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Meiko Nakahara (中原 めいこ, Nakahara Meiko), real name Meiko Obara (小原 明子, Obara Meiko) (born May 8, 1959 in Chiba Prefecture), is a former Japanese singer and composer.[3][4]
Early life and career
As early as grade school she was already composing her own music.[1]
She debuted in 1982 with the single Kon'ya dake Dance Dance Dance (今夜だけDANCE DANCE DANCE) and the album Coconuts House (ココナッツ・ハウス).[1][3] Her 1984 single Kimitachi Kiwi Papaya Mango dane (君たちキウイ・パパイア・マンゴーだね。) was the 50th best-selling single of the year in Japan, with 237,000 copies sold.[5][6] She became instantly popular.[1]
Her song Ru-Ru-Ru-Russian Roulette (ロ・ロ・ロ・ロシアンルーレット) was the opening theme and Uchū Ren'ai (Space Fantasy) (宇宙恋愛(スペースファンタジー)) was the ending theme for the 1985 anime television series Dirty Pair.[7]Ru-Ru-Ru-Russian Roulette won the award for Best Song at the 8th Anime Grand Prix in 1986.[7][8] For the 1987–1988 anime television series Kimagure Orange Road, Kagami no Naka no Actress (鏡の中のアクトレス) was the third opening theme song and Dance in the Memories (ダンス・イン・ザ・メモリーズ) was the third ending song.[9]
The 1992 live tour was the last public performance from her and her singing career is considered to have ended around this time.[1]
Later career
Even after ceasing to continue as a singer, Nakahara has still worked as a composer for groups and singers like Checkicco and Vivian Hsu.[1] A tribute band to her called Lotos was formed in 2010 and was still active as of 2019.[10][11][12] As of 2024, there is nostalgia for Meiko Nakahara as an artist in the new music genre in the 1980s.[13]
