Photo Dump #2 of Rock Stars I've Met in Japan

"My idea of a good picture is one that's in focus and of a famous person." - Andy Warhol

"If you see something that moves you, and then snap it, you keep a moment." - Linda McCartney

This is a boring post with photos.... Move along... Nothing to see here folks...

I'm putting these photos up here because they had been on Myspace but Myspace seems to have compressed the hell out of many of them and now they are only icon sized so the digital images are worthless. (You can see them all here - still many are missing!) These are a few that I could save that seem to have escaped massive compression and I don't know where the originals are (I put them on Myspace to save them originally!)

There's tons more that are lost forever it seems. I can't find the photos with Joey Ramone, the Stranglers, Aerosmith and there's so many others that have fallen in the memory hole.... Tons of photos with really famous artists over the years (Japanese artists too)... Poof! Gone!

Oh well... Here's what's left... These are all photos taken between the years 1998 (99?) to 2009 or so... (Oh and a photo of me with a 10-year-old Ricky Martin!)....

Placebo

Maximo Park

Rancid

New Cassettes

Duncan Redmonds of Snuff and Duncan's Divas

Marky Ramone and Alex of Anti-Product

Paul of Maximo Park

Yoko Ono

Linkin Park

Fat Mike

Siouxsie Sioux (my wife, Yuka, in front)

Siouxsie Sioux

Vincent Gallo

Elvis Costello with George Williams (George took better care of his photos than I did. He even has an awesome photo with Jimmy Page!)

Zebrahead

Daisy Chainsaw

Howard Devoto of the Buzzcocks

Maximo Park

Elvis Costello

Jake of Stiff Little Fingers and Bruce of the Jam

Juliette Lewis

Guitar Wolf

Donnas

Buckcherry (the girl standing up on the left is my wife) 

Olga of Toy Dolls (Hey! Why isn't Mike in some of these pictures? Duh! Someone has to hold the camera! - and I can't find the photos with me in them!)

Le Tigre

Pere Ubu

Alex Empire of Atari Teenage Riot

Bis

Animal Collective

Earl Greyhound

White Stripes

Boss Hog

Mike of Suicidal Tendencies

Paul Weller (second from left) Taro Furukawa (far right)

I'm in the white shirt with Menudo. Ricky Martin at 10-years-old is in front with solid blue shirt.

With Shiga san and Yasuha (Japanese TV show, never mind)

With Shinko san and Yukari Morikawa (Yukari had one of the biggest selling and number one hit songs in all of Japan in the 1980s) 

That really is daddy Bush. Don't believe me? See here. I've gotten lots of photos with famous politicians in Japan too.

I Was a Teenage Converse All-Star!

It's not everyday one can be at the center of a massive national advertising campaign for one of the coolest shoe makers in the world, but I was. Hence the title of this post: I was a Teenage Converse All-Star! (Okay, that part about being a teenager? That's a lie. I'm 57. But the rest is true. So please allow me to brag. I usually don't get that chance in my mealy existence!) 

So, thank you God! Thank you Punk Rock! Thank you InterFM! Thank you Converse! Read more below!

創立100周年を超えるコンバース！毎週日曜日「What The Funday!」10:15からの「CONVERSE - THE SOUND OF CALIFORNIA」

毎週カリフォルニアのアーティストを1組ピックアップしてご紹介！

さらに、 タロヲの「カリフォルニア小話」も放送中。

実はこの小話、コンバースオフィシャルサイト内の特設ページで、いつでも聞けるんだよね！URLは　http://www.converse.co.jp/the-endless-summer/fm/index.html

僕らがCONVERSEのモデルとして登場しているとっておきの画像もみれるよ！

InterFMからもアクセス出来ます。「CONVERSE - THE SOUND OF CALIFORINIA」

チェックしてね。

Currently, the other two guys on my radio show, (WTF? What the Funday, InterFM, every Sunday morning 8 am ~ 11 am) George Williams and Taro Furukawa and I, am at the center of a massive Converse Shoes campaign for all of Japan. It's called "Converse - The Endless Summer" campaign and they are sponsoring our radio show as well as putting our faces on advertisements that show up somewhere that I am not quite sure about. But, you can see our photos here (https://www.interfm.co.jp/the-endless-summer/) or at the link at the very bottom of the page, so there! That's another reason for this blog; I wanna make sure I keep these photos forever! My mom is so proud of me!

