Super Junky Monkey
Encyclopedia
Beginning
Super Junky Monkey was a Japanese all-girl rock group who performed and merged various styles and genres of music, including hardcoreHardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
, heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
, rap
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, noise, and funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
. Influences on the band members include Steve Vai
Steve Vai
Steven Siro "Steve" Vai is a three time Grammy Award-winning American guitarist, songwriter and producer who has sold over 15 million albums. Steve Vai is widely known as a flamboyant guitar virtuoso....
, Jaco Pastorius
Jaco Pastorius
John Francis Anthony Pastorius III , known as Jaco Pastorius, was an American jazz musician and composer widely acknowledged as a virtuoso electric bass player....
, Madball
Madball
Madball is a New York-based hardcore band that originated in the late 1980s, as a side-project of Agnostic Front .- History :Madball was founded in 1988 and featured most of Agnostic Front's members...
, Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
and Mr. Bungle
Mr. Bungle
Mr. Bungle was an experimental band from Northern California. The band was formed in 1985 while the members were still in high school and was named after a children's educational film. Mr. Bungle released four demo tapes in the mid to late 1980s before being signed to Warner Bros. Records and...
.
Their first release was in 1994: a live recording called Cabbage
Cabbage (Super Junky Monkey album)
Cabbage is the debut release from Japanese band Super Junky Monkey. It is a live recording, and was originally released by an indie label on CD in 1994, and then released as a video later that year...
, originally released as an audio recording, but also released as a video recording later that year. This was quickly followed in 1995 by the studio album Screw Up
Screw Up
Screw Up is the 1995 debut full-length album by Japanese group Super Junky Monkey. It showcased their fusion of rap, hardcore, punk, and funk music...
, which features some of the songs from Cabbage as well as some new tracks.
The band released two full length albums, both of which were released internationally. Additionally, in Japan, they released several EP's and 3 concert videos.
The band's performances of "Skysurfers!!" and "I Call Myself Sliced Ice" were used as the opening and end credits music, respectively, for the second season of the American animated series, Skysurfer Strike Force
SKYSURFER Strike Force
Skysurfer Strike Force is an animated series that was featured on the BKN cartoon block and was produced by Ruby-Spears Productions and Ashi Productions. The show lasted two seasons in the mid 1990s. The first episode aired on September 10, 1995 and the last episode was on October 26, 1996...
.
The album Super Junky Alien
Super Junky Alien
Super Junky Alien is a 1996 EP by Japanese group Super Junky Monkey. It is a concept album which revolves around the concept of an RPG video game. Each track is thought of as a 'stage' in the video game, and there are video game type sound effects throughout the album. It was released only in Japan...
features a bonus 1996 cover of the MTV Top of the Hour tune.
Death of Mutsumi
On February 5, 1999, Mutsumi Fukuhara committed suicide by leaping from the balcony of her apartment in Osaka, leaving behind her husband and one-year-old son. The other band members decided not to continue without her and instead moved on to other projects.Several years after Mutsumi's death, the band released the material they were working on at the time as the E-KISS-O EP and the greatest hits Songs Are Our Universe. E-KISS-O includes 3 songs with Mutsumi vocals and 2 instrumentals. Songs of Our Universe features two unreleased tracks and several videos.
On June 20, 2009, the remaining three members of Super Junky Monkey reunited to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Mutsumi's death with a performance at the Liquid Room in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan
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...
.
Members
- Mutsumi '623' Fukuhara, née Takahashi — vocals
- Keiko — guitar (later joined EX-GirlEX-Girl-Overview:They claim to hail from the planet Kero Kero. They are described as psychedelic, space rock, jazz fusion, jagged alternating vocal harmonies, sugary synthesiser pop, punk, prog, epic/atmospheric, noise-rock, wavering 3 part a capella, borderline operatic vocals, often in the space of a...
) - Shinobu Kawai — bass (many projects, include Tricomi)
- Matsudaaahh!! — drums (in a band called Weeee?)
CDs
| Japanese release date | Title | Japanese label info | Info | U.S. release info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994.03.20 | ライブCD「キャベツ」(Cabbage Cabbage (Super Junky Monkey album) Cabbage is the debut release from Japanese band Super Junky Monkey. It is a live recording, and was originally released by an indie label on CD in 1994, and then released as a video later that year... ) |
RIOT LABEL RICD-001 | debut live album | |
| 1994.10.21 | アルバム「Screw Up Screw Up Screw Up is the 1995 debut full-length album by Japanese group Super Junky Monkey. It showcased their fusion of rap, hardcore, punk, and funk music... 」 |
SONY RECORDS SRCL3028 | debut studio album | TRISTER MUSIC WK35015 1995.05.30 |
| 1995.04.21 | 「あいえとう/A.I.E.T.O.H. A.I.E.T.O.H. AIETOH is a 1995 EP by Japanese group Super Junky Monkey. It showcased their fusion of rap, hardcore, punk, and funk music. It was released only in Japan.- Personnel :* Mutsumi ‘623’ Fukuhara – vocals* Keiko – guitar* Shinobu Kawai – bass... 」 |
SONY RECORDS SRCL3192 | four track studio EP | |
| 1996.04.21 | アルバム「地球寄生人/Parasitic People Parasitic People Parasitic People is the second album Japanese group Super Junky Monkey, released in 1996. It showed the group honing and integrating their influences into a very complex and unlistenable recording... 」 |
SONY RECORDS SRCL3484 | second studio LP | TRISTER MUSIC |
| 1996.12.01 | ミニアルバム「Super Junky Alien Super Junky Alien Super Junky Alien is a 1996 EP by Japanese group Super Junky Monkey. It is a concept album which revolves around the concept of an RPG video game. Each track is thought of as a 'stage' in the video game, and there are video game type sound effects throughout the album. It was released only in Japan... 」 |
SONY RECORDS SRCL3720 | second studio EP - RPG RPG Group The RPG Group one of India's largest industrial conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai, India. It was founded by RP Goenka in 1979, and initially encompassed Phillips Carbon Black, Asian Cables, Agarpara Jute and Murphy India... concept album |
|
| 2001.04.21 | 未発表音源集「E Kiss O E Kiss O E Kiss O is a 1998 posthumously-released EP by Japanese group Super Junky Monkey. It features the material that was being worked on between the previous release and singer Mutsumi's death. It contains mostly instrumental tracks, and one cover song.... 」 |
CODR-623 Released by CONDOR RECORDS | posthumous release of unreleased material | |
| 2001.07.20 | ベスト盤(Songs Are Our Universe Songs Are Our Universe Songs Are Our Universe is a posthumous retrospective/rare tracks collection for the band Japanese band Super Junky Monkey. It is a double-CD set, and was released in 2001. It also features some bonus videos.... ) |
CODR-624,625 Released by CONDOR RECORDS | posthumous 'best of' compilation with two unreleased tracks | |
Japanese release Videos
- 1994.11.01 - ライブVIDEO「キャベツビデヲ」- RIOT LABEL RIVD-001
- 1995.04.21 - VIDEO「DEATHI」- SONY RECORDS SRVM444
- 1996.04.21 - ライブVIDEO「HOLY MOTHER OF MEATLOAF」- SONY RECORDS SRVM514
Japanese Compilation Albums
- Japanese Homegrown Vol. 1 - Another Mother (remix of Mother)
- Japanese Homegrown Vol. 2 - If - take 2 (possibly another take)
- Soy Milk Vol. 1 - Towering Man (also on E Kiss O)