1990: Starting from Baojia Street

Akina Nakamori has a very unique voice. When she sings love songs, she can sound affectionate, and when she sings fast songs, she can sound energetic, brisk and lively.

In terms of technique, whether it is breath control or the transition between true and false voice, Akina Nakamori is impeccable. Her true voice is deep and powerful, while her falsetto is ethereal and ethereal.

In the main song of "Snow Flower", Akina Nakamori sang the lyrics slowly and the general meaning was that when the first snow came, she thought of someone who had promised her that he would come to see her when it snowed heavily.

There is a hint of anticipation in Akina Nakamori's singing, but more of sadness, as if she had already foreseen the ending.

When the chorus sounded, all expectations were gone, a sad mood spread, and there was a feeling of unrequited love.

She is waiting for someone who will never come. Even though she knows that this waiting will not produce any results, she is still willing to wait.

Sadness, loss, and longing, these emotions were handled very well by Akina Nakamori.

Tanaka Kenji's eyes lit up. There were previous news reports saying that Akina Nakamori's voice quality was much worse than before due to long-term alcoholism, and even her speech was affected.

Akina Nakamori originally had a soft voice, and if even her speech was affected, it is hard to imagine what her current condition is.

But when he heard Akina Nakamori's singing at this moment, Tanaka Kenji felt relieved. He heard Akina Nakamori at her peak stage in this song.

It can even be said that compared to Akina Nakamori in her peak period, Akina Nakamori today seems to be more adept at expressing emotions, especially the loss in the song, which she expresses vividly.

However, there was one thing that was different from what he expected, and that was the mood of the song. In fact, when he listened to the song "Snow Flower" before, Tanaka Kenji did not feel so sad.

In Qingyinfang's performance, on the contrary, one can hear the passion of love, filled with infinite expectations.

This inevitably reminds Tanaka Kenji of Akina Nakamori's previous experiences. Perhaps it is because of those painful memories that Akina Nakamori's interpretation of this song seems so sad.

Nangong Keiko was also happy for Akina Nakamori. As a woman, she was deeply moved by what happened to Akina Nakamori before.

She felt sad for the betrayal suffered by Akina Nakamori, but at the same time she was angry at Akina Nakamori for being so stupid.

In her opinion, if Akina Nakamori was stronger inside and clearer in mind, she would not be deceived by such a stinky man, and even commit suicide for a man. It was really stupid.

And this kind of thing happened to Akina Nakamori twice.

If it were Nangong Huizi, she would never commit suicide. Instead, she would most likely use a knife to chop others.

Based on Nangong Huizi's long-term experience in running bookstores and record stores, the song "Snow Flower" will definitely be a big hit, and it has all the conditions to be a big hit.

With a top singer, a top producer, and a music style that is easily accepted by the public, this song will definitely spread quickly.

Soon, "Snow Flower" was finished and the next song was about to start.

However, Tanaka Kenji rewound the CD and played "Snow Flower" again.

The other two also had no objections. There were three songs in this single CD. Except for the new song "Snow Flower", the other two were old songs.

Although singing old songs in a new way may give the audience a different feeling, Tanaka Kenji and his friends are not interested in it. They just want to listen to new songs now.

When "Snow Flower" was about to start playing for the second time, Hiramatsu Kazuhiro hurried in.

"Have you started listening? Have you started listening?"

I haven't seen him for a long time, but Hiramatsu Kazuhiro is still the same as before, always noisy wherever he goes.

At this time, Sato Rina also caught up and said breathlessly, "Can't you walk slower?"

"I almost missed it." Hiramatsu Kazuhiro looked at Tanaka Kenji again, "You guys haven't started listening yet, right?"

Tanaka Jianji smiled and nodded, "Yeah, I was just about to start listening when you guys showed up."

Hearing this, Hiramatsu Kazuhiro laughed, "Finally caught up, come, let's listen together."

Nangong Huizi stood not far away and smiled. She did not expose Tanaka Jianji and ran to tidy up the shelves at the door.

After listening to "Snow Flower" for the second time, Hiramatsu Kazuhiro exclaimed excitedly, "It's so beautiful. This song is definitely the best this year, for sure."

"Yeah, I think so too." Tanaka Jianji nodded.

Although Tanaka Kenji expressed his approval of him, Hiramatsu Kazuhiro still felt that Tanaka Kenji's reaction was a bit strange.

Akina Nakamori is Tanaka Kenji's favorite female singer. Logically, after hearing Akina Nakamori sing a good song like "Snow Flower", Tanaka Kenji should not have reacted so indifferently.

He immediately thought of a possibility, "Have you heard of it?"

At this time, Tanaka Jianji was too embarrassed to lie to him, so he nodded and said, "Yes, I just listened to it once."

