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The Main Ingredient(their second album) is a very good album and very underrated. I was mad for a while because the album was unavailable on digital services for a long time but I just checked and it's now up on streaming services, so I'm happy to see.

"The central question is who decided to release TTWLG as the first single. Did the label believe this was the strongest single? Or did Janet insist on changing the narrative for her career the way Madonna did with each CD? “If,” “Again,” and “Any Time, Any Place” were all much sturdier singles, IMHO. She is one of THE artists of the 80s, 90s and early 2000s but this one didn’t stack up." Say what you want about the song, but they CLEARLY chose the right single, seeing as it was number 1 for eight weeks, lol.

The second and final song for today is "Motto Tsuyoku Dakishimeta Nara" by Wands. This came out on July 1st, 1993 and it sold 819,380 copies, making it the 25th best selling single of 1993. It was also number 1 for two weeks. https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm34564406 Wow, it looks like this is Wands' take on New Jack Swing and it sounds pretty good, I like it better than their previous single. Also, I like I had to use Nico Video twice to get links for this. Next entry will also feature two songs.

While Janet was enjoying a nice run in America, during this period, these two songs were released in Japan and became big sellers. The first song is "Hadashi no Megami" by B'z. It was released on June 2nd, 1993 and it sold 1,653,000 copies, making it the 5th best selling single of 1993. Like their other singles, this also went to number 1 in Japan as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocYaT6Mfk_o https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm38325478 Another groovy tune from the duo. I love the live version above from a 1995 show, the way they extended it to 9 minutes but it doesn't feel that long. Also, I like how the MV highlights their female fans and who can blame them LOL.

As I said in another comment, I'm not surprised by the reception. We'll probably see more of this as me move along in the 90's.

When I saw this song was coming up, I knew the reception of this song on here would be...mixed at best and I was right LOL. I mentioned this before but while a lot of people who comment here grew up with rock or pop, I grew up with lots of R&B and rap, especially in the 90's, so I'm very familiar with Silk and this song. I personally like this song, I know it'll not be to everyone's taste, same goes for the whole "sex jams" sub-genre of R&B. It's funny because there's a certain segment of R&B fans who wish we could go back to this era and you'll see it in the comment sections for these songs(personally, I like modern R&B a lot). Speaking of Lil G, I absolutely love the way he goes off on the intro for the first album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-8lkjmcrIw Also, they did a very nice cover of Prince's "Adore." Obviously, it doesn't beat the original by any stretch but I do like their voices on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4iiuSXg-pY

Since "Freak Me" was only number 1 for two weeks in America, I only have one song to cover today from Japan. Today's entry is "Yureru Omoi" from Zard. It was released on May 19th, 1993, sold 1,396,000 copies and was the 9th best selling-single of 1993. This was also the second number 1 for the band. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nabLCezmvTE Written by Tetsuro Oda, this is another upbeat pop rocker from the group and I really enjoy it too. Also, as another user mentioned in the previous entry from Zard, the video is taken from a tribute to the band after Izumi died. I'll go into a little bit more detail on what happened once we get to her final entry in 1996. After she died, this song was ranked as her second best song on the Oricon polls(the first being "Makenaide"). That's it for today. The next entry, we will cover two songs.

I think the problem with doing 100% sales only is that American record labels were already not releasing singles like they were in the previous decades, wanting people to buy the albums instead. If it was 100% sales only, there would be even more chaos in the charts. Since I've been covering the Japanese number 1 equivalents for a while now, it really is amazing that in the year 2022, they still have a physical singles market. Granted sales are nowhere near where they were in the 90's or even 00's, but people still buy singles there today. It also helps that albums are much more expensive as well.

I had never heard "Girl I've Been Hurt" before until today and wow, I love it! That chorus is an earworm. Should have went higher on the Hot 100.

