TM NETWORK
TM NETWORK is a Japanese rock unit from 1983 to 1994 and then since 1999. The group is also know as TMN in the early 1990s.
Contents
Members
- Komuro Tetsuya (小室哲哉)
- Utsunomiya Takashi (宇都宮隆)
- Kine Naoto (木根尚登)
Support Members
- Kitajima Kenji (北島健二)
- Matsumoto Takahira (松本孝弘)
- Katsuragi Tetsuya (葛城哲哉)
- Kimura Tateru (木村建)
- Hizume Shouichiro (日詰昭一郎)
- Nishimura Masatoshi (西村麻聡)
- Haruyama Shingo (春山信吾)
- Yoshida Ken (吉田建)
- Yamada Wataru (山田亘)
- Abe Kaoru (阿部薫)
- Souru Tooru (そうる透)
- Asakura Daisuke (浅倉大介)
- Cozy Kubo
- Shirota Akira (白田朗)
- Koizumi Hiroshi (小泉洋)
Information
The Beginning and Success: 1980s
TM Network started in 1984 when Komuro, Utsunomiya, and Kine got together after the break up of SPEEDWAY. The band performed a self-written song, 1974, at the 1983 Fresh Sounds Contest, receiving the grand prix award after getting perfect scores. They signed on Epic Records and released their first single, Kinyoubi no Lion (Take it to the Lucky), and first album, RAINBOW RAINBOW, on the same day in 1984 with the slogan "Kiniro no Yume wo Misete Ageru" (金色の夢を見せてあげる). Two months later, the group performed their first concert tour, DEBUT CONCERT.
The group released their second single, 1974 (16 Kounen no Houmonsha), in July with a great result, becoming TM Network's first hit. Before the year was up, the group formed their fanclub, named TIMEMACHINE cafe. The group also released their first promotion video, VISION FESTIVAL (journey to saga), in 1985 with various clips of the selected songs from TM Network's first and second album. They released their first mini album, TWINKLE NIGHT, before the end of 1985.
In February 1986, TM Network performed as special guest on the TBS special ANNIVERSARY ROCK FESTIVAL. In June, the group went on their fourth live tour, TM NETWORK TOUR '86 FANKS DYNA☆MIX, while releasing their third album, GORILLA, with impressive results as the album was the group's top twenty album. Their fourth album, released the following year, would have much better results for the group as it hit the top ten.
TM Network released their tenth single, the anime City Hunters' theme song Get Wild, in April 1987. The single became the group's first top ten single and one of their signature songs as it reached #9 on the Oricon charts. The song has been coveed by many artists since it's released like Tamaiki Nami and Komuro Tetsuya's own group globe (though never released in a physical copy). Three months later, they released their first best album, Gift for Fanks. They also released their fifth album, humansystem, by the end of 1987, becoming the group's first #1 album.
In 1988, the group released their sixth and best selling album to date, CAROL ~A DAY IN A GIRL'S LIFE 1991~. The album went to double plantium as it reached #1 on the Oricon charts. The album aslo spawned a tour sponsored by Coca-Cola and an 1990 orginal video animation that featured the members in it. By end of the year, the group appeared on the special program Kouhaku Uta Gassen for the first time, singing the song COME ON EVERYBODY. Also, the group released their first remix album, DRESS, a year later in 1989.
The End and a New Beginning: 1990s
To kick off the beginning of a new dace, TM Network would released their 21st single, THE POINT OF LOVERS' NIGHT, becoming another #1 hit for the group. But by September 1990, the band changed their name from TM Network to TMN as they released the single TIME TO COUNTDOWN. They also released their seventh album, RHYTHM RED, under this name but didn't affected their sales as the album went #1.
The group went onto play at a special event in 1991, entitled EPIC SONY TMN SPECIAL EVENT. They also released their 25th single, Love Train / We love the EARTH and 8th album, EXPO, becoming another #1 hit for the group. They also released their first two live albums, TMN COLOSSEUM I and TMN COLOSSEUM II, in 1992 with much success as the two albums claimed the #1 and #2 spots on the charts.
In 1993, the group released two more remix albums, TMN CLASSIX 1 and TMN CLASSIX 1I. The group also were special guests and also performed at the Act Against AIDS '93. But, by the time 1994 came, TMN announced they were breaking up. They would release their final single, Nights of The Knife, as their last #1 single for a while and perform their final two-day concert tour, TMN 4001 DAYS GROOVE, befoe they broke up in May. To commemorate their last live, the group released two final live albums in August 1994, TMN Final Live Last Groove 5.18 and TMN Final Live Last Groove 5.19. Komuro would go onto become one the best producers of the 1990s while Utsunomiya and Kine would go onto their solo careers and be in various units.
