“Genki Songs Best 120” ranking and more!

Music Station aired on 04-01-2011.

Recently watched the Music Station that aired on April 1st.

The guest list for this airing included Arashi, AKB48, B’z, EXILE, KAT-TUN, PUFFY, and Nakashima Mika. Two of the most popular boy idol groups, the currently biggest girl idol group, the 14 member three consecutive Japan Record Award winning group EXILE, and B’z all on one show?! Can you say hell yes :)? PUFFY is also a big name artist but I don’t care too much for them or Mika.

I’m very happy B’z finally FINALLY decided to make an appearance…it’s been about three years since their last appearance (around the time I got into them). B’z and AKB48 both debuted their new songs too :). A guest list loaded with this many big names is always a treat! For once I actually watched through the whole show save for skipping commercials and one performance.

This was a 3 hour special featuring a huge ranking of 120 songs. As a result, the file size was a whopping
18 gigs xD. I believe they do these rankings based around a certain theme at least twice a year. The theme of this one was songs that are cheerful and encouraging for the victims of the recent earthquake disaster, hence “genki” (or literally translated, “well”). I highlighted some of my personal favorites that made it into this list.

120. KAN – “Ai wa Katsu” (1990)
119. NEWS – “Kibou ~Yell~” (2004)
118. mihimaru GT – “Kibun Joujou” (2006)
117. FUNKY MONKEY BABYS – “Ato Hitotsu” (2010)
116. Okamura Takako – “Yume wo Akiramenaide” (1987)
115. Aqua Timez – “Niji” (2008)
114. Arashi – “ARASHI” (1999)
113. ikimono-gakari – “JOYFUL” (2009)
112. Daiji Man BROTHERS BAND – “Sore ga Daiji” (1991)
111. globe – “DEPARTURES” (1996)
110. Candies – “Haru Ichiban” (1976)
109. Fukuyama Masaharu – “HELLO” (1995)
108. Nakamura Ayumi – “Tsubasa no Oreta ANGEL” (1985)
107. B’z – “Negai” (1995)
106. MORNING Musume – “Ren’ai REVOLUTION 21” (2000)
105. Hikaru GENJI – “PARADISE Ginga” (1988)
104. Mr.Children – “Mirai” (2005)
103. Misato Watanabe – “My Revolution” (1986)
102. KAT-TUN – “Ultimate Wheels” (2011)
101. Yuzu – “Niji” (2009)
100. PRINCESS PRINCESS – “Diamonds” (1989)
99. Shoujo Jidai – “Gee” (2010)
98. Kanjani Eight – “Zukkoke Otoko Michi” (2007)
97. L’Arc~en~Ciel – “HONEY” (1998)
96. Shounentai – “Kimi Dake ni” (1987)
95. Koizumi Kyoko – “Gakuen Tengoku” (1989)
94. BEGIN with AHONA STARS – “Egao no Manma” (2009)
93. Perfume – “POLYRHYTHM” (2007)
92. Tahara Toshihiko – “Dakishimete TONIGHT” (1988)
91. GLAY – “HOWEVER” (1997)
90. Saijo Hideki – “Young Man (Y.M.C.A.)” (1979)
89. TOKIO – “AMBITIOUS JAPAN!” (2003)
88. Moritaka Chisato – “LALA SUNSHINE” (1996)
87. Kuraki Mai – “Love, Day After Tomorrow” (1999)
86. KARA – “MISTER” (2010)
85. Shibugakitai – “100% SO Kamo ne!” (1982)
84. PUFFY – “Kore ga Watashi no Ikiru Michi” (1996)
83. WINK – “Ai ga Tomaranai ~Turn It Into Love~” (1988)
82. TRF – “survival dAnce ~no no cry more~” (1994)
81. KinKi Kids – “Zenbu Dakishimete” (1998)
80. ULFULS – “Ashita ga Aru sa” (2001)
79. Otsuka Ai – “Sakuranbo” (2003)
78. Hey! Say! JUMP – “Ultra Music Power” (2007)
77. Matsuda Seiko – “Akai SWEET PEA” (1982)
76. Koda Kumi – “WIND” (2006)
75. Sano Motoharu – “SOMEDAY” (1981)
74. V6 – “Ai Nanda” (1997)
73. HY – “AM 11:00” (2003)
72. Nakashima Mika – “LIFE” (2007)
71. SOUTHERN ALL STARS – “Katte ni SINBAD” (1978)
70. Arashi – “Kimi no Tame ni Boku ga Iru” (2001)
69. Hamasaki Ayumi – “Boys & Girls” (1999)
68. Masahiko Kondo – “GIN GIRA GIN ni Sarigenaku” (1981)
67. Kobukuro – “Niji” (2009)
66. JUN SKY WALKER(S) – “START” (1991)
65. TUBE – “SEASON IS THE SUN” (1986)
64. EXILE – “I Wish For You” (2010)
63. Shingo Mama – “Shingo Mama no Oha ROCK” (2000)
62. Utada Hikaru – “Hikari” (2002)
61. Makihara Noriyuki – “Tooku Tooku” (1992)
60. NYC – “Yuuki 100%” (2010)
59. ORANGE RANGE – “Hana” (2004)
58. Matsuda Seiko – “Aoi Sangoshou” (1980)
57. MONGOL800 – “Chiisa na Koi no Uta” (2001)
56. Shuji to Akira – “Seishun AMIGO” (2005)
55. TM Network – “Get Wild” (1987)
54. Nakajima Miyuki – “Chijou no Hoshi” (2000)
53. SMAP – “ORIGINAL SMILE” (1994)
52. T.M.Revolution – “HOT LIMIT” (1998)
51. Kudo Shizuka – “Mugon Iroppoi” (1988)
50. KETSUMEISHI – “Sakura” (2005)
49. Nishino Kana – “Best Friend” (2010)
48. Oguro Maki – “RARARA” (1995)
47. EXILE – “Choo Choo Train” (2003)
46. Superfly – “Yasashii Kimochi de” (2009)
45. Hitoto Yo – “HANAMIZUKI” (2004)
44. Okuda Tamio – “Iijyuu Rider” (1996)
43. AKB48 – “HEAVY ROTATION” (2010)
42. Yuzu – “Eiko no Kakehashi” (2004)
41. Every Little Thing – “fragile” (2001)
40. Bakufu SLUMP – “Runner” (1988)
39. Nakayama Miho & WANDS – “Sekaijuu no Dare Yori Kitto” (1992)
38. GLAY – “Ikiteku Tsuyosa” (1995)
37. PINK LADY – “UFO” (1977)
36. LINDBERG – “Ima Sugu Kiss Me” (1990)
35. J-FRIENDS – “People Of The World” (1999)
34. PORNO GRAFFITTI – “Haneuma RIDER” (2006)
33. Mr.Children – “innocent world” (1994)
32. aiko – “Sakura no Toki” (2000)
31. Tokunaga Hideaki – “Yume wo Shinjite” (1990)
30. THE BLUE HEARTS – “Hito ni Yasashiku” (1987)
29. Sawada Kenji – “Katte ni Shiyagare” (1977)
28. JUDY AND MARY – “Over Drive” (1995)
27. Chage and Aska – “YAH YAH YAH” (1993)
26. Kimura Kaela – “RIRURA RIRUHA” (2005)
25. Fukuyama Masaharu – “Niji” (2003)
24. B.B.QUEENS – “Odoru Ponpokorin” (1990)
23. Amuro Namie – “Chase The Chance” (1995)
22. Kome Kome CLUB – “Kimi ga Iru Dake de” (1992)
21. AKB48 – “Aitakatta” (2006)
20. Hamasaki Ayumi – “evolution” (2001)
19. DREAMS COME TRUE – “Ureshii! Tanoshii! Daisuki!” (1989)
18. KinKi Kids – “FLOWER” (1999)
17. Go Hiromi – “2 Oku 4 Sen Man no Hitomi” (1984)
16. MORNING Musume – “LOVE MACHINE” (1999)
15. Makihara Noriyuki – “Donna Toki mo” (1991)
14. SMAP – “Ganbarimashou” (1994)
13. Okamoto Mayo – “TOMORROW” (1995)
12. Arashi – “Happiness” (2007)
11. SOUTHERN ALL STARS – “Minna no Uta” (1988)
10. AKB48 – “PONYTAIL to SHU SHU” (2010)
09. GReeeeN – “KISEKI” (2008)
08. ikimono-gakari – “Arigatou” (2010)
07. ULFULS – “Gattsu da ze!!” (1995)
06. Arashi – “Hatenai Sora” (2010)
05. B’z – “ultra soul” (2001)
04. DREAMS COME TRUE – “Nando Demo” (2005)
03. Mr.Children – “Owarinaki Tabi” (1998)
02. SMAP – “Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana” (2003)
***** 01. ZARD – “Makenaide” (1993) *****

