TRF (an abbreviation of Tetsuya Komuro Rave Factory) is a

Japanese pop J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1 ...

band. Its members are DJ Koo, Sam, Etsu, Yu-ki and Chiharu.

History

The band debuted as "trf" in the year 1993. During the period of 1994 to 1995, the band released 5 singles produced by

Tetsuya Komuro is a Japanese musician, songwriter and record producer. He is recognized as the most successful producer in Japanese music history and introduced contemporary electronic dance music to the Japanese mainstream. He was also a former owner of the ...

, each selling over a million copies under the

Avex is a Japanese entertainment conglomerate led by founder Max Matsuura and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1988, the company manages J-pop talents like Ayumi Hamasaki and internet sensation PikoTaro. It has also shifted into other busi ...

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

. In 1995, their song "Overnight Sensation: Jidai wa Anata ni Yudaneteru" received a

Japan Record Award is a major music awards show, held annually in Japan that recognizes outstanding achievements in the Japan Composer's Association. Until 2005, the show aired on New Year's Eve, but has since aired every December 30 on TBS Japan at 6:30 P.M JST a ...

. The following year, the band changed their name to an all-capital "TRF" with their single "Hey! Ladies & Gentlemen". Yu-ki has also done

voice acting Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

for a children's animation movie '' Elmer's Adventure: My Father's Dragon'', for which she sang the opening theme song as well. She has also performed the opening song to the 2006 Tokusatsu series ''

Kamen Rider Kabuto is a Japanese tokusatsu superhero television series. It is the sixteenth installment in the popular Kamen Rider Series of tokusatsu programs. It is a joint collaboration between Ishimori Productions and Toei. The series was broadcast on TV Asahi ...

'' as well as several variants to it. Chiharu has worked on the

choreography Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design ...

for J-Pop singer Shizuka Kudō, and has appeared in a

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

as herself. Sam was married to popstar and protégé of Tetsuya Komuro,

Namie Amuro Namie Amuro ( ; ja, 安室奈美恵, Amuro Namie, label=none; born September 20, 1977) is a Japanese former recording artist, producer, songwriter, dancer, model, actress and entrepreneur who was active between 1992 and 2018. A leading figure of ...

, in 1997, who was three months pregnant with his child at the time, but the couple were divorced in 2002, due to irreconcilable differences. Amuro had full custody of their son, Haruto Maruyama. The song "Lights and Any More" has been used as opening theme of the anime ''

Wangan Midnight is a Japanese racing manga series written and illustrated by Michiharu Kusunoki. It was first serialized in Shogakukan's '' Big Comic Spirits'' in 1990, but was later serialized in Kodansha's '' Weekly Young Magazine'' from 1992 to 2008. T ...

'', and their song ''Silence Whispers'' has been used as the second ending theme for the anime ''

Black Jack 21 is an episodic Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka in the 1970s, dealing with the medical adventures of the title character, doctor Black Jack. ''Black Jack'' consists of hundreds of short, self-containe ...

''. A remix of their song, ''Boy Meets Girl'', was used in 2000 as the first season ending theme of the anime, ''

UFO Baby is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mika Kawamura. The manga was serialized by Kodansha in ''Nakayoshi'' from February 1998 to March 2002, and the chapters were collected into 9 ''tankōbon'' volumes. It was adapted into ...

'', and in 2013 was covered by the group

Prizmmy was a Japanese girl group formed by Avex Pictures in 2012. The group debuted through the ''Pretty Rhythm'' anime series, where they hosted the live-action segments in each episode and later released their first song, "Everybody's Gonna Be Happ ...

as the opening theme for the series '' Pretty Rhythm: Rainbow Live''. TRF's 20th anniversary was in February 2013. They announced that they'd be releasing something new every month, starting from November 2012.

