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As an idol group, they were extremely successful, drawing comparisons to the popularity of former girl idol group Speed. "I Wish" and "Renai Revolution 21" (Yuko Nakazawa's last single) continued the trend of happy pop songs becoming staple hits for the group.

TITLE: I Wish
RELEASE DATE: 9/6/2000
LYRICS/COMPOSER: Tsunku
ARRANGER:...

This year also brought a new generation search. The fourth generation consisted of Rika Ishikawa, Hitomi Yoshizawa, Nozomi Tsuji, and Ai Kago, lending a completely different feel to the group by adding the 12-year-old duo of Tsuji and Kago. After their debut single, "Happy Summer Wedding," (continuing the legacy of #1 hits with 990,950 copies...

2000 first saw the release of "Koi no Dance Site," which hit #2 and sold over a million—400,000 copies away from reaching Love Machine's success. The single had the highest 1st week sales than any other Morning Musume's singles, an enormous amount of 600,860 copies. Even with this large number, the single did not reach #1 because...

Eager to add new life to the group, Tsunku held auditions for the third generation of Morning Musume. Two girls were expected to be admitted, but ultimately only Maki Goto was added. Goto was 13, the youngest member of Morning Musume at the time. The group's seventh single, "Love Machine," sold 1,646,630 copies, making it a major hit; it is...

Morning Musume's chart position was visibly lagging at the time, their sixth single, "Furusato," only sealing the fact. Natsumi Abe sang the entire song "Furusato", with the other members harmonizing discreetly. This single was #5, and the sales once again decreased by half.

TITLE: Furusato
RELEASE DATE: 7/14/1999
LYRICS/COMPOSER:...

"Manatsu no Kōsen" was released in May and was a summer tune. It went to #3 on the charts, and the sales dropped by half from Memory Seishun no Hikari)

TITLE: Manatsu no Kosen
RELEASE DATE: 5/12/1999
LYRICS/COMPOSER: Tsunku
ARRANGER: Kohno Shin

MEMBERS (age at time of single):
Yuko Nakazawa (25)
Aya Ishiguro (on 21st birthday)
Kaori Iida...

1999 kicked off with the group's fourth single "Memory Seishun no Hikari,"[8] failing to hit #1 but managing to snag #2 on Oricon (GLAY's "Winter, again" was #1 for the week, with 1st week sales of 955,780 copies, while Morning Musume's Memory Seishun no Hikari's was 195,720). The song contained a rap section and intense...

Their third single, "Daite Hold on Me!," continued in the same vein musically as Summer Night Town, and managed to hit #1 on the charts.

TITLE: Daite Hold on Me!
RELEASE DATE: 9/8/1998
LYRICS/COMPOSER: Tsunku
ARRANGER: Maejima Yasuaki

MEMBERS (age at time of single):
Yuko Nakazawa (25)
Aya Ishiguro (20)
Kaori Iida (17)
Natsumi Abe...

The success of Morning Coffee (hitting #6 on the Japanese pop charts) brought them three new members known as the second generation: Kei Yasuda, Mari Yaguchi, and Sayaka Ichii, bringing the total member count to eight. The second single, Summer Night Town,[5] was the first single of the new lineup—a mature pop tune about unsuccessfully attempting to hide...

Japanese producer Tsunku started the group in 1997 through an audition for a female rock vocalist for his band Sharan Q. The audition was held on the Japanese TV show Asayan. The winner was Heike Michiyo, later to become a soloist under what would eventually become known as Hello! Project. Tsunku decided to form a girl group consisting of five of the...