was a Japanese boy band created by Johnny Kitagawa

Johnny Kitagawa

, born , is the founder and president of Johnny & Associates, a production agency for numerous popular boy bands in Japan. Kitagawa assembled, produced and managed more than a dozen popular bands, including SMAP, Arashi, Kanjani8, Hey! Say! JUMP, V6, NEWS and KAT-TUN. Kitagawa's influence has...

 before the formation of the Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates

Johnny & Associates

is a talent agency formed by Johnny Kitagawa in 1962. Johnny & Associates trains and promotes groups of male idols, collectively known as , in Japan.-1962–1989:...

.

The group was formed in April 1962 and lasted until November 20, 1967. They are considered one of the first of Japan's idol

Japanese idol

In Japanese culture, are media personalities in their teens and early twenties who are considered particularly attractive or cute and who will, for a period ranging from several months to a few years, regularly appear in the mass media, e.g...

 groups. Johnnys is also an abbreviation for "Johnny's Jimusho" and also for the talents signed to the agency. For the sake of convenience in Japan, the group is often called "First Generation Johnny's" or "Founding Johnnys". For those considered to be "bishōnen

Bishonen

is a Japanese term literally meaning "beautiful youth ". The equivalent English concept is a "pretty boy".The term describes an aesthetic that can be found in disparate areas in East Asia: a young man whose beauty transcends the boundary of gender or sexual orientation...

" the term "Johnnys Type" is used. The word, despite referring to one male's looks, is not to be mistaken for the word "Ikemen".

Their debut single "Wakai Namida" (1964) was composed by Hachidai Nakamura

Hachidai Nakamura

was a China-born Japanese songwriter and jazz pianist.- Biography :Hachidai Nakamura was born in Qingdao, China to Japanese parents. He moved to Fukuoka at a young age, where he attended high school, and eventually graduated from Waseda University in Tokyo with a degree in literature...

 with the lyrics by Rokusuke Ei

Rokusuke Ei

is a Japanese lyricist, composer, author, essayist and TV personality.Ei wrote the lyrics to the song "Sukiyaki", which has been used in several English language films. He has also written the lyrics to the song "Miagete goran yoru no hoshi wo" sung by Kyu Sakamoto in 1963...

. Nakamura and Ei formerly made the music and lyric of Kyu Sakamoto

Kyu Sakamoto

was a Japanese singer and actor, best known outside of Japan for his international hit song "Sukiyaki", which was sung in Japanese and sold over 13 million copies...

's U.S. Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 number-one single "Sukiyaki

Sukiyaki (song)

The cover version by A Taste of Honey reached number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. It also went to number 1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart and Soul chart)....

." On December 31, 1965, Johnnys sang the song "Mack the Knife

Mack the Knife

"Mack the Knife" or "The Ballad of Mack the Knife", originally "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer", is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their music drama Die Dreigroschenoper, or, as it is known in English, The Threepenny Opera. It premiered in Berlin in 1928 at the...

" in the 16th NHK

NHK

NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....

 Kōhaku Uta Gassen

Kohaku Uta Gassen

, more commonly known as simply Kōhaku, is an annual music show on New Year's Eve produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK and broadcast on both television and radio, nationally and internationally by NHK's networks and some overseas broadcasters which bought the program...

 at the Tokyo Takarazuka Theater

Tokyo Takarazuka Theater

is another home for Takarazuka Creative Arts at Tokyo.It served as the second round performing theater for the Revue's performing cycle. The original theater was built in 1934 and was demolished in 1998. The current theater was built in 2001. It has 1,229 seats on the first level and 840 on the...

.

Members

(November 1, 1946 — March 6, 2000) (born August 23, 1946) (born September 18, 1947) (born January 10, 1948)

Singles

1. Wakai Namida (Young Tears)
2. Wakai Yoru (Young Night)
3. Honō no Kaabu (Curved Flame)
4. Girl Happy
5. Eiko no March (Glorious March)
6. Kimi ga Wakmono Nara (You are a Young Man)
7. Naiteita Jonie (Crying Jonie)
8. Batman * used as the theme song for the Japanese airing of the television series Batman
   Batman
   Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
   
   
9. Ōi Waai Chichichi
10. Kiri no Yoru no Aijō (The Sorrow of the Night's Fog)
11. Tokei o Tomete (Clock's Stopped)
12. Taiyō no Aitsu (Guy of the Sun)
13. Itsuka Dokoka de (Someday, anywhere)
14. Kawai Nihon no Uta (Song of Japan's Youth)
15. Hello Johnnys

Albums

1. Jyaniizu to Amerika Ryokou ~ Jyaniizu Shou Jikkyou Rokuon (Johnnys and an American Journey ~ Johnnys Real Recording~)