(born October 8, 1961) is 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 ...

retired musician, best known as one of the founding members of the Japanese pop-punk band

Shonen Knife Shonen Knife is a Japanese pop-punk band formed in Osaka in 1981. Influenced by 1960s girl groups, pop bands, the Beach Boys, and early punk rock bands such as the Ramones, the band crafts stripped-down songs with simple yet unconventional l ...

Biography

Nakatani was born in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

, Japan, the only child of a homemaker mother and an accountant father. She met future bandmate

Naoko Yamano is a Japanese musician, best known as a founding member, singer/guitarist, and primary songwriter for the pop-punk band Shonen Knife. She is the only member of the band to have remained throughout its entire history. After briefly working as a ...

in college, and she spent some time working as a cartoonist's assistant. Nakatani and Yamano formed

in 1981, with Nakatani on bass, keyboards, and occasional lead vocals. She has named

the Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

Beach Boys A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...

The Jam The Jam were an English mod revival/ punk rock band formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey. They released 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 1 ...

Redd Kross Redd Kross is an American rock band from Hawthorne, California, who had their roots in 1978 in a punk rock band called the Tourists, which was started by brothers Jeff and Steve McDonald while Steve was still in middle school. With the additi ...

, and

Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. The current lineup of the band consists of Zander, Nielsen ...

as influences. In 1995, Nakatani collaborated with Gary Waleik of the band Big Dipper on a project called The Japanese Beatles. They recorded one single. She toured the world regularly with Shonen Knife during this period, except for missing some shows due to illness in 1997. She left Shonen Knife and retired from music in 1999. The band continues to perform some songs written by Nakatani live. A lyric from her song "Catnip Dream" was included in the 2002 book ''Hokkaido Popsicle'', written by Isaac Adamson.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakatani, Michie 1961 births Living people Women bass guitarists Japanese rock bass guitarists Japanese women rock singers Musicians from Osaka Shonen Knife members Pigface members