The Spiders ザ・スパイダース

August 23, 2010

The Spiders were formed in 1961. Their first recordings were eleki with popular covers like “Dynamite” and “Wipeout”. With the addition of Jun Inoue on vocals in 1964, they were ready for GS which took after the new wave of British-invasion vocal beat groups. The Spiders were influenced by R&B and psychedelic rock. Surprisingly, it was a ballad “Yuhi Ga Naiteru (Sad Sunset)” which gave them their first hit. Other hits followed including “Anotoki Kimi wa Wakakatta”, 君にあげよう (I’ll give you) and “Seishun A-Go-Go”. They toured Europe in late 1966, appearing on Ready Steady Go! and at the legendary Star Club in Hamburg. In 1970, Shochi Tanabe left and was replaced by Maeda. They disbanded in 1971. They were widely regarded as the premier GS band.

The Spiders: Shochi Tanabe (leader, drums), Hiroshi “Monsieur” Kamayatsu (guitar, vocals), Kunihiko Kase (vocals), Jun Inoue (vocals), Takayuki Inoue (lead guitar), Katuo Ono (keyboard, steel guitar), Mituru Kato (bass guitar), Masaaki Sakai (vocals, flute) and Maeda Tomio (drums).

夕陽が泣いている (SAD SUNSET)

Leave a Comment » | The Spiders ザ・スパイダース | Permalink
Posted by franas

The Tigers ザ・タイガース

August 19, 2010

From the “jazz kissa” (jazz coffee shops) local music scene in Kyoto, Sally & The Playboys (Osami Kishibe – bass guitar, Taro Morimoto – rhythm guitar, Katsumi Takahashi – lead guitar and vocal, and Minoru Hitomi – drums) recruited the enigmatic vocalist, Kenji Sawada, from The Thunders to form The Funnies in 1966. For their professional debut, they renamed as The Tigers and released the first SP in early 1967 (My Mary/Let me see you baby) but it was the follow-up SP (Seaside Bound) which charted. Before they disbanded in 1971, they had recorded fifteen SP’s and six LP’s for Polydor Japan. Many of their songs were the biggest hits in the GS era, like Mona Lisa’s smile (Lisa no Hohoemi), Love only for you (Kimidake ni Aiwo), C-C-C and Smile for me (penned by Maurice and Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees), and Flower necklace (Hana no Kubikazari) and A white dove (Haikyo no Hato) sang by Katsumi. Shiro Kishibe (Osami’s younger brother) replaced Katsumi in 1969. The Tigers reunited in 1981 to record Tigers 1982.

The core members of The Tigers were nicknamed affectionately by their fans: Osami Kishibe (Sally), Kenji Sawada (Julie), Katsumi Takahashi (Toppo), Minoru Hitomi (Pea) and Taro Morimoto (simply Taro).

(SMILE FOR ME)
Smile for me
Don’t let me see you crying
For you must keep on trying
To pretend that you don’t care

Smile for me
If only for a moment
And even though I’m far away
My heart will stay with you

One moment of sadness
Brings you gladness
And you will learn
While I’m away
You must pray for my return

Smile for me
If only for a moment
And even though I’m far away
My heart will stay with you

One moment of sadness
Brings you gladness
And you will learn
While I’m away
You must pray for my return

Smile for me
Though there’s no need for sorrow
Just wait until tomorrow
I’m home again
So, smile for me
For me
For me…

Leave a Comment » | The Tigers ザ・タイガース | Permalink
Posted by franas