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When I was on my mission to Japan from 1990-1992, by far the most popular musical group was "Wink," a female duo comprised of Sachiko Suzuki and Shoko Aida.

They completely dominated the charts and buried the competition the whole time I was there. A lot of their work consisted of covers of previous songs, in Japanese of course, but their covers were invariably better than the originals (in my opinion).

Wink was characterized by angelic vocals and subdued dance routines. Their image was that of high fashion and an almost otherworldly elegance. To enhance the mystique, they almost never smiled (not because they were snobs, mind you, but as part of the act). And to top it all off, in contrast to the current American fare, Wink was able to do all this without ever showing a single stray inch of skin.

I'm a huge fan to this day. My favorite album is a collection of their singles that I got at an import store in San Francisco back in 1994.

So, to introduce you all to the magic and wonder that is Wink, here are some YouTube videos of theirs (God bless the Internet!). In the following videos, Sachiko is almost always to our left, whereas Shoko is almost always to our right. In addition, Shoko almost always sings first, whereas Sachiko almost always sings after the first chorus.

• A.I. ga tomaranai (Love never stops) This is the video of their very first hit back in 1988. They may look young, but Sachiko was 19 and Shoko was 18 at the time.
• Samishii Nettaigyo (Sad bedtime story) This is the video of their first #1 hit. Watch the whole video and tell me you haven't become a fan.
• New Moon ni aimasho (Let's meet under the new moon) This is my favorite song of theirs. It isn't a promotional video but rather a tape of a live performance (I saw the actual video in Japan and it totally kicked arse). The melodic vocals combined with the heavy bass gives this one of the best choruses I've ever heard. They're not lip-synching, either!
• Kitto atsui kuchibiru (Warm lips, I know) This is a very close second as my favorite Wink song of all. It's a video which I selected once from a video juke box while I was still in Japan. I only got 1/3 of the way through it before my ZL dragged me away. Now, almost 16 years later, I've finally gotten to see the rest! Watch this and tell me you're not hypnotized by their vocals.
• ~Boys don't cry~ Although this isn't my favorite song of theirs, it's definitely my favorite video, by far. They break tradition in a HUGE way and smile almost all the way through. It's a really upbeat and cute video. If you watch no other video on this list, watch this one!
• One Night in Heaven Another video (i.e., an official promotional video, MTV-style, as opposed to a tape of a live performance).
• Sexy Music Another video.
• Haitoku no Scenario (???) Yet another official video. Breaking tradition, Sachiko sings first.
• Voyage Voyage (as in "Bon Voyage;" you hear the words "Au Revoir" throughout the chorus.) A video of a song I hadn't heard until just a couple of weeks ago. Once more, God bless the Internet!
• Twinkle Twinkle Another video of a song I hadn't heard until just a couple of weeks ago. This is one of their later singles, back from 1994. It has an "end of an era" feel, so it's rather heart-wrenching for me to listen to.

When you watch the videos, you'll notice lots of links to other Wink YouTube uploads. These consist mostly of live performances of the videos I've already linked above (along with two brief interviews). So if you want to see more of Wink (and who doesn't?), those are available too.

So, there you have it! Wink--The official J-Pop group of MormonDiscussions.com. Are you a fan yet? :-)

You might also like the japanese band "The Pillows", they are more along the lines of alternative rock. But I've loved every song of theirs I've heard so far.

Watch the Wink videos. Are "the Pillows" superior or inferior to Wink?

Im at work at the moment, and my work computer is unable to play video's in any format (including flash) and has no speakers. (more a workstation than actual computer) Ill make sure to check them out when i get home at 8am.

very interesting i must say. I haven't heard good J-pop in a long time. I guess i would say you can't compair the two bands. the pillows are an alternative rock i guess, not j-pop. I don't think its fair to compair the two.

I just got done listening to a few of their songs on YouTube. I see what you mean; there's really no way to compare the two.

I'm not really into alternative rock; my wife, however, likes that sort of thing, especially in Japanese. I'll be sure to let her know about these guys.

LONG LIVE WINK!!!

At least it's good to know that America wasn't the only country into WEIRD clothes and dancing in the early 90's. I watched Boys Don't Cry, and it reminded me of those god-awful children's shows they released back then. I expected them to start singing about how vegetables are good for you.

Although, I wouldn't mind seeing them naked >.>;

You two ever listen to Losalios?

Keene wrote:At least it's good to know that America wasn't the only country into WEIRD clothes and dancing in the early 90's. I watched Boys Don't Cry, and it reminded me of those god-awful children's shows they released back then. I expected them to start singing about how vegetables are good for you.

In that case, you ought to watch a few of the other videos. They WON'T remind you of children's shows at all. Classy stuff.

Southern Redneck wrote:You two ever listen to Losalios?

Never heard of them.

UPDATE:

For the third song from the bottom, "____ Scenario," I finally located the official video! So it's no longer the low-quality live performace I had on there earlier. Woo-hoo!

The link is now updated.

Keene wrote:Although, I wouldn't mind seeing them naked >.>;

Wouldn't we all, Keene. Wouldn't we all.