Help me sell Ringo to the world!
 

So, I'm a presenter on a small UK radio show based on japanese alternative music, and, since she's probably my favourite artist to fall under that umbrella, I was thinking of dedicating a half-hour slot to Ringo and just generally trying to get some new people into her output (we're on an anime radio station so I'm inclined to think that our listeners probably aren't going to be too familiar with her). I'd like to think I have a decent grasp on her main five albums but outside of those my knowledge certainly isn't as comprehensive as anybody here. Also, I'm just interested in what you guys have to say.

So if you had around half an hour to play whatever Ringo tracks you wanted to a few hundred people who might not be familiar with her output, what would you pick? (Let's say six or seven tracks although you're welcome to pick more, or less.)

My only stipulation is that if possible, try and pick a broad range of stuff from across her career. As much as I'd love to just play half an hour of KZK to someone, that would be doing her a disservice as an artist. Also at least one TJ track suggestion would be cool cause I'm really not familiar with them, just Adult.

There are a lot of ways you could play this, depending on what you're going for. Not knowing the intended audience, it's hard to choose.

Consider for example:

Should every song be written, composed, and sung by Ringo herself?
Or, are songs written/composed by her band mates OK?
What about covers?

Do you want mostly accessible tracks, that casual listeners might enjoy?
Or, do you prefer to go into more depth, with tracks that might take even a seasoned listener a while to appreciate?

Do you want to showcase Ringo's versatility, with tracks in a variety of different styles?
Or, do you want to present the idea that Ringo has a certain unique style or theme, and play tracks that exemplify this?

Do you want to stick to "Western-sounding" tracks, or include tracks that are more "Japanese"?

Do you want to include studio tracks only, or are live tracks on the table as well?

Singing in English: yea, or nay?

Agree with above.

I think it would be hella cool to start with Marunouchi Sadistic and end on Expo ver.

Or something like:

Tadashii machi
Ishiki
Bokoku jouchou
Chichinpuipui
Konya wa karasawagi/kamisama, hotokesama
Kurumaya-san/bokoku jouchou
Ariamaru tomi

I feel like these should be pretty listenable songs...? I honestly want to include tsugou no ii karada, remote controller, and mellow... If it were me, I would honestly just spin favorite tracks and hope that people got more interested than put off :P

I'm thinking half an hour is too short. Our show is an hour and a half long but I don't wanna bore my audience if they don't like her. Nonetheless:

Well, one of my co-hosts is insisting that we play OSCA, so I'm okay with stuff she didn't write. Also while I didn't really like It Was You very much, I think it's seriously cool that she worked with Burt Bacharach and that might get a listener's attention.

I can't say I'm a fan of Utaite Myouri enough to have the final say on that. What do you think?

I'm inclined to lean towards the former, although we play some pretty weird stuff on our show so I'm not averse to that at all. Ideally some of both.

Personally, I think her versatility is a huge part of what makes her special, so I was gonna head in that direction. Something more poppy, something weirder, something more jazzy, etc.

Both.

Live tracks are absolutely on the table. I'd really like to play the ZCS version of Yattsuke Shigoto.

I had HF Kuki, JL005, Karada, Mayakashi Yasaotoko etc. on my list of possible inclusions, so I'm going to go with yea.


I didn't really think about doing something like that with different arrangements, could be a neat idea.

Bolded the ones I have on my list.

Sure, but I thought it'd be fun to get you guys involved. Your collective knowledge is a lot better than mine.

Ha I had such a huge post written and then I decided to delete it all and just write:

Better include Souretsu

I wish you'd kept the long post. See, Souretsu is a really tough sell for me. It's probably my favourite Ringo song, full stop. I adore Souretsu. But at the same time, I feel like floating it outside of the rest of KZK is a little bit wrong. It's the closer of the album and it's the culmination of everything that happens in the 40-odd minutes before it. Playing it feels kinda like giving someone the cherry on top without giving them any cake. I was probably going to go with Meisai or Ishiki cause I feel like they work best as standalone tracks.

... and yes, I'm aware that ultimately none of this really matters and nobody is going to care what I pick. But I take my radio show seriously, damnit!

Agree 100%. Souretsu really needs to be heard after the rest of KSK - at least for a first-time listener.

I feel if you'd asked me this question a few years ago, my reply would have been much more informative. The one I wrote I decided noone would want to read because it was quite over opinionated/went off on a non-useful tangent and I'm trying to see how taking a break from being negative about Ringo and instead saying nothing goes. At least on EMF where I actually like its users.

I say Souretsu because it's the track that sticks/will melt your listeners fucking minds

I absolutely agree on osca and souretsu (ETA that you're right about how souretsu is as powerful as it is because of how it serves as a culmination of the entire album, so play it is your call)!

Also let me say that I'm all about start with tadashii machi, end on ariamaru tomi because I'm a loser who listens to her discog in order every so often and thought it would be cool to start with her first and end on her most recent full album tracks.

For covers, Tokyo no onna, jazz a gogo, and shiroi kobato are some of my faves. A full ringo special would be cool. I can guarantee there are probably people who will tune out as soon as they hear her voice--maybe throw in one of the puffy songs, utada cover, amagasa (the tokio song) etc. to keep things more familiar to an average jpop listener?

For reference, I did radio DJing once and played stuff like:
Senkou shoujo
Handsome sugite
UFO
Irohanihoheto
Koufukuron (etsuraku-hen)
Jiyuu e michidure
Mayonaka wa junketsu
Sa_i_ta

Idk who was listening or how they felt though :p
ETA 2: I want to say throw on doppelgänger, but it likely won't have the same impact if you don't know where the samples are coming from.