The Brighter Day

The Brighter Day is an American daytime soap opera which aired on CBS from January 4, 1954 to September 28, 1962. Originally created for NBC radio by Irna Phillips in 1948, the radio and television versions ran simultaneously from 1954–1956. Set in New Hope, Wisconsin, the series revolved around Reverend Richard Dennis and his four children, Althea, Patsy, Babby and Grayling.

The Brighter Day was the first soap opera to air on network television with an explicitly religious theme. Another soap opera created by Phillips, The Guiding Light, initially had a religious theme as a radio show but dropped it by the time the series moved to television.

History

The original radio version took place in the town of Three Rivers, but in late 1953 the Dennis family was forced to move to New Hope as a result of a flood washing out Three Rivers. Later in the run, the Dennis family moved to Columbus, established as a college town. There were five children in the radio version, but the oldest daughter, Liz (played from 1949–1954 by actress Margaret Draper), married and left the family as the show began on television. Also living with Reverend Dennis was his widowed sister, Emily Potter.

Brighter Day (song)

"Brighter Day" is a song by Japanese recording artist Namie Amuro. Released as a single on November 12, 2014 by Amuro's label Dimension Point through Avex Trax, the release contained the B-sides "Sweet Kisses", and "Still Lovin' You". It received mixed reviews from music critics; many commended Amuro's vocal abilities while some criticized the songs composition and production. Charted as a single on the Japanese Oricon Singles Chart, it reached number eight, becoming her lowest chart single since "Alarm" which peaked at eleven. The title track was certified platinum by Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for digital sales of 250,000 and all three tracks charted on the Japan Hot 100.

Background and release

Following the trend of "Tsuki", "Brighter Day" and its three tracks were released through commercial deals and television appearances. Japanese beauty company Kosee premiered both "Still Lovin' You" and "Sweet Kisses" through a commercial; this was the second EP to conduct songs for Kosee, following "Neonlight Lipstick" from "Tsuki". "Brighter Day" was used as the theme song for the Fuji TV film First Class. The title track was described to "open with an impressive string instrument arrangement and transitions into a vocal performance by Namie on top of a strong beat." The lyrical content talks about helping loved ones in bad situations.

B'z

B'z (ビーズ, Bīzu) is a Japanese rock duo, consisting of guitarist, composer and producer Takahiro "Tak" Matsumoto (松本 孝弘, Matsumoto Takahiro) and vocalist and lyricist Koshi Inaba (稲葉 浩志, Inaba Kōshi).

B'z is one of the best-selling music artists in the world and the best-selling in their native Japan, having released 46 consecutive No. 1 singles, 25 No. 1 albums and sold more than 100 million records worldwide. In 2003, HMV Japan ranked the band at number 30 on their list of the 100 most important Japanese pop acts. In 2007, B'z became the first band from Asia to have their handprints and signatures put up in the Hollywood's RockWalk.

History

Early works (1988–1990)

Tak Matsumoto, guitarist in Tetsuya Komuro's TM Network, had been extremely busy with various recording sessions and live performances. On 21 May 1988, Matsumoto released his first solo album, Thousand Wave. He saw this as the end of his solo career, and began his search for band members. He later met vocalist Koshi Inaba, who would later found B'z with him. At the time, Japan's music scene was loaded with many new bands being created. With all the digital sounds in mainstream music, the only sounds that they felt could not be expressed and replicated were the guitar and the human voice. As a result, they decided to keep it a two-man unit. On 21 September 1988, B'z made their debut with their first album, B’z, and single, "Dakara Sono Te wo Hanashite (だからその手を離して)". Their music was very much a product of its times, with synthesizers and samplers sharing equal time with Matsumoto's guitar, producing an experimental sound, very different from their well-known hard rock sound of today.

B'z (album)

B'z is the first album for the Japanese rock duo B'z. It was released on September 21, 1988, and reached #47 on the Japanese charts. The album sold 3,790 copies in its first week and eventually sold 338,360 in total.

The band did not tour in support of the album, because its nine songs were all the material they had at the time, and they felt it would not be a proper show with just 40 minutes of material. Unlike the hard-rocking music that most associate with B'z, the album was very much a product of its times, with synthesizers and samplers sharing equal time with Tak's guitar.

One single was released from the album: "Dakara Sono Te Wo Hanashite".

Track listing

BZ

BZ may refer to: