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| Glay | |
|---|---|
| Origin |  Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan |
| Genre(s) | Rock Pop |
| Years active | 1988 – present |
| Label(s) | lover soul Poly Gram (1994-1999) Mustard/Unlimited Records (1998-2005) |
| Members | |
| Teru Takuro Hisashi Jiro |
|
Glay (グレイ?) is a rock/pop band from Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan formed by guitarist Takuro and vocalist Teru during high school in 1988. Glay primarily composes songs in the rock and pop genres, but they have also composed songs using elements of different styles such as reggae and gospel. They have sold over 36 million records as of 2007.
Contents |
Name
Officially, the name "Glay" is a deliberate misspelling of the word "gray" and represents the style of music they wanted to play: a mixture between rock (black) and pop (white). However, it is thought by many English-speaking residents that the misspelling of the band's name may actually have been due to a genuine error, and the official reason was only decided in retrospect. In support of this, they point out that confusing the R and L is a very common mistake amongst Japanese speakers of English.
Members
Main members
- Takuro: real name Takuro Kubo : guitar (leader and primary songwriter)
- Teru: real name Teruhiko Kobashi : vocals
- Jiro: real name Yoshihito Wayama : bass
- Hisashi: real name Hisashi Tonomura : guitar
All members were born in Hakodate, Hokkaidō except Hisashi, who was born in Hirosaki, Aomori. When he was in elementary school, he moved to Hakodate.
Past and current support members
- Yuta : real name Yuta Saitou : Keyboard (2004 – present)
- Toshi : real name Toshimitsu Nagai : drums (1995 – present)
- Sakuma : real name Masahide Sakuma : guitar, keyboard, producer (mid-1994 – present)
- Shige : real name Shigeo "sk55" Komori : keyboard (1998 – 2004)
- D.I.E. : real name Daijiro Nozawa : keyboard (1995 – 1998)
- Nobumasa : drums (1994 – 1995)
- Akira : drums (1993 – 1994)
History
During Glay's early years in high school, members (particularly drummers) were constantly joining and leaving the band. Upon the unexpected resignation of their vocalist, drummer Teru made a tape of his singing to give to Takuro and was immediately recruited as the new vocalist. On the search for another guitarist, Hisashi was asked to join but turned down the offer, as he was already part of a locally well-known heavy punk/rock band called Ari, which better suited his taste in music. When Ari disbanded, Hisashi accepted Takuro's offer and became the lead guitarist of Glay. By the time of Takuro and Teru's graduation, Glay had become quite popular in their hometown of Hakodate and were playing in full live houses. Following Hisashi's high school graduation in 1990, the three of them moved to Tokyo to try and further expand their musical career. However things did not seem to improve for them in Tokyo. Their gigs only attracted a few people, and sometimes none at all. When their bassist quit, Takuro had heard that Jiro, who was also from Hakodate and had played with the indie band Pierrot (different from the now disbanded Japanese rock band Pierrot, that enjoyed mainstream popularity), had moved to Tokyo and invited him to join Glay. He too declined the offer, insisting that he was already heading in the right direction for himself. It wasn't until Takuro asked him to play at just one show to fill in for their missing bassist that he decided to go. Following that show Jiro continued to receive invitations to play with Glay, and in 1991 he had become Glay's official bass player, finalizing the official four member lineup. They promoted the band by handing out flyers on the street and giving out demo tapes. Eventually they became more and more well known on the Tokyo live house circuit, and began drawing larger crowds. During one of these shows in October 1993, Yoshiki, then drummer and pianist for X Japan, saw their show and offered them a contract to his label Extasy Records. In 1994, their debut single "Rain" was produced. From the time of their debut Glay steadily became more widely recognized by people all over the country. Their 4th single "Freeze My Love" made it onto the Oricon, debuting at #19. Two months later their first album "Speed Pop" debuted at #8. Their first #1 hit was in 1996 with their second album "Beat Out!" which was marked as a major turning point in Glay's career. From then on they became increasingly popular at an extremely rapid rate, and in August 1997 they released the hit single "However" becoming their most well-known song to date. In the same year they released the album "Review - Best of Glay", which sold more than 4 million copies, becoming the