PINK LADY: BLOOD NEW
a review by Trooper Tru McCray
Ladies and Gentlemen… Pink Lady fans of all ages… welcome back to the Trooper’s Review! Today’s topic is the Album/CD that contained remixes of the first 10 Pink Lady hit singles: Blood New!
Sergeant Pepper (Pepper Keibu in English): The first time I heard this song recorded in English was from a random video on YouTube. That version had the original music from 1976. Now THIS VERSION had some 1980s-era [almost new-wave] music to back up this version. Upon hearing this version, I immediately visualized MIE & KEI performing this song in front of a downtown police building. Now, keeping in mind that they repeated the same verse in the English version… I visualized the Ladies performing in the daytime in front of the building for the first half of the song, and finishing off in the nighttime – with their fellow police officers dancing backup!
SOS: The backup music was very nicely done. For this version, I visualized the music video from the 2004 Dance Choreography Collection DVD.
Carmen ’77: Talk about adding a hip-hop feel to this song! Actually, the opening riffs started with a hip-hop drum beat – then went into a 1980s feel afterward. There were some parts of the backup music that made this song a lot more enjoyable.
Nagisa No Sindbad (Sindbad at the Beach): This version had a rather unique start; it started off with a whistle that was almost out of a 1970s-era Clint Eastwood film. Then the unique music began with the sweet voices of MIE & KEI.
Wanted (English Version): For this version, it was the same as when I first heard “Sergeant Pepper (Pepper Keibu)” in English. I only wish I could have fully understood the spoken parts of the song though…
UFO: Damn! Talk about remixing and taking this song to the outer limits (no pun intended) of outer space! Again, I visualized the music video from the 2004 Dance Choreography Collection DVD while hearing this song.
Southpaw: Being the rap musician that I am, I really enjoyed the drum section of this version. Personally I think the drums added a whole new flavor to Southpaw.
Monster: What – no evil laugh this time? That’s OK; this calls for another music video from the 2004 Dance Choreography Collection DVD… only this time, imagine the video starting with two monstrous roars before the opening riffs [and screams]! And just before the second and third choruses, think of the hard snare-drum shots as gun shots! Maybe it’s the Chameleon Army shooting the monsters dead.
Tomei Ningen (invisible Man): Not to downplay the original, but I personally enjoyed the remixed backup music for this version. Again, I visualized the music video from the 2004 Dance Choreography Collection DVD while hearing this song.
Chameleon Army: This version (in my opinion) was also very well remixed. The extra guitars gave it more of a 1980s rock feel.
All in all, these remixes were excellent. Not to downplay the originals, but these remixes make for a kick-ass bike-riding iPod playlist. Well my fellow Pink Lady fans, that will do it for this edition of the Trooper’s Review. I hope you enjoyed reading this as I have enjoyed seeing/hearing these wonderful performances. Once again, I thank my fellow Chicagoan Joshua Parris for bringing Pink Lady back to my attention back in 2009, I thank Jeffrey Branch for creating the “Pink Lady America” website, and I thank Mitsuyo Nemoto & Keiko Masuda for bringing Pink Lady to this world. And most of all, I thank all of you for loving Pink Lady as much as I do. See ya next time, Think Pink, and God Bless.