Let’s Go J-Sound!

Above: Bibari Maeda in The Face of Another 1966

Bibari Maeda is a Japanese actress as well as a talented pop singer. The first film she appeared in was director Hiroshi Teshigahara’s The Face of Another (a.k.a. Tanin no kao, 1966). It’s an amazing movie and happens to be a personal favorite. It’s also finally being released in the US today on DVD from Criterion as part of their terrific Three Films By Hiroshi Teshigahara DVD Box Set. If you enjoy avant-garde Japanese cinema I highly recommend giving The Face of Another a look. You can find a review I wrote about the film here.

In The Face of Another, Bibari Maeda appears in two brief bar scenes and in the second one she gets to sing what sounds like a German drinking song. It’s a nice song and she sings it beautifully, but it’s a shame that she isn’t in the film more

According to her IMDb page Bibari Maeda was born in Canberra, Australia on August 8, 1948. I have read that she grew up in Kamakura (Kanagawa prefecture) in Japan and that her mother was Japanese and her father was American, but I haven’t been able to confirm it. I believe she first started performing in musicals in 1964 and gained popularity in 1966 after she started modeling for Shiseido Co.

Besides her small role in The Face of Another, Bibari Maeda also appeared in the Japanese monster movie Son of Godzilla (1967) and she recently did some voice acting in the anime film Vampire Hunter D - Bloodlust which are both available on DVD in the US.

I don’t know much about her recording career, but I do know she recorded popular singles with both Columbia and Philips in Japan during the sixties and seventies. It seems that most of the songs she recorded during that time were done in conjunction with Japanese bands or they were duets with male artists. To celebrate the release of the film The Face of Another with Bibari Maeda I thought I would share one of her best songs. It’s called Twilight Beach and it was performed by Bibari Maeda along with Munetaka Inoue & His Sharp Five. The song was released by Columbia Records Japan in 1967.

- Bibari Maeda/Munetaka Inoue & His Sharp Five - Twilight Beach

Bibari Maeda is currently signed with the Japanese talent agency Creem International and her official web page can be found here. According to that site she continues to perform in musicals and her last role was in a Japanese stage production of Thoroughly Modern Millie in April of this year.

- posted by Cinebeats

The Peanuts with the Japanese action star Sonny Chiba in the ’70s

There’s a new Japanese ’60s and ’70s Jpop group on last.fm that should appeal to anyone who enjoys the stuff posted in this blog. If you’re a last.fm member stop by and chat about vintage Jpop albums, various artists and whatever is on your mind. If you’re not a last.fm member yet, I highly recommend joining! It’s a great place to keep track of what you’re listening to and meet others who enjoy similar music.

Nihongo-a-go-go