Shima Uta’s legacy foreshadowed Hello Project

Alfredo Casero, right, singer of the classic Shima Uta.

“Shima Uta.” Those are two of the most influential words in my life history. It was a day, way back in 2003, when I stumbled across this video on the obscure cable channel Link TV. This provided what was to be an almost toxic mix with the enthusiasm of elementary-school students to which I taught music lessons every day.

Alfredo Casero, an otherwise obscure Argentine musician, produced this profound song with its electrifying Japanese imagery in the year 2002. It was a clock-stopping blend of machismo Latin and svelte Japanese -- and it just grabbed me. And now, almost five years later, I have discovered that I am Alfredo Casero. Yes, I am. "Shima Uta" was the Rosetta Stone of overseas pop, and Japan was knocking on the door. Think about it. Here I was, an Irish-Cherokee guy, listening to a Spanish crooner belt out a Japanese song with crazy-cute girls and wild-eyed anime all over the place. It just doesn't get any better than this.

Now, in all fairness, Morning Musume was already hitting it big, with Abe, Mari and even Miki, Konno, Aichan and Risa lighting it up. But the rest of the world outside Japan would have to wait for the YouTube generation before the goodness spread globally.

Yes, "Shima Uta" started it all. This crude lumberjack of a singer, Casero, combined with delicate Japanese ladies midway through, then a cosmic anime sendoff, a la techno, was a combustible mix. A few weeks later I heard a bootleg copy of “Say Yeah” by Morning Musume, watched yet another unreal video by Puffy AmiYumi on Link TV called "Wild Girls on Circuit," and the rest is history. Like a snake shedding its skin, I left it all behind – my teaching career, all the classics, my brass instrumental work, even my composition. When Morning Musume and Hello Project arrived, I had a whole new universe to explore.

What in heck can you say about that? There is nothing more to be said. Now I know what Capt. Kirk and Mr. Spock must have felt like in Star Trek.

Of course, the music industry quickly put to death this interloper, this freaky Asian song, this dangerous foreign influence. Casero came and went, fast and furious, a flaming meteor. He was sent back to his old Latino ways, and became ordinary.

“He became quite famous outside of his country in 2002 when he recorded a Japanese song, 'Shima Uta,' entirely in Japanese,” deadpans his YouTube copy block. “It was the first single from his album, Casaerius. The song became a huge hit in Argentina, where it was chosen as the anthem for the national football team to represent the country at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, in South Korea and Japan.”

And then … what? It died. The company that owned the song, Sony Music, suddenly wanted to bury it. And they did. The earthquake that Casero caused with this song subsided, and it was back to good old mariachi music, poor imported American pop and cheesy flamenco crap.

Bad music. We are all victimized by it. That is, all of us except for Asian music listeners, particularly of J-pop and Hello Project. Stop listening to bad music. Listen to “Shima Uta,” then ”Say Yeah,” in that order. Add a little "Wild Girls on Circuit" for spice. Then just fly up into heaven with the Angel Hearts of Hello Project.