Whew…typing that out was a lot of work! It was good practice trying to romanize the artist names and song titles though!

Overall the ranking was a very diverse mix of songs spanning many decades, with the oldest being from 1976! A lot of the extremely popular and well-known songs that appeared on this ranking usually appear on the other ones as well. I was happy to see AKB had three songs in the top 50, and two of them were from 2010! The artist with the most appearances on this list was Arashi, not surprisingly. Something interesting I noticed was that there were four songs with the title “Niji” (or literally translated, “rainbow”) that appeared on the ranking. Very fitting given the theme no? I wasn’t too surprised that the #1 song was ZARD‘s “Makenaide”. Literally translated, it means “don’t lose”, so it’s extremely fitting for the theme of this ranking. As a matter of fact, the top 5 songs are all from very well-renowned artists that are held in the highest esteem, so there’s really no surprise at all :P.

I always enjoy watching these rankings. Since I’ve only been following the Japanese music scene from maybe 2007 onwards, it’s always really awesome to see stuff from the 70’s-90’s appearing and gives me great insight into what was “in” back during the day. It’s like a little history lesson. Everything from the old school hairstyles, to the quality of the sound, to the vintage style footage…it really gives a great sense of nostalgia. This is especially true when you see artists you currently listen to back in their prime at the apex of their popularity, or when they were still obscure and in the making. I look at them now and marvel at how far they’ve come, and gain a deeper appreciation for what they’ve contributed throughout the years.

I look forward to the next Music Station ranking!