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Pizzicato Five

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Template:Short description Template:About Template:Refimprove Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox musical artist

Pizzicato Five (formerly typeset as Pizzicato V and sometimes abbreviated to P5)<ref name="Eastern Standard Time">Yang Jeff, Dina Can, Terry Hong, (1997) Eastern Standard Time pg 277 New York: Mariner Books Template:ISBN</ref> was a Japanese pop band formed in Tokyo in 1984 by multi-instrumentalists Yasuharu Konishi and Keitarō Takanami. While it began as a quintet,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> after personnel changes in the late 1980s the band gained international fame as a duo consisting of Konishi and vocalist Maki Nomiya. With their music blending together 1960s pop, jazz and synth-pop,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the group were a prominent component in the Shibuya-kei movement of the 1990s.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Pizzicato Five was a hugely prolific group during its existence, usually releasing at least a studio album each year in addition to various EPs and remix albums. Their music has appeared in numerous movies, television episodes, and video games. The song "Baby Love Child" was featured in Futurama's episode "Leela's Homeworld".<ref>Cohen, David X. (2003). Futurama season four DVD commentary for the episode "Leela's Homeworld" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.</ref>

HistoryEdit

1980sEdit

Pizzicato V began in 1984 when university students Yasuharu Konishi and Keitarō Takanami first met at a local music society conference. Ryō Kamomiya, Mamiko Sasaki, and Shigeo Miyata were soon recruited after a few years.<ref name="Ankeny2002">Template:Cite book</ref> Miyata left the group almost immediately but the four remaining members kept the name Pizzicato V. The band released its first single on Haruomi Hosono's Non-Standard label (Teichiku Records), a 12-inch release titled "The Audrey Hepburn Complex" which was produced by Hosono, in 1985.<ref name="Strong">Strong, Martin C. (2003) The Great Indie Discography, Canongate, Template:ISBN, p. 456</ref> They followed this with the single "Action".<ref name="Strong" />

In 1986, Pizzicato V signed with CBS/Sony (now Sony Music Entertainment Japan). In 1987, the band released their first all-new album, Couples.<ref name="Strong" /> It was a commercial failure, and the record company began pressuring the band to find a new lead singer. Kamomiya and Sasaki decided to quit. Takao Tajima, Original Love's frontman, joined the band soon as the new vocalist.<ref name="Strong" /> He decided to work at these two bands. With Tajima, the band released its second album, Bellissima! in 1988.<ref name="Strong" />

The next two albums, 1989's On Her Majesty's Request and 1990's Soft Landing on the Moon, were also commercial failures.

1990sEdit

File:Pizzicato Five logo.svg
Textlogo of Pizzicato Five

In 1990, Maki Nomiya, who had previously released one solo album, joined as the third lead vocalist.<ref name="Eastern Standard Time"/> Takao Tajima left to concentrate on his own band Original Love. In 1991, Pizzicato Five signed with Nippon Columbia/Seven Gods (later Triad Records).

Following three EPs showcasing Nomiya's vocals, Pizzicato Five released This Year's Girl. Inspired by the advent of sampling (De La Soul's 3 Feet High and Rising is said to have been a major influence), the group put together a sound which would help start the burgeoning Shibuya-kei scene. The album would spawn two of their best-known songs: "Twiggy Twiggy" and "Baby Love Child".

1992 saw a change in direction as the clubby Sweet Pizzicato Five was released. The band was then considered niche, despite its loyal fan base.<ref>「CATCH UP 世の中にはスウィートやキャッチーがいっぱいあるよね」『週刊文春』1993年9月9日号、文藝春秋、1993年8月。</ref>

The band began to get increasing exposure via the theme songs it recorded for television dramas (a common practice for pop bands in Japan), achieving widespread fame with the 1993 single "Sweet Soul Revue", which was featured in a major spring advertising campaign for Kao Corporation (Kanebo Cosmetics) and as the theme song to the 1995 Pauly Shore film Jury Duty. In December, the single Template:Nihongo (literally, 7 p.m. in Tokyo) became another smash hit after it was used as the opening theme of the children's television programme UgoUgo Rūga Ni-gō.

The band's American debut came in 1994 with the release of the EP Five by Five on Matador Records.<ref name="Strong" /><ref name="Eastern Standard Time"/> This was quickly followed by a full-length album, Made in USA, a compilation of tracks from their last three Japanese albums which sold 200,000 copies worldwide.

Shortly before the release of the next album Overdose in the same year, Keitarō Takanami quit the band, leaving Konishi and Nomiya as the only remaining members. In February 1995, the two set off on a successful 14-stop tour of Europe and America. Another compilation, The Sound of Music by Pizzicato Five, was released in October 1995, again featuring various tracks from the Maki-era albums.

