For the past several weeks, I've been putting up the series of Gosanke（御三家...The Big Three）, the musical trios representing certain genres. At the outset, I mentioned that there were the true trios whose gosanke or other related names were put together by the Japanese media machine, and then I also stated that I would probably come up with some of my own imaginary ones near the end. However, it looks like one may have already been concocted on that master list at "idol.ne.jp". I couldn't find any other mention of a Shibuya-kei Gosanke anywhere else online.
I figured that if there were a Shibuya-kei Gosanke, at least two of the artists would be Flipper's Guitar and Pizzicato Five, and indeed, there they are, but I was a tad surprised to find Original Love in there on the "idol.ne.jp" list. Or maybe I shouldn't be...Original Love's Takao Tajima（田島貴男）had fronted P5 for a few years before the Divine Ms. Maki Nomiya（野宮真貴）arrived, and Original Love has that certain panache and style.
However, I've noticed that none of my articles on Tajima's group has included that Shibuya-kei tab. Now, it's not because of the fact that Tajima had once screamed into a mike at a 1994 concert "I AM NOT SHIBUYA-KEI!!!" (although in the years since, he has mellowed out on the genre according to J-Wiki), and intimidated by that declaration, I was afraid that if I did put that particular tab onto his articles, I would someday find a furious Tajima on my doorstep ready to use his guitar in an innovative way. Actually, and I made this point clear on one of my earliest articles on the band, I have agreed with Tajima that Original Love really isn't a Shibuya-kei entity. As mentioned, OL does have that certain panache and style, but it's a panache and style all its own. I think Tajima is more into the straight soul and Latin of yesteryear without the need for French fashion and language and 1960s lounge trappings.
According to the Wikipedia article on Shibuya-kei, the genre and fashion ultimately crystallized their definition and look in 1993, although I think by that point, Flipper's Guitar had already decided to break apart. I've decided then to go with 1990 as the tab year for this particular trio because Shibuya-kei has been seen as a 1990s thing although all of the bands involved originated back in the 1980s.
Original Love -- Asahi no Ataru Michi （朝日のあたる道）
Pizzicato Five -- Tokyo wa Yoru no Shichi-ji (東京は夜の七時）
I recall purchasing my first Pizzicato Five album (Happy End of the World) back in 1997 or (1998). It surprised me that it was available in typical record shop in the states. Ah, I enjoyed this post it was a very nostalgic walk down memory lane.
ReplyDeleteI think I bought my first P5 album, "Romantique '96" shortly after I heard some of the songs from that one on late-night TV.
DeleteHey, looks like P5 was a little bit before their time and international, too!
DeleteYeah, mind you, when P5 first started out, they weren't quite Shibuya-kei yet; more on the synthpop side.
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