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Ken's Bar : Ken Hirai LJ Community
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[17 Jan 2008|02:32pm] |
After releasing several singles such as "POP STAR", "By(e) my melody", "Aika (elegy)", "Kimi no suki na toko", "fake star", Knorr Cup Soup's CM theme song "Cry & Smile!!", J-WAVE's 20th Annniversary Song "Twenty! Twenty! Twenty!" and the Honey and Clover drama theme song "Canvas" Ken will finally release a new album "Canvas" on March 12th.
*If I'm mistaken, please correct me.
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| fake star PV |
[17 Aug 2007|10:21am] |
I uploaded it to sendspace as well, over here.
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[08 Aug 2007|09:47am] |
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Hey guys!
I'm Risa and I've been in a major Ken kick lately so I had to join the comm! Unfortunately it's been kinda dead for awhile now though ; A; I was hoping he would release a new album by now, since he's released a handful of singles but instead, there's a new single coming out September 12th! It's called "fake star" (kinda funny considering Pop Star) and is described as being up-tempo. Needless to say I'll probably be keeping this comm updated on further news!
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| New Single!! |
[15 May 2006|03:30pm] |
Title By My Melody
Release 2006.6.14.
Tracklist
01 バイマイメロディー (By My Melody)
02 hug
03 バイマイメロディー～less vocal～
Looking forward to it!! ^^
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| NEW SINGLE!! |
[10 May 2006|04:00pm] |
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8 months since his last single, Hirai Ken returns with his 24th single titled バイマイメロディー (Bye My Melody(?)). The title track will the the commercial theme song for "au by KDDI LISMO Music Store," and the single will also include the previously mentioned Kochakaden commercial song, hug
More info to come.
YAY FOR KEN~~♥
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| Ken's new song "hug"!! |
[17 Apr 2006|05:24pm] |
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MISIA//心ひとつ |
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Our pleas have been answered! Hirai Ken's new song, titled hug, will be the CM song for Kochakaden's new Royal Milktea drink. There is no announced release yet, but I don't think SME is that evil to not release it and make us wait even longer for a new Ken single.
You can watch the CM (and hear the song!) on Kochakaden's website. Go to the website, wait for the flash to load, when the faceless guy asks a question, choose the first option, then type in your name in the space provided. Another short flash sort of thing. Then click on the side where it says "Bar Lounge." Wait for it to load, when the faceless waiter asks you a question, choose either option, when a second question pops up, choose the upper option, then you can choose to watch the 15 second version (top buttons) or the 30 second version (lower buttons) and choose Broadband (left buttons) or Narrowband (right buttons).
I really like the song. It's a slow, casual-sounding song. Gah. Hope he gets the whole thing out soon!
Really hope it gets released soon. We need new Ken music!!
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| Hirai Ken: Third Highest Selling Solo Male Artist |
[11 Apr 2006|07:04pm] |
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According to ORICON, Hirai Ken's best album, Ken Hirai 10th Anniversary Complete Single Collection '95-'05 “歌バカ”, which was released last November, broke the two million copies mark recently, making the album the third highest selling album by a solo male artist, only next to Kawamura Ryuuichi's Love (released November 1997), and Oda Kazumasa's Jibun BEST (released April 2004). Both Oda and Hirai's albums are still charting currently.
On another note, out of the top 10 albums by a solo male artist, the sixth highest selling album was Hirai Ken's last album SENTIMENTALovers (which sold 1.6 million), making Hirai Ken the only artist to hold two positions on the top ten list.
http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/ranking/18171/
I think it's great how Ken's doing so well--he's definitely one of the best artists out there. But he just needs to get moving and pour out some new stuff!! The only things released last year were the POP STAR single and his best album >:O!! Argh. I want new Ken songs. But yay for him!
