Princess Princess (band)
Encyclopedia
was a five-piece Japan
ese Rock
/Pop
girl band from 1983-1996. They were previously known as "Julian Mama" and "Akasaka Komachi" (one album released under this name).
In May 1986 the band made their "major debut" with the EP
"Kiss-de KURAIMU" ("Crime by/with a kiss') with CBS Sony Records (now known as Sony Music Entertainment). In August 1986, the band transferred their management to SHINKO Music Entertainment. In May of that year the CEO of SHINKO had declined to represent the band, but a company employee, Emiko Ichimura, seeing the band perform and believing they could become a success, eventually persuaded the company to take them on. The band made 7 concert appearances in 1986, playing in very small venues around Tokyo.
In 1987 the band released their first single as Princess Princess, "Koi-wa BARANSU" ("Love is Balance"). The single's lyrics were credited to the band's guitarist, Kanako Nakayama, but the music was credited to well-known music producer Saburo Suzuki. At this time the band decided that they would produce their own sound, so all further writing credits were to band members, with Nakayama and the drummer Kyoko Tomita generally splitting the writing duties while the lead singer Kaori Okui took nearly two thirds of the song credits over the band's career. The band still struggled for fan notice, playing approximately 60 small venus, and releasing their second single, "Sekai-de Ichiban Atsui Natsu" ("The Hottest Summer in the World") to little market response.
In 1988 the band began their major push for recognition, releasing their second full album HERE WE ARE in February and touring over the summer in support of it. The music from this album -- "19 Growing Up ~ ode to my buddy ~", "MY WILL", "GO AWAY BOY", "ROMANCIN' BLUE" demonstrated significant artistic development and was met with increasing commercial success, with the band breaking into the Oricon top 20 with "GO AWAY BOY". In November the band released their follow-on third album, "LET'S GET CRAZY!" which furthered their commercial momentum with another batch of rock anthems and popular concert standards. From November 1987 through February 1989, the band made 100 concert appearances, progressing from small live houses to regional public halls. In April 1988 the band accomplished their first goal they had as a group: playing the Shibuya Public Hall. Tickets sold out within two hours, causing their manager (Ichimura) to cry in her office; the band reportedly initially thought Ichimura was reacting to bad news until being informed of their sell-out. This period of increasing success culminated in their January 1989 shows at the Budokan
, where Princess Princess became the first all-woman group to play that important venue.
1989 brought the band to the peak of their popular success. In April, their seventh single, "DIAMONDS", was released, quickly rocketing to #1 on the Oricon
charts; the single also became the first CD single to become a "million seller" in Japan. With the single, the band joined the ranks of Japan's top musical artists. In July, their 2nd single was re-released, and it too went to #1, and for the year these two singles took the top two spots of the yearly sales rankings. The group made their first nationwide concert tour that summer, and finished out the year by releasing their fourth album, LOVERS, which while not featuring any singles reached the #1 sales position for albums.
In 1990 the band consolidated their media presence with another nationwide tour, playing 56 venues, including major sports arenas. Their ninth single "OH YEAH!" reached #1, having been released exactly a year after "DIAMONDS", and the band again closed out the year releasing another album, self-titled "PRINCESS PRINCESS", and the single "Julian", also a #1 single.
The following year saw the band continue their string of #1 singles with their 11th single, "KISS", released in May, but their 12th single "SEVEN YEARS AFTER" peaked at #3, and "KISS" would prove to be the band's last #1 single; the band's single sales into the 1990s never approaching the heights of their 1989 period. In December 1991 the band released their 6th album, "DOLLS IN ACTION".
1992 saw the band reduce their musical output, only releasing one new single, "Pilot-ni Naritakute" ("Wanting to become a pilot"), their first compilation album Singles 1987-1992
, and ended the year with a "Double-A single" ("POWER"/"REGRET") from their 7th studio album BEE-BEEP.
BEE-BEEP was released in January 1993 and was to be the band's last Oricon #1 album. In May the band's keyboard player, Tomoko Konno, experienced a temporary but total hearing loss in one ear, causing the band to field a replacement player since the band was on their customary summer tour at the time. Konno's hearing returned in June but there was concern that Konno would have to be replaced, or perhaps even the band would retire.
In this last period of their career the band experienced declining popularity and record sales, and an evident difficulty in continuing their previous musical output and success. The four singles from May 1993 up to their decision to retire in early 1995 are noticeably easy-listening and more mature-themed than their previous rock & pop efforts. Released in late 1993, their 8th album, Majestic, featured less energetic "break up" love songs. In 1994 Konno released a solo album, and Okui also began her solo music activity, and the band filled the year with another compilation album, PRESENTS, which featured fan-voted singles not on their previous compilation.
