Yes, before telling that part of my story about my music passion, I have to tell you that at that time I was just a 14-year-old teen boy who had some kind of previous music knowledge. Since I was around 7 years old, I was listening to Kansas, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, and other Rock bands from the late 1970s that I unfortunately don’t remember right now. But on the other hand, I was so attracted to artists like Donna Summer and Lipps Inc., which was the origin of my devotion to Pop music more than Rock. Donna Summer was my very first favorite in those genres, and from the Rock side, it was Kiss.
Yes, because of Kiss, my mind changed after listening to their major hit “I Was Made For Loving You,” and I was just 9 or 10 years old. Their music accompanied me during my elementary school. I may be proud of witnessing the rising of the “Video Music” (now called Promotional Video PV or Music Video MV) when I watched the very beginning of the 1980s’ now legendary song “Video Killed The Radio Star.” What a funny thing to see from that song’s title: the evolution from the radio to television. Before MTV, everyone were turning their radios to listen to their favorite songs and maybe imagine their idols playing their songs. And when the artists appeared on some TV shows, it was more exciting to see them playing live.
But when the very first Music Video “Video Killed The Radio Star” came up, my eyes, my mind, my ears, and even my soul were attracted to that new experience: the colors, the photography, the video direction. It was like “the music in a movie” as I understood at that time. It wasn’t only the band playing the song I could like, but watching their song’s elements, like the girl using the radio until it explodes, I could relate myself in that evolution from radio to TV. How many artists started to make their videos, and I started to explore more than I could from the radio? That’s a different experience because, from the radio, I couldn’t get their whole message (I was just a kid, and of course, I didn’t learn to speak English yet). Music videos came to express the whole message, it was an audio/visual message at one time.
That’s how I learned that there were more than just a simple song; there’s a worldview in their videos, depending on the song, they express their points of views and feelings: happiness, sadness, anger, melancholy, aggression, and even sex. I’m sure parents at that time were concerned about the innovation of the music communication to the generation I was part of in the early 1980s (my parents included).Videos like After The Fire’s “Der Komissar,” SSQ’s “Synthicide,” Madonna’s “Like A Virgin,” Missing Person’s “Words” (and yes, Dale Bozzio was the very first one who made a crazy image before Lady Gaga!), Stray Cats’ “Sexy at 17,” and more entertained my body, mind, and soul for those first years of the 1980s. But one music video that charmed me so deep inside was Suzanne Vega’s “Luka,” despite it being a song from the late 1980s. I really loved the video because of the deeper sadness all over the scenes: the creepy buildings with no sun, all blue color tones. This is, for me until now, the saddest video/song I could know.
During that adventure in those first years of the 1980s, I discovered my big taste in two very opposite genres: Pop and Heavy Metal. So it was like a kind of alchemy: trying to get along with two different worlds being a teen boy: listening to Madonna, Lynda Ronstadt, Olivia Newton, Sheena Easton, Stacy Q., and others, then I was listening to Iron Maiden, Ratt, Motley Crue, Twisted Sister, Quiet Riot, Poison, Judas Priest, etc. So yes, I can consider myself as an “weird” guy with such eclectic taste today: I can enjoy every music genre I could find from all over the world. What I said here was the cause that led me to the greatest experience in my whole life until today: 1985.
In 1985, I was in a private high school, where the students’ population was interracial: mostly latins, but there were North Americans, Chinese, and Korean people. So, of course, it helped me to get along with some American classmates to learn about more artists, then I experienced some underground Metal like the infamous Black Metal, with Venom, Sodom, and Mercyful Fate. But on the other side, I enjoyed mostly bands like Duran Duran, Eurythmics, Corey Hart, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Tears For Fears, etc.
But one day, during the break time, I was with some guys from a higher grade, exchanging some vinyl records, happened the very first encounter with the “best thing I could know”: there were three Chinese girls holding a record, discussing about some songs they liked, then I saw the LP cover, it was Loudness’s “Thunder in the East,” I wondered what’s in that album that those girls were interested in. I decided to get closer to them and ask about this record, then they showed it to me… I was surprised, I never heard about Japanese Metal until I saw that back cover: four long-haired Japanese guys with such an angered look, and I was a little interested, so I asked them to tell me more about them. What I remember was they telling that they were famous outside Japan (well, I never heard before!) and that record was a big hit at the moment. That was all the conversation I had with them. Days later, I was listening to a Heavy Metal program from a local radio, listening to Motley Crue, Judas Priest, Ratt, and others, and suddenly one song started to play that was totally unknown for me, the crunchy guitar intro, then the drums and the voice started, it got my whole attention, and I got up to turn the volume louder. From all the Heavy Metal songs I’ve been listening from my childhood until that night in the middle of 1985, I felt that song was the most different I’ve heard, and his voice was really passionate and so fit in the Heavy Metal rhythm, then the guitar solo blew up my head, and I remember I said something like “damn, they will be my fave!! I need to know who the hell are they!!!” Then the radio dj said at the end of the song that it was a rising hit in the radio those days, belong to “a Japanese band called Loudness.” Then I remembered those girls showing their record to me, and the title tracks: one was “Crazy Nights,” as I heard from the chorus. Next day, I asked them to borrow the record, and I could listen more. Then that night, spinning the record, I listened to some songs like “Crazy Nights,” “Like Hell,” “We Could Be Together,” and others, and I knew that my mind was changing so fast: I wanted to experience more from Japanese music, I felt that “if Loudness was good, then the other Japanese bands could be at least good or who knows if were better.”
