Diggin' In The Crates "Candidates For My Jukebox, Pt. 1" Edition

Call me old school, but I've always wanted to own a jukebox. A 45 jukebox - no need for one of those CD jukeboxes. When my future wife and I get our first house (which may be a while), my "man cave" (to use a rather current yet rapidly old already term) will have to have one of those - perfect working order, new needle, the works. I always liked the kind of jukeboxes that could hold at least 100 records and had a little hole where you could see the 45 being loaded onto the turntable, so that's what kind I'd get. Goodness knows, I've accumulated plenty of software over my lifetime. And this is definitely going to be one of the candidates..

Artist: Pink Lady
Title: "S.O.S." b/w "Pinku no Ringo"
Label: Victor
Vinyl: Top-quality Japanese black vinyl

Oh, come on - does anybody reading this need an introduction to Pink Lady? Mei and Kei, my first glimpse into the world of Japanese pop back when they did a guest spot on Leif Garrett's CBS TV special? Of course not. I've had this single and one other (a future candidate for this column) for at least a year now - extremely well-kept Near Mint condition. The seller even put the record in a vinyl inner sleeve before slipping it into the company sleeve! Again, never let it be said that our Japanese friends don't know how to take care of vinyl.

Both songs are in print, so no downloads; besides, anyone who cares about J-pop should have a good Pink Lady anthology in their collection and on their iPod, like this one. The A-side, one of their early hits, is a song many of you may have heard in a version from Music Fair in 2004 when Mei and Kei interrupted the post-Nacchi 14nin Morning Musume lineup's rendition of "The*Peace!" with "S.O.S.", only to have various MoMusu's take turns at singing lines at this kayokyoku classic (and cause a stagehand to have to run in and lower the mic stand for the vertically challenged Mari Yaguchi):

The B-side, "Pinku no Ringo", not only shows up on seemingly every Pink Lady anthology CD that has been pressed in recent years, but is also notable for the fact that the title translates to "Pink Apple" - which isn't too surprising, since "pink lady" is also a type of apple easily found in many supermarkets. I almost didn't find a clip of this rather cute song on YouTube, but at the last minute, I lucked out: