The Foreidols of Japan

Highly recommended reading. Broomhead has begun researching the roots of idol music and writes up what he’s found so far on some of the major idol performers in earlier ages. What I love is that he’s tackling this on as a project in self-education and passing it along in the same spirit. Certainly, there’s a great deal to be learned here, but Broomhead also leaves open a good deal for conjecture regarding how these earlier idols reflect on today’s crop of performers. I’d be surprised if what he’s doing now doesn’t lay down further groundwork for much of the big-picture discussions that pops up in our corner of the blogosphere.