Cool & Strange Music - Japan Vol. 6 - Ryukyu (Okinawa) Beatles & More! (Part 1)

This week I went to 76.1 InterFM to be on the show entitled "6 O'Clock Yatsura" and had a great time. While I was there I heard some very cool and strange sounds that I know you are going to dig!

First was a CD of instrumentals by a band named Soul Gakkudan (奏流楽団) which is also known as the Ryukyu Beatles. This is fab!

Also, recently on the show, Taro Furukawa has been playing a lot of old cool songs from Japanese sixties bands. There's a great compilation CD out featuring a bunch of them and it's called, "GS I Love You: Japanese Garage Bands of the Sixties." 

I've mentioned before how much western music has influenced the Japanese pop scene but these groups were totally crazy about the Beatles and the British Invasion of the sixties (Just like America!)... But some of them had enough good sense to know that, as long as the music is cool, Japanese lyrics were fine too!

Here's a few of my favorites: 

The Out Casts - Everything's Alright

I tried to find some info about the Out Casts, but nothing on Wikipedia so.... On to the next band. It's one of Japan's most popular sixties "GS" (Group Sounds) bands! The Spiders!

The Spiders - Dynamite

Wikipedia says about the Spiders:

The Spiders were a Japanese band in the Group Sounds era, who were one of the top three bands of that genre, a cultural pop music scene unique to Japan.

Band members were Hiroshi "Monsieur" Kamayatsu (rhythm guitar and backing singer), Jun Inouye (singer), Masaaki Sakai (tambourine and backing singer), Shochi Tanabe (drums), Takayuki Inouye (lead guitar and backing singer), Mitsuru Kato (bass guitar) and Katsuo Ono (steel guitar and electronic organ). They had many hit singles, made feature films and were popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s in Japan. They toured Europe in 1966, and the United States, including Hawaii, in 1967. All of the band members are still active in the music industry.

Next up? 

The Terry's - Stop Dance

Playboy - Shevidevi De Yuko

The Swing West - Ajoen Ajoen

The Napoleon - Koe no Kesunda

Those are just a few of the cool track on this great CD. I'll be back next time with a few more tracks (as well as back to the Cool & Strange music for the world) next time.

Until then, stay Cool & Strange!