Japanese singer-songwriter and actress
Y?ko And?
安藤裕子
|
---|
Birth name
| 安藤 裕子
(And? Y?ko)
|
---|
Also known as
| Uchary Andrew, Nee-yan
|
---|
Born
| (
1977-05-09
)
9 May 1977
(age 47)
|
---|
Origin
| Kanagawa
, Japan
|
---|
Genres
| J-pop
|
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Occupations
| Singer, songwriter, record producer, composer, actress
|
---|
Instruments
| Vocals, guitar
|
---|
Years active
| 1999?present
|
---|
Labels
| Cutting Edge
(2003?2016)
Pony Canyon
(2020?present);
YS corporation(2003-2016)
DG AGENT(2017-2019)
Horipro
(2019-)
|
---|
|
Website
| Andrew Page
|
---|
Musical artist
Y?ko And?
(
安藤 裕子
,
And? Y?ko
)
(born 9 May 1977) is a Japanese singer-songwriter and former actress. And? is part of the
Horipro
talent agency.
[1]
Biography
[
edit
]
Early life and career
[
edit
]
Born in
Kanagawa Prefecture
, as a child, music was never a special hobby of And?; rather she had more of an interest towards drawing. During her college years, driven by her strong interest in creating things, And? decided to pursue a film making career. However, unable to catch a break with the studios, she then followed her friends and family's advice to join a talent agency in hopes of becoming an actor. This landed her a few spots as an
extra
in TV dramas.
One of the auditions for a play she passed during her Junior year at
Ferris University
required her to sing on stage. At that time, one of the evaluators was
Oricon
music charts founder S?k? Koike and by his recommendation, she decided to pursue a career as a singer-songwriter.
Before debuting as a singer, And? appeared as a regular in the popular TV drama "
Ikebukuro West Gate Park
" (2000) and the 1999 movie "
Saimin
".
Debut and success
[
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]
In 2002, And? sent film director
Yukihiko Tsutsumi
, whom she had gotten to know on the set of "Ikebukuro West Gate Park" a demo tape of "Rinjin ni Hikari ga Sasu Toki". Upon hearing her demo, Tsutsumi decided he had to include it in the movie he was then directing,
2LDK
, as ending theme. She was credited as Yuuko Ando
(
安藤ゆう子
)
.
In July 2003, And? debuted under the
Avex
-owned sub-label, Cutting Edge, with the mini album "Sally". That same year she performed live for the first time at a convention concert held for Avex shareholders.
In November 2005, And?'s "Nouzenkatsura (Reprise)" was used in
Gekkeikan
's commercial for the "Tsuki" liquor. Because And? was not credited in the actual commercial, the company was flooded with inquiries from people wanting to know the name of the singer, who for a period was confused to be
Clammbon
's Ikuko Harada. The song, based on a poem written by her grandmother over the loss of her husband, propelled And?'s second full album,
Merry Andrew
into the Top 10. The album was certified gold with over 100,000 copies sold. Following the success of the song, And? was branded by the media as the "late-blooming princess" and "singer-songwriter of the next generation".
In December 2006, And? embarked on her first live tour.
In April 2009, she released her first compilation album which featured a variety of songs handpicked by And? herself. That same year, she wrote and performed the ending theme song, "Paxmaveiti", for the
Nintendo DS
video game
Professor Layton and the Last Specter
.
[2]
On 8 August 2010, she appeared at the World Happiness 2010 rock festival in Tokyo.
Artistry
[
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]
Recording process
[
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]
And? writes and composes almost all of her songs, except for the occasional
covers
and collaborations with other artists. And?'s recording process consists of writing lyrics and composing melodies which she then records
a cappella
and passes over to Ry?ji Yamamoto who is responsible for all her songs' arrangements. Yamamoto arranges Ando's demos based on these recordings. Pre-production meetings are held with Yamamoto, And? and her producer, Yuji And?, where they decide on the final direction for a track and select the musicians for the recording.
