Chase the Chance


"Chase the Chance" is the fourth single by Japanese singer Namie Amuro from her second studio album, Sweet 19 Blues. 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. At the end of the month, Amuro would make her first appearance as a solo artist on Kōhaku Uta Gassen performing the single. A pre-release TV commercial was released for the single, featuring excerpts from the music videos for her four previous singles in slow motion and in black and white.
The song was featured in the 1997 video game Digital [Dance Mix Vol. 1 Namie Amuro] for the Sega Saturn.

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. 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. The group would go on to achieve success in their own right.
"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.
"Chase the Chance" was also used as the theme song to the Nihon TV drama, "The Chef."

Personnel

Production

TV performances

Charts

Oricon Sales Chart
ReleaseChartPeak positionFirst week salesSales totalChart run
December 4, 1995Oricon Weekly Singles Chart1225,0901,361,71020 weeks

Oricon Sales Chart
ReleaseChartPositionSales total
December 4, 1995Oricon 1996 Year-End Chart101,361,710