- Queen of Japan
Queen of Japan is a music trio from
Europe , known for itssynthpop sound and cover versions of hits from the 1970s and 1980s. [ [http://www.soccerphile.com/soccerphile/archives/wc2002/fo/mw/sse.html] SingerAyumi Hamasaki is commonly referred to as "Empress ofJ-pop " but has also been referred to as "Queen of Japan" on occasion. She is unconnected with the musical group discussed here.]Career
Queen of Japan's 1999 debut EP "Mercury Rising" (a reference to
Freddie Mercury ) features New Wave-sounding versions of Queen songs and is probably the basis for the group's name. [ [http://www.queenofjapan.net/HTML/presshtml/dunno.html] Queen of Japan Press Clipping]The trio's versions of "
I Love Rock N Roll " and "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy " (originally hits forJoan Jett andRod Stewart , respectively) appear on several different compilation CDs. Their version of "I Was Made For Loving You" (a hit for KISS) was featured on the award-winning short movie "Icicle melt" starring Greta Scacci.Some of their cover songs, such as "Mother" (written and originally recorded by
John Lennon ) and "Wanted Man" (written byBob Dylan forJohnny Cash ) infuse an electronic sound into songs which previously had a different style. They have also covered songs bySoft Cell ,The Who ,Olivia Newton-John ,Marvin Gaye ,Duran Duran ,Thin Lizzy ,Klaus Nomi andFrank Zappa . [http://www.forcedexposure.com/artists/queen.of.japan.html] Forced Exposure CD reviews]Remix es of Queen of Japan's work have appeared on a CD byDJ Keoki . Their music has also been featured atFashion Week and appears on two CDs of music thereof. [ [http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/6388869/a/Kill+The+DJ.htm] CD Universe: Kill the CD byDJ Keoki ] [ [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/queenofjapan/albums/album/100030/fashion_week_issue_01] "Rolling Stone " Reviews: Fashion Week I] [ [http://www.mmguide.musicmatch.com/album/album.cgi?ALBUMID=1402546]Musicmatch Guide: Fashion Week II]One reviewer writes:
Queen of Japan [...] manage to inject their brand of sleazy sexuality into this revivalist template. I can’t say this is original stuff, but in all its worrying energy and zany spunk, it’s actually quite a lot of fun. At times it even reminds me of Blondie (which is a good thing!) if their over-reliance on cheesy
A review for the CD "Foreign Politics" describes:retro sounds was curbed slightly, they might even stumble across a decent track every once in a while. [ [http://www.boomkat.com/item.cfm?id=21175] Bookat Independent Music Specialist]You'd think that after the success of the sex-citing cover CD "Head-Rush", (an album of full of electric-socket boogie-nights versions, which could be mistakingly ["
sic "] described as electroclash) [...] the glitter-spangled threesome [...] would carry on playing the high-voltagekaraoke -sex-machine for a generation who grew up between "Saturday Night Fever " & "Flashdance ", "Repo Man " & "Alien" [...] But Queen of Japan are not just your run-of-the-mill cheeky anarchistic electro-karaoke dandies [...but are instead] A tour de force in discology."Identity
As is often the case with artists on the
electronic music scene, the identity of Queen of Japan is more complex than casual inquiry reveals. Neither their official website nor their page onMy Space explains it. It is, however, an "open secret" and is discussed in interviews and on other websites. [http://www.queenofjapan.net/] Queen of Japan Website] [http://www.myspace.com/queenofjapan] Queen of JapanMy Space page] [ Many of the sources which discuss the artists behind the Queen of Japan personas are referenced herein in conjunction with specific facts.]Credited group members are Koneko (
vocals ), Jo Ashito (vocals,guitar ) and Jason Arigato (bass guitar ). Their website features the following description "translated from the japanese by arakiha miho":The band naming their persons queen of Japan was not always in the threesome they hold to their beating hearts today [..] After many tours of hard sexual energy and costume change the queen of Japan became known well across country and town never giving in to a life of modest no glamour [...] Schools will replace sexual theory lessons with headrush album in order to save the money of tax pay. Queen of Japan influence politics and reforming. Everybody loves everybody and fun and feeling. [This (pseudo?)