In April 1995 the band informed their label management that they were retiring, which they had decided on late in the previous year while preparing their next album. According to the band there was friction between desiring to move in new musical directions while also preserving the image and artistic direction the band had established over the previous decade of work. Okui, the main musical force behind the band, is also to have said that songwriting was becoming much more difficult for her: "In the past it felt that the songs would just come from heaven, without having to think about it, but as time went on it began to become more of a struggle". Additionally, band members have also said they wanted to end their activity as friends. In August 1995, the band announced their impending breakup, along with their 20th single, "Fly Baby Fly" (which was the band's lowest-selling single since before their "break", only selling 32,000 copies). Their final album, fittingly titled "The Last Princess", served as a "goodbye message" to their fans. In 1996 the band went on one last nationwide tour, ending with a three-night run at the Budokan in May.
From the band's first full album to the end of their career, lyric writing was divided among the members. Nakayama is credited with 39 song lyrics, Tomita with 35, Konno with 19, Watanabe with 9, and Okui with 7.
Despite writing the fewest song lyrics, Okui was credited with the majority of the group's music, with 69 of the band's 118 song credits (and nearly all of their released singles), while Nakayama has the primary credit for 18 songs, Konno for 14, Watanabe for 8, Tomita for 1.
Nakayama has sole songwriting credit for 7 songs, Konno for 6, Okui for 6 (including one instrumental), Watanabe for 4, and Tomita for 1.
Lyric/song writing partnerships were rather distributed among the members. The Nakayama/Okui and the Tomita/Okui pairings are both credited with 27 songs each. Konno/Okui is credited with 9 songs, Tomita/Nakayama for 6, and Watanabe/Konno for 3. The Konno/Nakayama, Konno/Watanabe, Okui/Nakayama, Nakayama/Konno, Tomita/Konno, and Watanabe/Okui pairings all have 2 song credits each, while Watanabe/Nakayama, Tomita/Watanabe, and Okui/Konno each have a single credit. Excluding Tomita, who only wrote the music to her own song, only the Okui/Watanabe pairing does not have a songwriting credit in the band's catalogue.
Kanako Nakayama: She released two albums "Howling" and "Nakayama No Ippatsu" in the 1990s. In 2000, Kanako helped formed the hard rock group VooDoo Hawaiians. With VooDoo Hawaiians, she released four albums between 2000 and 2006. She is now performing with the group "Tokyo Rocks". She was married in 2004.
Tomoko Konno: Tomoko released two albums, "Torch" and "Prime Of Life", as a solo artist. She also wrote the musical score for the movies "Chloe" (2000) and "Kikyo" (2004). She is married to her second husband with one child and works with pre-school children. Her first marriage ended in divorce.
Atsuko Watanabe: She joined the faculty of Tokyo School Of Music in 1997 as a special instructor and two years later became the Vice Dean of the school; a post she still holds. She is currently married to her second husband. Her first marriage ended in divorce.
Kyoko Tomita: She is married with two children and is on the faculty of Tokyo School Of Music.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese Rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
/Pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
girl band from 1983-1996. They were previously known as "Julian Mama" and "Akasaka Komachi" (one album released under this name).
Members
(born February 17, 1967) - Lead vocals, guitar (born November 2, 1964) - Lead guitar, vocals (born October 26, 1964) - Bass guitar, vocals (born July 15, 1965) - Keyboards, vocals (born June 2, 1965) - Drums and percussionCareer
After being assembled (via open audition of 1400 hopefuls) as the female music group Akasaka Komachi by TDK Records in 1983, the band was housed with their manager in the Tokyo suburb of Nishi Nippori for over two years as they developed their skills and experience. In March 1984 the band made their first of several appearances on Japanese television; success was limited and in 1985 the band transferred from TDK Records to another management company, changed their name to Julian Mama, but did not release any singles or albums during this later period.In May 1986 the band made their "major debut" with the EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
"Kiss-de KURAIMU" ("Crime by/with a kiss') with CBS Sony Records (now known as Sony Music Entertainment). In August 1986, the band transferred their management to SHINKO Music Entertainment. In May of that year the CEO of SHINKO had declined to represent the band, but a company employee, Emiko Ichimura, seeing the band perform and believing they could become a success, eventually persuaded the company to take them on. The band made 7 concert appearances in 1986, playing in very small venues around Tokyo.
