were a
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
popular music duo composed of male singer-songwriters from Fukuoka Prefecture: and . To date they have sold over 31 million albums and singles in Japan.
History
They were formed in the late 1970s at the suggestion of the
A&R division of the Yamaha Music Foundation. After the hit single " (Banri no Kawa)" in 1980, they produced several hits irregularly throughout the 1980s. From 1989 to 1997, Chage had a parallel project called MULTIMAX, a band he formed with guitarist and multi-instrumental master Keisuke Murakami (former The Alpha member) and singer Hiromi Asai. They released seven singles, seven albums, two videos and did some tours. Aska has conducted a solo career since 1987.
Thanks to Aska's hit solo single " (Hajimari wa Itsumo Ame)" in 1991 and several powerful tieups with TV programs, their popularity peaked during the first half of the 1990s. In those days, they released five million-selling hits: "
Say Yes" and "if", "YAH YAH YAH/ (
YAH YAH YAH/Yume no Bannin)", "HEART/NATURAL/On Your Mark", " (Meguriai)". "Say Yes" and "YAH YAH YAH" each sold over two million copies. "Say Yes", released in 1991, is the sixth best-selling single in Japanese
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...
charts history. "Say Yes" was the opening theme song for '' (101st Proposal)'', a 1991 TV drama. Their album ''Tree'' has been certified by the
RIAJ
The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969.
The RIAJ's activities include p ...
for sales of 3 million copies.
Their two subsequent albums, ''Guys'' (1992) and ''Red Hill'' (1993), were certified for a million each.
Chage and Aska released a song, "Something There", for the
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...
of ''
Street Fighter
, commonly abbreviated as ''SF'' or スト (''Suto''), is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Capcom. The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by six ...
'' in 1994. That same year the duo approached
Studio Ghibli
is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Koganei, Tokyo."Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment". ''Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment''. Retrieved 2020-12-14. It is best known for its animated feature films, and ha ...
for the creation of an animated promotional music video for one of their songs, ''
On Your Mark
is an animated music video created by Studio Ghibli for the song " On Your Mark" by the Japanese rock duo Chage & Aska. The song was released in 1994 as part of the single "Heart". In 1995, Hayao Miyazaki wrote and directed the short film for t ...
''. The collaboration resulted in the creation of the short film ''
On Your Mark
is an animated music video created by Studio Ghibli for the song " On Your Mark" by the Japanese rock duo Chage & Aska. The song was released in 1994 as part of the single "Heart". In 1995, Hayao Miyazaki wrote and directed the short film for t ...
'', which has been used by the duo and had a theatrical release, with the film ''
Whisper of the Heart
is a 1995 Japanese Anime, animated romantic drama film directed by Yoshifumi Kondō and written by Hayao Miyazaki based on the #Background, 1989 manga of the same name by Aoi Hiiragi. It was animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten, Nippon T ...
'', in 1995.
They have attempted to spread their market worldwide in 1990s, especially to the United Kingdom.
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...
released a compilation tribute album (''One Voice the Songs of Chage & Aska'') by Western artists (
Maxi Priest
Max Alfred "Maxi" Elliott (born 10 June 1961), known by his stage name Maxi Priest, is a British reggae vocalist of Jamaican descent. He is best known for singing reggae music with an R&B influence, otherwise known as reggae fusion. He was one ...
featuring
Shaggy
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People
*Shaggy (musician) (born 1968), Jamaican American reggae rapper and singer
* Shaggy 2 Dope, half of the hip hop, horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse
* Shaggy Flores (born 1973), Nuyorican poet, writer and African diaspor ...
,
Lisa Stansfield
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,
Chaka Khan
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,
Michael Hutchence
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of
INXS
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,
Alejandro Sanz
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,
Cathy Dennis
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,
Apache Indian
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,
Boy George
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,
Richard Marx
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,
Londonbeat
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,
Marianne Faithfull
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, and
Wendy Matthews
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). They made live appearances in
MTV
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concerts in 1996.
They decided to separate and go solo in 1996. In 1997, Aska's first solo concert at Shanghai concluded with Chage appearing on stage. When the duo became active again in 1999, they sometimes performed together but also continued with their solo careers.
They released two singles "Man and Woman" and "Here & There" on January 10, 2007. "Man and Woman" and "Here & There" were ranked at number two and number three respectively on the Oricon weekly single charts.
Chage and Aska officially announced the band's "indefinite suspension" on January 30, 2009 to concentrate on their solo work.
In 2013, Chage and Aska decided to revive their activities, after a four-year break.
In 2014, Aska and his girlfriend were caught with drugs and were arrested. News of his arrest became controversial around Japan. He was convicted and given a 3-year suspended sentence.
In 2019, Aska has announced withdrawal from the duo.
Discography
Studio albums
*''Kazemai'' (1980)
*''Neppū''(1981)
*''Tasogare no Kishi'' (1982)
* ''Chage and Asuka: 21 Seiki'' (1983)
* ''Inside'' (1984)
* ''Z=One'' (1985)
* ''Turning Point'' (1986)
* ''Mix Blood'' (1986)
* ''Mr.Asia'' (1987)
* ''Rhapsody'' (1988)
* ''Energy'' (1988)
* ''Pride'' (1989)
* ''See Ya'' (1990)
* ''Tree'' (1991)
* ''Guys'' (1992)
* ''Red Hill'' (1993)
* ''Code Name 1 Brother Sun'' (1995)
* ''Code Name 2 Sister Moon'' (1996)
* ''No Doubt'' (1999)
* ''Not at All'' (2001)
* ''Double'' (2007)
Compilation albums
* ''Standing Ovation'' (1985)
* ''Super Best'' (1987)
* ''The Story of Ballad'' (1990)
* ''Super Best II'' (1992)
* ''Yin & Yang'' (1994)
* ''Chage & Aska Very Best Roll Over 20th'' (1999)
* ''The Story of Ballad II'' (2004)
* ''Nothing But C&A'' (2009)
See also
*
List of best-selling music artists in Japan
The top music artists in Japan include Japanese artists with claims of 15 million or more record sales or with over 2 million subscribers. Japan is the largest physical music market in the world and the second largest overall behind the United ...
*
World Music Awards
The World Music Awards is an international award show founded in 1989 under the patronage of Albert II, Prince of Monaco and co-founder/executive producer John Martinotti. The event is based in Monte Carlo. Awards are presented to the world's ...
*
MTV Unplugged
''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV showcasing musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999 and less frequently from 2000 to 2009, when it was usually billed as ''MTV Un ...
References
External links
CHAGE and ASKA Official Website
CHAGE and ASKA - UNIVERSAL MUSIC JAPAN
CHAGE and ASKA - yamaha music communications
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{{Authority control
Japanese musical duos
Japanese pop music groups
Universal Music Japan artists
Musical groups established in 1979
Musical groups from Fukuoka Prefecture
1979 establishments in Japan
Japanese boy bands