The final song for today is "Natsu no Hi no 1993" by pop-rock band class. It was released on April 21, 1993 and it sold 1,112,000 copies, making it the 15th best selling single of 1993. This is also their debut single and it peaked at number 3 on Oricon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01zdq6Aowt8&t=1s The group doesn't have an English Wikipedia entry but luckily the great blog, Kayo Kyoku Plus has an entry on the song. The song is about admiring the women in all of their summer glory, which is easy to understand, lol(the MV also shows this as well). The band had a nice run until 1997 when they disbanded. They reunited in 2003, although original member Takanori Hiura didn't stay past 2004, so the other band member(Katsuyuki Tsukui), recruited a new member(Koso Okazaki) and they performed until 2009. Unfortunately, Hiura died in 2009 from pancreatic cancer. Here's a video from July 2009, performing this song, a couple months before he died: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH3XUkY4OdA That's it for today's entries. The next one will only be for one song, so I get a little break.

The third song is "Ai wo Kataru yori Kuchizuke wo Kawaso" by Wands. It was released on April 17th, 1993 and it sold 1,121,000 copies and was the 14th best-selling single of 1993. This was their second number 1 song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwGcF9SVuUo This song doesn't have the funk like their previous song but it's a nice little rocker.

The second song is ""Ai no mama ni Wagamama ni Boku wa Kimi dake o Kizutsukenai" by B'z. It was released on March 17th, 1993 and it sold 1,932,000 copies, making it the second best-selling single of 1993. This is also their 8th number 1 song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwP0I7-jEw0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqPylSzVPwU Starting in 1992, I really liked their singles and this one continues the streak. Real floor-stomper with this one. This song was also used as the theme for the 1993 Japanese tv drama adaptation of Saiyūki(which some U.K., New Zealand and Australian fans might know as "Monkey" because the original 1978 series was dubbed into English and aired on networks like the BBC and ABC).

While "Informer" was enjoying a long run in America, in Japan, these four songs came out during this period and became best-sellers. The first one is "Konomama Kimidake wo Ubaisaritai" by rock band Deen. It came out on March 10th, 1993 and it sold 1,293,000 copies and was the 12th best selling single of 1993. It peaked at number 2 on Oricon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIVG9aqwvdM This is their debut single. The band was formed strickly to sing this song(it was originally written by Wands frontman Show Wesugi and Tetsuro Oda). The song took off and the band continued forward in making music. They would achieve their first number 1 song in 1994(luckily it also sold a lot of copies so it'll be covered here). As for the song, I like it. It's a nice power ballad.

Oh probably. I mean, physical sales were already hurting before streaming services came along, so I doubt people will start buying CD's like they used to(vinyl will probably chug along).

Spotify really had a chance to set the prices when they were growing years ago but chose to gain subscribers first instead with the $10 a month subscription and a free tier. I get it, but that allowed people to think "oh, I get this much music for such a low price, sweet!"

I don't think it'll happen either but my guess it'll probably go back to that period before streaming services took off, where you have digital download services like iTunes and Bandcamp for those who want to buy the music(and of course the artist's website themselves), physical releases and for the others, illegal downloads(that hasn't gone anywhere but with streaming, it's probably decreased a bit) and Youtube uploads from fans(Youtube music might be around as well but they pay worse than Spotify when it comes to royalties).

Kinda amazing that if everything holds up, Tom will eventually catch up with the charts.

Yeah, piggybacking off what others are saying, Amber Mark's album is fantastic. Love how she can hop genres and pull it off so smoothly. Hope this album brings her much-needed attention to her.

People call out Ben Shapiro and Tucker Carlson every week for what they say. I read about their exploits in the newspaper and in other cable networks. And people call out FOX News as well and have targeted advertisers for their shows before(and some of them have pulled out) but they have a massive audience of older people who watch their shows in the millions.

The last entry is "Yah, Yah, Yah" by Chage and Aska. It was released on March 3rd, 1993 and it sold, 2,408,000 copies, making it the best selling single of 1993. This is also their fifth number one single. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfZIaTZJo0o I've written about them so many times, I've ran out of things to say, lol. Anyway, this is a double-A side single, so the other song "Yume no Bannin" also was number 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEiBicsE5k4 I like the second song more than the first. That concludes these entries. Next time, we'll have four songs.

The fourth entry is "Toki no Tobira" by Wands. It was released on February 26th, 1993 and it sold 1,443,000 copies, making it the seventh best selling single of 1993. This was also their second number 1 single. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEU9A5Y14-A Oof, this is a banger. Love the guitar and drumming in this song. Wands will be back in this column.

The third entry is "Yasashii Ame" by Kyoko Koizumi. It was released on February 3rd, 1993 and it sold 958,000 copies, making it the 18th best-selling song. It peaked at number 4 on Oricon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDgLXeiyiGw Kyoko has appeared previously, so I don't need to cover her backstory. As for the song, it's a slow ballad-type song. Not bad, I probably wouldn't seek it out, but if it played somewhere, I wouldn't turn it off.

The second entry is "Makenaide" by Zard. It was released on January 27, 1993, sold 1,645,000 copies and was the sixth best selling single of 1993. Unlike the previous entry, it did go to number 1 on Oricon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCPH9JUFESA Zard were a pop rock group formed in 1991, with Izumi Sakai as the lead vocalist. They were a big group back in the day and they have sold over 38 million records, making them one of the best-selling artists in Japan. I also really like their music. I became acquanted with them because Izumi was one of the writers of "Dan Dan Kokoro Hikareteku," the theme song for Dragon Ball GT. "Makenaide" is one of the representative songs for the band and became known as the theme song for the "lost decade" that Japan went through in the 90's. It was a way to cheer up people during this time. As for the song, I really like it. I love Izumi's singing voice and the production is really good. They'll be back again.

As mentioned before, since I don't have access to the Oricion weekly singles between 1993-1998, I have to switch to doing the best selling singles instead, looking at their release dates. So today, we have five entries. The first entry is "Road" by the rock band The Tra-Bryu. It was released on January 21st 1993 and the single sold 1,887,000 copies, making it the third best selling single of 1993. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIdd_KVRI98 They don't have an English entry on Wikipedia so I had to use the Japanese entry and Google translate. From what I can tell, they debuted in 1982 and were called "Tra-Bryu" but in 1992, they decided to rename as "The Tra-Bryu." This was their debut song under the new name. Apparently, sales took off after the band performed on a late-night cable show. Also, while the single sold a lot of copies, it never reached number 1, peaking at number 3 on Oricon. As for the song, it's apparently based on a true story of a man who lost their lover in a traffic accident. I really like the song, very Bruce Springsteen, especially with the harmonica. Also, a movie was produced based off this song.

She's been doing this for over 10+ years though, so it's part of her shtick.

Yes, I've posted about their number one entries a couple times already. I love their music!

Now, I wanted to make a separate entry for this. Up until now, I had been using Wikipedia when it comes to seeing which songs were number 1 each week. However, for whatever reason, starting from 1993 to 2004, there are no entries for the singles chart, so I cannot do it the way I've been chronicling up to this point. I tried finding another site to see if they have tracked Oricon singles during this period and I did find a website called "generasia," which does have single sales during this period. However, they don't cover the weekly number 1 singles for 1993-1998. Luckily, starting from 1999, they do have the weekly number 1 singles so I can resume what I have been doing once we reach that year. In the meantime, instead of looking at the weekly singles chart, I will highlight the highest selling singles between 1993-1998. This is not a perfect way to do it since it's not going to cover the songs that did not crack this list, but this is the only way to do it. I will go by release date for these entries. Which means the next entry will have five songs.

