Ok, I’ll be super honest here… I was probably only into J-pop group SPEED as much as I was because I was a huge fan of Takako Uehara.Β She was not a main vocalist and had hardly any lines, but I loved her style and thought she was really pretty.Β Despite being a weak singer, she actually had a fairly successful solo career and was the first member of SPEED to release a solo album!Β I loved her aesthetic, and the style of her songs suited her soft voice well.Β She also released photo books, so I guess she was more like an idol than the other members.Β Her first album was the first J-pop CD I ever bought (they are not cheap)!Β I bought all of her albums and photo books and even a calendar from Japanese bookstores like Kinokuniya.Β I miss the days when you could walk into one of those bookstores and they had all the newest J-pop CDs, as well as a preview station where you could watch short versions of the music videos.
Uehara’s second music video “Come close to me” (1999) really caught my attention, but looking back, it’s kind of a weird video. The song is nice, and still one of my favorite of her songs.Β “Empty” was the music video to promote her first album, “first wing” (2000).Β Though still mellow, it’s more dancey than her previous songs, and I thought it was catchy.Β It’s my favorite song off her first album.
Uehara’s fourth single “SWEET DREAMS” (2001) never made it onto an album due to a change of labels, which is unfortunate because it’s another one of my favorites.Β Her singing is a little stronger here.Β I also think she looks the prettiest in this video. πΒ After watching this I really wanted a gold bomber jacket… odd that I still don’t have one, considering they were in style a few years back.Β Haha.
“Kiss you Jounetsu” (2002) was Uehara’s first song after switching labels, and it was more of a Eurobeat style, which was big with Avex at the time.Β The change in style was quite a surprise, but I love Eurobeat, so I loved the song.Β She struggles to sing it live though, especially having to sing and dance at the same time.
My absolute favorite Takako Uehara song is “GLORY -kimi ga iru kara-” (2002), which I believe was an ending song used in the anime One Piece (I never watched it).Β She cut her hair, though!Β It made me very sad.Β After cutting her hair, she adopted a more mature image (more so in later videos)… which feels very strange when I think back on it, because she was only 19!Β She was 21 years old when she released her last single in 2004.Β Many others would be just starting their careers at that age!Β I guess she lasted a bit longer than SPEED’s original run, though.Β She wasn’t the greatest singer, but I enjoyed her music a lot.