Pull it out... paper sleeve...
Found online: "Tororin Mura no Torori"'s giant collection of information and images relating to kayōkyoku, early "idol" music, and pop in general.
The video captures are pretty sweet, but the EP collection is amazing. Even if you don't speak Japanese, you can enjoy it, because every single link in the left-hand column of each subpage leads to a decent-quality scan of the cover.
Hippies and such! HIRAYAMA Miki's "Noa no hakobune" ("Noah's Ark")... Tsunagi and Midori's "Ai no banka" ("Love elegy")... NAKAYAMA Chinatsu's "Anata no kokoro ni" ("To your heart")... URABE Masami's "Sukoshi tōde o shite mimasen ka" ("Won't you come far away with me?")...
Ladies with soul and/or sass! WADA Akiko's "Doshaburi no ame no naka de" ("In the pelting rain")... SHURI Eiko's "Shiroi kobato" ("White baby dove")... SONO Mari's "Joōbachi" ("Queen bee")... NAKASHIMA Mayuko's "Yume de ii kara" ("I don't care if it's a dream")... OKUMURA Chiyo's "Gomen ne... Jirō" ("Sorry, Jirō")... the Pinky Chicks' "Yopparatta ojōsan" ("Drunk princess")... NATSUME Masako's "Oh! Cookie face!"... Chiko and the Beagles' "Asobitsukareta kaerimichi" ("Tired out and going home")...
Duos! The Pink Pickles' "Boku ni sawarasete okure" ("Let me touch (it|you)")... Chewing Gum's "Gorira no uta" ("Ode to the gorilla")... AZUSA Michiyo's "Konnichi wa akachan" ("Good day, baby")... Kako and Miki's "Reiji nijuppun hatsu yakō ressha" ("0:20 night train")...
Girls wanna kokuhaku them, guys wanna be them! Jackey KICHIKAWA and the Blue Comets' "Aoi hitomi" ("Blue eyes"), "Izuko e" ("Where to?"), and "Kitaguni no futari" ("Two people (from|in) the north country")... HIRAO Masaaki's "Miyo-chan"... HONDA Yasuaki's "☆ BOY"... and last but definitely not least, SAKAI "Bow-tie" Masaaki's "Machi no akari" ("City lights")...
... and that barely scratches the surface.
Anonymous:
By the way, that early Hirayama Miki stuff is amazing. Actually, anything that Tsutsumi Kyohei did at that time will totally blow your mind. The production is very complex and not just "add rock guitars to pentatonic-esque minor key enka-pop."
Marxy