Let me try again to post this: The second entry for today is "Sekaijū no Dare Yori Kitto" by Miho Nakayama and the band Wands. It was number 1 for...well, I don't know how many weeks(which I'll elaborate in another post why), sold 1,833,000 copies and was the 10th best selling single of 1993. This was Nakayama's seventh number 1 and Wands second number 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqobQOgWrJE Nakayama was a famous idol singer during the 1980's, mainly known for songs like "You're My Only Shinin' Star" and "Mermaid(two songs that I really like from her)." She also became an actress as well and this song was attached to the drama she was acting in at the time as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eycdAr0uqwc For Wands, they were a rock band that was formed in 1991. They have had a tumultous career, going through three lead vocalists and they changed instrumental members five times. Up to this point, they were known for their 1992 song, "Motto Tsuyoku Dakishimetanara." As for this song, the lyrics came from Tetsuro Oda, as it was selected from a stock of his compositions and was given an 8-beat arrangement. The b-side of the song is a "Part II" version of the song, re-arranged as a slow ballad. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0q7AcjVAP8 Both artists will have more number 1 singles in the future.

Now, I wanted to make a separate entry for this. Up until now, I had been using Wikipedia when it comes to seeing which songs were number 1 each week. However, for whatever reason, starting from 1993 to 2004, there are no entries for the singles chart, so I cannot do it the way I've been chronicling up to this point. I tried finding another site to see if they have tracked Oricon singles during this period and I did find a website called "generasia," which does have single sales during this period. However, they don't cover the weekly number 1 singles for 1993-1998. Luckily, starting from 1999, they do have the weekly number 1 singles so I can resume what I have been doing once we reach that year. In the meantime, instead of looking at the weekly singles chart, I will highlight the highest selling singles between 1993-1998. This is not a perfect way to do it since it's not going to cover the songs that did not crack this list, but this is the only way to do it. I will go by release date for these entries. Which means the next entry will have five songs.

Ok, for whatever reason, I can't post the second entry of the Japanese number 1 song underneath the first one, so let me try it separately: The second entry for today is "Sekaijū no Dare Yori Kitto" by Miho Nakayama and the band Wands. It was number 1 for...well, I don't know how many weeks(which I'll elaborate in another post why), sold 1,833,000 copies and was the 10th best selling single of 1993. This was Nakayama's seventh number 1 and Wands second number 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqobQOgWrJE Nakayama was a famous idol singer during the 1980's, mainly known for songs like "You're My Only Shinin' Star" and "Mermaid(two songs that I really like from her)." She also became an actress as well and this song was attached to the drama she was acting in at the time as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eycdAr0uqwc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt800XmHZQc For Wands, they were a rock band that was formed in 1991. They have had a tumultous career, going through three lead vocalists and they changed instrumental members five times. Up to this point, they were known for their 1992 song, "Motto Tsuyoku Dakishimetanara." As for this song, the lyrics came from Tetsuro Oda, as it was selected from a stock of his compositions and was given an 8-beat arrangement. The b-side of the song is a "Part II" version of the song, re-arranged as a slow ballad. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0q7AcjVAP8 Both artists will have more number 1 singles in the future.

Now, I wanted to make a separate entry for this. Up until now, I had been using Wikipedia when it comes to seeing which songs were number 1 each week. However, for whatever reason, starting from 1993 to 2004, there are no entries for the singles chart, so I cannot do it the way I've been chronicling up to this point. I tried finding another site to see if they have tracked Oricon singles during this period and I did find a website called "generasia," which does have single sales during this period. However, they don't cover the weekly number 1 singles for 1993-1998. Luckily, starting from 1999, they do have the weekly number 1 singles so I can resume what I have been doing once we reach that year. In the meantime, instead of looking at the weekly singles chart, I will highlight the highest selling singles between 1993-1998. This is not a perfect way to do it since it's not going to cover the songs that did not crack this list, but this is the only way to do it. I will go by release date for these entries. Which means the next entry will have five songs.