Every Sunday morning at 10:15 ~ 10:25, Converse sponsors our show and we have a special that features a few songs from artists from California, insider information about said artist and also we GIVE AWAY CONVERSE SHOES FOR FREE TO LISTENERS!!!!! 

What!? Free Converse shoes??? Yes, just listen in every Sunday morning from 10:15 ~ 10:25 or so and you can win! (Actually, listen from 9:00 because we often give away hints on how to win earlier in the show!

The show is entitled, "Converse - Sound of California" and it's great.

Also, there's a massively popular joke corner where we tell jokes that are quite risque (and that's unheard of in Japan!) you can practice your Japanese, see the script, and hear a recording of the actual broadcasted joke here. Check it out, it is massively popular amongst the Japanese (and people studying REAL Japanese language): Taro's California Ko-Banashi (Joke) (If that link doesn't work, copy and paste this: http://www.converse.co.jp/the-endless-summer/fm/index.html) 

Click here to listen to the joke. 

http://www.converse.co.jp/the-endless-summer/fm/index.html

Actually, it's a secret, but this Sunday, there will be some folks from Converse at the show and they are bringing a bunch of presents so definitely check it out.

If you do not have an FM radio, you can listen on Radiko. Just download Radiko and click the button at the top that says "InterFM" and you can win some cool free Converse shoes. Radiko! Listen online: http://radiko.jp/

Converse - The Sound of California! And I was a teenage Converse All-Star, really! Just I wasn't in their advertising campaigns until I became over 55! So, I guess that's cool. I reckon there aren't very many olde pharttes like me who get to model sports shoes for youth culture at my age! Yikes!

---------------------------

* Check out the funny jokes online: http://www.converse.co.jp/the-endless-summer/fm/index.html

* WTF? What the Funday URL: https://www.interfm.co.jp/wtf/index.php?mode=sun&id=32

* Converse - Sound of California Homepage URL: 
http://www.converse.co.jp/the-endless-summer/

* Listen online: http://radiko.jp/

WTF? "What the Funday" Shinenkai - Free New Year's Party!

Hey! WTF? (What the Funday?) is having another concert! But this one is so special, and it is at the beginning of the year, that we're not calling it a concert. We're calling it a "Shinenkai" (New Year's Party!) And it is free (of course) but you need to have an invitation to get in!

Definition of Shinenkai on Wikipedia:

"A shinnenkai (Japanese 新年会, literally "new year gathering") is the Japanese tradition of welcoming the arrival of the New Year, usually by the drinking of alcohol. A shinnenkai is generally held among co-workers or friends in January. Like the many festivals (matsuri) and celebrations that the Japanese are known for, a shinnenkai is their way of getting together to celebrate a new year and to make promises to each other to do their best for this year while wishing each other good luck and fortune..."

WTF? Party of the Year!

This is the first Premium Event of 2015 

and only 250 people will be invited! 

This year's WTF? "What the Funday" on InterFM Shinenkai party features and awesome lineup of Japan's best Punk and Retro bands:

The Neatbeats! The 50 Kaitenz! The Privates!

You definitely want to be at this show. This lineup is awesome and we could have made this a regular concert, selling tickets for $50 each and filled a 1000 capacity venue! But no! This is a Premium Event and only 250 people will be invited! 

Imagine that, some of Japan's best bands and you can basically be standing on their toes as they perform! 

The WTF? Shinenkai party and it's free (if you have aforementioned invitation!) How do you get an invitation? Send and email to: "WTF? Shinenkai! New Year's Party!" wtf@interfm.jp and you might win! 

(Oh, and come "Like" our Facebook page too! https://www.facebook.com/WhattheFunday76.1?)

Just to let you check out how awesome this line up is, here's some videos:

The Privates - Drive All Night (Come "Like" their FB account!)

The 50 Kaitenz - Hey! They Were on TV! (Come "Like" their FB account!)

                The Neatbeats - Snakey Baby  (Come "Like" their FB account!)

Besides these great bands, the drinks will be a dirt cheap ¥500 each (about $5) not to mention the house special which is about $3 cocktails (it is, after all, a New Year's party, Japan style!) And with free entrance with an invitation, it will be the party of the year! Also, Furukawa Taro and me, Mike Rogers, will be hosting the ceremonies.... Who knows? Perhaps rock star and famous person extraordinaire George Williams just might show up!

