Occupation(s) Singer, actress Role Singer Instruments Vocals Spouse Norio Noguchi (m. 1987) | Years active 1971–present Movies Shinobido Name Naoko Ken Children Hitomi Noguchi | |
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Birth name Naoko Asada (浅田 なを子) (maiden name)
Naoko Noguchi (野口 なを子) Born July 7, 1953 (age 70) ( 1953-07-07 ) Origin Amagiyukashima, Shizuoka, Japan Labels Toho Records
Canyon Records
Pony Canyon
Gauss Entertainment
Unchanged Records Albums Deep, My Classics, BEST SELECTION, NAOKO VS AKU YU, Bitter, Naoko Mistone, Again, Naoko Sings Ballads Genres Folk music, Blues, Novelty song, Enka Similar People Toshihiko Tahara, Ken Shimura, Aki Yashiro, Mako Ishino, Yoshitaka Minami Profiles | ||
Top Tracks - Naoko Ken
Naoko Ken (研 ナオコ, Ken Naoko) (born July 7, 1953– ) is a Japanese singer and actress. She is well known for her comedy roles featuring idiosyncratic looks, and a string of successful torch songs that gained popularity in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Contents
- Top Tracks Naoko Ken
- Naoko ken kamome wa kamome at san diego japan fair 2015
- Biography
- Studio albums
- Filmography
- References
Naoko ken kamome wa kamome at san diego japan fair 2015
Biography
In 1971, Ken debuted as an enka-oriented singer with a single "Daitokai no Yasagure On'na". In 1975, after the release of several charted singles, she gained the first outstanding commercial success with a song "Guzu", which was written by Ryudo Uzaki and his wife Yoko Aki. "Abayo", a song written by Miyuki Nakajima became the most successful single for Ken, selling more than 600,000 copies. In 1976, the prize-winning song reached number-one spot on the Oricon, Japan's most eminent chart. In addition to the success as a musician, she also obtained popularity as a tarento in the mid 1970s, through her comical acts on multiple TV shows including Kakkurakin Daihousou!!.
After a temporary hiatus in 1977 owing to her arrest on suspicion of possession of marijuana, she returned to the Japanese entertainment industry with the hit tune "Kamome wa Kamome". The melancholic ballad written by Nakajima became known as one of her signature songs, finally sold in excess of 300,000 units. In 1982, she gained huge commercial success as a singer again with a cover version of the Southern All Stars' song "Natsu wo Akiramete", winning several Japanese music prizes. The song is her last top-ten hit solo single so far.
Through her long-term career as a comedic TV personality, she has released several novelty singles with other performers such as Ken Shimura. The song "Natsuzakari Ho no Ji Gumi" recorded with an idol singer Toshihiko Tahara is the last top-40 hit single for Ken on the Japanese record charts.