and the acoustic shows. Likewise it is almost assured that we'll see memorial concerts in Tokyo and Osaka. I suppose what I am about to say could easily be applied to a 40th celebration too, which is not too many years off. That said the core ZARD fan base is not getting any younger and time remains undefeated. Likewise for the people that manage ZARD's affairs and her family who likely inherited her IP.
What I would like to see for the next hallmark ZARD anniversary:
- A re-release and re-master of "Cruising & Live." What Birdman West did with the 35th Anniversary compilation is nothing short of amazing and puts to shame any prior re-masters. This would likely take a different shape as I deeply suspect, though this is conjecture, there are two recordings of the concert live in front of a crowd and a run through before hand. However what can happen with the new technologies available for re-mastering (hardware and AI) I think it could make a difference. Sakai should never have been ashamed of this performance, it is inarguably her best of the few she did.
- Taking note on what Birdman Mastering did for ZARD's greatest hits, he applies the same methodologies to all her albums. His re--mastering hits different and I think better. I would buy them all without hesitation, my bank account will suffer greatly. Truth be told this might be more appropriate for the 40th, but I'm talking a world of ideals and hypotheticals.
- A tribute album. SARD Underground has been there to carry the ZARD torch forward, but I am absolutely willing to bet that there would be groups and artists lined up to do this as Sakai's impact across Japanese music was palpable. THe forever problem here would likely be getting rights and permission for people to work with B-Gram. In my opinion this would only be cool if it were mostly artists outsize the B Zone label umbrella.
- A re-release of her MTV special she did which pretty much has everything you want out of ZARD in a video format.
- A proper documentary about her entire life; personal and professional. Izumi Sakai was an intriguing person and what I calla complex personality. It really is time we got to know her for who she was, which by all anecdotal accounts was a genuinely nice person.
Those are my thoughts, what do you have to add or comment on?