all-time best selling album in Japan at the time (at present, it is at #3 spot). The next two years to follow were arguably Glay's most active years, in which they were constantly touring Japan in sold out stadiums and continuously producing one #1 hit after the other in a short time span. On July 31st, 1999 Glay held a concert called "Glay Expo 1999 Survival" at Makuhari Messe, gathering a total audience of 200,000 people making it the largest single concert to ever be held in Japan. There was a huge amount of publicity leading up to this concert, including having their faces printed on the sides of Japan Airlines jumbo jets. In 2001 and 2004 two more Glay Expos were held. Glay Expo 2001 was divided into four separate performances at three different locations (Tokyo, Ishikari, and Fukuoka), and accumulated a total audience of over 280,000. Glay Expo 2004 celebrated their 10th anniversary, and was held in the parking lot of Universal Studios Japan selling out the 100,000 tickets in under 15 minutes. Throughout the years Glay has appeared on countless numbers of TV programs, and appeared on the front covers of every famous band/music magazine in Japan at least once (and some more than fifteen times), such as Gigs, What's In?, BPass, Ongaku to Hito, PatiPati, Newsmaker, etc. Kadokawa Shoten has also produced two special edition Glay only books, and every member of Glay (excluding Teru) has written a book of their own (Jiro has made two). Besides appearing in magazines and on TV, Teru, Hisashi and Jiro each have their own personal weekly radio shows (aired on bayFM, FMFuji, and FM802, respectively). After many years of touring, promoting, and recording, the four decided to take a hiatus after celebrating their 10th anniversary. During that time, Jiro created a side band with the pillows guitarist Yamanaka Sawao and Straightener's drummer Nakayama Shinpei called The Predators in the summer of 2005. The Predators played in several summer festivals at this time. Teru and Hisashi formed a band called Rally with The Mad Capsule Markets drummer Motokatsu and bassist Koji Ueno from Thee Michelle Gun Elephant. They did a Buck-Tick cover to "Aku no Hana" as part of a tribute CD. Takuro took time off and spent time with his wife and child in L.A. and to work on new Glay songs.
Glay: Re-Birth
In February 2006, Glay ended their silence by having a two day live performance in Zepp Tokyo and a three day live performance at Nippon Budokan, titled "Re-birth: Rock 'n' Roll Swindle." Here, they played many of their old songs and introduced two new written songs as their new sound. On July 12, 2006, they released a new single titled "G4" after a year and seven months away from the limelight and returning to their rock and roll roots. Promotional posters were everywhere and TV spots aired constantly to promote their return. In the following month, they collaborated with former Boowy vocalist, Kyosuke Himuro in their single, "Answer" Together, they performed in "Kyosuke Himuro + Glay Swing Addiction 2006," with "Answer" being one of the songs. In August, Glay performed at Southern All Stars's summer concert Mujintou alongside various artists. In September, "Natsuoto/Henna Yume -Thousand Dreams-" was released, their first ballad of 2006, with Natsuoto being the theme song to "Koi suru Hanikami." Following the release of these singles was their long anticipated tour, "Rock 'n' Roll Swindle -Re-Birth-" in November 2006 and going into early 2007. They released a single early January titled, "100 Man Kai no Kiss," with four different jackets accompanied by four different live performances on DVD. On January 31, 2007, Glay released their long-awaited full length album, Love is Beautiful, containing 14 tracks. Following the release of this album was their arena tour, titled after the album. After the tour, they released yet another single, "Kodou" as a tie-in with the movie "Taitei no Ken." Over the summer, they performed at the 15th Anniversary Cue Music Jam-Boree in Yubari on July 1 and Rock Shock. Vol. 4 on August 23, 2007, where they played two new songs from their upcoming 41st single, "Ashes EP," due out on October 31, 2007. Jiro's side band, The Predators, performed at the Rising Sun Rock Festival in Ezo on August 17 and 18 while Teru and Hisashi's side band, Rally, performed at the Buck-Tick Fest 2007 in September. They announced another full tour starting in November 2007 and into March 2008: The "Highcommuncations Tour 2007-2008." Many fans wonder why they decided to name their tour this since they had already done so in 2003 with their arena tour. On their tour date page, there was an explanation saying their feelings were the same during their 2003 tour, thus giving their new tour the same name.
