The Mops

The Mops
Origin	Japan
Genres	Psychedelic rock, garage rock
Years active	1966–1974
Labels	JVC, Toshiba

The Mops (Japanese: ザ・モップス) were a Japanese psychedelic rock/garage rock group active in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The Mops were formed in 1966 by a group of high schoolers: Mikiharu Suzuki (drums), Taro Miyuki (guitar), Masaru Hoshi (or Katu Hoshi) (guitar), and Kaoru Murakami (bass). They began as an instrumental rock group similar to The Ventures, but soon after forming, Mikiharu Suzuki's brother Hiromitsu joined on lead vocals. The group began to play psychedelic rock at the suggestion of their manager, who had brought home recordings of American hippie groups such as Jefferson Airplane from his trip to San Francisco. The group signed to JVC Records, the Japanese wing of Victor Records, and released a single in November 1967 called "Asamade Matenai", which hit No. 38 on the Japanese charts. In April 1968, the full-length debut, Psychedelic Sound in Japan, followed; the album included covers of "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love" by Jefferson Airplane, "Light My Fire" by The Doors, as well as "Inside-Looking Out" and "San Franciscan Nights" by The Animals. They received much press for being the "first psychedelic band" in Japan, and performed with elaborate light shows.

Bassist Murakami quit the group in 1969, and guitarist Miyuki moved to bass. The group then signed with Liberty/Toshiba/EMI, moving to a blues rock and Hard Rock sound, and followed with the hits "Tadorituitara Itumo Amefuri" "Gekko Kamen (Moonlight Mask)" and "Goiken Muyo (No Excuse)", both of which charted in 1971. Several albums followed before the group's breakup in May 1974.

...
Wikipedia