Superfly -- Hello, Hello （ハロー・ハロー）

When I heard that Superfly (Shiho Ochi/越智志帆) was on the list of the Red Team for the 2015 Kohaku Utagassen, I just thought "Good stuff!" I'm hoping that she will bring some fine happy pop-rock to the Shibuya proceedings on December 31st.

I have already gone into my own story about how I found out about Superfly through my first article on the lass, "Hi-Five" from 2008. And whenever I hear Superfly or the name, I still get reminded of that really happy-and-hippie student with the post-nasal drip who introduced me to Ms. Ochi.

I've compared Superfly to booming voices like EPO and Misato Watanabe（渡辺美里）. And of course, there is that whole Janis Joplin aesthetic, but on listening to her debut single, "Hello, Hello" from April 2007, my mind went to Miwa Yoshida（吉田美和）of Dreams Come True. Former member Koichi Tabo（多保孝一）handled music and arrangement while he and Ochi took care of the lyrics about the power of the word "Hello" to shoo away the blues.

The song peaked at No. 31 on the Oricon weeklies, but it also got further exposure through its use in a couple of TV shows and a commercial. It was also a track on Superfly's debut album "Superfly" which came out in May 2008 and hit No. 1. The album later became the 22nd-ranked release of the year.