Music style
In addition to recording most of their albums and singles in Japan, Glay frequently travels to places such as Los Angeles, New York, and London to produce their music. In 2001 they released the New York produced album One Love which shocked long time Glay fans, as the sound of One Love was completely different from that found on earlier albums. The style change was warmly welcomed by fans, and Glay went on to hold a very successful "One Love" concert tour. The following year, Unity Roots & Family, Away (UR&FA) was released, which was something entirely different from One Love and all their previous works. UR&FA presented Glay fans with a strong gospel sound in many of its tracks. "People like my family members, lovers, friends, staff, acquaintance relationships, and the people I have around me greatly influence my work, and I wanted to make one album about that. My keyword was "roots". And, after that I had "unity". …I wanted to do this theme one time. We did a gospel sound in order to represent these people the closest." (Takuro) Following the release of UR&FA, in February 2003 Glay released two compilation albums composed mostly of B-side tracks from their singles that hadn't yet been put onto an album. It was not until 2004 that they released a brand new album entitled The Frustrated. This album was a huge success, and spawned a documentary DVD about the "making of," a special fanclub members only concert tour, the theme of Glay Expo 2004, and a fall concert tour that travelled across the country. In 2005, Glay produced a collaboration single with the vocal/dance group Exile which was one of the most successful singles of the year.
Discography
For a detailed discography, information on singles, videos and other releases, see Glay discography
Albums
| Album # | Album name | Album year |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 灰とダイヤモンド(Hai to Diamond) | 1994 |
| 2nd | Speed Pop | 1995 |
| 3rd | Beat Out! | 1996 |
| 4th | Beloved | 1996 |
| 5th | Pure Soul | 1998 |
| 6th | Heavy Gauge | 1999 |
| 7th | One Love | 2001 |
| 8th | Unity Roots & Family, Away | 2002 |
| 9th | The Frustrated | 2004 |
| 10th | Love is Beautiful | 2007 |
Trivia
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- Their first compilation album, "Review", was the best selling album of all time in Japan in 1997. As of 2006, it is ranked at #3.
- In 1998, Japan's telephone service was temporarily put out of order to allow for the mass number of fans to reserve tickets to their upcoming tour.
- Their contract transfer from Pony Canyon to Toshiba EMI is the most expensive transfer in Japan's history, at 4 billion yen.
- The live performance held in Beijing in October 2002 is the most expensive gig in China's history. (The show attracted 35,000 audience members. Every ticket was sold.)
- "Yuuwaku" was the biggest selling single in 1998.
- Takuro has written/composed songs for Namie Amuro ("Lovebite"), Misia ("fuyu no etranger"), Hikaru Utada ("Time Limit" and "Drama") and Mika Nakashima ("Hitoiro" and "Eyes for the Moon"), among other artists.
- Hisashi played the guitar parts in the beginning of Hikaru Utada's song "Letters".
- Takuro and Hisashi appeared in the movie Casshern.
- Teru is an avid artist, and designs many of the tour goods himself.
- The song "Zutto Futari de..." was made by Takuro for Teru's sister, who was about to get married. Teru's mother asked the band to do it in exchange for a pie.
