"Sweet 19 Blues" (stylized in all caps SWEET 19 BLUES) is the seventh single by

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

recording artist

Namie Amuro Namie Amuro ( ; ; born September 20, 1977) is a retired Japanese singer. She rose to prominence as a Japanese idol, teen idol, and transitioned into a leading Pop music, pop artist due to her versatility across music styles and visual presentatio ...

. It was composed, written and arranged by

Tetsuya Komuro is a Japanese musician, songwriter and record producer. He is recognized as the most successful producer in Japanese music history and has introduced contemporary electronic dance music to the Japanese mainstream. He was also a former owner of t ...

for her debut album of the same name. A month after its release, her label

Avex Trax is a record label owned by Japanese entertainment conglomerate Avex Inc. The label was launched in September 1990, and was the first label by the Group. History Two years after Max Matsuura began a career distributing studio albums from othe ...

released the song as a recut single due to overwhelming demand. The song's subject and the album in general was about the melancholic passing of another sweet year of youth, which is a particularly Japanese obsession. Although it did not achieve the success of her previous singles, it still managed to debut at No. 2 on the

Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard Single (music), singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track down ...

with over 100,000 copies sold in its first week and eventually sold about half a million units overall; a great feat for a post-album single. The single was certified platinum by the

RIAJ The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include prom ...

for 400,000 copies shipped to stores. The song later served as the ending theme song for the 1996

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

'' That's Cunning! Shijō Saidai no Sakusen?'', in which she also starred. Thus it marked the first and only time she used a track to promote a theatrically released flick. Twelve years later,

Miliyah Kato (born June 22, 1988), better known by her stage name of is a Japanese pop and urban singer, songwriter, fashion designer, and author. In 2003, Kato started her career as a singer when she provided vocal to Reggae Disco Rockers' song "Cherry Oh ...

's 2008

hit song A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

" 19 Memories" sampled the song. In 2014, eighteen years after its release, a re-recorded version of "Sweet 19 Blues" was made for Amuro's

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

'' Ballada''.

Production

After leaving

Toshiba-EMI , formerly , was one of Japan's leading music companies. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of British music company EMI Group Ltd. on June 30, 2007, after Toshiba sold off its previous 45% stake. Its CEO and president was Kazuhiko Koike. Wh ...

and signing with

in 1995, Amuro started working on new music. Avex Trax hired

, who previously worked with Amuro while she was with Super Monkey's.Japanese formats for ''Sweet 19 Blues'' listed below: * * * * * * ''Sweet 19 Blues'' featured a diverse cast of collaborators and composers, including Cozy Kubo, Akio Togashi, Takahiro Maeda, M.c.A.T, and

Randy Waldman Randy Waldman (born September 8, 1955, Chicago, Illinois, United States) is an American pianist, arranger, composer, and conductor. He has frequently collaborated with Barbra Streisand, serving as her pianist and conductor since 1984. Waldman has ...

. Komuro worked on ''Sweet 19 Blues'' while also recording his debut album with Japanese band

Globe A globe is a spherical Earth, spherical Model#Physical model, model of Earth, of some other astronomical object, celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but, unlike maps, they do not distort the surface ...

, which was finished around the same time as Amuro's album. The song was produced simultaneously with

globe A globe is a spherical Earth, spherical Model#Physical model, model of Earth, of some other astronomical object, celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but, unlike maps, they do not distort the surface ...

's "

Is this love Is This Love may refer to: * "Is This Love" (Daryl Braithwaite song) * "Is This Love?" (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah song) * "Is This Love?" (The Fireman song) * "Is This Love" (Aiden Grimshaw song) * "Is This Love" (Bob Marley & The Wailers song) ...

" in late May 1996. The concept of the two songs share a common theme: "a girl who stopped baring her belly button and wearing a mini-skirt and started wearing pants" and "a girl who hides her body and tries to show her inner self." The songwriting process took longer than expected, but Komuro felt it accurately represented Amuro.

Composition

The song carries its album's title, which according to Ted Mills from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, was a reflection of a "melancholic passing of another sweet year of youth" and a "particular Japanese obsession". Musically, the song is a melancholic ballad with R&B influences. The lyrics explore Amuro's feelings about leaving her youth behind. "Sweet 19 Blues" is the final full-length recording on its parent album, replacing

guitar riff A riff is a short, repeated motif or figure in the melody or accompaniment of a musical composition. Riffs are most often found in rock music, punk, heavy metal music, Latin, funk, and jazz, although classical music is also sometimes based on ...

s by Kazuhiro Matsuo with Michael Thompson. The song "Joy", which features vocals by M.C.A.T., is in fact a shortened version to what appears on the

CD single A CD single is a single (music), music single in the form of a compact disc (CD). Originally the ''CD single'' standard (as defined in the Rainbow Books, Red Book) was an 8 cm (3-inch) "mini CD" (''CD3''); later on the term referred to any si ...

of "Sweet 19 Blues"; two additional remixes appeared on it, whilst an original mix was featured on his single "Thunder Party". "Joy" was originally on m.c.A.T's fifth studio album ''Crossover''.

Reception

Toru Hajima commented; "I think this was the first Japanese hit song that I know of in which the first bar of the opening song began with ♭III (flat third). This represents one 'invention' that symbolizes that Tetsuya Komuro is a songwriter who, since the 1990s, has created an era". Noritoshi Furuichi commented, "There is something strange about the way that 'absolute' and 'may be' are put together in one sentence."

Chart performance

"Sweet 19 Blues" debuted at number two on the

with 101,830 copies sold in its first week. It dropped to number four the next week, selling 82,220 copies. It dropped to number five on its third week, selling 59,140 copies. The single stayed in the top ten one last week, ranking at number nine and selling 53,730 copies. "Sweet 19 Blues" ranked at number 64 on the year-end Oricon Singles Chart for 1996. The single charted in the top 100 for thirteen weeks, selling a reported total of 452,890 copies.

Music video

The original version of the "Sweet 19 Blues" music video was directed by

Wataru Takeishi is a Japanese music video director. He has created videos for Ayumi Hamasaki is a Japanese singer-songwriter and producer. Nicknamed the "Empress of Pop" on account of her influence throughout Asia, she is widely recognized for her versatil ...

. The new version of the video was directed by Kanji Suto.安室奈美恵「SWEET 19 BLUES」MV (from BEST AL「Ballada」）
on P.I.C.S. Studio

Track listing

Credits and personnel

Credits are taken from the CD singles

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

. *

–

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composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography * Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

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(1), (2) *

- strings arrangement (1), (2) * Akio Togashi - composition, arrangement; writing, rapping (as m.c.A.T) (3), (4) * Keith "KC" Cohen - mixing (3), (4)

TV Performances

*?, 1996 – Fun *August 23, 1996 – Music Station *August 24, 1996 – Mega Hit Night *August 31, 1996 – PopJam *August 31, 1996 – CDTV *September 16, 1996 – Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ Special *October 4, 1996 – Music Station Special *October 29, 1996 – Utaban *October 4, 1996 – Music Station Special *November 2, 1996 – 27 hours TV *November 26, 1996 – P-Stock *December 14, 1996 – 29th All Japan Request Awards *May 21, 1997 – TK Groove Museum HongKong *May 27, 1997 – TK Pan-Pacific Tour

Charts

Certification and sales

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweet 19 Blues (Song) 1996 singles Namie Amuro songs Song recordings produced by Tetsuya Komuro Songs written by Tetsuya Komuro 1996 songs Avex Trax singles