Cocco | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | 真喜志 智子 (Makishi Satoko) |
| Born | January 19, 1977 Naha, Okinawa, Japan |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Years active | 1996–2001 2006–present |
| Labels | Speedstar Records |
| Website | www.cocco.co.jp |
Cocco (こっこ) is a female Japanese pop/folk rock singer.
Cocco went to many ballet auditions, hoping to become a professional ballerina. She went to singing auditions to earn the traveling expenses for a ballet audition in Tokyo. She did not pass it, but after impressing the judges, she was later signed by Victor Entertainment.
Cocco made her debut on an indie label under the name "Cocko" with a self-titled EP Cocko on November 21, 1996. A track from the EP, Sing a Song ~No Music, No Life~, was used in an advertising campaign for Tower Records Japan.
On March 21, 1997, Cocco changed the official spelling of her name to "Cocco" and released her major label debut single Countdown. A full-length album followed shortly after. It was not until 1998 when she scored a big hit in Japan with Tsuyoku Hakanaimonotachi, which sold more than 250,000.
Cocco went on to record three more albums – Kumuiuta in 1998, Rapunzel in 2000, and Sangurōzu in 2001. Before the release of Sangurōzu, Cocco announced she was retiring from the music business. Later that year, her label released a career retrospective, Best + Ura Best + Mihappyōkyokushū, which contained her singles, some b-sides and five unreleased tracks.
Her retirement did not last long. In 2002, she published her first art book, Minami no Shima no Hoshi no Suna. In August 2003, she organized a benefit concert to raise awareness about cleaning up beaches in Okinawa. A DVD documentary entitled Heaven's Hell followed in December.
2004 saw her appearance on the Yutaka Ozaki cover album "BLUE" and the publication of her second book, Minami no Shima no Koi no Uta, which was accompanied by a limited edition single, "Garnet/Celeste Blue". In 2005, Cocco collaborated with photographer/singer Nanaco on a CD/book combination titled The Bird.
In late 2004, Cocco teamed up with Shigeru Kishida of the Japanese rock group Quruli to re-record "Sing a Song" for Tower Records' 25th Anniversary in Japan. The sessions inspired the formation of Singer Songer, a band featuring Cocco, Kishida, Quruli bassist Masashi Sato, Cornelius support keyboardist Hirohisa Horie and former FEED drummer Dai Taro.
Singer Songer made its live debut as special guests at Quruli's year-end concert in December 2004, and in May 2005, the band released a single, "Shoka Rinrin". An album, Barairo Pop was released in June 2005. It contains a selection of country-flavored tracks that are much happier than Cocco's previous works.
In April 2006, she wrote a series of essays for Mainichi Shimbun. Since then, Cocco has continued to write for various newspapers and magazines.
On July 7, 2007, Cocco performed at the Japanese leg of Live Earth at the Makuhari Messe, Chiba. After releasing the album Kira Kira, she started living in the UK and went to college to learn photography.
In 2010, Cocco published her first long novel "Polomerria". She appeared at the World Happiness 2010 rock festival in Tokyo on August 8. She released Emerald, her first self-produced album, on August 11. Cocco provided 14-year-old Director Ryugo Nakamura's first feature film Yagi no Boken with the theme song Yagi no Sanpo. She got a letter from the youngest film director in Japanese film history, and she decided to help the boy.
In 2011, the no-budget indie film Inspired movies produced by Cocco and her fellow video artists was released.
In 2011, Cocco made her acting debut, starring in KOTOKO, directed by Shinya Tsukamoto. She was also responsible for the art direction and music.
