Earthly Stars (Unsung Heroes)

"Earthly Stars (Unsung Heroes)" (地上の星, Chijō no Hoshi) is a song that Japanese musician Miyuki Nakajima composed and recorded for the country's acclaimed television documentary program Project X -Chōsenshatachi-, which aired on NHK during the first half of the 2000s. It was released as a double A-Side single with "Headlight, Taillight" (ヘッドライト・テールライト, Heddoraito Tēruraito) in July 2000 and reached the number-one spot after 30 months, becoming one of the longest running singles in history of the Japanese Oricon chart started in 1968.[1]

"Earthly Stars (Unsung Heroes)"
Single by Miyuki Nakajima
from the album Short Stories (Tanpenshū)
A-side"Headlight, Taillight"
ReleasedJuly 19, 2000
GenreFolk rock, ambient rock
Length5:11
LabelYamaha Music Communications
Songwriter(s)Miyuki Nakajima
Producer(s)Ichizo Seo, Miyuki Nakajima
Miyuki Nakajima singles chronology
"Not Even Blinking"
(1998)		 "Earthly Stars (Unsung Heroes)" / "Headlight, Taillight"
(2000)		 "Ride on the Gentle Luminous Dragon"
(2003)
Music video
"Earthly Stars" on YouTube

History

After a couple of commercially lackluster studio albums were released, Nakajima left Pony Canyon, a record label she had belonged to since her debut. Double A-Side single "Earthly Stars (Unsung Heroes)"/"Headlight, Taillight" is the first release under the record label, Yamaha Music Communications, which was newly founded in 2000.

Both songs were originally written for the TV documentary series Project X: Challengers (プロジェクトX～挑戦者たち～, purojekuto X chōsenshatachi) which was aired on NHK. Akira Imai, a producer of the television program decided to ask Nakajima to write theme songs, because he was moved by lyrics of her 1998 smash hit "Another Name for Life".[2] Imai thought that her insight on the song coincided with concept of a documentary that reports unknown activities of obscure people, who built up the modern Japanese society. The program premiered in March 2000, and her theme song which features her distinctive vocals widely became known.

An opening and a closing theme on the program were released as the thirty-seventh single for Nakajima in July 2000, and both of them also appeared on her 28th studio album Short Stories released in November 2000. In 2004, Nakajima re-recorded "Earthly Stars" on her studio live album and DVD entitled Miyuki Nakajima Live! -Live at Sony Pictures Studio in L.A.-, released in the following year. Utatabi, her 2008 live album released on CD and DVD also includes a live recording of "Earthly Stars" performed in December 2007.

Reception

"Earthly Stars (Unsung Heroes)" / "Headlight, Taillight" debuted at the number-15 on the Japanese Oricon Chart, in excess of 35,000 copies sold.[3] It became a smash hit because of the long-lasting popularity of the TV documentary program, remaining on the Oricon charts for more than two years.

On 31 December 2002, Nakajima made her appearance on the annual NHK music program Kōhaku Uta Gassen. Here she performed "Earthly Stars" from the tunnel in Kurobe dam, Toyama Prefecture. Nakajima's performance recorded the highest audience ratings from the program in 2002. After appearing on the show, the single began climbing the charts again, reaching #1 in January 2003.[1] The single was later certified to have sold more than a million copies.

Cover versions

Earthly Stars (Unsung Heroes)
YearPerformerAlbumGenreNotes
2003Various
(Nobuo Furukawa, Toshihiro Nakanishi,Chuei Yoshikawa,Hideo Yamaki)		the most relaxing feel 3; Peace of mindEasy listening
2003Richard ClaydermanClayderman Plays Antique PianosEasy listening
2003Twelve Girls BandBeautiful EnergyEasy listening/worldalso appeared on their 2004 Eastern Energy album released in the U.S.[4]
2003Julia FordhamNakajima Miyuki Tribute; Yourself...Myself...sung in English lyrics written by Justin Tyme
2004Fuyumi SakamotoZenkyokushūEnka/kayokyoku
2005Michiko ShimizuUta no AlbumParodyas a part of the track "Utahime Medley"
2007Aya Endo (as Miyuki Takara)Lucky Star Ending Theme CollectionAnime soundtrack
2009Demon KogureGirls' Rock ~Tiara~Heavy Metal
2009Dr. Metal FactoryCover Metal NowHeavy Metal

Headlight, Taillight
YearPerformerAlbumGenreNotes
2001Takashi ObaraTry! Try! Try! Piano yo Utae Special; J-Pop Tokushū 2001Easy listening
2003Janis IanNakajima Miyuki Tribute; Yourself...Myself...Folksung in English lyrics written by Ian[5]

The song Earthly Stars was sung in karaoke form at the end of Episode 7 of the anime Lucky Star. It was sung by a character named Miyuki Takara, voiced by Aya Endo. (see also: List of Lucky Star albums)

The song is also used in the Suntory Boss Commercial featuring Tommy Lee Jones.