In 1987 the band released their first single as Princess Princess, "Koi-wa BARANSU" ("Love is Balance"). The single's lyrics were credited to the band's guitarist, Kanako Nakayama, but the music was credited to well-known music producer Saburo Suzuki. At this time the band decided that they would produce their own sound, so all further writing credits were to band members, with Nakayama and the drummer Kyoko Tomita generally splitting the writing duties while the lead singer Kaori Okui took nearly two thirds of the song credits over the band's career. The band still struggled for fan notice, playing approximately 60 small venus, and releasing their second single, "Sekai-de Ichiban Atsui Natsu" ("The Hottest Summer in the World") to little market response.
In 1988 the band began their major push for recognition, releasing their second full album HERE WE ARE in February and touring over the summer in support of it. The music from this album -- "19 Growing Up ~ ode to my buddy ~", "MY WILL", "GO AWAY BOY", "ROMANCIN' BLUE" demonstrated significant artistic development and was met with increasing commercial success, with the band breaking into the Oricon top 20 with "GO AWAY BOY". In November the band released their follow-on third album, "LET'S GET CRAZY!" which furthered their commercial momentum with another batch of rock anthems and popular concert standards. From November 1987 through February 1989, the band made 100 concert appearances, progressing from small live houses to regional public halls. In April 1988 the band accomplished their first goal they had as a group: playing the Shibuya Public Hall. Tickets sold out within two hours, causing their manager (Ichimura) to cry in her office; the band reportedly initially thought Ichimura was reacting to bad news until being informed of their sell-out. This period of increasing success culminated in their January 1989 shows at the Budokan
Nippon Budokan
The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena in central Tokyo, Japan.This is the location where many "Live at the Budokan" albums were recorded...
, where Princess Princess became the first all-woman group to play that important venue.
1989 brought the band to the peak of their popular success. In April, their seventh single, "DIAMONDS", was released, quickly rocketing to #1 on the Oricon
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
charts; the single also became the first CD single to become a "million seller" in Japan. With the single, the band joined the ranks of Japan's top musical artists. In July, their 2nd single was re-released, and it too went to #1, and for the year these two singles took the top two spots of the yearly sales rankings. The group made their first nationwide concert tour that summer, and finished out the year by releasing their fourth album, LOVERS, which while not featuring any singles reached the #1 sales position for albums.
In 1990 the band consolidated their media presence with another nationwide tour, playing 56 venues, including major sports arenas. Their ninth single "OH YEAH!" reached #1, having been released exactly a year after "DIAMONDS", and the band again closed out the year releasing another album, self-titled "PRINCESS PRINCESS", and the single "Julian", also a #1 single.
The following year saw the band continue their string of #1 singles with their 11th single, "KISS", released in May, but their 12th single "SEVEN YEARS AFTER" peaked at #3, and "KISS" would prove to be the band's last #1 single; the band's single sales into the 1990s never approaching the heights of their 1989 period. In December 1991 the band released their 6th album, "DOLLS IN ACTION".
1992 saw the band reduce their musical output, only releasing one new single, "Pilot-ni Naritakute" ("Wanting to become a pilot"), their first compilation album Singles 1987-1992
Singles 1987-1992
Singles 1987-1992 is the eighth album by Japanese girl band Princess Princess, released in 1992.- Track listing :# THE PRIVATE FANFARE # 19 Growing Up -ode to my buddy- # # Oh Yeah! # Kiss #...
, and ended the year with a "Double-A single" ("POWER"/"REGRET") from their 7th studio album BEE-BEEP.
BEE-BEEP was released in January 1993 and was to be the band's last Oricon #1 album. In May the band's keyboard player, Tomoko Konno, experienced a temporary but total hearing loss in one ear, causing the band to field a replacement player since the band was on their customary summer tour at the time. Konno's hearing returned in June but there was concern that Konno would have to be replaced, or perhaps even the band would retire.
In this last period of their career the band experienced declining popularity and record sales, and an evident difficulty in continuing their previous musical output and success. The four singles from May 1993 up to their decision to retire in early 1995 are noticeably easy-listening and more mature-themed than their previous rock & pop efforts. Released in late 1993, their 8th album, Majestic, featured less energetic "break up" love songs. In 1994 Konno released a solo album, and Okui also began her solo music activity, and the band filled the year with another compilation album, PRESENTS, which featured fan-voted singles not on their previous compilation.
