Indeed a Friday night, so why not finish off with something fun and Shibuya-kei tonight?
The very first time that I had ever even heard or seen the legendary Pizzicato Five was on an episode of "The New Music", a local hip program on various kinds of music produced here in Toronto at City-TV way back when. One of the episodes was devoted to weird and wonderful Japanese music, and one of the acts that was showcased involved a sylph-like woman in a massive purple afro and 70s fashion just shimmying away. That was indeed the first time I ever met the divine Maki Nomiya（野宮真貴）and I really couldn't figure out what she and P5 were all about initially.
Perhaps the above video for "Banji Kaicho" was indeed where I had seen Nomiya for the first time. And I ought to use the French title "tout va bien" (Everything Is Fine) in future references since "Banji Kaicho" sounds just a little too stiff and formal, and Pizzicato Five is anything but. Grooving on the dance floor is P5's shtick. And according to the music video, everything is indeed fine as Ms. Nomiya has some of her buddies enjoying themselves with her including her partner in crime, Yasuharu Konishi (小西康陽...who also wrote and composed the song) and Keigo "Cornelius" Oyamada（小山田圭吾）from Flipper's Guitar. They danced pretty much the same way that I danced back in my university days, which means that there had been hope for me, after all.
If I'm not mistaken, that "beep-beep-beep-beep-YEAH!" is a phrase that I've heard many times somewhere, so perhaps "tout va bien" has reached the annals of memedom as well. The song headlines P5's 6th album "Sweet Pizzicato Five" from September 1992. Good choice there to start off some happy swing-worthy Friday-night-loving listening and shimmying. The only thing missing is that famous announcer going "A NEW STEREOPHONIC SOUND SPECTACULAR".
I discovered P5 via the Comedy Central show Viva Variety! It was a vehicle for The State veterans Thomas Lennon, Kerri Kinney and Michael Ian Black. The song they performed was “It’s a Beautiful Day,” dressed in cheerleader outfits, complete with pom-poms. I really wish I could find that performance, but a lot of pre-South Park Comedy Central seems to have disappeared off the face of the Earth.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, the CD of Happy End of the World eventually found its way into my collection, and it never fails to put a smile on my face. Especially “It’s a Beautiful Day.” The version on this CD is the one with the infectious “P! I! Z-Z-I! C-A-T-O! FIVE!” chant.
Hi, Mike.
DeleteYeah, it would have been great to have seen that performance. I recall another P5 song being used to tenderly finish an episode of "Futurama" of all things. Would like to see some more "infiltration" of the divine Ms. Nomiya in American TV.
I'm pretty sure the "beep-beep-beep-beep-YEAH!" is a call back to the Beatles. Pizzicato V is the shit though. Personally I'm a bigger fan of the Tajima-era but Maki-era PV is the peak of Shibuya-Kei coolness.
ReplyDeleteHello there. I know some of the very early days and then, of course, the Maki era, but how was the time with Tajima?
DeleteBy Her Majesty's Request and Bellissima are the best albums of Tajima Pizzicato V. I highly recommend them!
DeleteHi, Arifureta Otoko!
DeleteOK, I've seen those titles before but never gave them a listen. I will have to check them out. Would be interesting to hear Tajima's approach. Thanks!