Otherwise, my preference of more typical male idol groups has to be 光GENJI. They set the "idol group gimmick" bar too high with the whole rollerskating thing lol

Their every intention was to debut as one of those New Music bands, but their label had other plans😅 If you know of successful soloist Fumiya Fujii, this was the band in which he got his start^^

チェッカーズ (The Checkers) have the catchiest songs known to mankind imo and are another personal favourite ... but the group's formation and songwriting was thanks to the members themselves, so whether or not they fit the idol label is debated.

As a Hideki fan, I'm obligated to mention the Shin-Gosanke (solo idol trio with him, Goro Noguchi, and Hiromi Go). Each have long discographies with lots of variety~~ Hideki's live albums would be my #1 choice but Goro and Hiromi's catalogues are more accessible since they have more on streaming^^

I really like some male showa idols so it's sad to see most overseas listeners overlook them in favour of the girls🥲 I'm glad to see an exception here and hope you end up finding something you like☺️

I agree, printed lyrics are invaluable ! I hope the CDs that you ordered arrive ASAP☺️

As have I🥲 Subrosa's release is so soon too, I almost can't believe it ..! Are you hoping to get physical copies of the single / album ?

Iwasaki is nice but Akina takes first place for me🥰

I've been concerned about damage befalling Hideki's singles as their covers are of fragile paper, so I'm relieved to have a little box to protect them😮‍💨 I have singles by other artists, of course, but I can't risk even the slightest tear to mar anything of Hideki's ..!!

How exciting ..! With Imai being credited for writing most of Subrosa, I expected him to take on lead vocal .. but Hide doing so instead actually makes a lot of sense. B-T's shyest member has come so far☺️