There’s a great thing that happened after Loudness: Because of their major hit at USA and the rest of the world, so many bands from Japan started to be known (from the Metal scenes): Anthem, EZO, 44 Magnum, Mari Hamada, Earthshaker, etc. But one thing was totally unavoidable: I wanted to know about Pop music too… Then JPop and CPop came to stay with me forever: Onyanko Club, Yoko Oginome, Akina Nakamori, Naoko Kawai, and more. From Taiwan was Huan Yeh in 1987 and Yi Neng Jing in 1989, who became my big top fave artist after Akina Nakamori.
I started to go to a records store located in a hidden place from the capital city (when I say “hidden place,” I just meant that was inside a shoes store, upstairs, and finds just a small floor with lots of vinyl records and posters). I never forget those first times when I was like “hey, do you know about Japanese Rock bands just like Loudness?” Then a very nice guy gently told me more about the other bands from a catalog he showed to me (there were so many names that sadly I don’t remember most of them today). For the late 1980s, I had some Chinese friends who helped me to find music for me, especially my Chinese ex-girlfriend, then a Japanese girl in the late 1989 who sent some of those priceless gems to enjoy… it was the beginning of the adventure of collecting music that I still keep today.
Ironically, I’m a big fan of Japanese Pop, with artists like Akina Nakamori, Minako Honda, Naoko Kawai, and Yoko Oginome, and in the 1990s, I was into Speed, Hiro, Ryoko Hirosue, Every Little Thing, etc. Then today I love °C-ute and Airi Suzuki, who is my top idol in the modern music, and all happens thanks to the song “Crazy Nights” from Loudness back in 1985. I refer to that song as “the song that led me to be a Japanese music lover until today.”
Loudness is my biggest influence in my life.
The Asian Music Experience 
First comment, yay! Just by reading your thoughts I can tell you’re a big music fan because you feel
music instead of just consuming it. It must have been difficult to sit down and write about a time in you life when you probably were full of wild teenage dreams that probably don’t mean the same to you anymore.
Let me tell you my story. I got depressed when I stopped going to Japanese classes because they opened a whole new world to me in terms of music. My first contact with J-pop was through female singers like Sakamoto Maaya, YUI and modern “girl bands” (rock-pop bands) that had a similar style to Princess Princess, Ann Lewis, etc.
After that I coudn’t stop thinking about music and general, not just Japanese music. And when I tried to tell my classmates and random people I met about the Japanese tunes I listened to, they smirked. I was too immature to understand if they were laughing or if they thought I was “weird” (you also used that word) so in order to protect myself and my tastes I hid inside myself. I devoted all my free time to appreciating albums and rarely went out, becoming a hikkikomori-like being. It also happened that I experienced something out of the ordinary: my ears were very sensitive I could barely stand hearing people laughing/talking or closing their car’s doors outside, so I was constantly covering them and yelling.
I became irascible and had problems making friends because I was afraid to be “left out” because I liked music they didn’t listened to. It sounds silly (and it was stupid indeed), but that meant I couldn’t go out with random people of my age because I knew they liked reggaeton better and I wanted to avoid any rumours that I might be gay if I talked too much about my “Japanese ladies”. Well, I didn’t want to go out with most of my classmates anyhow, because they were either too much otaku or too much “chata” for my taste lol. As you can see I was kind of arrogant at the time.
I went down a downward spiral and wished for death several times. I ended up joining an Asian music forum and that gave me the possibility to meet people like me (finally), but I discovered that some of these individuals were as lonely and miserable as me so I took distance to protect my self-esteem. The best memory I have is getting introduced to Morning Musume by someone. During the pandemic I could finally buy some tickets and watch two Japanese girl bands I liked from home. That was the most significant experience I had during those confinement days, and I don’t regret it at all.
At the end of 2018 I hit bottom again (dissatisfaction with my career because it doesn’t have international standards lol) so I went to the Japanese Embassy to do a test. The prize was a trip to several cities in Japan. I don’t give a fuck about tourism in general (going to the same places other people do. yikes, that’s boring!) but I wanted badly to win to show myself I was intelligent and didn’t deserve to received such a bad education in my career language courses. I ended up being one of three best scores on that test, and even though I didn’t win the prize I was okay with it. I’m not okay with my career classes yet because of reasons I won’t mention but let’s leave it up to this point since I don’t want to depress you.
Anyway, I want to go to Europe, Japan, and other places to see lives. You probably want to do the same, don’t you? I think Hirosue Ryouko is hot and I have a photobook of hers. I also like MAX, but the artists I listen to the most lately are Sakamoto Maaya, Ieiri Leo, Ryokuoushoku Shakai, and Official Higedandism. Hope you write more on here. Greetings!
LikeLike
Hey !!
Sorry for my so damn late reply !!!
But, I really liked your reply !! So you are in the same way as me by living the “strange lifestyle” since people cannot get the Japanese Music worldview, especially when live in any place outside Asia.
I wanna ask you: where are you from? some words makes me think you are from Latin America, maybe.
Interesting, you like Sakamoto Maaya, I’m planning to buy her music, but it’s so expensive. Ryoko Hirosue, Max, Speed and others were my favorites back in the 1990s. That’s cool you have that PB!
Yes, I plan to go to Japan, but only if I go to Philippines, then I may go to Japan from there and not only one time, but several times, depending of the plan I have in two years from now on.
I will be back to this blog, I have many things to share ! Thanks for visiting the blog !!
Aldi.
LikeLike
You are right, I live in Latin America lol. I’m busted!!! Happy new year from here!!!
If you don’t wish to acquire an American visa in order to go to Japan you can simply go to Mexico. Aeromexico takes you straight to Tokyo. That’s the way I went the first time last year. Took some time off to go to finally go, fuck yeah!
Yes, keep the blog fresh with new entries. Kind regards!!!
LikeLike