In April 1995 the band informed their label management that they were retiring, which they had decided on late in the previous year while preparing their next album. According to the band there was friction between desiring to move in new musical directions while also preserving the image and artistic direction the band had established over the previous decade of work. Okui, the main musical force behind the band, is also to have said that songwriting was becoming much more difficult for her: "In the past it felt that the songs would just come from heaven, without having to think about it, but as time went on it began to become more of a struggle". Additionally, band members have also said they wanted to end their activity as friends. In August 1995, the band announced their impending breakup, along with their 20th single, "Fly Baby Fly" (which was the band's lowest-selling single since before their "break", only selling 32,000 copies). Their final album, fittingly titled "The Last Princess", served as a "goodbye message" to their fans. In 1996 the band went on one last nationwide tour, ending with a three-night run at the Budokan in May.
Songwriting Collaboration
On their initial 6-song EP, the band received songwriting credit for one song ("Tokyo Kanojo"), while the lyrics for all songs were from other songwriters. For the band's first full album, the band received all the music credits except for the single "Koi-wa BARANSU".From the band's first full album to the end of their career, lyric writing was divided among the members. Nakayama is credited with 39 song lyrics, Tomita with 35, Konno with 19, Watanabe with 9, and Okui with 7.
Despite writing the fewest song lyrics, Okui was credited with the majority of the group's music, with 69 of the band's 118 song credits (and nearly all of their released singles), while Nakayama has the primary credit for 18 songs, Konno for 14, Watanabe for 8, Tomita for 1.
Nakayama has sole songwriting credit for 7 songs, Konno for 6, Okui for 6 (including one instrumental), Watanabe for 4, and Tomita for 1.
Lyric/song writing partnerships were rather distributed among the members. The Nakayama/Okui and the Tomita/Okui pairings are both credited with 27 songs each. Konno/Okui is credited with 9 songs, Tomita/Nakayama for 6, and Watanabe/Konno for 3. The Konno/Nakayama, Konno/Watanabe, Okui/Nakayama, Nakayama/Konno, Tomita/Konno, and Watanabe/Okui pairings all have 2 song credits each, while Watanabe/Nakayama, Tomita/Watanabe, and Okui/Konno each have a single credit. Excluding Tomita, who only wrote the music to her own song, only the Okui/Watanabe pairing does not have a songwriting credit in the band's catalogue.
Albums
- Kiss de Hanzai (Kiss de Crime) (1986)
- Teleportation (1987)
- Here We Are (1988)
- Let's Get Crazy (1988)
- Lovers (1989)
- Princess Princess (1990)
- Dolls In Action (1991)
- Singles 1987-1992Singles 1987-1992Singles 1987-1992 is the eighth album by Japanese girl band Princess Princess, released in 1992.- Track listing :# THE PRIVATE FANFARE # 19 Growing Up -ode to my buddy- # # Oh Yeah! # Kiss #...
(1992) - Bee-Beep (1993)
- Majestic (1993)
- Presents (1994)
- The Last Princess (1995)
- The Greatest Princess (1996)
- The Complete Princess (1996)
- The Last Live (1996)
Post Princess Princess Careers
Kaori Okui (Kishitani): Shortly after the group's final concert she married actor Goro Kishitani. Kaori released three albums "Shout" and "Kaori" under her maiden name and "Ring To The Heavens" as Kaori Kishitani. Kaori and Goro have two children and Kaori still performs live as a solo artist.Kanako Nakayama: She released two albums "Howling" and "Nakayama No Ippatsu" in the 1990s. In 2000, Kanako helped formed the hard rock group VooDoo Hawaiians. With VooDoo Hawaiians, she released four albums between 2000 and 2006. She is now performing with the group "Tokyo Rocks". She was married in 2004.
Tomoko Konno: Tomoko released two albums, "Torch" and "Prime Of Life", as a solo artist. She also wrote the musical score for the movies "Chloe" (2000) and "Kikyo" (2004). She is married to her second husband with one child and works with pre-school children. Her first marriage ended in divorce.
Atsuko Watanabe: She joined the faculty of Tokyo School Of Music in 1997 as a special instructor and two years later became the Vice Dean of the school; a post she still holds. She is currently married to her second husband. Her first marriage ended in divorce.
Kyoko Tomita: She is married with two children and is on the faculty of Tokyo School Of Music.
External links
- HMV Japan "Top 100 Japanese pops Artists" (Japanese)
- Sony Music Online Japan: PRINCESS PRINCESS(Japanese)
- PRINCESS PRINCESS http://www.princess2.net/(Japanese)