Queen of Japan is a German music trio from Munich, Germany, known for its

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

sound and cover versions of

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

from the 1970s and 1980s.

Career

Queen of Japan's 1999 debut EP ''Mercury Rising'' (a reference to

Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in the ...

) features new wave-sounding versions of Queen songs and is probably the basis for the group's name. The trio's versions of "

I Love Rock 'n' Roll "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" is a rock song written by Alan Merrill and Jake Hooker and first recorded by the Arrows, a British rock band, in 1975. A 1981 cover version by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, released as the first single from her album of ...

" and "

Da Ya Think I'm Sexy "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?", also written "Da' Ya' Think I'm Sexy", is a song by British singer Rod Stewart from his ninth studio album, ''Blondes Have More Fun'' (1978). It was written by Stewart, Carmine Appice and Duane Hitchings, though it inc ...

" (originally hits for Joan Jett and

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

, respectively) appear on several different compilation CDs. Their version of " I Was Made for Loving You" (a hit for KISS) was featured on the award-winning short movie ''Icicle melt'' starring Greta Scacchi. Some of their cover songs, such as " Mother" (written and originally recorded by John Lennon) and "Wanted Man" (written by Bob Dylan for

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

) infuse an electronic sound into songs which previously had a different style. They have also covered songs by Soft Cell, The Who, Olivia Newton-John,

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...

, Thin Lizzy, Klaus Nomi and

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...

. Forced Exposure CD reviews

Remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

es of Queen of Japan's work have appeared on a CD by

DJ Keoki George Lopez (born October 23, 1966), known by his stage name DJ Keoki or Keoki Franconi, is a Salvadoran-American electronic musician, among other genres, DJ. Born in El Salvador and raised in Hawaii, Keoki began advertising himself as "superst ...

. Their music has also been featured at Fashion Week and appears on two CDs of music thereof. One reviewer writes:

Queen of Japan ..manage to inject their brand of sleazy sexuality into this revivalist template. I can’t say this is original stuff, but in all its worrying energy and zany spunk, it’s actually quite a lot of fun. At times it even reminds me of Blondie (which is a good thing!) if their over-reliance on cheesy retro sounds was curbed slightly, they might even stumble across a decent track every once in a while.

A review for the CD ''Foreign Politics'' describes:

You'd think that after the success of the sex-citing cover CD ''Head-Rush'', (an album of full of electric-socket boogie-nights versions, which could be mistakingly 'sic''">sic.html" ;"title="'sic">'sic''described as electroclash) ..the glitter-spangled threesome ..would carry on playing the high-voltage karaoke-sex-machine for a generation who grew up between ''Saturday Night Fever'' & ''Flashdance'', ''Repo Man (film), Repo Man'' & ''Alien (film), Alien'' ..But Queen of Japan are not just your run-of-the-mill cheeky anarchistic electro-karaoke dandies ..but are insteadA tour de force in discology."

Identity

As is often the case with artists on the electronic music scene, the identity of Queen of Japan is more complex than casual inquiry reveals. Neither their official website nor their page on My Space explains it. It is, however, an "open secret" and is discussed in interviews and on other websites. Credited group members are Koneko ( vocals), Jo Ashito (vocals, guitar) and Jason Arigato ( bass guitar). Their website features the following description "translated from the japanese by arakiha miho":

The band naming their persons queen of Japan was not always in the threesome they hold to their beating hearts today .After many tours of hard sexual energy and costume change the queen of Japan became known well across country and town never giving in to a life of modest no glamour ..Schools will replace sexual theory lessons with headrush album in order to save the money of tax pay. Queen of Japan influence politics and reforming. Everybody loves everybody and fun and feeling.

Despite the name of the band and the Japanese-sounding names (actually

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

s) of its members, the group has no direct connections to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and no member of the trio is of Japanese ethnicity.

Catriona Shaw Miss le bomb is the pseudonym of artist and musician Catriona Shaw (born in Edinburgh, Scotland). After finishing her studies at Edinburgh College of Art in 1997 she moved to Munich, Germany to continue her studies at the Munich Academy of Fine ...

(a.k.a. Koneko,

Miss le Bomb Miss le bomb is the pseudonym of artist and musician Catriona Shaw (born in Edinburgh, Scotland). After finishing her studies at Edinburgh College of Art in 1997 she moved to Munich, Germany to continue her studies at the Munich Academy of Fine ...

