Shonen Knife

Infobox musical artist 2
Name = Shonen Knife


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Origin = Japan
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Genre = Pop punk, Garage rock
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Years_active = 1981–present
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Current_members = Naoko Yamano
Etsuko Nakanishi Ritsuko Taneda
Past_members = Michie Nakatani Atsuko Yamano Mana Nishiura

The all-female musical band Shonen Knife (少年ナイフ, "Shōnen Naifu"; lit. "Boy knife") is a Japanese pop punk/garage rock band. Among their fans are Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Redd Kross, and Sultans of Ping. They cite as their main influences 1960s girl groups and punk rock such as The Ramones. They have also performed as a Ramones tribute band under the name The Osaka Ramones.

Overview

Theoretically, any band that writes songs with lyrics such as "Banana chips for you!/Banana chips for me!/ In the afternoon, banana chips and tea" should have a life span no longer than that of a grasshopper. But something oddly spellbinding occurs when deceivingly silly lyrics are sandwiched between a buoyant guitar and a rapid-fire, pop-punk drum kit. Which perhaps explains why the Japanese female rock duo Shonen Knife is still singing songs about cookies, sushi, jelly beans, and, of course, banana chips, nearly 25 years after its inception. - "The Boston Globe" [http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2005/03/09/shonen_knife_makes_its_point_with_positive_punk/ "Shonen Knife makes its point with positive punk"] by Christopher Muther, Boston Globe", March 9, 2005 ]

Shonen Knife formed in December 1981 with sisters Naoko Yamano (vocals and guitar) and Atsuko Yamano (drums) and their friend Michie Nakatani (vocals, bass and keyboards). They performed their first gig on March 14, 1982 at Studio One, a club in Osaka, in front of an audience of thirty-six who paid one hundred yen each. [http://www.shonenknife.net/e/profile.asp] Michie Nakatani left the band in December 1999, with Atsuko Yamano moving to bass. Mana Nishiura took over on drums, but never officially joined the band. Nishiura played her first live show with the band in May 2001; she left in 2004. She died in a New Jersey highway accident November 4, 2005 while touring the U.S. with DMBQ. [http://www.punknews.org/article.php?sid=14361&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0 Punk News] ]

While Mana was on an earlier tour with DMBQ in 2003, the group used drummer Etsuko "Ettchan" Nakanishi, who was eventually named the official, permanent drummer. On July 8, 2006 bassist Atsuko announced that, due to her marriage and subsequent move to Los Angeles, she had retired from Shonen Knife. [ [http://www.shonenknife.com/mainpage.html Shonen Knife Site] ] However, Atsuko joined in the band's late-2007 tour. [ [http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2007/12/14/Shonen-Knife-Juliet-Dagger report on 2007 tour date, with photos and video] ] In October 2008, Shonen Knife announced that Ritsuko Taneda, who had been the band's touring bass player for two years, had been promoted to full member.

Many alternative rock groups have cited Shonen Knife as a favorite of theirs, and the resulting word-of-mouth gained significant exposure for the band. They were also featured on CNN's This Week in Japan. In 1989, Gasatanka Records released a double-album tribute entitled "Every Band Has a Shonen Knife Who Loves Them", which featured renditions of the group's songs by a number of contributing bands, including Redd Kross, Sonic Youth, L7, The Mr. T Experience, and Babes in Toyland (the last two on non-CD formats only). The tribute album's success led to Shonen Knife's first American tour in 1990, and group later signed with Virgin Records in 1992.

The group had a song called "Buttercup (I'm a Supergirl)" that appeared on a Powerpuff Girls soundtrack. A Shonen Knife cover of The Carpenters' hit "Top of the World" was used in the 1998 remake of "The Parent Trap", a US television commercial for Microsoft, the credits music for the documentary Double Dare, as the ending song for the movie "The Last Supper" and in summer 2006 by the BBC in UK TV trailers for a season of nature programmes.

Shonen Knife's most recent album fun! fun! fun! was released in Japan on July 6, 2007 to coincide with the band's 25th anniversary. A new Album entitled Super Group is scheduled to be released in Japan on November 7, 2008.

Trivia

*Kurt Cobain often spoke of his admiration for Shonen Knife, stating, "When I finally got to see them live, I was transformed into a hysterical nine-year-old girl at a Beatles concert. [http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/7069216/shonen_knife_bring_sweets] "Fact|date=April 2008 The band opened for Nirvana at nine concerts in late 1991 and six in December 1993.
* Alternative rock band The Vines refer to Shonen Knife in their song Evil Town, on their Winning Days album.
*Wesley Willis performed a song called "Shonen Knife" in which he expresses admiration for the band's performance.
* Shonen Knife has experienced a moderate fame throughout the online community due to Scott Lemmon, the author of the Proxomitron and also a self-declared fan of the band.

Discography

(note that only the original releases are listed - see album entries for rerelease info)

Pre-major record label:

Major Record Label -- Naoko and Etsuko

Major Record Label -- Naoko, Etsuko and Ritsuko

EPs/singles

* (1994) "Knife Collectors" - fanclub-only CD single packed with fanzine and button
* (1997) "Explosion!" - 6 track album also featuring some live versions of songs from "Brand New Knife"
* (1999) "All I Want For Christmas" - 3-track Christmas mini-album
* (1999) "Yamucha" - single
* (2001) "Orange Sun" - single
* "Get The Wow" - Two UK singles with live in-studio bonus tracks unavailable elsewhere.
* Sub Pop Single - Bear Up Bison live b/w original version of Neon Zebra

Live albums

* (1991) "We Are Very Happy You Came" - live mini-album
* (2001) "Power of Money" - "Burning Farm: BF-2CT)" - rare cassette only album with Mana Nishiura
* (2006) "Live In Osaka" - The first completely live album by Shonen Knife

Rarities Compilations

* (1996) "The Birds & The B-Sides" - collection of B-sides and variants

Greatest Hits Compilations

* (1990) "Shonen Knife" - Compilation of first two albums
* (1995) "Greatest History" - Compilation only available in Japan
* (2000) "Millennium Edition" - compilation of material from 1996-1999 plus three unreleased versions of songs from Strawberry Sound
* (2006) "Universal Hits-Golden Beat" - Two-disk compilation

Remix albums

* (1997) "Super Mix" - compilation of remixes
* (1999) "Ultra Mix" - compilation of remixes

Other

* (1987) "Flipside Vinyl Fanzine vol. 3" - punk compilation features the song "Cycling is Fun"
* (1997) "Mint Sound Greatest Hits Volume One" - compilation features the song "Flying Jelly Attack"
* (2000) "The Powerpuff Girls Heroes and Villains" - Contribute the song "Buttercup (I'm a Super Girl)"

References

External links

* [http://www.shonenknife.net/ Official Japanese Site]
* [http://shonenknife.proboards83.com/ Shonen Knife Forum]
* [http://www.shonenknife.net/english/ ShonenKnife.net Official English Site]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/johnpeel/artists/s/shonenknife/ Shonen Knife at "Keepin' It Peel]
* [http://nippop.com/artist/artist_id-9/artist_name-shonen_knife/ A profile of Shonen Knife] at Nippop
* [http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:31aqoalabijz~T2 Discography of Shonen Knife] at AMG