"Well, we are still late." Hiramatsu Kazuhiro curled his lips, then cheered up again, "Anyway, our expectations have not been in vain. Akina Nakamori and Zhou Yan really don't disappoint us... Jianji, although Akina Nakamori is your favorite singer, I have to be honest, 60% of the credit for the success of this song goes to Zhou Yan."

Tanaka Kenji smiled, and Hiramatsu Kazuhiro was being lenient by only saying "sixty percent".

If he hadn't considered his own thoughts, Hiramatsu Kazuhiro might have said an exaggerated number like 90 percent.

Of course he knew that a song like "Snow Flower" would still sound very good if sung by another singer, and what Akina Nakamori did was just the icing on the cake.

"Akina is the original singer of this song anyway," Ibuki Suzune said with a smile, "When people mention 'Snow Flower' in the future, they will think of Kina."

Hiramatsu Kazuhiro smiled and did not continue discussing the topic. Instead, he took out a small notebook from his backpack, opened the notebook and took out a photo.

"What is this?" asked Ibuki Suzune.

Hiramatsu Kazuhiro said proudly, "This is a photo from the filming of 'Time Traveler'. Look at the back, that's Zhou Yan, and next to him..."

"It's Joey Wong, I recognized her."

"Yes, it's Joey Wong. These are the photos taken two days ago. I heard that the filming of this movie is very fast, and it may be released this year."

"This year?"

Tanaka Jianji and the others all showed surprised expressions. Of course, there were also reports about Zhou Yan's new movie in Japan, but the news they both noticed was that the film had just begun to be planned.

I didn’t expect that the film has already started shooting, and there’s even hope that it will be released this year.

"This is what I heard. I heard that Zhou Yan himself told the reporters," said Hiramatsu Kazuhiro.

"This is so efficient." Ibuki Suzune exclaimed.

Hiramatsu Kazuhiro laughed, "Isn't this a good thing? If possible, I hope he can make ten movies a year."

"If I can release one movie a year, no, if I can keep the current status and release one movie every two years, I will be very satisfied. This new movie will probably be released in China first, and I don't know when it will be released in Japan."

"I don't know, but it shouldn't be too long. Neon has always been very interested in Zhou Yan's movies. Moreover, Zhou Yan directed and acted in the movie, and the female lead is Joey Wong..."

"What? You said Zhou Yan directed and acted in the film himself? He plays the leading actor this time?" Tian Zhongjianji asked in surprise.

Nangong Huizi, who was not far away, smiled and said, "Jian Er, you are too behind the times. I saw this in the newspaper the day before yesterday. This is also the first time that Zhou Yan plays the leading role."

"Ah, isn't he the male lead in Green Snake?" Sato Rina asked curiously. Because of Zhou Yan and Joey Wong, they had specially watched Green Snake.

This movie has a Neon-language version and is also officially released in Neon, and it sells quite well.

Some people analyzed that the reason why this movie sold well in Japan was also because of Zhou Yan. After all, Zhou Yan not only played Xu Xian in the movie, but also wrote the soundtrack.

Now, as long as your music is related to Zhou Yan, you will have no worries about sales in Japan. This is the influence Zhou Yan has in Japan now.

The female folk music group Qingyinfang was able to quickly gain a large number of fans in Neon, in large part because they always played Zhou Yan's music.

There are even many listeners who regard Qingyinfang as a substitute for Zhou Yan. They cannot normally see Zhou Yan's concerts, so they go to Qingyinfang to comfort themselves with their expectations for Zhou Yan.

"Xu Xian should not be considered the male lead. I feel there is no male lead in that movie." Nangong Huizi said.

"At least he's the first male character."

"That's fine, too."

"I was already looking forward to the new movie, and now I'm even more excited about it."

"Haha, this new movie will definitely do well at the box office in Japan, and Wang Zuxian has a lot of fans in Japan."

"Of course. The male and female protagonists are Japan's most popular foreign stars. This is a powerful combination."

Although Wang Zuxian has not filmed any movies in the past two years, she still ranks first on the list of Japan's most popular female stars.

Not to mention Zhou Yan, who has topped the list of the most popular foreigners for several consecutive years. Yes, it is the "most popular foreigner". This list does not distinguish between men and women, and is not limited to movie, TV, or music stars. Sometimes even historical figures will appear.

Many magazines like to make various lists, even lists of the most popular commercials, and the two commercials shot by Zhou Yan for Shiseido and Panasonic both won first place that year.

……

A few people were talking about Zhou Yan's new movie when two girls who looked like high school students walked in.

"Excuse me, is Akina Nakamori's new song "Snow Flower" available?"

When Nangong Huizi heard that there was business, she smiled and said, "It's on the first row of bookshelves. The new songs are very nice. Just buy them with confidence."

The two high school students didn't say anything, just went to the bookshelf, took two single CDs and left.