She covered "Good Bye" for the June 6, 2018 hide tribute album Tribute Impulse.[1]
| Year | Album details | Chart positions [2] |
Total sales [3] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Bougainvillea (ブーゲンビリア, Būgenbiria)
|
33 | 122,000 |
| 1998 | Kumuiuta (クムイウタ, Lullaby)
|
1 | 878,000 |
| 2000 | Rapunzel (ラプンツェル, Rapuntseru)
|
1 | 380,000 |
| 2001 | Sangu Rose (サングローズ, Sang Rose)
|
5 | 226,000 |
| 2006 | Zancyan (ザンサイアン, Mermaid Cyan)
|
3 | 127,000 |
| 2007 | Kirakira (きらきら, Sparkling)
|
6 | 91,000 |
| 2010 | Emerald (エメラルド, Emerarudo)
|
5 | 39,000 |
| 2014 | Pas de Bourrée (パ・ド・ブレ, Pa Do Bure)
|
||
| 2014 | Plan C (プランC, Puran C)
|
||
| 2016 | Adan Ballet (アダンバレエ, Adan Barei)
|
||
| 2019 | Star Shank (スターシャンク, Sutāshanku)
|
14 | 6,403[4] |
| 2022 | Prom (プロム, Puromu)
|
15 | |
| 2024 | Beatrice (ビアトリス, Biatorisu)
|
19 | 3,375[5] |
| Year | Album details | Chart positions [2] |
Total sales [3] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Best + Ura Best + Mihappyōkyokushū (ベスト+裏ベスト+未発表曲集, "Best, B-side Best and Unreleased Songs Collection")
|
1 | 504,000 |
| 2011 | The Best Ban (ザ・ベスト盤, The Best Disc)
|
4 | |
| 2017 | 20 Shuunen Request Best+Rare Tracks (20周年リクエストベスト＋レアトラックス, 20th Anniversary Request Best+Rare Tracks)
|
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 1996 | "Cokco"
|
| Year | Title | Oricon singles sales chart | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| peak position [2] |
total sales [3] | |||
| 1997 | "Countdown" (カウントダウン) | 98 | 2,200 | Bougainvillea |
| "Tsuyoku Hakanai Monotachi" (強く儚い者たち, The Strong and Ephemeral) | 18 | 361,000 | Kumuiuta | |
| 1998 | "Raining" | 17 | 128,000 | |
| "Kumoji no Hate" (雲路の果て, End of the Road Through the Clouds) | 6 | 144,000 | Rapunzel | |
| 1999 | "Jukai no Ito" (樹海の糸, Threads in the Deep Forest) | 3 | 182,000 | |
| "Plumeria" (ポロメリア, Poromeria) | 9 | 97,000 | ||
| 2000 | "Mizu Kagami" (水鏡, Water Reflection) | 10 | 68,000 | |
"Kemono Michi" (けもの道, Animal Trail)
|
10 | 37,000 | ||
| "Hoshi ni Negai o" (星に願いを, When You Wish Upon a Star) | 25 | 32,000 | Sangu Rose | |
| 2001 | "Hane: Lay Down My Arms" (羽根～ｌａｙ ｄｏｗｎ ｍｙ ａｒｍｓ～, Feathers: lay down my arms) | 16 | 38,000 | |
"Fūka Fūsō" (風化風葬, Burial in the Elements)
|
— | — | ||
"Yakeno ga Hara" (焼け野が原, Burnt Field)
|
12 | 55,000 | ||
| 2006 | "Onsoku Punch" (音速パンチ, Speed of Sound Punch) | 5 | 80,000 | Zancyan |
| "Hi no Teri Nagara Ame no Furu" (陽の照りながら雨の降る, Rain Falls While the Sun Shines) | 4 | 48,000 | ||
| 2007 | "Dugong no Mieru Oka" (ジュゴンの見える丘, The Hill Where Dugong Can Be Seen)
|
14 | 32,000 | — |
| 2009 | "Cocco-san no Daidokoro CD" (こっこさんの台所ＣＤ, Cocco's Kitchen CD)
|
6 | 18,000 | Emerald |
| 2010 | "Nirai Kanai" | 20 | 12,000 | |
Cocco-chan to Shigeru-kun (こっこちゃんとしげるくん, Miss Cocco & Mr. Shigeru) is a prototype of Singer Songer, and the member doesn't change.
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 2004 | Sing a Song (No Music, No Love Life)
|
Singer Songer is a musical group consists of five musicians, featuring Cocco as a lead singer.
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 2005 | Shoka Rin-Rin (初花凛々, The dignified first bloom of flowers)
|
Barairo Pop (ばらいろポップ, Rose color Pop)
|
| Year | Album details | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Otanoshimi Hizō Video + Zen Single Clip = Kei Jū Roku Kyokushū (お楽しみ秘蔵ビデオ+全シングルクリップ=計16曲集, Pleasure Treasure Video + All Single Clips = 16 Planned Song Collection)
|
|
| 2011 | Cocco Inspired movies
|
|
"The Best Clip Shū" (ザ・ベストクリップ集, The best clip collection)
|
|
| Year | Album details | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | "Kira-Kira Live Tour 2007/2008 ~Final at Nippon Budokan 2 Days~" (きらきら Live Tour 2007/2008 〜Final at 日本武道館 2 Days〜)
|
|
| 2011 | Emerald Tour 2010
|
|
| Year | Album details | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Heaven's Hell
|
|
| 2009 | Daijōbu de Aru Yōni: Cocco Owaranai Tabi (大丈夫であるように -Cocco 終らない旅-, So I Can Be Alright: Cocco's Endless Journey)
|
|
| Year | Film Name | Character Name | Film director |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Daijōbu de Aru Yōni: Cocco Owaranai Tabi (大丈夫であるように -Cocco 終らない旅-, So I Can Be Alright: Cocco's Endless Journey) | (documentary) | Hirokazu Kore-eda |
| 2011 | Kotoko | Kotoko (琴子) | Shinya Tsukamoto |
| 2016 | A Bride for Rip Van Winkle | Mashiro Satonaka (里中 真白) | Shunji Iwai |
