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JUDY AND MARY

JUDY AND MARY (2001)

JUDY AND MARY (ジュディ アンド マリー) was a Japanese rock band under Sony Music Entertainment's EPIC Records sub-label. The band made their indie debut in 1992 with their mini-album, BE AMBITIOUS, and made their major debut in 1993 with the single "POWER OF LOVE". The band is best known for their noisy but melodic pop and "cute punk" music in the 1990s. After multiple hiatus' the band finally disbanded in 2001. According to a 2005 episode of MUSIC STATION the band was listed as being the 44th best-selling artist in Japan with compiled sales of over 14,130,000. A more recent figure brings the bands sales to over 14,737,920 in Japan alone.

Members

Former Members

Information

JUDY AND MARY promoting J・A・M (1994)

Early years: 1991-1993

It all started back in June 1991 when Onda Yoshihito met the then college junior Isoya Yuki while she was on a film shoot in Hokkaido for the film Itsuka Giragirasuru Hi [1]. The two met at a nightclub in Hakodate where Onda was playing with his band, JACKS'N'JOKER. Isoya made quite an impression on him and the two became quick friends. A few months after Isoya returned home, she sent him a demo tape with some of her vocal samples. After hearing the demo Onda decided to start a band with her.

This cute and scandalous mixture is where their band name came from. They have explained that "Judy" and "Mary" are the two conflicting personalities embodied in every human being. As their songs say "JUDY IS A PUNK ROCKER" and can be the reasoning behind their crazy songs; "Mary", we can assume, is the good-girl behind all the soft, more-ballad related songs. The band has stated that "Judy" is cheerful and positive while "Mary" is more negative [2].

Onda first left his band JACKS'N'JOKER, and then the two recruited drummer Igarashi Kohta and guitarist Fujimoto Taiji. The band was soon signed to the indie label Chainsaw Records. With the label, the band released a mini-album, BE AMBITIOUS, and a video, It's A Gaudy It's A Gross several months later. The band's music at this time had a very heavy punk sound and the members had all taken on stage names: Sarah, Ralph, Twiddeldum, and ALPH.

After the band's release of their debut, they headed out on an extensive tour, starting in the Kanto region in May 1992. The band soon gathered a small follow and gained positive reviews for their high energy music and manic stage shows.

JUDY AND MARY promoting Orange Sunshine (1994)

Going major: 1993-1995

In February 1993 the band was offered a major label record deal with Sony Music Entertainment's EPIC Records sub-label. Fujimoto Taiji didn't want to continue on as a major band and left the group to join DIRTY TRASHROAD. Soon after his departure, Asanuma Takuya was added to the bands line-up as their new guitarist. This time around the member dropped their indie stage names with Isoya and Asanuma going with YUKI and TAKUYA, while Onda and Igarashi stuck with their full-names. The group then made their major label debut with the single, "POWER OF LOVE".

In 1994, the band went on to release their first full-length album, J・A・M and then released a re-cut single. The album contained a few tracks from the bands indie album, BE AMBITIOUS: "JUDY IS A T∀NK GIRL", "GLAMOUR PUNKS", and their first two singles. All of the songs received a new arrangement, and "GLAMOUR PUNKS" this time around was sung by YUKI instead of Onda. All the songs on the album had lyrics written by YUKI and had music composed by Onda; with the exception of the song "LOVE ME DO!" which was composed by YUKI as well.

JUDY AND MARY promoting MIRACLE DIVING (1995)

The band started releasing their next set of singles in August of 1994. Their fourth single, "Hello! Orange Sunshine" reached #22 on the weekly Oricon chart, but their fifth single "Cheese 'PIZZA'" managed to crack into the top twenty, reaching #15 on the weekly Oricon.

At the end of the year, the band released their second album, Orange Sunshine. The album was very successly, with it peaking at #5 on the weekly Oricon, and it was produced by Sakuma Masabide. The album was very pop heavy, but also showed the beginning of what become the band's signature noise-rock style. The album aslo saw a few compostitions from TAKUYA and lyrics penned by Tack and Yukky (pennames for TAKUYA and YUKI).

The band followed up with a recut single, and their first tour ORANGE SUNSHINE TOUR. After the small tour the band went on to release another string of new singles. Of which, "Over Drive" and "DOKI DOKI" were rather successful, reaching #4 and #8 on the Oricon, respectively. The sounds of these releases had their old punk-rock style mixed into their new-found pop sound. In May 1995 the band went on another tour entitled, JUST A MAMBO TOUR and started up their fanclub JAMP.

On 1995.12.04, the band released their third studio album, MIRACLE DIVING. The album was a commercial success reaching #2 on the Oricon and selling just under a million copies. The band soon went on an extensive tour to promote the album, MIRACLE NIGHT DIVING TOUE 1996, which became the bands first concert video to be released since switching to a major label.

JUDY AND MARY promoting "Sobakasu" (1996)

Success - Hiatus: 1996-1998

The band, up until this point, had been quite successful, but nothing like what was about to happen. Their ninth single "Sobakasu" had a major tie-in as the first opening theme song to the Rurouni Kenshin anime. The single went straight to #1 on the weekly Oricon chart, and in a matter of weeks, the single had sold over the rare one million copies mark.

Though the bands next couple singles were successful, they came no where near the success of "Sobakasu". The band then released their fourth album, THE POWER SOURCE. The album reached #1 on the Oricon, staying at that postion for two weeks, and stayed on the charts for an extensive forty-nine weeks. The album sold 2,162,370 copies, which is more then all of the bands previous albums sales combined. Following the release of the album the band went out on two tours: THE POWER SAUCE DELIVERY '97 and THE POWER STADIUM DESTROY '97.