Looking at the backs of the two girls, Hiramatsu Kazuhiro smiled and said, "Sister Keiko, the bookstore must be doing good business today. Did you buy enough goods?"

"Don't worry, I bought 800 tickets, so I'm not worried about running out of stock."

Hiramatsu Kazuhiro couldn't help but give a thumbs up, "Very courageous."

“Haha, they’ll always sell out.”

Logically speaking, Nangong Family Bookstore has a good flow of customers. As long as a slightly well-known singer releases a new song or a new album, there is a high probability that 800 copies will be sold out. It is just a matter of time.

And even if you can’t sell all the goods, you can return them to the wholesaler.

But they generally don't do that. After all, 800 copies require a lot of money, which takes up a lot of the store's working capital and also takes up space.

Nangong Keiko likes Akina Nakamori very much, so this is her way of supporting her.

In fact, the market has good expectations for Akina Nakamori's new song. When Nangong Keiko was purchasing the stock, she also talked to the wholesalers. It seems that this time, in Tokyo alone, the wholesalers have pre-ordered a total of 100,000 copies in the first batch.

This is a very impressive number. Wholesalers make their orders based on the data, which means they have received information that the sales of the new song will not be bad.

……

The sales of "Snow Flower" in Neon were better than Nangong Keiko expected.

She bought 800 albums and thought it would take a long time to sell them all. She was even prepared to have some of the albums on display in her store during the Chinese New Year.

But on the 11th, there were only 720 pieces left in her store.

By the second day, only 608 tickets were left.

In just two days, the sales of "Snow Flower" reached nearly two hundred copies.

This has never happened before. Even the popular "First Dream" by Shizuka Kudo did not reach this level.

Of course, "Snow Flower" is a single after all, and its price is much lower than "The First Dream". If we compare the total sales, "The First Dream" is still higher.

Fans also prefer to buy singles, after all, the price is not high and the loss is not much.

The risk of buying an album is too great. There are more than a dozen songs in an album, and sometimes only one or two main songs are good, while the rest are just mediocre songs. After spending a lot of money to buy it home, you feel like you have lost a lot of money.

The situation at other record stores was similar to that at Nangong Family Bookstore. The single was also sold out as soon as it was released, and the sales on the second day were even greater than on the first day.

On the third day, sales increased instead of decreasing, which shows that the reputation of "Snow Flower" is very good and is still continuing to ferment.

This is how Japanese listen to music. As long as it is a good song, they will rush to buy it. And it always spreads from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred. The speed of spread is very fast.

Especially in big cities like Tokyo, where the population is dense, the spread is faster.

In just three days, Akina Nakamori's singing voice had spread throughout the city of Tokyo, and the song "Snow Flower" could be heard everywhere.

Of course, the news media would not miss such an opportunity and rushed to report on the popularity of "Snow Flower".

Asahi TV directly stated that the single "Snow Flower" will be a turning point for Akina Nakamori's turnaround, and at least it can guarantee her development in the next three years. It also said that Zhou Yan's song may provide a pension insurance for Akina Nakamori who is already "going downhill."

"Zhou Yan has always proved with his works that his music has infinite magic. The popularity of Kudo Shizuka's album "The First Dream" has not really dissipated, and "Snow Flower" appeared in front of the public."

"Although I don't want to admit it, Zhou Yan has almost reached the top of the Japanese pop music world with just a few songs. When talking about Japanese pop music in the past two years, Zhou Yan has become the man that cannot be avoided."

"And his influence is still expanding. His new movie, Time Traveler, is being filmed. According to insiders, there will be at least a dozen new songs in the movie. When it is released, it will have a huge impact on Japan... no, on the music industry of the entire world."

"Interestingly, in the United States, Mariah Carey's new song "Someone Like You" will be released in a week. The original song comes from the movie "Sense and Sensibility", which won the Oscar for Best Original Score. The audience in Japan will also be familiar with this song."

"As the success of "Snow Flower" continues to come out, can we also have more expectations for "Someone Like You"? Will this song sweep the music charts around the world like the previous song "Young and Beautiful"?"

……

Normally, when a song becomes a hit, people will mention the singer more and the producer less.

But Zhou Yan is special after all. He is not an ordinary music producer, but a world-renowned musician. The sales of his instrumental albums around the world are far beyond the reach of most singers.

Moreover, "Snow Flower" was the first song to become popular, followed by other songs. When people mention "Snow Flower", they naturally cannot help but mention him.

This song not only sold well in Japan, but also achieved very good results in mainland China and Hong Kong.

In Hong Kong, the media promoted the new song together with Zhou Yan's new movie, which also worked. Not only did Zhou Yan's fans run into the record store, but even Wang Zuxian's fans ran into the record store. (End of this chapter)