48 comments on “I was just your ordinary music lover until suddenly I now find that I’ve become an H!P wota. I don’t understand how this happened.

  1. Normally I’d probably listen to something like Bauhaus or Brian Eno… so here’s Bauhaus covering Brian Eno XD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sILbx5xbwPY Tsunku is one of the greatest composers in history for me because of his melodies and because he doesn’t limit himself to genres. If there’s something he can use anywhere in music for composition or production he’ll use it, even in the same songs. In this way he’s quite similar to Lennon & McCartney/George Martin when the Beatles were at their most creative, which I guess shows his influences well.

  2. 452: 名無し募集中。。。 2012/02/25(土) 11:50:53.46 ID:0
    >>441
    All eras of Tsunku♂. Although it might be true that the arrangements aren’t modern enough lately.

    Well there’s a complaint we’re more likely to hear the reverse of 2 years later.

  3. It’s insane how much of a H!P wota I am now. I don’t even really care about other idol groups to be honest. Sure I’ll listen to Akimoto’s 48/46 stuff, he’s my 2nd favorite for his music, old and new. But I love Tsunku’s music as much back then as I do today.

    Most recent album I purchased that was non-idol related was Imagine Dragon’s Night Visions.

    • Imagine Dragons is definitely my favorite band from current generation. I love all the songs in their album. Otherwise mostly I listen to old school rock/metal. One song that I keep come back to is Billy Idol : “Dancing with Myself”. I want to see Riho cover this song.

    • oh and i forgot, i love a lot of 80s stuff like kenny loggins, huey lewis and the news… aaaaaand I love 90s hiphop and rnb

    • Same with me, especially early Shiina Ringo release. Her music & lyric is still pure. Latest Shiina release, is kinda experimental sound i think, lots influenze of heavy jazz.

  4. Looking at my iTunes library: most recent song I bought was ‘Tous Les Mêmes ‘ by Stromae.
    http://youtu.be/CAMWdvo71ls

    I started with H!P and thought I could branch out to other idols. I was wrong. Other idols I find myself enjoying the music I inevitably later find out Tsunku had something to do with it (like ‘Knee High Egoist’ by Afilia Saga).

    Tsunku ticks every checkbox I’m looking for in music.

  5. 13: 名無し募集中。。。 2012/02/25(土) 08:06:52.69 ID:0
    It’d be great even if it was just the songs themselves that were good, but the members make them something even greater than the recorded versions when they sing them live. That’s why I’m hooked.

    60: 無し募集中。。。 2012/02/25(土) 08:32:23.40 ID:0
    Tsunku♂’s songs are like leather shoes. When you first wear them, they don’t really fit so they kind of hurt. But with time, as you get used to them, the uncomfortableness gradually disappears until suddenly you find that you can wear them just fine.

    Those two comments are just the perfect description for my love of Tsunku songs… Almost every night when i catching up on the newly subbed manga’s i havent read, i’ll play a H!P playlist with about 125 songs on random or just put on an old concert and just listen to it in the background

  6. I listen to all forms of music, last few albums i bought were Jay-z, paramore, imagine dragons, Jay cole and Bruno mars.. But right now i guess i listen to rock mainly, classic and new like Journey, Rush, Nirvana, Slipknot and Fun

    Favorite group right now is Paramore and this what i consider to be their best song

  7. I don’t really like the direction contemporary American music has gone in which was one of the reasons I started looking around for other stuff to listen to. So here’s one of my old favorites.

  8. Lately, I’ve been listening to Whiteberry & Judy And Mary. So I think it’s inclining to Punk Rock. But I’m listening to all kinds of music. Currently trying to play Moanin’ in the piano (jazz music. Blame Sakamichi no Apollon)

  9. i was just a regular indie hipster fag, until i read henkka’s blog. i don’t what the hell happened either.

    i suddenly also feel like drinking beer even though i quit alcohol years ago. damn you, henkka. what have you done to me?