The band was on top of the world at this point. They started becoming regular guests on shows such as Kohaku Uta Gassen (which marked their first appearance on the renowned program [2]), MUSIC STATION, and CDTV. On Kohaku Uta Gassen the band performed "Sobakasu" [3], while on the regular TV programs the group played their latest singles and even sang covers of other popular songs at the time, such as Amuro Namie's "CAN YOU CELEBRATE?".

After the tours ended in late 1997, the band released their 13th single, "LOVER SOUL" which became one of the band's biggest hits. It was then learned that YUKI had to have throat surgery; this forced the band to take a couple months off so that she could recover. During this time, TAKUYA reunited with his old band ROBOTS and started working with them again. The group was also able to land a deal with EPIC Records and they released their first single "Koibito" in September 1997.

After only a four month break, the band bounced back with two successful singles, "Sampomichi" (which they played at Kohaku Uta Gassen that year [4]) and "Music Fighter". "Music Fighter". is well known for its music video. The video features YUKI in a small transparent dress wearing a pink bikini underneath, going up and down an escalator. During this time TAKUYA continued to work in both JUDY AND MARY and his own band ROBOTS.

JUDY AND MARY promoting POP LIFE (1998)

In June 1998, the band released their fifth studio album, POP LIFE, which perhaps was groups loudest album, was yet again, a hit. The album reached #2 on the weekly Oricon, but still managed to sell over a million copies. The albums booklet, mainly contains images of little girls playing with power tools, such as electric drills and chainsaws. The tour that followed the album was titled POP LIFE SUICIDE and was later released in two volumes: POP LIFE SUICIDE 1 and POP LIFE SUICIDE 2. The band then released 44982 VS 1650, a live album taken from two of the POP LIFE shows.

On September 9th 1998 the band released a re-cut single from the album entitled, "Irotoridori no Sekai". The song contained lyrics and music written and composed by TAKUYA. This is the group's only song to feature lyrics penned by TAKUYA himself. On the same day that the re-cut single was released, TAKUYA released a self-cover with ROBOTS and released it as their sixth single. [5]

After tension started growing in the band between members, the band once again decided to take another hiatus. TAKUYA returned full-time to his band ROBOTS, and YUKI and Onda also went to work on new projects. During this time, YUKI began writing songs with Chara for their band Mean Machine that had been in the works for years. The two also released the joint single "Ai no Hi 3tsu Orange". YUKI also teamed up with Kate Pierson (of The B-52's fame) and members from The Plastics to form the experimental pop group, NiNa. During the bands short life they release two singles and a self titled album. During this time Onda started working as a producer. He was able to sign Whiteberry with EPIC Records, and began producing for them. Onda worked with the band for a while, producing two singles ("YUKI" and "Whiteberry no Chisa na Daibouken") and two albums (after school and (Hatsu)).

JUDY AND MARY promoting "mottö" (2000)

Brand New Wave - Warp Final: 2000-2001

The band returned in early 2000, releasing their 18th single, "Brand New Wave Upper Ground", which was their first release with new material in over a year. The band soon followed up with their first best-of album FRESH, which reached #1 and sold two million copies.

After a string of acoustic shows, the band released "Hitotsu Dake" in July 2000. Two months later YUKI announced her marriage to YO-KING; who is the frontman for the band Magokoro Brothers, which YUKI had previously worked with. The band returned soon, after a few months, with the single "mottö".

On January 9th 2001, the band made an annoucement using a full page ad in the newspaper stating that they would be disbanding after their final album and following tour. The band released their last original single, "Lucky Pool" on 2001.01.24, and was the lead-in single for the band's final album, WARP. The album was a big hit, reaching #1 on the weekly Oricon and sold over 800,000 copies. The album showcased the change in the band as well. In the being with J・A・M it was written and produced by Onda, while WARP on the other hand was a collection worked by TAKUYA. In March 2001, a month after the release of WARP, the band released their final single, "PEACE -string version-", which was a re-cut and remix of the song "PEACE" from the album. The band then set out on the WARP TOUR.

JUDY AND MARY promoting WARP (2001)

Their Legacy, Living On

Even though the band had split, they were still selling records. A couple months after the tour, the band released another best-of album, The Great Escape ~Complete Request Best~. The album reached #1 on the weekly Oricon, selling 783,000 copies. In 2006, Sony released their COMPLETE BEST ALBUM "FRESH" best-of album with a DVD that contains previously rare footage of the band. The album reached #1 on the Oricon charts and become the #57 album of the year.

The band members have since gone on to other things. YUKI is the most notable, having a successful solo career with four #1 albums and she has also taken part in a handful of other projects. TAKUYA had a short-lived and unsuccessful solo career, but has found new found fame as a producer. He started working with Takahashi Hitomi in 2005, and has since worked with artists such as misono, Midori, and Kamiki Aya. He also reassembled ROBO+S in 2007 and they recently disbanded in 2009 after the release of their fourth album. After disbanding Onda went to play with HOT ROD CRUE and he is currently playing in ZAMZA N'BANSHEE, as well as working as a producer for different artists on the side. Igarashi is currently playing with Onda in ZAMZA N'BANSHEE, and in 2007 he worked with TAKUYA on Takahashi Hitomi's single "Candy Line".

In 2009, the band celebrated their 15th anniversary. For this Sony released 15th Anniversary COMPLETE SINGLE BOX and they even put together a tribute album.

Discography

Albums

Best Albums

Mini Albums

Box-Sets

Live Albums

Tribute Albums

Instrumental Albums

Singles

Video Releases

Other Video Releases

Compilations / Other

Publications

Band Scores

  • [2001.08.xx] JUDY AND MARY「The great escape」

References

External Links