Japan’s Greatest Band
Japan’s No.1 rock ‘n’ roll band, The Yellow Monkey, dissolved on July 7th, but I only learned the news almost one month later from the newspaper. They stopped releasing new CDs a few years ago, so I almost forgot about them. But when I heard the news, I was really shocked.
When I was an elementary school student, I heard their songs on the radio for the first time, and at that moment, I became a great fan of theirs. I went to their concert when I was a second-grader in junior high school, and they made a huge impression on me. In those days, I didn’t have enough money to buy their CDs, so I used to rent them at the CD rental shop. They were my treasure. Almost every day I listened to their songs on cassette before I went to sleep, and very, very frequently I went to the local book store to check out the music magazines and see if they had a new interview or not. I didn’t have enough money to buy many magazines either, so I browsed them for a few hours. Some of my friends and my parents said that I was crazy, and my mother often said, “If you have any time to spare, you must study!”. But I did not stop, or I could not stop.
When I heard that The Yellow Monkey were going to stop releasing CDs, I was saddenend, but I was also relieved because they were not dissolved yet. It felt like my favorites were in intensive care at a hospital and some doctor would surely save their life by any means.
I had not cared about them so much since they stopped being active. But when I heard the news of the split, I recalled what I did on that day. Maybe I went to university as usual, I took classes, and I went home. As usual, nothing special happened that day. And after I heard those news, I wake up, read newspapers, play with my friends, do a part time job or watch TV; superficially, nothing has changed in my life.
But I thought a few things. I still have some favorite bands now, but the passion is less powerful than it was in those days. I don’t know why and when I became less passionate about them. Yet I thought that to keep the feelings, I must try to make some effort, or I will become less and less passionate about them. Maybe I was too familiar with the feeling.
But I do not want to make them a “memory” since they are living still now. It is very easy to say, “Thank you for all the memories,” but I do not want to say such a thing even though I don’t know what to do (continue listening to their CDs? Write about them on Tawawa?). So what I want to say is that while the band is gone, their music is still living. Their music hasn’t changed, so I will continue to listen to it.
Comments
The Yellow Monkey! I love them! I am a freak of them! I did not know that Yuko-chan knows and likes The Yellow Monkey.
Yeah, it was my junior high school days when I began to listen to their pieces. The very first tune of them in my life is “JAM,” a slow tempo ballade. Audience at their gigs often cries listening to this tune.
Their music is called “glam rock (glamorous rock),” which means that a singer or members of a band have loud (glamorous) costumes and makeup on, and have spectacles in their live performances.
I heard their news about brake up in this July. They say they should make a decision on being a part or a band again, then this dissolution is the answer to their fans. They stopped their acts in 2001. Since then Kazuya Yoshii, the vocalist in The Yellow Monkey, started his music act as a “solo” in 2002. The bassist, Youichi Hirose, also has his solo action with brand new band members. Fans are anxious about the future of The Yellow Monkey, unite or brake up.
I have their CDs that contains their GREATEST HITS. These are worth trying. Would you try ‘em?
Very nice entry, Yuko-san! Don’t worry about “losing the passion” — you won’t, although you have clearly passed the stage of unconditional fandom, which comes with growing up. :-)
Daijirou-san — glam rock was a big thing back in the seventies. I’m not sure if The Yellow Monkey really fit into that category, but I’ll take a listen.
I didn’t know Daijiro-senpai loves TYM!!! When I heard their songs for the first time (it was “Tuioku-no Mermaid”* in Japanese), I was an elementary school student. How young I was!!
And as he says, Yoshii loves glamourous rock, when they released their first CDs, they used make-up and called themselves LOVIN, HESSEY, EMMA and ANNY. It was very strange and COOL!! And I tried David Bowie, Cheap Trick or Mick Jagger.
I want to say many things about them, but it’s too maniac. But as they play the “Kanasiki Asian Boy*” at their lives, Yoshii always cries “This is Japanese NO.1 Rock’n’Roll!! THE YELLOW MONKEY!!” I agree with these words.
*I deliberately did not translate these titles into English. They have released their CDs in foreign countries, but I do not know these titles. And if they have not released their CDs in the UK, I think I do not have the right to translate them. But tuioku means reminiscence or remembrance and kanasiki means sad.
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The Yellow Monkey!
When I lived in Miyagi-ken (‘94-‘97) I would occasionally buy a CD just because it had a stange name or an interesting cover. When I saw the name “The Yellow Monkey” I was both intrigued and shocked. Was this a joke name? Was this a racist name? Was it some sort of self-depreciation? But rather than spend a lot of time thinking about serious issues, I just handed over (roughly) 3,000 yen and went home to my stereo.
The album I bought was called “Punch Drunkard,” and I was surprised at how much I liked the music. Many songs seemed slow in pace (at the time I really liked “Black Flag” - speedy LA punk), but there was a hard edge to the music - and LOTS of energy.
I didn’t buy more of their CDs, and I certainly didn’t go to the bookstore to read about them (I still can’t read Japanese!), but nonetheless, I’m sad to hear that “The Yellow Monkey” has broken up.