SCANDAL (band)

SCANDAL promoting "Yumemiru Tsubasa" (2009)

SCANDAL is Japanese pop-rock girl band from Osaka, Japan. Formed in August 2006 by four high school girls, they started playing street lives until they were noticed and signed to the indie label Kitty Records. In 2008, they released three singles and a mini-album, while performing shows in the United States, France, and Hong Kong. Because of this, they have an international fanbase. That October, SCANDAL released their major debut single, "DOLL", under EPIC Records Japan.

Members

• HARUNA - Vocals, guitar
• MAMI - Guitar, vocals
• TOMOMI - Bass, vocals
• RINA - Drums, vocals

Information

SCANDAL promoting YAH! YAH! YAH! HELLO SCANDAL ~Maido! SCANDAL Desu! Yah Yah Yah!~ (2008)

SCANDAL promoting "BEAUTeen!!" (2009)

Indie Career

SCANDAL was formed in August 2006 by four high school girls. The girls, HARUNA, MAMI, TOMOMI, and RINA, met in an Osaka vocal and dance school called CALESS. Shortly thereafter, they started performing street lives every weekend at Shiroten in Osaka Castle Park. Soon, they started getting offers from clubs in Osaka and Kyoto.

SCANDAL signed with indie label Kitty Records and released three singles exclusive to Tower Records in 2008. The first, "Space Ranger", ranked #2 on the Tower indie charts and the other two, "Koi Moyou" and "Kagerou", ranked #1. In March, they embarked on the Japan Nite US tour 2008, touring six major cities in the United States. They also performed at Sakura-Con, one of the largest anime conventions in the United States. In July, they preformed in front of 10,000 people at France's Japan Expo and also at Hong Kong's Ani-Com in August. SCANDAL concluded their indie career with the release of their first mini-album, YAH! YAH! YAH! HELLO SCANDAL ~Maido! SCANDAL Desu! Yah Yah Yah!~.

Major Debut

2008 continued to be an eventful year for SCANDAL. In October, they made their major debut on EPIC Records Japan with the single "DOLL". It gave them more exposure, including appearances on mainstream music television shows like MUSIC STATION. The band released their second major single "SAKURA Goodbye" in March 2009 to commemorate MAMI and TOMOMI's high school graduation. The song is a new version of their indie song, "SAKURA", only heard live. The following month, their then upcoming third major single "ShoujoS" was used as the tenth opening theme for the anime BLEACH. This brought their popularity up even higher as the single ranked #6 on the Oricon charts when it was released two months later in June.

On October 14th, SCANDAL released their fourth major single, "Yumemiru Tsubasa" which was followed with their major debut album, BEST★SCANDAL, the next week. The album ranked #5 on the Oricon weekly chart, making them the first girl band since ZONE to have a debut album chart in the top five. In December, SCANDAL was nominated for "Best Newcomer" at the 51st Nihon Record Taisho, but lost to BIGBANG.

Setlist Tracks

SCANDAL has performed songs that have not appeared on any of their releases. These tracks are:

Original Songs

• "PLAY-BOY" - Performed live during their 2008 American tour and at Japan Expo 2008. It was also published on their MySpace, but it was deleted after their major debut.
• "SCANDAL no Theme" (SCANDALのテーマ; SCANDAL's Theme) - Performed during their 2008 American tour, their televised Mezamashi Live in August 2009, and their first one-man tour in December 2009.

Covers

• "Don't say "lazy"" - Performed on the MUSIC JAPAN Shinseiki Anisong SP in August 2009. It is a cover of Sakurakou K-ON Bu's song of the same name.
• "Koibito ga Santa Claus" (恋人がサンタクロース) - Performed on the "~BEST★Xmas~" date of their first one-man tour in December 2009. It is a cover of Matsutoya Yumi's song of the same name.
• "secret base ~Kimi ga Kureta Mono~" (君がくれたもの) - Performed during their 2010 spring tour, Shunkan Sakura Zensen. It is a cover of ZONE's song of the same name and it was chosen by a Twitter poll.
• "Time Machine ni Onegai" (タイムマシンにお願い) - Performed at their one-year anniversary acoustic live in October 2009 and during their first one-man tour in December 2009. It is a Sadistic Mika Band cover and it was a tribute to the late Kato Kazuhiko (a member of that band). It was also performed early in their career in 2006.

Discography

Albums

• [2008.08.08] YAH! YAH! YAH! HELLO SCANDAL ~Maido! SCANDAL Desu! Yah Yah Yah!~ (まいど!スキャンダルです!ヤァヤァヤァ!; We Are SCANDAL) (indie mini-album)
• [2009.10.21] BEST★SCANDAL

Singles

• [2008.03.03] Space Ranger (スペースレンジャー) (indie)
• [2008.04.04] Koi Moyou (恋模様; Love Pattern) (indie)
• [2008.05.05] Kagerou (カゲロウ; Mayfly) (indie)
• [2008.10.22] DOLL
• [2009.03.04] SAKURA Goodbye (SAKURAグッバイ; Cherry Blossom Goodbye)
• [2009.06.17] ShoujoS (少女S; Girls)
• [2009.10.14] Yumemiru Tsubasa (夢見るつばさ; Dreaming of Wings)
• [2010.02.03] Shunkan Sentimental (瞬間センチメンタル; Sentimental Moment)
• [2010.06.02] Taiyou to Kimi ga Egaku STORY (太陽と君が描くSTORY; The Story Drawn by You and the Sun)

DVD

• [2010.06.30] SCANDAL FIRST LIVE -BEST★SCANDAL 2009-

Compilation / Other

• [2008.05.02] Star Ocean 2 Second Evolution Original Soundtrack (スターオーシャン2 セカンドエヴォリューション オリジナル・サウンドトラック) (#1 START)
• [2009.03.18] JUDY AND MARY 15th Anniversary Tribute Album (#8 DAYDREAM)

Works

Radio

• [2008.10 - 2009.09] SCANDAL no Doon (SCANDALのド～ン)

Commercials

• [2009] Recochoku

Endorsements

• [2008] NIKE TERMINATOR "PLAY HARD"
• [2009] CECIL McBEE

Concerts

• [2008.03.16 - 2008.03.23] Japan Nite US Tour 2008
• [2008.03.28 - 2008.03.30] Sakura-Con
• [2008.07.03 - 2008.07.06] Japan Expo 2008
• [2008.08.02] Hong Kong Ani-Com 2008
• [2009.08.03] Hong Kong Ani-Com 2009
• [2009.12.04 - 2009.12.24] First One-Man Live Tour (ファーストワンマンライブツアー)
• [2010.03.23 - 2010.04.10] SCANDAL ~Shunkan Sakura Zensen TOUR~ 2010 SPRING (瞬間サクラゼンセン)

External Links

• Official Website
• Official Blog
• Official MySpace
• Official Twitter
• Japanese Wikipedia: SCANDAL (日本のバンド)