Double

Double is the name that was given to a sisterly duo of R & B singers. Sachiko and Takako Niigata were born the two youngest daughters in a family of musicians. They began listening to their older sister’s music when they were young and found that they enjoyed the R & B music that she listened to. The eldest sister managed to get a hold of American R & B music during her time spent studying in the United States and after that she managed to make sure that the music was always playing in the house.

Both Sachiko and Takako began singing the style and soon they were performing covers of the songs that they were listening to in the local nightclubs of Niigata. Eventually they got the chance to perform for For Life Records in Tokyo. They managed to get a job through them working at Yokota Air Base which lasted for four months. It was the songs and takes from that first big job that became their first album. In February of 1998 the two debuted with the single “For Me”. The lyrics were written by Sachiko and the song was included in the soundtrack of Tsumetai Tsuki, a mini-series on television.

The two were quickly becoming known in the Japanese singing world and began catching attention of some big named producers. Sachiko was the main lyricist and chose to take the beautiful style of Japanese poetry and mold them to become R & B songs. Early in 1999 the two sisters were on fire, and it seemed that nothing would stop them. Suddenly, on May 21, 1999, Sachiko was involved in a car accident and passed away.

During the rest of 1999, Takako refused to listen to music. It took until 2000 before she was able to come back to music. She chose to keep the name Double and became a solo artist. Since then Takako has become known as the Queen of Japanese R & B.

(no complete list of albums available)

External Links

• Official Website