    • Hehe. Thanks. I don’t mean to glorify alcohol use, but on the other hand, assuming alcohol’s not a problem for you, I don’t want to discourage anyone from partaking in it either. Personally, some of both my very fondest as well as my absolute least favorite memories in life were made under the influence of alcohol — hazy memories as they may be. It’s life lived.

  10. oh, forgot to post a song.not a “lately” song but an old favourite. REM | Pretty Persuasion.

  11. I am a complete pop geek and have always found it difficult to resist anything produced by xenomania.

    Girls Aloud- The Promise http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPrZ4yAdj8I

    I mean, to many people it seems that song just sounded like your average girl-group song. It has no repeated verses, a kind of ‘Wall of Sound’ thing going on and yet managed to worm it’s way into people’s minds. Good song if you ask me. :)

  12. I think that the main reason why people don’t want to, or are ashamed to listem to Tsunku’s songs is snobism. You know – “It’s not popular, why should I listen to it? It’s weird! What if others will laugh me off…?” – they must be thinking these kind of things. Not listening to music that attracts them, but to what’s popular or what others would approve. A mistake.

    When it comes to musicans – out of Japanese ones, I like Maki Otsuki. She sang two endings for One Piece and is (unfortunately) known only because of this. I also listen to Akeboshi, Shiina Ringo, Bump of Chicken, the late Ritsuko Okazaki, Aya Kamiki and my beloved Yukiko Okada.

    And Maximum the Hormone sometimes.

    When it comes to non-Japanese ones: I’m into jazz, so there’s no much connection with H!P.

    And I like t.A.T.u, too.

  13. been into shoegaze and psychedelic noise lately: きのこ帝国 (Kinoko Teikoku), Shelling, fraqsea, Coaltar of the Deepers, ゆらゆら帝国 (Yura Yura Teikoku)
    also diggin: indigo la end, ゲスの極み乙女。 (Gesu no Kiwami Otome.), lullatone

    i wanna link more than one heh :( look into those groups you guys
    fraqsea 『Trippin’』

  14. Around the time I discovered MM I was listening to lots of Stabbing Westward, Pink Floyd, NiN and so many other random tunes. then I found a torrent for ‘As For One Day.’
    Morning Musume became a big part of my entertainment. then the day came when I found out about YouTube that’s when I found utaban, fansubs and then Mano Erina.
    I wasn’t sure what an Idol was all about, until I saw the debut of ManoEri.

    still don’t know if being a H!P fan is a curse or a blessing.

  15. I’m a mix: classical, jazz, alt rock, progmetal, metal, jpop, jrock/vis kei, kpop, opm, it goes on.

    Just for a random sample of what I might listen to on any given day:

  16. I listen to just about all music genres, though RnB, hip hop, rap and similar usually don’t sound that great to my ears. After reading your other blog I’ve also fallen in love with Lamp, especially the song “今夜も君にテレフォンコール.” Some western bands I like are Opeth, Finntroll and Kalmah. As for other Japanese bands I’ve really gotten into Barbee Boys and Happy End lately.

    • Very happy to hear you enjoy Lamp. I don’t get why they have so few fans, both domestic and foreign. I’m so damn hooked on them right now. I love Opeth, too. Their 2005 Fall tour finale is still like one of the top 3 shows I’ve ever attended.

  17. I’m sure everybody is well acquainted with The Beatles. Or at least they should be. So I won’t be posting a Beatles song. Let’s see…

    Lately, I’ve been listening to my old Uriah Heep CDs. I’ve always liked The Magician’s Birthday, so here you go:

  18. Lately, as far as non-idol music, I’ve been very much into Tyler the Creator and Childish Gambino. And also I’ve been into a lot of Marty Friedman >__>), it’s been in my head for weeks.

  19. As expected from our master, Tsunku-san. He’s a real musician, composer, producer. His sound probably little bit more “Melodic” yet “poetic” style, same like Sharan-Q sound.

