Montage (Yen Town Band album)

Montage
Studio album by Yen Town Band (Chara)
Released	September 16, 1996
Recorded	1996
Genre	J-pop, Rock
Length	35:44
Label	Sony Music Japan
Producer	Takeshi Kobayashi
Yen Town Band (Chara) chronology
Chara the Best Baby Baby Baby XXX (1995) Montage (1996) Junior Sweet (1997)
Alternative Covers
Slipcase Cover
Singles from Montage
"Swallowtail Butterfly (Ai no Uta)" Released: July 22, 1996

Montage (モンテージ, Montēji^?) is the fifth studio album by Chara, which was released on September 16, 1996.^[1] It was a concept album, released under the name Yen Town Band, for the release of the Shunji Iwai film Swallowtail Butterfly. It debuted at #1 on the Japanese Oricon album charts for two weeks, and charted in the top 200 for 26 weeks.^[2] It was Chara's first #1 album, and eventually sold 785,000 units in Japan.

Yen Town Band is the name of the band featured in the film. Glico, the character Chara plays, is the main vocalist of the band, made up of residents from the Shanghai section of the Yentown slum. The concept album was a collaboration between Chara and Mr. Children producer Takeshi Kobayashi. Kobayashi tried to embulate a Beatles sound for the release of this album.^[3]

The theme song for the movie, Swallowtail Butterfly (Ai no Uta) (あいのうた, Love Song^?), was released in July 1996, two months prior to the film's release. It was a slow hit, selling over 70,000 copies between July and August. In September, when major promotion for the film began, the single finally broke the top 20 (at #18).

The album was released simultaneously with the film in mid September. It topped the charts for two weeks (selling 227,400 and 127,290 units in each respective week). The sales for the single also picked up, to the point that in October it reached #1 on Oricon charts.

The majority of the album tracks were written by Kobayashi, though some were entirely written by Chara herself. Mama's Alright was featured as a B-side of the Swallowtail Butterfly (Ai no Uta) single, and the track Shite yo Shite yo (してよ　してよ, I Do It I Do It^?) was used in Sprite commercials that starred Chara herself. The final song, My Way, is a cover of the famous pop standard, made famous by Frank Sinatra.

Track listing

All songs arranged and produced by Takeshi Kobayashi.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Sunday Park"	Fumiko Yoshii, Takeshi Kobayashi	4:17
2.	"Mama's Alright"	Takeshi Kobayashi, Takayo Nagasawa, Bryan Burton-Lewis	4:11
3.	"She Don't Care"	Bryan Burton-Lewis, Chara	4:41
4.	"Swallowtail Butterfly (Ai no Uta) (あいのうた, Love Song?)"	Shunji Iwai, Takeshi Kobayashi, Chara	4:49
5.	"Shanghai Baby (上海ベイベ?)"	Chara	4:59
6.	"Shite yo Shite yo (してよ　してよ, I Do It I Do It?)"	Chara, Yukio Nagoshi, Kobayashi Takeshi	4:02
7.	"Chisa na Tenohira (小さな手のひら, Little Palms?)"	Chara	3:11
8.	"My Way"	Gilles Thibaut, Paul Anka, Jacques Revaux, Claude François	5:34

Singles

Date	Title	Peak position	Weeks	Sales
July 22, 1996	"Swallowtail Butterfly (Ai no Uta)"	1 (Oricon)	25	878,150

Japan Sales Rankings

Release	Chart	Peak Position	First Week Sales	Sales Total	Chart Run
September 16, 1996	Oricon Daily Albums Chart	1
	Oricon Weekly Albums Chart	1	227,400	785,000	18 weeks
	Oricon Yearly Albums Chart	31

Chart procession and succession

Preceded by By Myself by hitomi

Oricon weekly number-one album September 30, 1996 - October 7, 1996 (2 weeks)

Succeeded by Missing Piece by Kyosuke Himuro

References

1. ^ "Sony Music Online Japan : Montage". http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/Music/Arch/ES/YenTownBand/ESCB-1790/index.html. Retrieved 2009-10-29. 
2. ^ "Montage/Yen Town Band". http://www.oricon.co.jp/music/release/d/108710/2/. Retrieved 2009-10-27. 
3. ^ "ＹＥＮ　ＴＯＷＮ　ＢＡＮＤ アーティストページ - TSUTAYA online". http://www.tsutaya.co.jp/artist/00057737.html. Retrieved 2009-10-27.