The Yellow Monkey
| The Yellow Monkey | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Yemon |
| Origin | Tokyo, Japan |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1988–2004, 2016–present |
| Labels | Triad/Nippon Columbia, BMG Funhouse/Ariola Japan |
| Website | theyellowmonkeysuper |
| Members |
Kazuya Yoshii Hideaki Kikuchi Yoichi Hirose Eiji Kikuchi |
The Yellow Monkey, often abbreviated as Yemon (イエモン Iemon?), is a Japanese rock band originally active from 1988 to 2001, before officially disbanding in 2004. They announced their reformation in 2016.
The band's name was derived from the ethnic slur that Japanese people look like monkeys, and that Asian people are said to be "yellow" in skin color. The Yellow Monkey is considered an important rock group of Japan, having achieved major success selling 10 million records, including 6.2 million singles. The group has had three consecutive number one albums, 18 top ten singles and in 2003 were ranked number 81 on HMV Japan's list of the 100 most important Japanese pop acts. Outside Japan the band is best known for their song "Tactics", one of the many ending themes of the Rurouni Kenshin anime.
The group has its roots in 1988, formed by Kazuya Yoshii when his previous band Urgh Police, a hard rock/glam rock group, disbanded. He, originally playing bass, switched to guitar when he recruited Youichi Hirose, Eiji Kikuchi and several other members and they began to play in the live houses of Tokyo. When the vocalist left, Yoshii took over that position and recruited Eiji's brother Hideaki as guitarist.
The Yellow Monkey started to play in the underground circuit, being well known for not only their latent songwriting quality, but also because of their live performances, which would soon become the main characteristics of the group. A December 28, 1989 show at Shibuya La Mama is regarded as the first with these four members. The fans of the band grew vertiginously, preparing the band for their first studio work.
In 1991, the band finally launched their first indie album, Bunched Birth, which had seven original songs. It was an album with raw sonority, with many influences from hard rock, and containing well-shaped but peculiar lyrics (all of them written by Yoshii). The work was very well received by the public, opening the doors for their major label debut album, The Night Snails and Plastic Boogie, of 1992. The new album brought eleven songs more elaborate than the first work. The band had a considerable increase in popularity, which added to single "Romantist Taste" and to the ballad "Pearl Light of Revolution", that already gave samples of the potential of Kazuya in composing powerful ballads.
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