"The video of their hit tune 'Gattsu daze!!' is a wicked send-up of Japanese cinematic clichés, with ninjas, geishas, samurai and other Edo-period characters cavorting madly in what looks like a Kabuki show choreographed by Spike Jones. Totally insane."
Yeah, I'd probably bring in Weird Al Yankovic and Monty Python into the mix as well. Plus, the song had this old disco beat sung by a group totally not taking themselves too seriously. But with this song, Ulfuls' destiny as this comic rock band from Osaka was set. They definitely set themselves apart from some of the other popular bands at the time like Spitz, Mr. Children and Sha Ran Q. And that extended to the names that the band members took on: Tortoise Matsumoto (vocals), Ulful Keisuke (guitar), John B. Chopper (bass) and Sankon Jr. (drums).
Written and composed by Matsumoto, "Gattsu Daze" is a fun and tongue-in-cheek song of empowerment and encouragement, best sung after a few brewskis at a karaoke box with the guys or gals. The alcohol helps in bringing out the energy needed for the song.. Released in December 1995 as Ulfuls' 9th single, this was the breakthrough song the band had been dreaming about after toiling about since their inception in 1988 and their first single in 1992.
According to J-Wiki, somehow Matsumoto got some direct advice from the technopop dance king of the 90s, Tetsuya Komuro（小室哲哉）; Komuro apparently suggested, "Why don't you put a bit more disco into it?" and then Matsumoto took a listen to one of Komuro's prodigy groups, trf and their big hit of 1995, "Overnight Sensation". And from there, the bones of "Gattsu Daze" were built up. Staying on the disco theme, Matsumoto then came up with the song's repeated refrain via inspiration from KC & The Sunshine Band's classic "That's The Way I Like It"(one of my musical touchstones way back when I was growing up).
Well, with the disco inspiration, the man-up lyrics and the whack-a-doodle video, "Gattsu Daze" may have started slow, but eventually clawed its way up the rankings to peak at No. 6 on Oricon. and become the 36th-ranked song of 1996. Reaching double platinum status, it also got the boys into the Kohaku Utagassen and received "Best Video of the Year" honours from the Space Shower Music Video Awards.
The band's outsized personality also had them as natural pitchmen for commercials. Here's one for Poscam gum.
Ah, as for the derivation of the band name....apparently, it was a misreading of the word "soulful" on one of the band members' favourite albums that was responsible.
Hi J-Canuck. Got sidetracked lately, so now I'm finally catching up with all your recent postings here.
ReplyDeleteThe classic "Guts Daze!!"... The moment I saw this whacko video on Youtube a while back, I just had to check out the band. I actually sang this tune at one of the local Korean Karaoke bars a couple of times. I'm not much of a drinker, but sugary drinks also seem to bring out the magic in this one.
And thank you for all the trivia. Wasn't aware of Komuro's involvement. He sure was everywhere in the 90's.
Hey nikala. No problems here, come on by anytime.
ReplyDeleteI've likened Ulfuls to Huey Lewis & The News although I think the former is even more fun-loving, so I'm pretty sure the guys had at least some input into the video. Not much of a drinker myself...basically I was famous (or infamous) at Kuri for drinking only Brown Cows.
I had no idea about Komuro's assistance in this one. Just wondered how these guys ever met...maybe it was backstage at a concert or something. Ahhh....those 90s....Komuro was pretty much on top of the heap at that time.