Post by fishingforpie on Aug 8, 2022 5:25:17 GMT
Hello. If you are reading this, let me familiarize you with an Idol group called Momoiro Clover Z. They are very popular, especially in Japan. They have in fact recorded a few Sailor Moon OPs. Anyways, In 2018, Momoka Ariyasu left. Rewinding her career on the Momoiro Clover Fandom Wiki, you will find she was in a group named Power Age for 3 months. A list of members and a photo from their defunct website is almost all that remains there. They had a total of 3 singles, all of them prior to Momoka joining. My Dear Friend, 約束, and Daisuki!!. There were songs prior to this, but very few mentions exist, all of them on archive.org. The one I want to focus on is My Dear Friend. The song is completely lost. According to their 2007/2008 era blogs, their manager's specifically: ameblo.jp/p-amanager I found a release date. December 4th, 2007. It also mentioned it being available on Mobage, a defunct cellphone app. Along with the info of who was performing each songs (which can be detailed on the Discogs page below), I believe they were a shuffle unit for a while before Daisuki, where all of the members participate in the song. According to their page on mixi.jp which I simply found with a quick Google search, a bit more info about the availability came to light. Mobage, which I already have mention of, and mf247.jp, an indie label that existed in the mid-2000s that ran a indie music download site. Sort of like bandcamp. I also found a Mercari listing as of late, which contained My Dear Friend and 約束, which I have no idea was endorsed by MF247, who did make some physical compilations, or if it wasn't. You can find info about it here: jp.mercari.com/item/m19076474767 and here: discogs.com/release/23640539-P-APower-Age-約束-My-Dear-Friend. When I first started this search, I also found a past listing of a live performance by the group containing the song on Aucfan, however it's been sold: aucview.aucfan.com/yahoo/e140715239/.
約束 was later covered by Shiritsu Ebisu Chuugaku, a sister group to Momoiro Clover Z. Momoclo themselves have covered Daisuki too. So it is very possible My Dear Friend was covered by another group trained by Stardust Promotion. If it was, it's possible it could've been covered with some adjustments. For example, Momoiro Clover Z has a song titled My Dear Fellow and Cho Tokimeki Sendenbu has a song called Dear Friend (which shares some quirks the Ebichu cover of 約束 has). However it's somewhat unlikely due to the titles not matching which wasn't seen in any of the other covers I mentioned.
There is also an ameblo blogger who has posted about the song and likely has media containing the song. Their twitter is linked in their ameblo blog. They also posted a blog with a YouTube link to the song (not archived) here: ameblo.jp/ganbaremomoka/entry-11808091572.html. That's really about it in what I have to go off of.
Oh yeah, here are all of my attempted contacts.
Stardust Promotion (label) - automated response about the group being disbanded.
michitiomo (producer of 約束) - no response
Mai Yukawa (member) - liked comment, no response
Anyone is welcome to dig and find more about this song, or the group in general. Feel free to reach out to me about any efforts and further information on the group. I may have missed something on this post, I am not quite sure. Sorry for rambling, and I hope anyone who sees this has a lovely day!
Update as of May 2023: I have found the song more or less! However the copies I was given were given on the strict rule that I do not redistribute. Also the studio version I received has clapping at the end, so the new goal is to either look for their other lost songs, or to find the CD in which I am not bound to any strict agreement.
約束 was later covered by Shiritsu Ebisu Chuugaku, a sister group to Momoiro Clover Z. Momoclo themselves have covered Daisuki too. So it is very possible My Dear Friend was covered by another group trained by Stardust Promotion. If it was, it's possible it could've been covered with some adjustments. For example, Momoiro Clover Z has a song titled My Dear Fellow and Cho Tokimeki Sendenbu has a song called Dear Friend (which shares some quirks the Ebichu cover of 約束 has). However it's somewhat unlikely due to the titles not matching which wasn't seen in any of the other covers I mentioned.
There is also an ameblo blogger who has posted about the song and likely has media containing the song. Their twitter is linked in their ameblo blog. They also posted a blog with a YouTube link to the song (not archived) here: ameblo.jp/ganbaremomoka/entry-11808091572.html. That's really about it in what I have to go off of.
Oh yeah, here are all of my attempted contacts.
Stardust Promotion (label) - automated response about the group being disbanded.
michitiomo (producer of 約束) - no response
Mai Yukawa (member) - liked comment, no response
Anyone is welcome to dig and find more about this song, or the group in general. Feel free to reach out to me about any efforts and further information on the group. I may have missed something on this post, I am not quite sure. Sorry for rambling, and I hope anyone who sees this has a lovely day!
Update as of May 2023: I have found the song more or less! However the copies I was given were given on the strict rule that I do not redistribute. Also the studio version I received has clapping at the end, so the new goal is to either look for their other lost songs, or to find the CD in which I am not bound to any strict agreement.