), a Scot and the youngest member of the band, is the lead singer and was hailed as a "new exceptional singer". The first Queen of Japan CD "Mercury Rising" only features Platzgumer and Shaw as a duo. Her vocal talents are also featured on the CD ''Miss Me'' credited as "HP:CS" (Hans Platzgumer:Catriona Shaw) as well as with

Electronicat Electronicat is the alter ego of French musician and performer Fred Bigot, whose work is characterized by its constant switch between experimental noise and pop music. His early collaborations include work with Kasper T. Toeplitz on the project ...

. Electronicat, ''21st Century Toy'' Dancetracks Digital Hans Platzgumer (a.k.a. Jo Ashito, Separator), is an Austrian-born musician and music producer and lead guitarist/backing singer. He is co-founder (with Andi Pümpel) of the

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

-nominated New York City band

HP Zinker HP may refer to: Businesses and organisations * HP Inc., an American technology company ** Hewlett-Packard, the predecessor to HP Inc. * HP Foods ** HP Sauce, formerly made by HP Foods * Handley Page, an aircraft company * Hindustan Petroleum ...

in the late 1980s and is member the punk band ''

Die Goldenen Zitronen Die Goldenen Zitronen ("The Golden Lemons") are a German punk rock band from Hamburg, formed in 1984. They are considered a forerunner to the "Hamburger Schule" and are noted for their anti-establishment stance. Formed by Schorsch Kamerun (vo ...

'' (founded 1986 in Hamburg) since the late 90s. More recently he has collaborated with other artists and released music under such codenames as Convertible, Aura Anthropica, Cube & Sphere, Fingerfood, and Shinto. Forced Exposure, ''Miss Me'' Sonomu: Queen of Japan Albert Pöschl (a.k.a. Jason Arigato), Queen of Japan's bass player and co-producer, is from Bavaria and has a diverse portfolio as a musician and music producer. He has worked as a sound technician for various bands including

Chicks on Speed Chicks on Speed is a feminist music and fine art ensemble, formed in Munich in 1997, after members Australian Alex Murray-Leslie and American Melissa Logan met at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. Though Chicks on Speed reached cult status th ...

and ''Die Goldenen Zitronen'', which is presumably where he and Platzgumer made their acquaintance. He joined Queen of Japan in 1999, one year after they had formed.

Discography

Queen of Japan's music is mostly available via European

independent record labels An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

. Some of their work was originally released on vinyl records (facilitating their use in dance mixes through traditional, non-

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Technology and computing Hardware *Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals **Digital camera, which captures and stores digital i ...

DJing methods) but were later released as compact disks. This discography is compiled from information on Queen of Japan's website and, like the information there, does not differentiate between original release dates and dates of re-issue. * ''Mercury Rising'' (1999) compact disk, label: Angelika Koehlermann * ''I Was Made for Loving You'' (2000) 12" vinyl record, label: Hausmusik * ''Physical'' (2001) 12" vinyl record, label: Echokammer * ''Cool Cat/Total Eclipse'' (2001) 10" vinyl record, label: Fortina * ''Nightlife in Tokyo'' (2001) LP vinyl record, label: Erkrankung Durch Musique * ''Nightlife in Tokyo'' (2001) compact disk, label: Angelika Koehlermann. Later re-released as ''Tokyo Rising'' in 2006 with added material. * ''Headrush'' (2002) LP vinyl record, label: Erkrankung Durch Musique * ''Headrush'' (2002) compact disk, label: Echokammer. Released in Japan by Sausage Records. * ''Kings, Queens, Wasps & Lust'' (2003) LP vinyl record, label: QOJ * ''Foreign Politics'' (2004) LP vinyl record, label: Erkrankung Durch Musique * ''Foreign Politics'' (2004) compact disk, label: Echokammer * ''Tokyo Risen'' (2006) compact disk, label: Echokammer In addition, many Queen of Japan songs have appeared on compilations. For example, "Mother" appeared only on a Mother's Day compilation before its inclusion in ''Tokyo Rising'' and "Wanted Man" is among those songs on the tribute album ''Boy Named Sue: Johnny Cash Revisited''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Queen Of Japan German new wave musical groups Remixers German synthpop groups German disco groups German musical trios