After the 1996 release of the album Romantique 96 and several singles, including the hit "Baby Portable Rock", in 1997 the band formed its own label, Readymade Records, and released the commercially successful album Happy End of the World – the only Pizzicato Five album to be released unchanged in both Japan and the rest of the world.

In 1998, the band released The International Playboy & Playgirl Record in Japan. It would be released a year later worldwide with a slightly different track listing and the shortened title (which was also its Japanese title) of Playboy & Playgirl.

1999 came and Pizzicato Five released the JBL Maxisonic series of EPs, followed by the album Pizzicato Five. It included songs from each of the three EPs in very different forms: "Darlin' of Discothèque" is shorter and instrumental, "A Perfect World" is a lounge-style rearrangement sung by guest vocalist Mieko Hirota and the new song "20th Century Girl" is based on the B-side "Room Service", originally written by Masumi Arichika of TV Jesus.

Final yearsEdit

In 2000, Matador Records released Pizzicato Five under the somewhat less confusing name of The Fifth Release from Matador. The CD version of this left out the first song "Love Again" but added three extra tracks (one from each of the JBL Maxisonic EPs), while the LP version shared the same title but deviated still further from the original track listing. It would also be Pizzicato Five's last American release.

2001 saw the Japanese release of the album Çà et là du Japon and the announcement that the band was to break up, followed by a series of live events featuring guest performances by old members and two further Big Hits and Jet Lags albums – Pizzicato Five R.I.P. (1998–2001) and Singles (1993–2001). Since their disbandment, the band's catalogue has been reissued as various compilations such as "Pizzicato Five On Demand".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

MembersEdit

Members (at time of disbandment)

  • Yasuharu Konishi (1984–2001) – songwriter, bass guitar, guitar, keyboards, vocals.
He was the only founding member to stay with the group until the end. He is a music producer now.
Their third vocalist. She is also a solo singer, a narrator, a fashion model and a dress designer now.

Former members

  • Keitarō Takanami (1984–1994) – guitar, keyboards and vocals.
One of the founding members; he is a guitarist and a music producer now. He changed the spelling of his name to 高浪敬太郎 later, and was also known as "K-taro."
  • Mamiko Sasaki (1984–1987) – lead vocals
One of the original members and was the first vocalist of this group.
  • Ryō Kamomiya (1984–1987) – keyboards
One of the original members; he is a composer and an arranger now.
  • Takao Tajima (1987–1990) – lead vocal, guitar, harmonica
Their second vocalist. He had already come out as Original Love's vocalist at the time. He is a solo singer and is also a music producer now.

Timeline <timeline> ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:90 bottom:80 top:0 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:07/01/1984 till:03/31/2001 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4 ScaleMajor = increment:5 start:1985 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1985

Colors = 

id:vocals value:red    legend:Vocals
id:guitar value:green  legend:Guitar
id:bass   value:blue   legend:Bass
id:keys   value:purple legend:Keyboards
id:studio value:black  legend:Studio_album

LineData = 

color:studio layer:back
at:04/01/1987
at:09/21/1988
at:07/21/1989
at:05/21/1990
at:09/01/1991
at:09/21/1992
at:06/01/1993
at:10/01/1994
at:09/30/1995
at:06/21/1997
at:10/01/1998
at:11/20/1999
at:01/01/2001

BarData = 

bar:Mamiko   text:"Mamiko Sasaki"
bar:Takao    text:"Takao Tajima"
bar:Maki     text:"Maki Nomiya"
bar:Keitaro  text:"Keitaro Takanami"
bar:Konishi  text:"Yasuharu Konishi"
bar:Ryo      text:"Ryo Kamomiya"

PlotData = 

width:11
bar:Mamiko from:start till:07/01/1987 color:vocals
bar:Takao from:07/01/1987 till:07/01/1990 color:vocals
bar:Takao from:07/01/1987 till:07/01/1990 color:guitar width:3
bar:Maki from:07/01/1990 till:end color:vocals
bar:Keitaro from:start till:09/01/1994 color:guitar
bar:Keitaro from:07/01/1987 till:09/01/1994 color:keys width:3
bar:Konishi from:start till:end color:bass
bar:Konishi from:07/01/1987 till:end color:keys width:3
bar:Konishi from:09/01/1994 till:end color:guitar width:7
bar:Ryo from:start till:07/01/1987 color:keys

</timeline>

DiscographyEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

Studio albums

ReferencesEdit

Template:Reflist

External linksEdit

Template:Pizzicato Five

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