Chase the Chance
{{Infobox song
| name = Chase the Chance
| cover = Namie Amuro - Chase the Change single cover.png
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Namie Amuro
| album = Sweet 19 Blues
| released = December 4, 1995
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = {{hlist|Dance-pop|electronic}}
| length = 4:25
| label = Avex Trax
| writer = {{hlist|Tetsuya Komuro|Takahiro Maeda}}
| producer = Tetsuya Komuro
| prev_title = Body Feels Exit
| prev_year = 1995
| next_title = Don't Wanna Cry
| next_year = 1996
}}
"Chase the Chance" is the fourth single by Japanese singer Namie Amuro from her second studio album, Sweet 19 Blues (1996). It was released as the album's second single on December 4, 1995, through Avex Trax.
It debuted at number one on the Oricon charts, becoming her first of five singles to sell over a million copies. As of August 2012, the single has sold 1.3 million copies in Japan.{{cite web|url=http://www.news-postseven.com/archives/20120802_134898.html|script-title=ja:安室奈美恵がツイッターやらない宣言 交流の場はライブのみ|language=Japanese|work=NEWSポストセブン|publisher=Shogakukan, Inc|date=2012-08-02|accessdate=2012-11-28}} At the end of the month, she would make her first appearance as a solo artist on Kōhaku Uta Gassen performing the single.
A pre-release TV commercial for the single features excerpts from the music videos for her four previous singles (including three singles released by Toshiba-EMI) in slow motion and in black and white.
Background and release
"Chase the Chance" was Amuro's second single for the Avex Trax label, following "Body Feels Exit" which was released a month prior. 1995 became Amuro's breakthrough year as she parted ways with her former girl group, Super Monkey's, and saw her first run of solo singles reach top five on the Oricon charts.{{Cite web |title=安室奈美恵のシングル作品 2ページ目 |url=https://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/191925/products/single/p/2/ |access-date=2023-11-22 |website=ORICON NEWS}} The rest of Super Monkey's regrouped as MAX earlier that same year and continued to dance backup for Amuro, with "Chase the Chance" marking the last single they performed with her.{{Cite web |title=安室奈美恵がJ-POPの女王になれた秘密――「売れたモノこそ実は先鋭的である」 |url=https://www.itmedia.co.jp/business/articles/1906/26/news017.html |access-date=2023-11-22 |website=ITmedia ビジネスオンライン |language=ja}} The group would go on to achieve success in their own right.{{Cite web |title=MAX 2作連続不発…「TORA TORA TORA」売れなければ"解散"だった 「沖縄に帰すって」 - スポニチ Sponichi Annex 芸能 |url=https://www.sponichi.co.jp/entertainment/news/2023/10/23/kiji/20231023s00041000309000c.html |access-date=2023-11-22 |website=スポニチ Sponichi Annex |language=ja}}
"Chase the Chance" was a runaway success and debuted as her first chart-topper. It outsold its predecessor by a third, and became her first of five singles to move more than a million copies.{{Cite web |date=2017-09-21 |title=安室奈美恵のCDシングル売り上げトップ10は？ あの名曲たちがズラリ。 |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.jp/2017/09/20/amurotop10_a_23217189/ |access-date=2023-11-22 |website=ハフポスト |language=ja}}
Commercial tie-in
"Chase the Chance" was used as the theme song to the Nihon TV drama, "The Chef."
Track listing
{{track listing
| headline = CD
| all_lyrics = Tetsuya Komuro and Takahiro Maeda
| all_music = Tetsuya Komuro, arranged by Tetsuya Komuro
| total_length = 21:02
| title1 = Chase the Chance
| note1 = Original Mix
| length1 = 4:25
| title2 = Chase the Chance
| note2 = Trip Club Mix
| length2 = 5:30
| title3 = Chase the Chance
| note3 = G.Wright Jungle Mix
| length3 = 6:43
| title4 = Chase the Chance
| note4 = Original Karaoke
| length4 = 4:22
| title5 =
| note5 =
| length5 =
}}
Personnel
- Namie Amuro – vocals, background vocals
Production
- Producer – Tetsuya Komuro
- Arranger – Tetsuya Komuro
- Mixing – Gary Thomas Wright
TV performances
- December 31, 1995 – Kōhaku Uta Gassen
Charts
Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)
| class="wikitable" width="650px"
!Release !Chart !Peak Position !First Week Sales !Sales Total !Chart Run |
| December 4, 1995
|Oricon Weekly Singles Chart |align="center"|1 |225,090 |1,361,710 |20 weeks |
Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)
| class="wikitable" width="425px"
!Release !Chart !Position !Sales Total |
| December 4, 1995
|Oricon 1996 Year-End Chart |align="center"|10 |1,361,710 |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.sakushiya.com/product/pro_0002.html Songwriter, Takahiro Maeda's thoughts on the single] (Japanese)
{{Namie Amuro singles}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chase The Chance}}
Category:Oricon Weekly number-one singles
Category:Japanese television drama theme songs