Morning Musume ( モーニング娘。 , Mōningu Musume. ? ) is a Japanese girl group, whose act generally revolves around singing and dancing to upbeat melodies. Sometimes referred to as Momusu ( モー娘。 , Mōmusu. ? ) , they are the lead group of Hello! Project, which is masterminded by Naoki Yamazaki and managed by producer Tsunku, who composes nearly all the lyrics and melodies of their songs. Currently, they hold the record of having the highest overall single sales (of a female group) on the Oricon charts.
Musume ( 娘 ? ) , in this context, means girl. The group is known for ever fluctuating line-up, with "graduations" and auditions held nearly every year. 2008 was the only year so far when no changes in the line-up occurred. Over the years, the group produced several splinter groups, and often worked with other Hello! Project acts, including Country Musume, Berryz Kobo, Melon Kinenbi, and v-u-den.
Since their expansion into the Chinese market in 2007, the group officially adopted the name Jou An Sao Nu Jou (Zǎo Ān Shǎo Nǚ Zǔ, Traditional Chinese:早安少女組, meaning, "good morning girl's group").
History
Japanese producer Tsunku started the group in 1997 through an audition for a female rock vocalist for his band Sharan Q. The audition was held on the Japanese TV show Asayan . The winner was Heike Michiyo, later to become a soloist under what would eventually become known as Hello! Project. Tsunku decided to form a girl group consisting of five of the runners-up: Yuko Nakazawa, Natsumi Abe, Kaori Iida, Asuka Fukuda, and Aya Ishiguro. They were issued a challenge to sell 50,000 copies of their demo single, "Ai no Tane," with just five days of promotion events. They managed the feat in four promotion days (spread out over November, 1997) in a very grassroots manner, and Tsunku began his mission to create the most famous all-girl group in Japan.
1998
In early 1998, the girls were ready with their first official single, "Morning Coffee." The success of this single (hitting #6 on the Japanese pop charts) brought them three new members known as the second generation: Kei Yasuda, Mari Yaguchi, and Sayaka Ichii, bringing the total member count to eight. The second single, Summer Night Town, was the first single of the new lineup—a mature pop tune about unsuccessfully attempting to hide one's true feelings. Their third single, "Daite Hold on Me!," continued in the same vein musically as Summer Night Town, and managed to hit #1 on the charts. Leader Nakazawa also started her solo career.
First Time was released in July 1998, featuring the singles "Ai no Tane","Morning Coffee" and "Summer Night Town".
That year, Tsunku also formed Tanpopo, the first subgroup of Morning Musume, with Kaori Iida, Aya Ishiguro, and Mari Yaguchi. Tanpopo touted slower, more mature songs.
1999
1999 kicked off with the group's fourth single "Memory Seishun no Hikari," failing to hit #1 but managing to snag #2 on Oricon (Glay's "Winter, again" was #1 for the week, with 1st week sales of 955,780 copies, while Morning Musume's Memory Seishun no Hikari's was 195,720). The song contained a rap section and intense vocal harmonization on the girls parts. This was Asuka Fukuda's last single with Morning Musume, making her currently the shortest-lived member at 2 years. Asuka claimed that she was leaving in order to focus on her studies, only to drop out of school soon after.
"Manatsu no Kōsen" was released in May and was a summer tune. It went to #3 on the charts, and the sales dropped by half from Memory Seishun no Hikari); Morning Musume's chart position was visibly lagging at the time, their sixth single, "Furusato," only sealing the fact. Natsumi Abe sang the entire song "Furusato", with the other members harmonizing discreetly. This single was #5, and the sales once again decreased by half.
Second Morning was released in July 1999, and contained the singles "Daite Hold on Me!," "Memory Seishun no Hikari," "Manatsu no Kōsen," and "Furusato." "Daite Hold on Me!" and "Manatsu no Kōsen" were remixed.
Eager to add new life to the group, Tsunku held auditions for the third generation of Morning Musume. Two girls were expected to be admitted, but ultimately only Maki Goto was added. Goto was 13, the youngest member of Morning Musume at the time. The group's seventh single, "Love Machine," sold 1,646,630 copies, making it a major hit; it is still their highest-selling single to date. The song touted an image of Japan as the future "envy of the world" and cheered the masses during a period of economic recession. It was Maki Goto's first single and Aya Ishiguro's last. Its wild success dramatically increased the popularity of the group.
Soon Goto was paired with Kei Yasuda and Sayaka Ichii to form the subgroup Petitmoni (also known as Pucchi Moni). Petitmoni's first single, "Chokotto Love," rivaled the success of "Love Machine," selling over 1,123,610 copies.
2000
2000 first saw the release of "Koi no Dance Site," which hit #2 and sold over a million—400,000 copies away from reaching Love Machine's success. The single had the highest 1st week sales than any other Morning Musume's singles, an enormous amount of 600,860 copies. Even with this large number, the single did not reach #1 because Southern All Stars's biggest hit single, TSUNAMI, which sold total of 2.93 million copies, was released at the same date as Koi no Dance Site. Aya Ishiguro left the group before the single was released in order to marry Shinya, drummer of rock band Luna Sea, leaving the group with seven members.
The second event of 2000 was the creation of "shuffle units," in which all members of Tsunku's then 16-member family, Hello! Project, were shuffled around to form three one-time groups: Akagumi 4, Kiiro 5, and Aoiro 7. The idea was to battle for the highest single sales. This was achieved by Akagumi 4 which, to no surprise, boasted Maki Goto as the lead vocals.
In March, their third studio album, 3rd-Love Paradise was released. Despite having "Love Machine" and "Koi no Dance Site" on its track list, it did not manage to claim the #1 spot, but did sell more than 800,000 copies, making it Morning Musume's highest-selling studio album to date.
This year also brought a new generation search. The fourth generation consisted of Rika Ishikawa, Hitomi Yoshizawa, Nozomi Tsuji, and Ai Kago, lending a completely different feel to the group by adding the 12-year-old duo of Tsuji and Kago. After their debut single, "Happy Summer Wedding," (continuing the legacy of #1 hits with 990,950 copies sold,) Sayaka Ichii graduated to pursue her own music career. She became the vocalist of Japanese group Cubic Cross and later married fellow member Naoki Yoshizawa (no relation to Hitomi Yoshizawa).
With Ishiguro and Ichii gone, both Tanpopo and Petitmoni revised their lineups—Hitomi Yoshizawa joined Petitmoni, and Ai Kago and Rika Ishikawa were added to Tanpopo. Meanwhile, Mari Yaguchi had started performing informally with Ai Kago and Nozomi Tsuji in concerts as Mini Moni, a group tailored towards younger audiences with all the members being less than 150 cm (about 5 ft) tall. Mika Todd of Coconuts Musume was later added into the group and Tsunku made them official. Their debut single, "Minimoni Jankenpyon!," was a #1 hit on the Oricon.
As an idol group, they were extremely successful, drawing comparisons to the popularity of former girl idol group Speed. "I Wish" and "Renai Revolution 21" (Yuko Nakazawa's last single) continued the trend of happy pop songs becoming staple hits for the group. Morning Musume also began their tradition of performing in musicals each year, breaking new ground as idols with their hit musical, Love Century -Yume wa Minakerya Hajimaranai- .
2001
In April 2001, group leader Yuko Nakazawa graduated to concentrate more on her solo career (stating her age as a factor as well—she felt it was limiting her ability to meet the physical demands of the group's activities) making Kaori Iida and Kei Yasuda Morning Musume's co-leaders. During this time, the Rika Ishikawa was "lent" out to the rather inactive group, Country Musume. She did not officially join, but she sang with them for a short period of time.
By July 2001 the string of #1 hits had yet to be broken with the release of the single "The Peace!." The Peace! was another somewhat bizarre pop tune, beginning with an almost fight song-like call and response, and featuring Rika Ishikawa as the lead. She had a dialog in the middle of the song, many solo lines, and took center in the dance and the cover shot. The promotional video echoed the song's strangeness by placing the group in the middle of what appeared to be a gigantic public bathroom, displaying the girls dancing amongst the urinals and posing for photographs in the stalls; supposedly as a response to hidden camera footage of the members that had recently surfaced, filmed from a toilet in their production offices.
At the end of January 2001, the best selling Hello!Project album to date, at 2,259,510 copies, was released: "Best! Morning Musume 1." It featured 15 tracks, the only original song being "Say Yeah! -Motto Miracle Night-."
At the end
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