Influences
[
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]
Like many other singer-songwriters before her, Ando's greatest influence is
Chara
, whom she first discovered through a friend in high school. For her big audition at Avex, And? sang Chara's "Break These Chain". Another artist And? listens to and lists as influence is
Naoko Ken
. Her lyrics tend to have
happy endings
. This has also been remarked in an interview by movie director and friend
Yukihiko Tsutsumi
, when he called her a "big happy end freak". Another influence is
Yellow Magic Orchestra
, whose 1983 song "
Kimi ni Mune Kyun
" she covered in her 2009 record
Paxmaveiti
.
[3]
Collaborations
[
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]
In recent years, And? has started composing and writing for other artists, such as
Yui Aragaki
and Hisayo Inamori, as well as collaborating with them on her own songs. And? also often records covers of songs from the 70's and 80's for her singles which she calls the "serious adult covers series".
Character
[
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]
- Since her debut, And? has been blogging on her official website under the name of "Nee-yan", which her staff and fans have adopted as a nickname for her.
- She has a hard time managing stress and pressure and is said to often feel ill and nervous before going on stage. She enjoys performing however dislikes MC-ing.
- The only instrument she can play is the basic rhythm guitar.
- On her radio show, she is known for answering her listeners' questions in a very direct and honest manner.
- Ever since her debut, And? has taken charge of her own make-up and styling. This has appealed to female fans and landed her many fashion magazine gigs.
- On her first appearance on the
Music Station
television program, she revealed she that prefers staying indoors and seldom leaves her home.
- And? takes part in the creative process for many of her music videos and has collaborated with many directors on MVs such as "Sally", "Dramatic Record", "Wasuremono no Mori", "Rinjin ni Hikari ga Sasu Toki" and "Utai Zen'ya". She also draws many of her CD covers, for which she is credited as Uchary Andrew.
- As a child she loved watching the
Kon Ichikawa
directed "
Kosuke Kindaichi
" series and since then has been a fan of novelist
Seishi Yokomizo
's work, to the point of creating a special corner called "Yokomizo Seishi no Nazo wo Toke."
(
?溝正史の謎を解け。
,
Solve the Yokomizo Seishi Mystery.
)
on her J-Wave radio show "Oh! My Radio" .
- She attended the same middle and high school as fellow singer-songwriter
Hitoto Yo
.
- Yukihiko Tsutsumi is often seen at her concerts and has branded her the "best female singer of the last few years" on his blog.
- She is allergic to
crustaceans
and therefore does not eat lobster or crab. She also dislikes bananas.
- She often cuts her hair haphazardly, which she ends up regretting most of the time.
- When driving her car, she gets angry easily, and when she is, she switches to the Kansai dialect, which she was brought up speaking.
- She dreams of one day building a home where she can live happily with her family.
- On the morning show "
Mezamashi TV
", she commented on sharing the same name pronunciation as news anchor
Y?ko And?
, saying "I feel inexcusable for having the same name as such a well-rounded person, (compared) I'm a pretty useless human being".
- In May 2011, she announced that she was pregnant with her first child on her official blog. Ando announced the birth of the child in the October of the same year.
[4]
Discography
[
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]
Singles
[
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]
Year
|
Information
|
Weekly
Singles
Chart
|
Album
|
2004
|
Mizuiro no Shirabe
- Japanese Title: 水色の調べ
- Released: 23 June 2004
|
139
|
Middle Tempo Magic
|
2005
|
Anata to Watashi ni Dekiru Koto
- Japanese Title: あなたと私にできる事
- Released: 27 April 2005
|
103
|
Merry Andrew
|
Lost Child
|
109
|
Samishigariya no Kotobatachi
- Japanese Title: さみしがり屋の言葉達
- Released: 5 October 2005
|
35
|
2006
|
TEXAS
|
45
|
shabon songs
|
The Still Steel Down
- Released: 25 October 2006
|
43
|
2007
|
Unabara no Tsuki
- Japanese Title: 海原の月
- Released: 17 October 2007
|
12
|
chronicle.