Japlish explanation is also given on Queen of Japan's page on My Space. Much of the whole text is even less decipherable than the quote given here and seems designed or at least included to obfuscate Queen of Japan's identity and perhaps even to frustrate attempts at further inquiry. It does, however, note "They are a trio that pretended to be from Japan and are doing fab cover with disco!" which seems to indicate this text does come from a real third-party source rather than being entirely fabricated by the band to enhance the Japanese illusion of what Platzgumer's website calls "the fake-identity supergroup" Queen of Japan. Their so-called " [http://www.queenofjapan.net/new%20images/the%20birth%20of%20a%20queen_eng.doc press release] " .doc, attributed to a source inVietnam , is almost as weird and unhelpful as the text which is quoted, in part, here.]Despite the name of the band and the Japanese-sounding names (actually
stage name s) of its members, the group has no direct connections toJapan and no member of the trio is of Japanese ethnicity. [ As noted, electronic music groups often engage in some degree of obfuscation regarding their true identities and origins, but investigation did not reveal the motive behind of Queen of Japan's pretense of being Japanese. Plausibly, it is just a gimmick with no story behind it to discover.]Catriona Shaw (a.k.a. Koneko,Miss le Bomb ), a Scot and the youngest member of the band, is the lead singer and was hailed as a "new exceptional singer". The first Queen of Japan CD "Mercury Rising" only features Platzgumer and Shaw as a duo. Her vocal talents are also featured on the CD "Miss Me" credited as "HP:CS" (Hans Platzgumer:Catriona Shaw) as well as withElectronicat . [ [http://rhinoplex.org/wrecked/old/viewitem.php?itemselect=1166] Electronicat, "21st Century Toy"] [ [http://www.dancetracksdigital.com/search/full.php?FULL=10244] Dancetracks Digital]Hans Platzgumer (a.k.a. Jo Ashito, Seperator, Disko B), is anAustria n-born musician andmusic producer and lead guitarist/backing singer. He is co-founder (with Andi Pümpel) of theGrammy -nominatedNYC bandHP Zinker in the late 1980s and is member of one of Germany's most important Punk bands "Die Goldenen Zitronen " (founded 1986 inHamburg ) since the late 90s. More recently he has collaborated with other artists and released music under such codenames as Convertible, Aura Anthropica, Cube & Sphere, Fingerfood, and Shinto. [http://www.forcedexposure.com/artists/platzgumer.feat.catriona.shaw.hans.html] Forced Exposure, "Miss Me"] [http://www.gullbuy.com/buy/2001/10_23/queenOfJapan.cfm] Gullbuy New Sound Review] [http://sonomu.net/artist/~queenofjapan/] Sonomu: Queen of Japan]Albert Pöschl (a.k.a. Jason Arigato), Queen of Japan's bass player and co-producer, is from Bavaria and has a diverse portfolio as a musician and music producer. He has worked as a sound technician for various bands including
Chicks on Speed and "Die Goldenen Zitronen", which is presumably where Platzgumer and him made their acquaintance. He joined Queen of Japan in 1999, one year after they had formed. [ [http://rhinoplex.org/wrecked/old/viewitem.php?itemselect=1166] Electronicat, "21st Century Toy"] [ [http://www.dancetracksdigital.com/search/full.php?FULL=10244] Dancetracks Digital]Discography
Queen of Japan's music is mostly available via European
independent record labels . Some of their work was originally released onvinyl record s (facilitating their use indance mix es through traditional, non-digital DJ-ing methods) but were later released ascompact disk s. [ [http://www.queenofjapan.net/HTML/start.html] This discography is compiled from information on Queen of Japan's website and, like the information there, does not differentiate between original release dates and dates of re-issue.]* "Mercury Rising" (1999) compact disk, label: Angelika Koehlermann
* "I Was Made For Loving You" (2000) 12" vinyl record, label: Hausmusik
* "Physical" (2001) 12" vinyl record, label: Echokammer
* "Cool Cat/Total Eclipse" (2001) 10" vinyl record, label: Fortina
* "Nightlife in Tokyo" (2001) LP vinyl record, label:Erkrankung Durch Musique
* "Nightlife in Tokyo" (2001) compact disk, label: Angelika Koehlermann. Later re-released as "Tokyo Rising" in 2006 with added material.
* "Headrush" (2002) LP vinyl record, label:Erkrankung Durch Musique
* "Headrush" (2002) compact disk, label: Echokammer. Released in Japan by Sausage Records.
* "Kings, Queens, Wasps & Lust" (2003) LP vinyl record, label: QOJ
* "Foreign Politics" (2004) LP vinyl record, label:Erkrankung Durch Musique
* "Foreign Politics" (2004) compact disk, label: Echokammer
* "Tokyo Risen" (2006) compact disk, label: EchokammerIn addition, many Queen of Japan songs have appeared on compilations. For example, "Mother" appeared only on aMother's Day compilation before its inclusion in "Tokyo Rising" and "Wanted Man" is among those songs on the tribute album "Boy Named Sue: Johnny Cash Revisited".Audio clips
Clips attempt to open in
Windows Media Player .Video clips
Clips attempt to open in Windows Media Player.::* [http://www.queenofjapan.net/IMAGE/PHOTOS/cologne/MVI_1967.AVI Video Clip One: "Playground" in Cologne, Germany] ::* [http://www.queenofjapan.net/IMAGE/PHOTOS/cologne/MVI_1966.AVI Video Clip Two: "Playground" in Cologne, Germany]
References
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