Yuko Ando (singer)

Yūko Andō
安藤裕子
Birth name 安藤 裕子(Andō Yūko)
Also known as Üchary Andrew, Nee-yan
Born (1977-05-09) May 9, 1977
Origin Kanagawa, Japan
Genres J-pop
Occupation(s) Singer, songwriter, record producer, composer, actress
Instruments Vocals, Guitar
Years active 1999–present
Labels Cutting Edge
Associated acts Ryūji Yamamoto
Website Andrew Page

Yūko Andō (安藤 裕子 Andō Yūko) (born 9 May 1977) is a Japanese singer-songwriter and former actress. Andō is part of the YS Corporation talent agency.

Biography

Early life and career

Born in Kanagawa Prefecture, as a child, music was never a special hobby of Andō; rather she had more of an interest towards drawing. During her college years, driven by her strong interest in creating things, Andō decided to pursue a film making career. However, unable to catch a break with the studios, she then followed her friends and family's advice to join a talent agency in hopes of becoming an actor. This landed her a few spots as an extra in TV dramas.

One of the auditions for a play she passed during her Junior year at Ferris University required her to sing on stage. At that time, one of the evaluators was Oricon music charts founder Sōkō Koike and by his recommendation, she decided to pursue a career as a singer-songwriter.

Before debuting as a singer, Andō appeared as a regular in the popular TV drama "Ikebukuro West Gate Park" (2000) and the 1999 movie "Saimin".

Debut and success

In 2002, Andō sent film director Yukihiko Tsutsumi, whom she had gotten to know on the set of "Ikebukuro West Gate Park" a demo tape of "Rinjin ni Hikari ga Sasu Toki". Upon hearing her demo, Tsutsumi decided he had to include it in the movie he was then directing, 2LDK, as ending theme. She was credited as Yuuko Ando (安藤ゆう子).

In July 2003, Andō debuted under the Avex-owned sub-label, Cutting Edge, with the mini album "Sally". That same year she performed live for the first time at a convention concert held for Avex shareholders.

In November 2005, Andō's "Nouzenkatsura (Reprise)" was used in Gekkeikan's commercial for the "Tsuki" liquor. Because Andō was not credited on the actual commercial, the company was flooded with inquiries from people wanting to know the name of the singer, who for a period was confused to be Clammbon's Ikuko Harada. The song, based on a poem written by her grandmother over the loss of her husband, propelled Andō's second full album, Merry Andrew into the Top 10. The album was certified gold with over 100,000 copies sold. Following the success of the song, Andō was branded by the media as the "late-blooming princess" and "singer-songwriter of the next generation".

In December 2006, Andō embarked on her first live tour.

In April 2009, she released her first compilation album which featured a variety of songs handpicked by Andō herself. That same year, she wrote and performed the ending theme song, "Paxmaveiti", for the Nintendo DS video game Professor Layton and the Last Specter.[1] On August 8, 2010, she appeared at the World Happiness 2010 rock festival in Tokyo.

Artistry

Recording process

Andō writes and composes almost all of her songs, except for the occasional covers and collaborations with other artists. Andō's recording process consists of writing lyrics and composing melodies which she then records a cappella and passes over to Ryūji Yamamoto who is responsible for all her songs' arrangements. Yamamoto arranges Ando's demos based on these recordings. Pre-production meetings are held with Yamamoto, Andō and her producer, Yuji Andō, where they decide on the final direction for a track and select the musicians for the recording.

Influences

Like many other singer-songwriters before her, Ando's greatest influence is Chara, whom she first discovered through a friend in high school. For her big audition at Avex, Andō sang Chara's "Break These Chain". Another artist Andō listens to and lists as influence is Naoko Ken. Her lyrics tend to have happy endings. This has also been remarked in an interview by movie director and friend Yukihiko Tsutsumi, when he called her a "big happy end freak". Another influence is Yellow Magic Orchestra, whose 1983 song "Kimi ni Mune Kyun" she covered in her 2009 record Paxmaveiti.[2]

Collaborations

In recent years, Andō has started composing and writing for other artists, such as Yui Aragaki and Hisayo Inamori, as well as collaborating with them on her own songs. Andō also often records covers of songs from the 70's and 80's for her singles which she calls the "serious adult covers series".

Character

Discography

Singles

Year Information Weekly
Singles
Chart
Album
2004 Mizuiro no Shirabe
  • Japanese Title: 水色の調べ
  • Released: June 23, 2004
139 Middle Tempo Magic
2005 Anata to Watashi ni Dekiru Koto
  • Japanese Title: あなたと私にできる事
  • Released: April 27, 2005
103 Merry Andrew
Lost Child
  • Released: July 27, 2005
109
Samishigariya no Kotobatachi
  • Japanese Title: さみしがり屋の言葉達
  • Released: October 5, 2005
35
2006 TEXAS
  • Released: July 26, 2006
45 shabon songs
The Still Steel Down
  • Released: October 25, 2006
43
2007 Unabara no Tsuki
  • Japanese Title: 海原の月
  • Released: October 17, 2007
12 chronicle.
2008 Parallel
  • Japanese Title: パラレル
  • Released: March 19, 2008
20
2009 Paxmaveiti ラフマベティ -君が僕にくれたもの-
  • Released: November 25, 2009
26 JAPANESE POP

Albums

# Information Weekly
Albums
Charts
Sales
Debut Album Middle Tempo Magic
  • Released: September 8, 2004
64 -
2nd Album Merry Andrew
  • Released: January 25, 2006
  • Chart Run: 13 weeks
10[4] 30,000 copies
3rd Album shabon songs
  • Released: February 14, 2007
  • Chart Run: 6 weeks
6 30,000 copies
4th Album chronicle.
  • Released: May 21, 2008
  • Chart Run: 7 weeks
11 32,217 copies
5th Album JAPANESE POP
  • Released: September 8, 2010
  • Chart Run: 7 weeks
10 18,000 copies
6th Album Kanchigai
  • Released: March 28, 2012
  • Chart Run: 4 weeks
16 N/A
7th Album Good-Bye
  • Released: October 2, 2013
  • Chart Run: 4 weeks
13 6,559 copies
8th Album Anata ga Neteru Aida ni
  • Released: January 28, 2015
  • Chart Run: n/a
29 n/a

Mini albums

  1. Sally (July 9, 2003)
  2. And Do, Record. (January 28, 2004)
  3. Acoustic Tempo Magic. (March 12, 2014)

Cover albums

  1. Otona no Majime na Cover Series (March 2, 2011)

Compilation

  1. The Best '03-'09 (April 15, 2009)

DVDs

  1. The Moon and the Sun. (April 19, 2006)
  2. Tour 2008 "Encyclopedia." Final (January 7, 2009)

Piano Score

  1. Yuko Ando Selection For Piano (July 22, 2006)

Filmography

Movies

TV

Commercial

Radio

See also

References

External links

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