2006-06-30T01:30:00.000+08:00

Japenese Pop Music

~ YUI ~

YUI is a Japanese J-Pop/J-Rock artist, born March 26, 1987 in Fukuoka, Japan. She sings and plays acoustic guitar, and writes her own songs. She is still relatively unknown outside of Japan, but her song "LIFE", from her single by the same name, was the 5th ending theme for Bleach, a popular Japanese anime series, which has brought her some international fame.
Her first full album, From Me To You, was released February 22, 2006, to great acclaim. Among its 13 tracks, 9 of them were brand new, and these have been well received from her fans. The album has already sold quite well, reaching as high as the weekly 9th most sold album in Japan, and the main track, TOKYO, has reached the number 4 spot on the MTV Japan song charts. She is currently on a nationwide Japanese tour for the album From Me To You.

~BIOGRAPHY~

YUI began writing poems in ninth grade. At the age of 16, by recommendation of a friend, she began studying song, songwriting, and guitar at a private music school in her native Fukuoka. Aspiring to become professional, she carried her guitar around and sang at local places such as the seashore of Shingu and in the middle of the rice fields of Kaminofu.

In March 2003, at an audition hosted by Sony Music Japan, all judges evaluated her with the highest score, which caused a fierce scramble among labels. At this audition, she sang three songs - her first song Why Me, which was later coupled with her debut single, as well as It's happy line and I know, which was included on her indie single - as opposed to the audition rule that a participant could only sing two songs. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, she strummed her guitar and sang. The judges and the others present claimed that "the performance created a tremendous aura from her heavenly voice, and captured the hearts of the whole audience".

Upon leaving her home of Fukuoka for Tokyo, YUI wrote the song feel my soul. She was planning release on an indie label as a tribute to her hometown, when the song caught the ears of Fuji TV producer, Mr. Yamaguchi, who happened to see the demo video clip. He claimed YUI's voice haunted him so much that he went out of his way to visit the recording studio himself. He even made his channel's prime-time drama an extraordinary tie-in with YUI's debut track.

Although she is not the most comfortable when it comes to talking to people, she enjoys communicating with her audience at street performances in the Tenjin district of Fukuoka.
YUI honed her acting and singing skills in a movie released on June 17, 2006 called Taiyou no Uta (A Song to the Sun).
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Link to song: [ YUI-LIFE]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhukKfibFL4

Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YUI (biography)
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0Je5wu9FaREc2wBiwqjzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTA4NDgyNWN0BHNlYwNwcm9m/SIG=12uk5kibm/EXP=1151690557/**http://www.rbbtoday.com/cgi-bin/news/pict/20050117/20483/jpg/yuiphoto.html (picture)
www.youtube.com(video)

2006-06-28T01:59:00.000+08:00

History of POP Music ~

1930s and 1940s
Styles influencing the later development of pop include the Blues (Chicago), and Country (Tennessee).

1950s

Early Pop music artists include Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, and Peggy Lee, but other artists like Bill Haley and his Comets, Fats Domino and Elvis Presley become popular with the younger generation.

1960s
The decade starts out with such Teen Idols such as, Johnny Tillotson, Bobby Vee, Brian Hyland, Tommy Roe, Gene Pitney, and Frankie Avalon. It explodes midway with The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Carole King, Neil Diamond, Burt Bacharach, Aretha Franklin, Isley Brothers, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, The Byrds, and The Who.

1970s

A proliferation of new sounds from the disco of the BeeGees, the piano sounds of Billy Joel and Elton John, the country of the Eagles, the rock-influenced pop of artists like Rod Stewart, Steely Dan, and Fleetwood Mac. ABBA was a swedish band who grew to fame after winning Eurovision and starting a whole new revolution of pop music.

1980s

One of the biggest highlights for pop music in the 1980's was Michael Jackson's second Epic label release, Thriller, which went on to become the best-selling album of the 80's. Thriller earned Jackson the nickname "The King of Pop". Madonna also acheived success. Other artists included Prince, Janet Jackson, Duran Duran, The Police, Abba, Phil Collins, and Culture Club.

1990s and 21st Century

Resurgence of boy band and girl band trends. From the UK came the likes of Take That, Blue, the Spice Girls, a highly successful formula. Irish boy bands of the time include Boyzone and Westlife. The US had New Edition, New Kids On The Block followed by the Backstreet Boys, Hanson and then 'N Sync and Pop Princesses Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. Australia had Boys from Oz. 1999 saw the rise of the Latin explosion with Ricky Martin at the forefront with his worldwide smash hit "Livin' La Vida Loca". Other latin artists to follow were Jennifer Lopez, Enrique Iglesias, and Marc Anthony. In 2002, Justin Timberlake had critical and commercial acclaim with his "Justified" album, emerging as the new "Prince of Pop", Jesse McCartney has emerged from Dream Street as a high-rating singer with songs like She's No You, in Australia Rhoderick Gates left the Melbourne Live Pop Festival on a high with Let Us See It Through and UK bands like Son of Dork capturing youth audiences with Ticket Outta Loserville.

sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_music

All about *POP*~

All about POP~