But in 1997, Komuro, Utsunomiya, and Kine agreed and accepted a reformation of the group, announcing it live on a episode of the radio show All Night Nippon. They would make their first appearance together once again in 1999 at the Komuro Tetsuya live event TRUE KiSS DESTiNATiON Night as TM NETWORK. They released their first single back together, a new version of their hit song Get Wild, in 1999 under Komuro's own label, TRUE KiSS DiSC.
A New Decade: 2000
The group went on their first live tour, entitled TM NETWORK Log-on to 21st Century supported by ROJAM.COM, at the start of the new millennium. They also appeared and performed at the charity event Act Against AIDS 2000's THE VARIETY 8 and at Komuro's own event, Rendez-vous in Space 2001. Before the year was up, the group released their ninth album, Major Turn-Round, on the indies label Rojam Entertainment.
At the beginning of 2002, the group changed labels once again to gaball screen as they released their 35th single, CASTLE IN THE CLOUDS. A year later, they released the best album The Legend and a major label version of their 2000 indies album Major Turn-Round, entitled Kiwokuto Kiroku ~Major Turn-Round. Before the year was up, the group went onto to play at various events, including three concert tours and an Act Against AIDS 2003 event.
TM Network didn't stop in 2004 when they celebrated their twenty year anniversary by releasing their tenth album, NetworkTM -Easy Listening-, and their first box set, entitled WORLD HERITAGE DOUBLE-DECADE COMPLETE BOX. They also celebrated by holding the TM NETWORK DOUBLE-DECADE TOUR “NETWORK” tour with the final performance at the Nippon Budokan. Three years later, Epic Records would announced that they were going to remaster all of TM Network's original albums. With this announcement, the group went ahead and released their 11th album, SPEEDWAY, dedicated the band SPEEDWAY.
In 2008, the group released their next best album, TM NETWORK THE SINGLES 1, in March. The group was suppose to release TM NETWORK THE SINGLES 2 in November but it was pushed back to September 2009 when fellow member Komuro was charged and convicted of fraud.
Discography
Studio Albums
- [1984.04.21] RAINBOW RAINBOW
- [1985.06.21] CHILDHOOD'S END
- [1986.06.04] GORILLA
- [1987.02.26] Self Control
- [1987.11.11] humansystem
- [1988.12.09] CAROL ~A DAY IN A GIRL'S LIFE 1991~
- [1990.10.25] RHYTHM RED
- [1991.09.05] EXPO
- [2000.12.25] Major Turn-Round
- [2003.02.05] Kiwokuto Kiroku ~Major Turn-Round (キヲクトキロク 〜 Major Turn-Round)
- [2004.03.31] NetworkTM -Easy Listening-
- [2007.12.05] SPEEDWAY
Mini Album
- [1985.11.28] TWINKLE NIGHT
Remix Albums
- [1989.05.12] DRESS
- [1993.08.21] TMN CLASSIX 1
- [1993.08.21] TMN CLASSIX 1I
Live Albums
- [1992.08.21] TMN COLOSSEUM I
- [1992.08.21] TMN COLOSSEUM II
- [1994.08.11] TMN Final Live Last Groove 5.18
- [1994.08.11] TMN Final Live Last Groove 5.19
Best Albums
- [1987.07.01] Gift for Fanks
- [1994.06.22] TETSUYA KOMURO PRESENTS TMN BLACK
- [1994.06.22] TAKASHI UTSUNOMIYA PRESENTS TMN RED
- [1994.06.22] NAOTO KINE PRESENTS TMN BLUE
- [1996.12.12] TIME CAPSULE
- [1999.01.30] STAR BOX TM NETWORK
- [1999.01.30] STAR BOX TMN
- [2000.03.23] BEST TRACKS ~A message to the next generation~
- [2003.01.01] The Legend
- [2004.03.31] WORLD HERITAGE DOUBLE-DECADE COMPLETE BOX
- [2004.12.22] Welcome to the FANKS!