So, don't miss the coolest show of 2015!!!! The InterFM WTF? "What the Funday" Shinenkai 2015!

Be there!

Crowd Funding? WTF? Yes!

I started producing, directing and co-hosting a 5 hour Friday morning FM radio show on 76.1 InterFM. The show is entitled, "WTF?" 

.....What!? That's not a foul name? "WTF?" Means, "What the Friday?" (Kind of like "TGIF" means, "Thank God it's Friday" and NOT "Thank God it's F*cked!") Heavens! What kind of a people have you been hanging out with? Now, go wash your brain out with soap and water! What if your mother ever found out what you were thinking? You should be ashamed!

Anyway, the show is going well. It's not your typical Japanese FM radio show (boring) and we are loud, laugh and play loud music. You can see the WTF? program web page here. http://www.interfm.co.jp/wtf/index.php?mode=fri&id=32

The other day, we had a gentleman by the name of Yu Sasamoto, the head cheese of WESYM, as a guest on the show and he told us about "Crowd Funding." You might have heard of Crowd Funding but weren't too sure of what it was. Yu explained it all to us. 

Crowd Funding is a way for people (without deep financial backing) to get their fans and friends to help fund their projects. It's a boom in the west and just starting out in Japan.

Being the kind of guy who doesn't quite understand this new-fangled "Internets" thingy, I decided that the best way to learn wasn't reading the "Users Manual" but by just jumping in and doing it! So we started our own Crowd Funding effort.

In this effort, I want to do three things:

1) I want to fund a product for program merchandise 
2) I want to help build a buzz for my program
3) I want to help build "community"
4) I want to take the extra proceeds and help out my favorite charity: Children with Incurable Diseases (That's me as Santa!) (If that link doesn't work, use this: http://modernmarketingjapan.blogspot.jp/2011/12/santa-claus-visits-hospital-for.html)

The campaign just started yesterday and I think it is going OK! 

Crowd Funding seems like a great idea and I want to do more if the future! See below the actual page for our effort. Crowd Funding is cool!

Japan's Radio Show X Crowd Funding: Engaging with listeners.

About the Project

Hello Japan!

I am Mike Rogers and I have a show every Friday on InterFM, a radio station in Tokyo.

Our program was renewed this April and is delivered to those who look forward to Friday every week. Don't forget to tune in!

For most of us, Friday is a great day just before the weekend. That's why the phrase TGIF (Thank God It's Friday). On this happy Friday, we have a great show called WTF!? What The Friday.

The show airs every Friday mornings with George Williams and Taro for 5 hours, providing the hottest info on music before anyone else along with easy listening music such as cross over Jazz. We only air once a week, so don't miss it. You not only get a great start to your Friday, but also get great information to make the most out of your weekend.

So why are we starting crowd funding on WESYM?

We want to create cool & fun goodies, as well as, events with our listeners and crowd funding is a great tool to make this happen.

Would you be interested in a private party on a cruiser with great food and music with the WTF!? Staff and listeners? Anything is possible.

For starters, we came up with an idea to create an original magnet that you can stick on your fridge. People who support the project will automatically get a cool WTF!? magnet.

We want at least 200 supporters for this project! So, help us spread the words to make it happen!

What? You rather have a T-Shirt? No problem. We can start another project or add a gift to this project.

Crowd funding is all about a community of fans or supporters making a fun idea a reality. It is somewhat similar to the European soccer team Barcelona being supported and funded by its fans. For us, our supporters are our listners. We would luv to create something with our supporters that everyone can enjoy and be a part of together.

Don't be shy if you have great ideas on what we can do together. Will be sharing ideas on a regular basis on WTF!? What the Friday!

◇ Return to the project supporters;

500 SEEDs will get you an original WTF!? Magnet. This is to show you are an official member of WTF!? What The Friday

You get TWO magnets for 500 SEEDs. One is signed by George, Taro and Mike. Another one is for you to either keep or give it away to your friends!

*When we exceed the required SEEDs to produce the magnet, we are to donate them to"Children with Incurable Diseases"

http://www.nanbyonet.or.jp/

▼ We plan to use the design below.

