The Pillows

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History

Kenji Ueda, a bassist of Kenzi & The Trips, invited Sawao Yamanaka, a vocalist of The Coin Locker Babies, to form a new band, because his band broke up. Then, Ueda invited Shinichiro Sato, a drummer of Kenzi & The Trips, too. Since Yamanaka wasn able to play the guitar well yet, Yoshiaki Manabe, a guitarist of Persia, joined them. In this way, The Pillows was formed on September 16, 1989.

The Pillows released two mini-albums from the indie label Captain Record first. The Pillows contracted with the major label Pony Canyon, and came out with the single "Ame ni Utaeba" in 1991. They released two singles and two albums. stainless steel roasters

In the beginning, Ueda took the leadership in the band, and Ueda and Yamanaka wrote songs. However, the relation between Ueda and Yamanaka or other members got worse gradually because of the gap of musicality and the course of the band. As a result, Kenji Ueda left the group and has never been officially replaced. The Pillows lost the leader, and stopped activity until the band contracted with the next record company. fondue sets

Sawao Yamanaka became the new leader, and the band restarted after an interval of one year. Following Ueda's departure, the band recruited Tatsuya Kashima as a replacement on bass. Out of respect for Ueda, Kashima was only labeled as a guest musician on releases he performed on. He would stay with the band through 1999 and the release of their 7th overall album "Runners High." Kashima was replaced by Jun Suzuki who is still with the band today. stainless steel fondue

In 1999, The Pillows were approached by the anime studio Gainax, which licensed The Pillows' three previous albums for the soundtrack of their latest anime FLCL. The Pillows also composed two new songs for the show, "Ride on Shooting Star" and "I Think I Can," which were released on their album "Fool on the Planet."

In March 2005, The Pillows played their first show in the United States at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas, followed by concerts in New York City and San Francisco. In the following year, The Pillows returned to North America during their tour in support of the album My Foot, with several more dates in the U.S. and a show in Mexico City.

The group's album Wake Up! Wake Up! Wake Up! was released on May 2, 2007 their first on the Avex Trax label.

The single, "Ladybird Girl," was released on August 15, 2007, and is being used in the Japanese version of the children's show Ben 10 as its theme song.

They returned to the US in 2008 starting with Los Angeles, followed by another appearance at SXSW, San Francisco, Seattle, New York City, and Boston.

Pied Piper is the sixteenth studio album by The Pillows, released on June 25, 2008. It includes the singles "Ladybird Girl," "Tokyo Bambi," and "New Animal" as well as the b-side "Across the Metropolis."

In 2010, the Pillows recorded "Rodeo Star Mate", a theme song for an OP for the series, "Stitch - Itazura Alien no Daibouken".

Logo and mascot

The band's logo, as it has appeared on their releases since the 1998 album Little Busters.

Buster-kun.

Buster-kun has been The Pillows' mascot since about 1998, when on a visit to London, they saw a doll of a "grotesque and creepy-looking teddy bear" (which can be seen in many of their videos, including "Hybrid Rainbow") and subsequently used it for the artwork of the album Little Busters and on t-shirts sold during the following tour. Buster-kun was named after the album and the group also uses the term "little busters" for its fans.

Lineup

Sawao Yamanaka (, Yamanaka Sawao?) vocals, rhythm guitar

Yoshiaki Manabe (, Manabe Yoshiaki?) lead guitar

Shinichirou Sato (, Sato Shinichirou?) drums

Jun Suzuki (, Suzuki Jun?) bass (support member, since 1999)

Former members

Kenji Ueda (, Ueda Kenji?) bass (19891992)

Tatsuya Kashima (, Kashima Tatsuya?) bass (support member, 19921999)

Discography

The Pillows' frontman Sawao Yamanaka during the Delicious Bump Tour in USA 08.

