Miss Top Idol of Forever; Yokosuka lovin'; powerful/intense/enveloping; just classy, just rebellious. Cemented her spot as a legend by retiring at the peak of her career in the mid 1970s and never emerging since. (Of course, she would've still been seen as a legend even if she hadn't, because no one's nearly as impressive.)
Yamaguchi Momoe was originally marketed as just your average idol, but she eventually rejected that & took control of her career and music. Ended up putting out some pretty artsy concept albums.
Anyway, I really love her. She's so strong and both her voice and her beauty are unmatched. (And she's so completely versatile--from bossa nova to enka to rock to anything, she just makes it all work in her unique & powerful way.)
There's been quite a few covers of her most famous songs on Uta Doki (Yokosuka Story, Ii hi Tabidachi, Play Back part 2, etc) so I'm sure most of you have heard at least one, but maybe there's a few who haven't? So here's one of my all-time favorite performances by her: Ai no Arashi (and another, for good measure: Play Back part 1)
Also, her album Dramatic: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=W6GF1K8D (I especially recommend Santa Maria no Atsui Kaze, Zettai Zetsumei, Aru Onna...Aru Hi, and of course Play Back part 2--but the whole record is excellent.)