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| 10th Anniversary Photo Book |
[22 Feb 2006|08:31pm] |
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倉木麻衣//Honey, feeling for me |
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Hirai Ken is releasing a "10th Anniversary Photo Book" on 2006.3.3. The book is titled 10th Anniversary Special Photo Book 歌バカ一代 (Utabaka Ichidai; literally: first generation utabaka). The book will include pictures of concert, performances, PVs, and other pictures from the past, as well as new pictures. It will include 3 postcard, as well as "spiritual talk" (I'm guessing this is Ken's own thoughts and comments on his career over the past ten years).
While this is interesting, I'm really hoping for some new music from Ken. I just realized that the only new song he released in 2005 was "POP STAR" :O!
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| KH 100: "Introduction to the Utabaka" - Lesson #1 |
[02 Feb 2006|02:11pm] |
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For those of you who have never heard of Ken Hirai before, please visit this community's profile, as the mod has linked a few good websites that will give you a pretty good idea who KH is!
In a nutshell: KH is an impressive R&B artist in Japan who doesn't really look Japanese. X3 He claims that he's 100% Japanese, and not that I don't believe him, but.... ^^;
My translation project will last 23 posts, during which time I will be translating KH's comments with regards to each of his singles. Originally, I was very ambitious and thought that I'd be able to do in 23 days, but as I am working through this first post I realize that I WON'T MAKE IT. XD;; So bear with me, I will try to post the next one as soon as possible, but there's always work and course work that gets in my way. -__-||
A bit of background info: these comments come from KH's latest release, called "Utabaka", a compilation of his singles released between 1995 and 2005. My translations are based on the Chinese translations of KH's comments (which, obviously, are in Japanese); these Chinese translations came as part of the package. I don't know how accurate the Chinese version is in comparison to the Japanese version, but I will try to pick out any discrepancies/extra comments as I go along. Keep in mind though that I do not speak or write any Japanese. ^^;
I can honestly say that I've come to love every single one of the songs in this collection, even the ones that I may not have liked as much before. I encourage you to try listening to his songs, and see how you like them. ;D
( KH 100: LESSON ONE )
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[29 Jan 2006|04:55pm] |
I've been searching for this everywhere but have had no luck.
Does anyone have Ken Hirai 10th Anniversary Complete Single Collection '95-'05 “歌バカ"? If anyone has it, could you please please please upload it for me?
Much thanks in advance ♥
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| Suggestions for my upcoming "project" ^^ |
[13 Jan 2006|02:59pm] |
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I am planning on translating KH's Utabaka CD booklet that came with Utabaka. (duh..? ^^;)
I wanted to ask for some suggestions in terms of laying out each post, japanese typing software (or whichever is the fastest way for a non-japanese-aficionado to "type" japanese =P), or anything anyone can think of.
The basic idea is I will (or try my best to) post one entry every day starting soon (February 1 is the projected start date). The Utabaka CD features 23 singles, and in the CD booklet KH has attached his personal comments (that are pretty hilarious IMO), and this is part of an effort to spread some KH love. XD I will (pending mod approval) post each song along with each KH comment, but not the song lyrics, since they are readily available on the net.
Is this a good idea? Let me know! Thanks y'all. ^^V
And when I do start, I expect everyone to tell their friends to come visit~~
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| New Release!! |
[11 Dec 2005|12:44pm] |
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宇多田ヒカル//Passion ～single version～ |
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On Wednesday (7th), Ken Hirai Films Vol.8 “Ken Hirai 10th Anniversary Tour Final at Saitama Super Arena” was released.
The DVD contains his final performance of his "Ken Hirai 10th Anniversary Tour 2005" at Saitama Super Arena on July 17, 2005. The tracklist is as follows:
( Tracklist )
The limited first press edition of the DVD contains the first performance of his tour, "Ken Hirai 10th Anniversary Special Opening Stage," which took place on the day of his 10th Anniversary, May 13th, 2005.
