Thee Michelle Gun Elephant

Thee Michelle Gun Elephant (often abbreviated to TMGE) was a Japanese garage rock band formed in 1991.[1]

Thee Michelle Gun Elephant
OriginJapan
GenresGarage rock
Blues rock
Punk blues
Years active1991–2003
LabelsNippon Columbia
Universal Music Group
Alive Records
Associated actsRosso
Radio Caroline
The Birthday
Midnight Bankrobbers
The Hiatus
WebsiteRockin' Blues
Past membersYusuke Chiba
Futoshi Abe
Kōji Ueno
Kazuyuki Kuhara

History

The band was formed in 1991,[2] while Chiba, Ueno, and Kuhara were students at Tokyo's Meiji Gakuin University. They later drew influence from The Roosters. Their unusual name originated when a friend mispronounced the title of an early jam session recording; featuring cover songs of Thee Headcoats (one of the band's main influences) and from The Damned's album Machine Gun Etiquette.[3] Some years later Futoshi Abe joined the band. After an independently released EP in 1995, they signed to Nippon Columbia's Triad label, releasing the album Cult Grass Stars in 1996, followed later that year by High Time, the band enjoying chart success in their home country.[2] Chicken Zombies (1997) gave them a top five hit.[2] The band's 1998 album Gear Blues was the first to be released in the US (in 2000).[2]

The band announced that they would break up on October 11, 2003, after their Last Heaven tour of Japan. On July 22, 2009, the guitarist Futoshi Abe died of an acute hematoma.[4]

Song titles and lyrics

The majority of the band's songs have English titles, which often appear to be a random selection of words cobbled together - 'Pinhead Cranberry Dance', for example.

The lyrics are almost entirely Japanese, with the odd English phrase or word thrown in.

Side projects

All four members have had other musical projects or played with other bands both while in TMGE and after its break-up. Some of these are as follows:

Yusuke Chiba

  • ROSSO (Vocals, Guitar and Songwriting on all releases)
  • The Birthday (Vocals, Guitars and Songwriting on all releases)
  • The Midwest Vikings (Vocals, Guitars and Songwriting under the alias 'LACOSTE')
  • Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra (Vocals on one song on the album 'Stompin' On Down Beat Alley')
  • Raven
  • Bugy Craxone
  • Midnight Bankrobbers

Kazuyuki Kuhara

Koji Ueno

Futoshi Abe (died 2009)

  • KOOLOGI (Guitar on first album)
  • Barebones
  • Strawberry Jean (Guitar - This was Futoshi Abe's pre-TMGE band)

Discography

Albums

Live albums
  • Casanova Said "Live or Die" (2000) Triad
  • Last Heaven's Bootleg (2003) Island

Singles
  • Sekai no Owari (1996) Triad
  • Candy House (1996) Triad
  • Lily (1996) Triad
  • Culture (1997) Triad
  • Get Up Lucy (1997) Triad
  • The Birdmen (1997) Triad
  • G.W.D (1998) Triad
  • Out Blues (1998) Triad
  • Smokin' Billy (1998) Triad
  • GT400 (2000) Triad
  • Baby Stardust (2000) Triad
  • Abakareta-Sekai (2001) Triad
  • Taiyou wo Tsukande Shimatta (2002) Island
  • Girl Friend (2003) Trippin' Elephant
  • Electric Circus (2003) Island

B-sides compilations
  • Rumble (1999) Triad

Best of compilations
  • TMGE 106 (2000) Triad
  • Collection (2001) Alive Records (US release)
  • Grateful Triad Years (2002) Triad
  • Thee Greatest Hits (2009) Columbia

Other releases
  • Wonder Style (1995) Trippin' Elephant
  • Wonder Style (reissue) (1997) Triad
  • Vibe On! (1998) Trippin' Elephant
  • Kwacker (with Mick Green) (2001) Trippin' Elephant

DVDs

TMGE have released a number of live and PV DVDs. A box set of some of these were due to be released by Universal in January 2010, consisting of 10 discs under the title of 'THEE LIVE'.

References
  1. "Ｔｈｅｅ ｍｉｃｈｅｌｌｅ ｇｕｎ ｅｌｅｐｈａｎｔ │ オリコン芸能人事典-ORICON STYLE". Oricon.co.jp. Retrieved 2014-07-04.
  2. Strong, Martin C. (2003) The Great Indie Discography, Canongate, ISBN 1-84195-335-0, p. 1025-6
  3. "ROCKIN'ON JAPAN インタビュー : チバCollection". Shine1771.exblog.jp. 2009-05-01. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-04.
  4. ドコデモタワレコ. "ニュース - Tower Records Online". Bounce.com. Archived from the original on 2009-07-27. Retrieved 2014-07-04.
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