Mari Iijima's post today was sad...

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davemerrill
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Re: Mari Iijima's post today was sad...

Post by davemerrill »

I don't know that your American Idol contestant comparison is particularly apt. Mari Ijima isn't saying she's "so much better" than her Macross work. She's saying she doesn't live in the past. She's had what, 19 LPs since then? That's a lot of records where she's not Lynn Minmay, and they deserve consideration when discussing her recording career.

Honestly, I can't find fault in anything she's saying. I live in the now. I live with my new music and activities. I serve you with my presence, music and voice when you need me, without complaining, with smiles. I respect you, so please respect me too. Thank you. What's wrong with that? She doesn't owe us anything.
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Re: Mari Iijima's post today was sad...

Post by _D_ »

This also comes from living in a pigeon holed environment IMO. You want to stay in Japan and do only Japanese music or do you want to peer out into what is going on in the rest of the world? Celine Dion was much like that. You want to sing only in French for the Quebec market because that is your roots but the greater world beckons so you sing in English. Paul Simon was the same. When he started to look at world music that's when he really becomes an international artist. Paul Schaefer from my home town (Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada) is known more from being in the USA than from Canada now. I'm thinking that maybe that's what she needs to do. Branch out and get out of the current environment. But it will be hard at first I think to get out of your comfort zone. Taking that first step is always the hardest...
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Re: Mari Iijima's post today was sad...

Post by Animusubi »

I'm always saddened by hearing these things about typecasting. I feel like I would be honored people know about me due to a previous success, but I also know that if there is something out there you're more passionate about, and no one seems to recognize you for it, it could cause some depression.
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Re: Mari Iijima's post today was sad...

Post by greg »

_D_ wrote:This also comes from living in a pigeon holed environment IMO. You want to stay in Japan and do only Japanese music or do you want to peer out into what is going on in the rest of the world? Celine Dion was much like that. You want to sing only in French for the Quebec market because that is your roots but the greater world beckons so you sing in English.
Well, she lives in Los Angeles and speaks English fluently. I think maybe her problem is that she keeps hoping for Macross/anime fans to become just as passionate about her new stuff as they are for her Minmay stuff. Expecting them to love her New Age/World Music/Acid Jazz or whatever she does now is maybe expecting a bit much. If she wants to promote her new stuff, she shouldn't expect Macross fans and guys like Kndy to do all the work for her. She wants to do music that is vastly different than the 80s idol music she became famous for. That is perfectly understandable. David Byrne does stuff very different than when he was with Talking Heads, as well as Sting and his past with The Police, and countless other singers. I'm sure there are fans who have loved them this whole time, but I'm not one of them. Paul Weller became famous doing punk music with his band The Jam, but then he started doing Motown music. It would be pretty dumb for him to expect your average punk to suddenly like Motown just because that's what he wants to do. So if Mari wants to be reknown for what she is doing today, she shouldn't expect Macross fans to put her where she presumes she deserves to be.
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Re: Mari Iijima's post today was sad...

Post by Heero »

greg wrote:if Mari wants to be reknown for what she is doing today, she shouldn't expect Macross fans to put her where she presumes she deserves to be.
Indeed, the music world is LITTERED with one-hit wonders. Some of them embrace that they have at least one thing people love, and others drive themselves crazy wanting people to appreciate something else.
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Re: Mari Iijima's post today was sad...

Post by _D_ »

Didn't realize she is living in LA. I presumed (wrongly) she was still in Japan. Yeah, many artists want a wider audience for new stuff they may be doing but have chosen something that is at best a niche market. But then again, in it's day, things like punk were a niche market too. You'd have to ask her if she wants to shoot for the masses or if she has something else in mind. It's usually that "something else" is where the problem is...
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Re: Mari Iijima's post today was sad...

Post by danth »

For someone who doesn't want to be Minmay any more, she sure sounds a lot like Minmay.
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Re: Mari Iijima's post today was sad...

Post by usamimi »

I can see how that's a frustrating thing, though...sometimes it's really hard for musicians to break free of the thing that first made them a house-hold name. Not a lot of actors/musicians that make it big with anime can escape that. But on the other hand, it's the anime fans that made her famous, so she shouldn't alienate them...it's a tough balance, if you think about it.

I should check out her new work, I'm kind of curious now. I always loved her work in Macross (I actually have the the single of "Do you remember love?" on vinyl. ^^;;) but I know her voice has definitely changed over the years--I have an mp3 of an acoustic version of "Do you remember love?" she did live a few years ago that is really beautiful, but sounds much different than the original.
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