- The compositions of "Highcommunications" and "The Frustrated" (both from "The Frustrated" album) are credited to kombinat-12, which is a partnership between Takuro and Hisashi.
- Teru is married to Ami Onuki from Japanese pop/rock group Puffy AmiYumi, and they have one child.
- Takuro is married to Japanese model Seri Iwahori as of May 2004, and they have one son. They own a house in Los Angeles, California. Early of October 2007, Seri gave birth to their second child, a daughter.
Awards and records
- 1996
- "Gold Request Award" for the single "Beloved" at the "29th All Japan Cable Broadcast Awards"
- 1997
- 1998
- Grand Prize winner at the "35th Golden Arrow Awards"
- Best Selling Japanese Artist at the World Music Awards
- Best Rock Album of the Year at the "12th Golden Disk Awards"
- Best Musical Video of the Year at the "12th Golden Disk Awards"
- Best Artist of the Year at the "12th Golden Disk Awards"
- 40th Annual Japan Record Awards "Best Album" - Soul Love[2]
- 40th Annual Japan Record Awards "Excellent work prize" - Soul Love[2]
- 1999
- Grand Prize winner at the "32nd All Japan Cable Broadcast Awards"
- Most Requested Artist at the "32nd Japan Cable Broadcast Awards"
- 41st Annual Japan Record Awards "Grand Prize" - Winter, again[3]
- 41st Annual Japan Record Awards "Excellent work prize" - Winter, again[3]
- 41st Annual Japan Gold Disc Awards "Song Of The Year" - Yuwaku[4]
- 14th Annual Japan Gold Disc Awards "Song Of The Year" - Soul Love[4]
- 14th Annual Japan Gold Disc Awards "Song Of The Year" - Be with you[4]
- 14th Annual Japan Gold Disc Awards "Rock Album Of The Year" - Pure Soul[4]
- 2000
- 2001
- 2003
- 17th Annual Japan Gold Disc Awards "Song Of The Year" - Way of Difference[4]
- 2005
- Special prize for their career at the "Space Shower Music Video Awards"
References
- ^ a b 第39回日本レコード大賞 (The 39th annual Japanese record prize) (Japanese). jacompa.or.jp. Retrieved on 2008-01-01.
- ^ a b 第40回日本レコード大賞 (The 40th annual Japanese record prize) (Japanese). jacompa.or.jp. Retrieved on 2008-01-01.
- ^ a b 第41回日本レコード大賞 (The 41st annual Japanese record prize) (Japanese). jacompa.or.jp. Retrieved on 2008-01-01.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Japan Gold Disc Award Official Website (Japanese). golddisc.jp. Retrieved on 2008-01-01.
Notes
- ^ Japan Times, Article, Japan Times, 2001 (date unsure)
- ^ The Japan Zone Newsletter. The Japan Zone Newsletter. (Interesting Facts)
- ^ The Japan Zone Newsletter. Modern Japan - Famous Japanese - Glay. (Name)
- ^ Glay Official Homepage. HAPPY SWING SPACE SITE. (Article information)
- ^ Time Magazine Article. TIME - The Day the Phones Died. (Trivia and Name)
External links
- Happy Swing Space Site - Official site (Japanese)
- Buggy Crash Night - Jiro's radio website (Japanese)
- Cyber Net City - Hisashi's radio website (Japanese)
- Teru Me Night Glay - Teru's radio website (Japanese)
| Glay |
|---|
| Studio albums |
| Hai to Diamond | Speed Pop | Beat Out! | Beloved | Pure Soul | Heavy Gauge | One Love | Unity Roots and Family, Away | The Frustrated | Love is Beautiful |
| Greatest Hits/Best Ofs |
| Review | Glay Drive ~complete best~ | Glay Rare Collectives vol. 1 and 2 | White Road |
| Television Shows |
| Glay Global Communication |
| Members |
| Hisashi | Jiro | Teru | Takuro |