The song Headlight/Taillight is used in the anime Nichijou (Part 79)

The song was used in the 15th season of the show GameCenter CX, in the segment Project CX, a segment about Famicom peripherals. Miyuki Nakajima sings the song with lyrics related to the featured peripheral.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Miyuki Nakajima, arranged by Ichizo Seo

  1. "Earthly Stars (Unsung Heroes)" (地上の星, Chijou no Hoshi) – 05:11
  2. "Headlight, Taillight" (ヘッドライト・テールライト, Heddoraito Tēruraito) – 04:58
  3. "Earthly Stars (Unsung Heroes)" (地上の星, Chijou no Hoshi) [TV mix] – 05:11
  4. "Headlight, Taillight" (ヘッドライト・テールライト, Heddoraito Tēruraito) [TV mix] – 04:58

Personnel
  • Miyuki Nakajima - vocals
  • Ichizo Seo - keyboards, strings arrangement & conduct
  • Hideo Yamaki - tomtom, cymbals
  • Hideki Matsubara - bass guitar
  • Masayoshi Furukawa - electric guitar
  • Elton Nagata - keyboards, acoustic piano
  • Keishi Urata - computer programming
  • Seiichi Takubo - computer programming
  • Masatsugu Shinozaki - violin, concertmaster
  • Kiyo Kido - violin
  • Jun Yamamoto - violin
  • Yumiko Hirose - violin
  • Osamu Inou - violin
  • Kei Shinozaki - violin
  • Yu Sugino - violin
  • Naoyuki Takahashi - violin
  • Kathrine Cash - violin
  • Tsunehiro Shigyo - violin
  • Keiko Nakamura - violin
  • Machia Saito - violin
  • Masako Mabuchi - viola
  • Joshin Toyama - viola
  • Gentaro Sakaguchi - viola
  • Kaori Naruse - viola
  • Masaharu Karita - cello
  • Tomoya Kikuchi - cello
  • Masahiro Tanaka - cello
  • Susumu Miyake - cello
  • Yasuhiro Kido - background vocals
  • Fumikazu Miyashita - background vocals
  • Katsumi Maeda - background vocals
  • Toshiro Kirigaya - background vocals
  • Etsuro Wakakonai - background vocals

Chart positions
Year Country Chart Position Weeks Sales
2000-03 Japan Oricon Weekly Singles Chart (top 100) 1 183[6] 1.1 million+[7]
Oricon Weekly Singles Chart (top 200) 202[7]

Footnotes: Until expansion of the hit parade in December 2002, Oricon provided only the top-100 sales charts in general (except a more detailed magazine especially published for the music industry called Original Confidence)

gollark: See, the issue is that ++delete erases something from existence, but then transports you into a parallel universe where it was *not* erased.
gollark: Actually, it is.
gollark: Saved everyone?
gollark: ++list_deleted
gollark: Yep!

References
  1. "Search results of the Japanese Oricon Weekly Singles Chart, in the third week of January 2003". oricon.co.jp (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 2008-11-06.
  2. "Database of "Earthly Stars" on the fansite "Miyuki Nakajima Laboratory"". miyuki-lab.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2008-11-06.
  3. "Search results of the Japanese Oricon Weekly Singles Chart, in the fifth week of July 2000". oricon.co.jp (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 2008-11-06.
  4. "allmusic ((( Eastern Energy > Overview )))". allmusic.com. allmusic. Retrieved 2008-11-06.
  5. janisian.com, Janis Ian - Headlight, Taillight lyrics
  6. ""Nada Sousou" climbed the chart again". oricon.co.jp (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 2008-11-06.
  7. "Yamachan Land (Archives of the Japanese record charts) - Singles Chart Daijiten - Miyuki Nakajima" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2007-06-19. Retrieved 2008-11-06.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.