Fishmans тобының қалыптасу және алғашқы жылдары

Japanese pop band

In the early summer of 1987 in Minato, Tokyo Fishmans would be formed by founding members Shinji Sato (vocals, guitar, trumpet), Kin Ichi Motegi (drums, vocals, sampler), and Kensuke Ojima (guitar and vocals) out of Meiji Gakuin University. The group's first demo would be presented the same year, entitled Blue Summer by Sato, remaining incomplete to this day. In May 1988, Fishmans would start performing live in small venues in Tokyo, and bassist Yuzuru Kashiwabara would join their ranks in August of the same year. Their first recorded appearance was on the 1989 compilation Panic Paradise where two of their earliest songs make an appearance among four other ska punk groups. In March 1990, keyboardist Hakase Sun would join the band for their first solo live performance at Shibuya La. mama. In October of the same year, Virgin Records Japan (which would later be renamed to Media Remoras) would approach Fishmans with a record deal, which they promptly accepted. In November, Hakase Sun officially joined the band, completing the band's original lineup before their first performance at Shibuya Club Quattro in March 1991. Roughly two years after their appearance on Panic Paradise, their first album Chappie Don't Cry was released, produced by musician Kazufumi Kodama. This followed the April 21 release of single Hikouki (ひこうき), the first of the band's numerous singles. Mr. Kodama had previous fame with the founding of influential Japanese dub group Mute Beat, and his pitch to create Chappie Don't Cry with Fishmans was simply stating to the group "let's make a rocksteady album". After the record, Kodama would no longer appear on any Fishmans project, leaving the record to live on as their most straightforward reggae outing in their discography by many fans. Producer ZAK would make his first of many appearances with Fishmans for a live concert performed that year in June, marking the beginning of a long collaborative history between him and band writer Sato. Later the same year, Fishmans' self produced first EP Corduroy's Mood would be released. The record was a profoundly more shibuya kei take on reggae than their previous music, allowing the band to better experiment and brainstorm more complex compositions. The project was meant to express "a feeling of winter" within its four track runtime, and bears an only faint resemblance to their first LP due to its experimental nature. The band quickly developed a very easy going sound (mainly influenced by reggae and dub, but also including elements of rock, pop, drum and bass, hip hop, ska, etc. ), which was always coupled with Sato's distinctive androgynous vocals, slowly earning them significant acceptance in Japan's underground scene. In 1992, the Japanese broadcasting company Fuji TV approached the group to write a theme song for television show 90 Days Totenam Pub (90日間トテナムパブ), and in response the band produced the first of many renditions of "100mm Chottono (100ミリちょっとの)". The song aired on the program as an opener from January to March of that year, and the group released the track as a single on February 5. After this release, the group managed to recruit Buffalo Daughter guitarist suGar Yoshinaga for further recording intended for their next album. On October 21, single My Life and new album Orange were released simultaneously, taking the group towards a more defined funk rock sound, along with a newly redefined version of "Melody". Certain tracks on the release, such as "Kaerimichi (帰り道)" foreshadowed their turn towards dream pop which would follow in the later 90s. These advancements in musical style would only advance further with the coming of 1995, showing the group's versatility in sound.