Ando Yuko

Ando Yuko (安藤裕子) is a model, artist, actress, and Japanese pop singer-songwriter on the cutting edge sub-label of avex trax. She debuted in 2003 with the mini-album "Sally", but didn't hit the big time until the release of her second full-length album, "Merry Andrew".

Ando always dreamed of becoming a start, but in a different way then she ended up. She dreamed of making movies by becoming a film director. It was only by chance that she came upon a musical career. It happened when she was applying for a role in a musical, when she happened to meet then Oricon editor Soukou Koike. Soukou was so impressed by her singing abilities that he arranged for her to debut.

In 2003, Yuko was featured at an insiders-only live preformance, and praised for her song compsing as well as her singing capabilities. She was soon signed to avex trax's sub-label cutting edge.

In July of the same year she released her debut mini-album, "Sally". The mini-album failed to chart on the Oricon, most likely due to lack of promotion. The title track from the album was used as the opening to the Taiwanese dorama, Meteor Garden.

In January 2004 came the release of yet another min-album, "and do, record." A track from the album, "Wasure Mono no Mori" was used as a theme to the anime Gilagmesh. It became Ando's first release to make an appearance on the Oricon making it the #54 position. Five months later came the release of her debut single, "Mizuiro no Shirabe". The single only ranked in at #139 on the Oricon.

In September 2004, four months after her last release Ando released her first full-length album, "Middle Tempo Magic". The song used to promote the album was "Rinjin ni Hikari ga Sasu Toki", which was also used as the ending theme for the movie, 2LDK. The album peaked at the #63; even though it ranked lower than her second mini-album, it eventually sold more copies.

Ando promoting "TEXAS" (2006)

Ando promoting "shabon songs" (2007)

Ando promoting "Parallel" (2008)

Rise to Success

Ando returned to the music world in spring 2005, when she went on to release two more singles: "Anata to Watashi ni Dekiru Koto" "Lost child,". Both of these singles didn't fair very well, only charting with the top 110 on the Oricon.

Ando's big break ended up being her fourth single, "Samishigariya no Kotobatachi". The song was used as the Hitachi Win W324H CM song. The single peaked at #35, making it her highest ranking (at the time) and best selling single. After this avex started heavily promoting her up-coming second album, "Merry Andrew" (Andrew being a refernace to her nickname). The track "Nouzen Katsura" (a very simple paino ballad) was used TV CM song for Gekkeikan's "Tsuki" brand of sake. After the CM aired, Gekkeikan's phonelines ringing with tons of people calling about who the singer was. Her second album became a hit, with the album reaching #9 on the Oricon chart, and selling 80,680 copies in 2006 becoming the #170 album of the year.

After the release of "Merry Andrew" Ando went on an extensive tour. Yuko has mentioned that she adores performing live, but gets very nervous before a show and usually vomits. About six months later Ando started releasing music agian. In July 2006 she released her fifth single, "TEXAS" and in October released her sixth single, "The Still Steel Down". Both singles sold moderatly well, barely reaching within the top 50 on the Oricon.

On February 14th 2007 (Valentines Day) Ando released her third album, "shabon songs". Much like with "Merry Andrew" the album gained success because of its tie-in's. The track "Little Babe" was used as the the CM song for Harmony with the Earth ads, that featured Ando herself.

In October of 2007 Ando released another single. "Unabara no Tsuki", which was used as the theme for the movie Jigyaku no Shi. The single charted well, peaking at #12 on the Oricon. It is currently Ando's highest-charting single.

As of March of 2008, Ando has been busy. On 2008.03.19, she released her eighth single "Parallel". The song was used as Music Fighters ending theme song for the month of March. The single peaked at #20 on the Oricon (lower than her previous single), but in one week has sold more than all of her singles; except for "Samishigariya no Kotobatachi".

Ando is currently starting to promote her fourth full-length album, "chronicle." as well as her up-coming Encyclopedia. tour.

Other Activities

Ando isn't just restricted to singing, but is an artist in every sense of the word. She has also done work as an actress. She's made an appearance in the TV dorama Ikebukuro West Gate Park taking the role of Kaoru. She has also had roles in the movies Mamotte Agetai and Saimin.

Ando also takes part in all the production aspects. She draws all the illustrations found on her CD covers, booklets, and music videos. She has even co-directed her own, "Dramatic Record" music video. She likes to be self-reliant, doing all her own styling and make-up for her photoshoots.

Categories: Artists | Blood Type B | J-Pop | 1977 Births