- [2008.05.28] TM NETWORK THE SINGLES 1
- [2008.07.02] TM NETWORK BEST OF BEST
- [2008.07.20] TM NETWORK SUPER BEST
- [2009.09.30] TM NETWORK THE SINGLES 2
Singles
- [1984.04.21] Kinyoubi no Lion (Take it to the Lucky) (金曜日のライオン (Take it to the Lucky))
- [1984.07.21] 1974 (16 Kounen no Houmonsha) (1974 (16光年の訪問者))
- [1985.05.22] Accident (アクシデント (ACCIDENT))
- [1985.07.21] DRAGON THE FESTIVAL (Zoo Mix)
- [1985.11.01] YOUR SONG ("D"Mix)
- [1986.04.21] Come on Let's Dance (This is the FANKS DYNA-MIX)
- [1986.08.27] GIRL
- [1986.11.21] All-Right All-Night (No Tears No blood)
- [1987.02.01] Self Control (Hakofune ni Hikarete) (Self Control (方舟に曳かれて))
- [1987.04.08] Get Wild
- [1987.10.01] Kiss You (Sekai wa Uchuu to Koi ni Ochiru) (Kiss You (世界は宇宙と恋に落ちる))
- [1988.01.01] RESISTANCE
- [1988.03.05] BEYOND THE TIME ~Möbius no Sora wo Koete~ (BEYOND THE TIME ~メビウスの宇宙を越えて~)
- [1988.07.21] SEVEN DAY WAR
- [1988.11.07] COME ON EVERYBODY
- [1989.03.21] JUST ONE VICTORY (Tatta Hitotsu no Shouri) (JUST ONE VICTORY (たったひとつの勝利))
- [1989.04.15] Come On Everyone (with Nile Rodgers)
- [1989.04.15] KISS YOU (KISS JAPAN)
- [1989.04.15] GET WILD '89
- [1989.07.21] DIVE INTO YOUR BODY
- [1990.07.07] THE POINT OF LOVERS' NIGHT
- [1990.09.28] TIME TO COUNTDOWN
- [1990.12.21] RHYTHM RED BEAT BLACK
- [1991.02.01] RHYTHM RED BEAT BLACK (Version 2.0)
- [1991.05.22] Love Train / We love the EARTH
- [1991.11.15] WILD HEAVEN
- [1993.09.29] Ichizu na Koi (一途な恋)
- [1994.04.21] Nights of The Knife
- [1999.07.22] GET WILD DECADE RUN
- [1999.07.28] 10 YEARS AFTER
- [1999.12.22] Happiness×3 Loneliness×3
- [2000.07.21] MESSaGE
- [2000.10.25] IGNITION, SEQUENCE, START
- [2000.11.27] We Are Starting Over
- [2002.10.30] CASTLE IN THE CLOUDS
- [2004.02.25] NETWORKTM
- [2007.10.31] WELCOME BACK 2
Videos / DVDs
- [1985.08.25] VISION FESTIVAL (journey to saga)
- [1986.12.01] FANKS "FANTASY" DYNA-MIX
- [1987.08.01] Self Control and the Scenes from “the Shooting”
- [1988.08.21] Gift for Fanks Video since 1985-1988
- [1989.08.21] FANKS the LIVE 1 FANKS CRY-MAX
- [1989.09.21] FANKS the LIVE 2 KISS JAPAN DANCING DYNA-MIX
- [1989.10.21] FANKS the LIVE 3 CAMP FANKS!! '89
- [1989.xx.xx] FANKS the LIVE 4 FANKS
- [1990.05.21] CAROL
- [1990.12.21] RHYTHM RED BEAT BLACK
- [1991.03.29] WORLD'S END I Rhythm Red Live
- [1991.05.22] WORLD'S END II Rhythm Red Live
- [1994.05.26] EXPO ARENA FINAL
- [1994.06.22] DECADE (TM NETWORK 1984-1994)
- [1994.08.01] TMN final live LAST GROOVE 5.18
- [1994.08.01] TMN final live LAST GROOVE 5.19
- [2001.11.21] LIVE TOUR Major Turn-Round 01 -Turn-Round Edition-
- [2001.xx.xx] LIVE TOUR Major Turn-Round 03 -Premium Edition-
- [2004.02.20] LIVE IN NAEBA'03 -FORMATION LAP-
- [2004.03.31] “BEE” presents TM VISIONS
- [2004.04.21] CAROL the LIVE
- [2004.09.01] TM NETWORK DOUBLE-DECADE TOUR "NETWORK"
- [2004.12.22] All the Clips
- [2005.03.09] WORLD'S END Rhythm Red Live
- [2005.04.08] TM NETWORK tribute LIVE 2003
- [2005.10.01] SPIN OFF from TM -tribute LIVE 2005-
- [2005.10.01] SPIN OFF from TM -8songs, and more.-
- [2007.09.12] SPIN OFF from TM 2007-tribute LIVE III-
- [2008.04.02] TM NETWORK -REMASTER- at NIPPON BUDOKAN 2007