Check out our program blog as well!

http://www.interfm.co.jp/wtf/blog/

The Incredible Power of Two Little Words: Sometimes Listening & Telling Someone "I'm Sorry" is the Best Thing You Can Do!

"Silence is the true friend that never betrays" - Confucius

Sometimes just having someone listen and say, "I'm sorry!" is worth so much to our lives.... How powerful two little words can be is simply amazing.


A dear friend of mine asked me about a past experience in the music business in Japan that happened to me long ago. I can't really explain in much detail what happened because if I do, it will hurt too many people today.

What happened made me very angry and still does, or did, to this very day. The actions of one person damaged the love and the art of artists and the families and children of those artists and so many people associated. It made me so very angry at the time that I saw red. I still do if I dwell upon it.


When my friend asked about it, I did something that I had never done before, I told someone outside my family what had happened. I became furious again as I was explaining what had happened...


My friend read my comments and answered;

"Sometimes it's hard not to fight back but still best to hold your tongue. I made a few enemies in the movie business and the less I said the better but sometimes I'd get sarcastic…. I'm sorry that it hurt you with others. "

It was nice that my friend could relate... But then, at the end of what my friend wrote, "I'm sorry that it hurt you with others." That was like a window opening in a dark room and letting the sun shine and fresh air in. It was the first time that anyone has ever said, "I'm sorry" to me for that incident. Something that happened nearly 20 years ago.


"I'm sorry..." Wow! Thank you. It means so much to me. It makes me want to cry, actually.


Amazingly, that was so soothing and mollifying to me... Suddenly I don't feel mad anymore.... And all because a friend of mine said, "I'm sorry" to me... A friend who had nothing to do with the incident sincerely said "I'm sorry." 


It matters to me that this friend told me that because I know that this friend can relate to the same type of problem...


What a wonderful day!


I don't really have any snappy or funny comments for the end of this post except I think this teaches me a good lesson. First, that everyone needs someone to talk to who will listen to them. People have two ears and one mouth but they seem to want to use their mouths twice as much as their ears. And two, having and showing sincere empathy for people is priceless. It amazes me that after all these years, two little words can make the anger go away so easily.


I'm going to work on being a better listener and saying "I'm sorry" more. I hope you do too!


And to help you work on your listening skills, here's delightful video that I have found from an artist named the Frankfurt Schoolgirls. The song is entitled, "Song Without Love" and I think it is fab. Japan's most famous and top Deejay/VJ George Williams says this is the "...Best love song I've heard in ten years... Better than anything the Bangles ever did." 


I think so too...


THIS IS A FANTASTIC SONG! Enjoy!


Frankfurt Schoolgirls - Song Without Love 2011

Just for Laughs in Japan? Funny Videos That You'd Watch?

I told my dear friend, George Williams over at the www.georgewilliams.jp website to introduce the Just for Laugh website to the Japanese public. I hope he does but am not sure that he will... I would do it but this blog is about Japan, Media and Marketing so I'd like to keep it that way, even though I often variate off course.

Nevertheless, I thought about making my own "Just for Laughs" Japan style as I do own a TV and radio production company and do make videos..... Hmmmm? Maybe it's a nice idea for a hobby! It would have to be a hobby as I can't see how to make money doing it.


Here's three funny videos that fit the the "Just for Laughs" format that I thought you'd enjoy!


I like them. What do you think? 

What do you think? Should I try to do this in Japan? Can I make an interesting show that you'd watch?

George Williams on Cover of Bicycle Navi

IT'S BEEN A ROUGH WEEK BATTLING IT OUT WITH MASS MEDIA SENSATIONALISTS AND TWITS WHO FOLLOW THE PARTY LINE. F*CK THEM. I'M TIRED AND NEED A BREAK. MY DAD HAD A HEART ATTACK AND I'M NOW CHECKING IT OUT. PLEASE FORGIVE MY SPORADIC POSTINGS AS I'M IN A PLACE THAT HAS NOT INTERNET... IT'S LIKE A FLINTSTONES MOVIE HERE...

Well known Japanese TV and radio star George Williams is on the cover of Japan's best known bicycling magazine, Bicycle Navi, for the month of May, 2011. Congrats George!

You can see George Williams own multi-media webpage here and his bio and contact information here. http://universal-vision.jp/wp/?page_id=52

Write to: info@universal-vision.jp