Ok, I'm not sure why the other two posts didn't show up when I posted it but let me try again: The second entry for today is "Sekaijū no Dare Yori Kitto" by Miho Nakayama and the band Wands. It was number 1 for...well, I don't know how many weeks(which I'll elaborate in another post why), sold 1,833,000 copies and was the 10th best selling single of 1993. This was Nakayama's seventh number 1 and Wands second number 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqobQOgWrJE Nakayama was a famous idol singer during the 1980's, mainly known for songs like "You're My Only Shinin' Star" and "Mermaid(two songs that I really like from her)." She also became an actress as well and this song was attached to the drama she was acting in at the time as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eycdAr0uqwc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt800XmHZQc For Wands, they were a rock band that was formed in 1991. They have had a tumultous career, going through three lead vocalists and they changed instrumental members five times. Up to this point, they were known for their 1992 song, "Motto Tsuyoku Dakishimetanara." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULX8S2DCSig As for this song, the lyrics came from Tetsuro Oda, as it was selected from a stock of his compositions and was given an 8-beat arrangement. The b-side of the song is a "Part II" version of the song, re-arranged as a slow ballad. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0q7AcjVAP8 Both artists will have more number 1 singles in the future.

Now, I wanted to make a separate entry for this. Up until now, I had been using Wikipedia when it comes to seeing which songs were number 1 each week. However, for whatever reason, starting from 1993 to 2004, there are no entries for the singles chart, so I cannot do it the way I've been chronicling up to this point. I tried finding another site to see if they have tracked Oricon singles during this period and I did find a website called "generasia," which does have single sales during this period. However, they don't cover the weekly number 1 singles for 1993-1998. Luckily, starting from 1999, they do have the weekly number 1 singles so I can resume what I have been doing once we reach that year. In the meantime, instead of looking at the weekly singles chart, I will highlight the highest selling singles between 1993-1998. This is not a perfect way to do it since it's not going to cover the songs that did not crack this list, but this is the only way to do it. I will go by release date for these entries. Which means the next entry will have five songs.

The second entry for today is "Sekaijū no Dare Yori Kitto" by Miho Nakayama and the band Wands. It was number 1 for...well, I don't know how many weeks(which I'll elaborate in another post why), sold 1,833,000 copies and was the 10th best selling single of 1993. This was Nakayama's seventh number 1 and Wands second number 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqobQOgWrJE Nakayama was a famous idol singer during the 1980's, mainly known for songs like "You're My Only Shinin' Star" and "Mermaid(two songs that I really like from her)." She also became an actress as well and this song was attached to the drama she was acting in at the time as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eycdAr0uqwc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt800XmHZQc For Wands, they were a rock band that was formed in 1991. They have had a tumultous career, going through three lead vocalists and they changed instrumental members five times. Up to this point, they were known for their 1992 song, "Motto Tsuyoku Dakishimetanara." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULX8S2DCSig As for this song, the lyrics came from Tetsuro Oda, as it was selected from a stock of his compositions and was given an 8-beat arrangement. The b-side of the song is a "Part II" version of the song, re-arranged as a slow ballad. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0q7AcjVAP8 Both artists will have more number 1 singles in the future.

While America was falling in love with a bodyguard, over in Japan, we had two number one singles during this period. The first one is "Kiss Me" by Kyosuke Himuro. It was number 1 for one week(December 21), sold 1,230,000 copies and was the 13st best selling single of 1993. This was his fourth number 1 single. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMyAZh_BT4s Himuro was originally the lead singer of the rock band Boøwy. The band was very popular during their brief stint from 1981-88. This was the band that Tomoyasu Hotei was also a part of. After the band broke up, he started a very successful solo career in Japan. He would have more number 1 singles in the 90's. As for the song, I like it, it's very upbeat. Also, fun fact: He currently lives in Los Angeles, where he purchased a 12,500 square feet house that used to be owned by Shaquille O'Neal.

Looking forward to hearing this April/May 22nd!

She's great! She's one of the biggest singers in Japan in the past 24 years. She tried a couple times to cross over to America(she's originally born in New York) but it hasn't worked out. She's known for the song, "Simple and Clean," which was used for the Kingdom Hearts video game.

Time to bring back the "Greatest Hits" or "Best Of" albums, regardless of streaming. Same thing with Rihanna.

"Disco Tits" is an Eternal Banger. Still get chills whenever the beat kicks in from the intro.

Wow, the spinoff to The Wolf of Wall Street is sounding great.