater Kyoto (August 28).

I hope everyone will come to the festival to cheer up after the COVID-19 crisis, which has been a very stressful time for everyone. Everyone is waiting for you!”

From the July 29 and August 5, 2022 issues of FRIDAY