Main article: The Pillows discography

Studio albums

Moon Gold (1991)

White Incarnation (1992)

Kool Spice (1994)

Living Field (1995)

Please Mr. Lostman (1997)

Little Busters (1998)

Runners High (1999)

Happy Bivouac (1999)

Smile (2001)

Thank You, My Twilight (2002)

Penalty Life (, 2003)

Good Dreams (2004)

My Foot (2006)

Wake Up! Wake Up! Wake Up! (2007)

Pied Piper (2008)

OoParts (Out of Place Artifacts) (2009)

References

^ a b c Osueke, Austin (2006-07-07). ""J-Pop Is the Quiet Storm in American Culture"". asianweek.com. http://news.asianweek.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=2678f5aa59e69f844690ff18578074bc. Retrieved 2007-08-05. 

^ "SXSW 2005 Showcasing Artists: The Pillows". sxsw.com. http://2005.sxsw.com/music/showcases/band/15920.html. Retrieved 2007-08-06. 

^ ""More Pillows Concerts"". animenewsnetwork.com. 2005-02-28. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2005-02-28/more-pillows-concerts. Retrieved 2007-08-05. 

^ ""The Pillows Tour North America in June"". animenewsnetwork.com. 2006-05-24. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2006-05-24/the-pillows-tour-north-america-in-june. Retrieved 2007-08-05. 

^ "SXSW 2008 Showcasing Artists: The Pillows". sxsw.com. http://2008.sxsw.com/music/showcases/band/56321.html. Retrieved 2008-02-20. 

^ Mays, Jonathan (2006-07-02). ""Sound Decision"". animenewsnetwork.com. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/sound-decision/2006-07-02. Retrieved 2007-08-05. 

^ "The Pillows profile". pillows.jp. http://www.pillows.jp/p/profile/. Retrieved 2007-08-05. 

Alchemy's Jennifer Ho speaks to Sawao Yamanaka in 2008, on the Asian Pop Show SBS Radio (in Japanese or translated into English)

Johnston, Chris. "FLCL". (November 2006) Newtype USA. p. 151.

External links

Official website

Official MySpace

v  d  e

the pillows

Sawao Yamanaka  Yoshiaki Manabe  Shinichirou Sato  Jun Suzuki

Kenji Ueda  Tatsuya Kashima

Studio albums

Moon Gold  White Incarnation  Kool Spice  Living Field  Please Mr. Lostman  Little Busters  Runners High  Happy Bivouac  Smile  Thank You, My Twilight  Penalty Life  Good Dreams  My Foot  Wake Up! Wake Up! Wake Up!  Pied Piper  OoParts (Out of Place Artifacts)

EPs

Pantomime  90's My Life  Turn Back

Compilations

Fool on the Planet  Another Morning, Another Pillows  Synchronized Rockers  Lostman Go to Yesterday  Rock Stock & Too Smoking the pillows  Once Upon a Time in the pillows

Singles

"Ame ni Utaeba"  "Kanojo wa Shisuta"  "Daydream Wonder"  "Girlfriend"  "Tiny Boat"  "Strange Chameleon"  "Swanky Street"  "Trip Dancer"  "Kanojo wa Kyou"  "One Life"  "Hybrid Rainbow"  "Another Morning"  "No Self Control"  "Instant Music"  "Carnival"  "Rush"  "Ride on Shooting Star"  "I Think I Can"  "White Summer and Green Bicycle, Red Hair with Black Guitar."  "Terminal Heaven's Rock"  "Sono Mirai wa Ima"  "Non Fiction"  "The Third Eye"  "Gazelle City"  "Scarecrow"  "Ladybird Girl"  "Tokyo Bambi"  "New Animal"  "Ameagari ni mita Maboroshi"

Home video

Hello, Welcome to Bubbletown's Happy Zoo  We Have a Theme Song  Busters on the Planet  Dead Stock Paradise  Walkin' on the Spiral  916  Delicious Bump Tour in the USA  Delicious Bump Show!!  Lostman Go to America  Wake up! Stand up! And Go!   Pied Piper Go To Yesterday   Blue Song With Blue Poppies  Lostman Go to Budokan

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Discography

Categories: Musical groups established in 1989 | 1980s music groups | 1990s music groups | 2000s music groups | 2010s music groups | Japanese alternative rock groups | Japanese rock music groups