|
2008
|
Parallel
- Japanese Title: パラレル
- Released: 19 March 2008
|
20
|
2009
|
Paxmaveiti
ラフマベティ -君が僕にくれたもの-
- Released: 25 November 2009
|
26
|
JAPANESE POP
|
2011
|
Kagayakashiki Hibi
- Released: 30 November 2020
- Japanese Title: 輝かしき日?
|
53
|
Kanchigai
|
2015
|
360 ° Surround
- Released: 29 July 2015
- Japanese Title: 360°サラウンド
|
59
|
Itadaki Mono
|
2017
|
Ame to Pantsu
- Released: 3 June 2017
- Japanese Title: 雨とぱんつ
|
?
|
ITALAN
|
2018
|
Tantei Monogatari
- Released: 8 April 2018
- Japanese Title: 探偵物語
|
Kore de ? nda yo
- Released: 8 August 2018
- Japanese Title: これでいいんだよ
|
2019
|
Koish?
- Released: 12 June 2019
- Japanese Title: ?しい
|
Barometz
|
Kan
- Released: 27 July 2019
- Japanese Title: 鑑
|
2021
|
Sh?geki
- Released: 3 February 2021
- Japanese Title: 衝?
|
49
|
Kongtong Recordings
|
ReadyReady
- Released: 10 August 2021
- Japanese Title: ReadyReady
|
?
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Studio albums
[
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]
Albums
[
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]
#
|
Information
|
Weekly
Albums
Charts
|
Sales
|
1st
|
Middle Tempo Magic
- Released: 8 September 2004
|
64
|
?
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2nd
|
Merry Andrew
- Released: 25 January 2006
- Chart Run: 13 weeks
|
10
[5]
|
30,000 copies
|
3rd
|
shabon songs
- Released: 14 February 2007
- Chart Run: 6 weeks
|
6
|
30,000 copies
|
4th
|
chronicle.
- Released: 21 May 2008
- Chart Run: 7 weeks
|
11
|
32,217 copies
|
5th
|
JAPANESE POP
- Released: 8 September 2010
- Chart Run: 7 weeks
|
10
|
18,000 copies
|
6th
|
Kanchigai
- Japanese Title: 勘違い
- Released: 28 March 2012
- Chart Run: 4 weeks
|
16
|
?
|
7th
|
Good-Bye
- Released: 2 October 2013
- Chart Run: 4 weeks
|
13
|
6,559 copies
|
8th
|
Anata ga Neteru Aida ni
- Japanese Title: あなたが?てる間に
- Released: 28 January 2015
- Chart Run: 4 weeks
|
29
|
?
|
9th
|
Itadaki Mono
- Japanese Title: 頂き物
- Released: 2 March 2016
- Chart Run: 3 weeks
|
21
|
10th
|
Italan
- Released: 27 June 2018
- Chart Run: 2 weeks
|
58
|
11th
|
Barometz
- Released: 26 August 2020
- Chart Run: 2 weeks
|
44
|
12th
|
Kongtong Recordings
- Released: 17 November 2021
- Chart Run: 1 weeks
|
47
|
Mini albums
[
edit
]
- Sally
(9 July 2003)
- And Do, Record.
(28 January 2004)
- Acoustic Tempo Magic.
(12 March 2014)
Cover albums
[
edit
]
- Otona no Majime na Cover Series
(2 March 2011)
Compilation
[
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]
- The Best '03-'09
(15 April 2009)
DVDs
[
edit
]
- The Moon and the Sun.
(19 April 2006)
- Tour 2008 "Encyclopedia." Final
(7 January 2009)
Piano Score
[
edit
]
- Yuko Ando Selection For Piano
(22 July 2006)
Filmography
[
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]
Acting
[
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]
Movies
[
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]
- Mamotte Agetai!
(1999)
- Saimin
(1999)
- A Drop of the Grapevine
(2014)
- And So the Baton Is Passed
(2021)
[6]
- Kyrie
(2023)
[7]
Commercial
[
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]
Theme songs
[
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]
Radio
[
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]
- Splash Dream (Date FM, February 2004)
- Middle Tempo Magic (North Wave, July?December 2004)
- Oh! My Radio (
J-Wave
, October 2006 ? March 2007)
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
External links
[
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]