Speed (Japanese band)
| Speed | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Okinawa, Japan |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1996–2001 2008–present |
| Labels |
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| Associated acts | |
| Website |
www www |
| Members |
Hitoe Arakaki Takako Uehara Eriko Imai Hiroko Shimabukuro |
Speed (stylized as SPEED) is a Japanese female vocal/dance group comprising Hiroko Shimabukuro, Eriko Imai, Takako Uehara and Hitoe Arakaki. All four members are former students of Okinawa Actors School which also trained popular artists Namie Amuro and MAX.
Speed made their major label debut on August 5, 1996 and became an immediate success. They would eventually become the most successful girl group anywhere in Asia with sales of over 20 million singles and albums in just three years and eight months. They disbanded on March 31, 2000 to pursue solo careers and to study.
Following their disbandment, the group reunited several times for charity, but on August 20, 2008 they officially announced plans to reunite permanently. They made their comeback on November 12, 2008 with the single "Ashita no Sora."
The girls that would become Speed met at Okinawa Actors School and originally formed a group containing seven to nine rotating members. The group was trimmed down to four when Nippon Television show Yoru mo Hippare (Night of the Hit Parade) requested them to come to Tokyo to perform in December 1995.
Introduced as the younger sisters of Namie Amuro, the girls requested the audience to give the band a name. Rejecting suggestions such as "The Habus and Mongooses," "Ryukyu Girls" and "Okinawa Girls," the quartet unanimously decided on "Speed."
Unlike most artists from the Okinawa Actors School which were signed to the Avex record label, Speed were instead signed up by Toy's Factory, a move the group later stated allowed them more creative freedom and expression. Their sole producer during their time together was Hiromasa Ijichi and the girls hoped to emulate US R&B group TLC.
Upon forming, Speed recorded a few songs, however "Body & Soul" was quickly chosen to be their debut single. The video for the song was filmed on location in San Francisco and Los Angeles and the single sold an impressive total of over 638,000 copies. Body & Soul was also Speed's longest chart song, lingering in the charts for 31 weeks.
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