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| KH fanclub magazines |
[01 Dec 2005|10:53pm] |
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Here's an introduction to the owner of a very soulful voice and a set of super cute dimples. XD
( Clue: I wanna be a pop star )
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| More clips + CM!! |
[29 Nov 2005|10:40pm] |
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ORANGE RANGE//re-cycle |
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First up, "Utabaka" commercial version five, featuring Hirai Ken!! Low | High
Next are two clips, the first one has Ken talking about POP STAR and Utabaka, and showed a brief clip of POP STAR's PV--if you haven't already seen it, it's majorly amusing. The clip is about 3 minutes long. The second video contains clips of all 23 PVs, and is around 25 minutes long. It is amusing to watch some of the earlier PVs--he was so young!! Haha. ^^"
Both of these clips open up in a player of their own, wait for the player to load, and then wait for the clip to load. Both clips will expire on December 28th, so I'm trying to see if there's a way to save the clips separate from the player. But so far, no luck. Anyway, enjoy these!!
Clip 1: Message from Hirai Ken: Low | High
Clip 2: Ken Hirai PV Digest: Low | High
The clips require Windows Media Player to play.
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| "Utabaka" CM!! |
[29 Nov 2005|12:20am] |
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宇多田ヒカル//First Love |
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As advertisement for his best album, Ken got four groups of celebrities to film commercials for him. Each of the commercials show the celebrities and their changes in the past ten years, accompanied by clips of "Hitomi wo Tojite" and "POP STAR." The catchphrase in the end of the commercial says "Everyone has an important 10 years."
The commercials are short and may not hold much interest to you (unless you like these people, of course), but I'm sharing them anyway. Files are played in Windows Media Player.
Nakamura Shidou (actor, kabuki performer): Low | High
Saama-zu (comedian group, I think?): Low | High
Lily Franky (artist): Low | High
Kameda Koki (boxer): Low | High
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| Ken Hirai 10th Anniversary Complete Single Collection '95-'05 “歌バカ” |
[23 Nov 2005|01:03am] |
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平井堅//style |
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Ken's first best album, Ken Hirai 10th Anniversary Complete Single Collection '95-'05 “歌バカ”, is released today (23rd) in Japan!!
Title: Ken Hirai 10th Anniversary Complete Single Collection '95-'05 “歌バカ”("Utabaka")
Release: November 23, 2005
Product: First Press: DFCL-1330・DFCL-1331・DFCL-1332
Regular Press: DFCL-1333・DFCL-1334
Retail: First Press: 4,200 Yen
Regular Press: 3,675 Yen
＊The first press of the album includes a third DVD disc, which contains PVs of all 23 songs featured on the album.
( Tracklist )
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| 平井堅 Hirai Ken: Complete Discography |
[23 Nov 2005|01:02am] |
Last Updated: 2006.5.15.
( Singles )
( Albums )
( DVDs )
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| Welcome!! |
[23 Nov 2005|12:53am] |
In celebration of Hirai Ken's 10th Anniversary and the release of his best album, I have decided to open a LJ fan community dedicated to him!! Which is really unfair, really, that such a talented artist did not have his own community until now. Well, I encourage all Ken fans to join and discuss and share their love for Ken!!
Here are some interesting facts that you might want to know: contrary to popular belief, Ken is not mixed blood--he is a full blood Japanese, it was reported so and he said so himself once in an interview. However, some now speculate that he might have Western blood from way back in his ancestry, but who knows? On the other hand, Ken has been reported many times to be gay (though he has yet to confirm/deny it), but even so, that doesn't make him any less awesome.
He first debuted in 1995 and released two albums, but they were not sellers. Because of that, he stepped behind the scenes for two years until he joined Sony Music Japan and released Rakuen, which became a big hit and sent him on his way to stardom. I think it is safe to say that Ken is the king of J-Pop, as no other single male J-pop artist could sell better and is more popular than he.
Other than an introduction post, this post is also used in case if anyone would like to contact me about the community. To clarify rules, submit affiliation, and all sorts of other inquiries, feel free to throw them in here!! Though I probably won't check back to this entry that much, I'll still try my best to give you replies!!
With that said, have fun here!
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