    As Sharan-Q vocalist, Tsunku enjoy his melodic-vocal style, that’s why in his creation as producer, he tend to choose “melodic-voice” type member to be main vocalist of every H!P group.

    This is unique fact in Idol world. Typical Idol group (usually) sang together with no main or dominant lead vocalist (or ace), Most essential thing in Idol is cuteness & look, but with that “unique” style of Tsunku-san, His “army” can sell more and more “talented” personal (in singing & dancing) than just cuteness package.

  20. gosh, what to post?
    I suppose I’ll put up the Cardigans, because I love them so much.
    (This is probably not the song you’re thinking of)

  21. I also like Bellring and Babyraids (obviously H!P is much stonger). If we ignore idols, KPP is very deep. Outside of Japan, taiwanese Mayday has wongerful lyrics, but isn’t it too mainstream?

    Lol, here is Russian, why not:
    The Mill
    http://youtu.be/P_g3sYGuuEA

  22. My preferences are more to classics and contemporary music You know even the latest Berryz single sounds like a speed up version of Star Wars’ “Imperial March” mashed up with famous C&C theme music “Hell March”

    • >mfw
      >there are canadian bieber fans here

      thanks, i hate canadians even more now.

  23. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dNd0CSn83Y

    I really like moumoon. They’re under avex and they’re definitely J-pop, but there is definitely something unique about them, maybe it’s the musical style, or Yuka’s voice, or a number of other things. The downside is that not a lot of their videos are on youtube anymore. I linked a fan-made video with one of the songs I like a lot.

  24. I hope there’ a surplus of Tsunku threads like this. I love Terada appreciation.

    Lately I’ve been listening to school food punishment. (They broke up, but I recently found out their vocalist has new band, la la larks, and they seem to have a bit of the same sound to their music as well.)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgRH9BpRCVQ

    I’ve also been listening to Kikuo, a Vocaloid producer, but uh…his lyrics are a bit…odd.

  25. I’m on board with all the pro-Tsunku comments. Which is one reason why I’m baffled by AKB’s success. Another reason is the idols themselves are more distinctive one to the other.
    I don’t hate AKB. It’s just my preference for H!P is such that there’s not much point to paying AKB any attention.

  26. I think this is the best comment in the whole article :)

    “60: 無し募集中。。。 2012/02/25(土) 08:32:23.40 ID:0
    Tsunku♂’s songs are like leather shoes. When you first wear them, they don’t really fit so they kind of hurt. But with time, as you get used to them, the uncomfortableness gradually disappears until suddenly you find that you can wear them just fine.”

    I was listening to the likes of Hikki, Ai-chin and BoA before I discovered H!P :)

  27. PRINCE PRINCE & PRINCE! Closest musical genius in terms of prolific, crazy and melodic songwriting there is!! Zappa & McCartney too…but there are just so many similarities to Prince it’s stunning, not least of all the symbol thing!

  28. Really happy to see “Semi” mentioned in the original thread, easily my favorite Berryz song, and one of my all time favorite H!P songs. Another song that sums up how Tsunku just doesn’t GAF is “Dekiru Onna” form the “Ai Araba It’s Alright” single. Who the hell gives a song like this to, at the time, the leading idol group in the country?

    I was listening to mostly jazz and classical when I discovered Jpop and Morning Musume back in 2001, and that because I was just tired of western rock and pop. I’ve been a musician all my life and have pretty disparate tastes in music, and while I like a lot of idol songs, no single composer of the genre comes close to Tsunku, IMO. I don’t really think of him as a great idol composer, honestly, but simply a great composer. His run from 1999 through 2003 — writing for every H!P group and soloist — was just insane. Everything he touched was gold.

    • I, too, originally sought out to discover J-pop and H!P because I was tired of the (at the time) current mainstream Western rock and pop (and in extension, the metal and prog rock I’d been listening to up until then to escape from Western rock and pop). I think that might be how it happened with quite a lot of J-pop fans actually.

      And “Semi” and “Dekiru Onna” are awesome songs. Definitely some of H!P’s best for me.

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