Discography

Albums

* ''trf "This is the Truth"'' (25 February 1993) * ''Hyper Techno Mix'' (21 May 1993) * ''EZ Do Dance / trf'' (21 July 1993) * ''Hyper Techno Mix II'' (21 October 1993) * ''World Groove'' (9 February 1994) * ''trf Hyper Mix III'' (27 April 1994) * ''Billionaire'' (27 July 1994) * ''Dance to Positive'' (27 March 1995) * ''Hyper Mix 4'' (21 June 1995) * ''Brand New Tomorrow'' (11 December 1995) * ''The Live'' (21 February 1996) * ''Works -The Best of TRF-'' (1 January 1998) * ''Unite'' (20 May 1998) * ''Loop # 1999'' (19 May 1999) * ''Burst Drive Mix -Album-'' (27 December 2000) * ''Lif-e-Motions'' (15 February 2006) * ''TRF 15th Anniversary Best Memories'' (7 February 2007) * ''Gravity'' (11 February 2009) * ''Watch The Music'' (25 February 2013)

Singles

* "Going 2 Dance, Open Your Mind Siraju" (25 February 1993) * "Open Your Mind" (12", U.S. release only, Radikal Records, 1993) known as 'TRF Rave Factory' * "

EZ Do Dance "EZ Do Dance" (stylized as "EZ DO DANCE") is a song by the Japanese band TRF. It was released on June 21, 1993, as the band's second single. It was TRF's breakthrough hit and is credited with helping to introduce the general Japanese public to ...

" (21 June 1993) * "Ai ga Mou Sukoshi Hoshii Yo" (21 November 1993) * "Silver and Gold dance" (21 November 1993) * "Samui Yoru Dakara..." (16 December 1993) * "Survival Dance 'No No Cry More'" (25 May 1994) * " Boy Meets Girl" (22 June 1994) * "

Crazy Gonna Crazy "Crazy Gonna Crazy" (stylized as "CRAZY GONNA CRAZY") is a song by Japanese band TRF. The song was released on January 1, 1995 as their 8th single. Background and release "Crazy Gonna Crazy" was written and produced by Tetsuya Komuro. "Crazy G ...

" (1 January 1995) * "Masquerade / Winter Grooves" (1 February 1995) * "Overnight Sensation" (8 March 1995) * "Brand New Tomorrow" (25 October 1995) * "

Happening Here A happening is a performance, event, or situation art, usually as performance art. The term was first used by Allan Kaprow during the 1950s to describe a range of art-related events. History Origins Allan Kaprow first coined the term "happen ...

/ Teens" (11 December 1995) * "Love & Peace Forever" (21 March 1996) * "Hey! Ladies & Gentlemen" (12 June 1996) * "Brave Story" (24 July 1996) * "Silent Night" (6 November 1996) * "Legend of Wind" (11 December 1996) * "Dragons' Dance" (25 June 1997) * "Unite! The Night!" (18 February 1998) * "Frame" (25 March 1998) * "Try or Cry" (29 April 1998) * "Be Free" (23 September 1998) * "Embrace / Slug and Soul" (5 November 1998) * "Joy" (3 February 1999) * "Wired" (21 April 1999) * "

He Lives in You "He Lives in You" is a song written and performed by Lebo M. and his South African Choir for '' Rhythm of the Pride Lands'', an album inspired by the film ''The Lion King''. It is performed twice in the musical adaptation of the film, and a shorter ...

" (25 August 1999) * "Burst Drive Mix" (23 March 2000) * "Burst Drive Mix -2nd Mix-" (31 May 2000) * "Burst Drive Mix -3rd Mix-" (26 July 2000) * " Da! Da! Da!" (SEB presents Boy Meets Girl with TRF) (23 August 2000) * "Burst Drive Mix -4th Mix-" (20 September 2000) * "Burst Drive mix -5th Mix-" (22 November 2000) * "Where to Begin" (18 January 2006) -

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 ...

No. 18 * "Silence Whispers" (30 August 2006) * "We Are All Bloomin" (29 November 2006) * "Innovation" (17 October 2007) * "Live Your Days" (23 April 2008) * "Memorial Snow/Closure" (21 January 2009)

Compilation appearances

* ''

Luna Sea Memorial Cover Album ''Luna Sea Memorial Cover Album -Re:birth-'' is a Luna Sea tribute album released on December 19, 2007. It collects cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or re ...

'' (19 December 2007)

DVD

* ''TRF Tour 1999'' (29 March 2000) * ''World Groove'' (29 March 2000) * ''trf Tour '94 Billionaire - Boy Meets Girls'' (29 March 2000) * ''Ultimate Films 1994-1995'' (29 March 2000) * ''trf Tour '95 Dance to Positive Overnight Sensation'' (29 March 2000) * ''Brand New Tomorrow in Tokyo Dome -Presentation for 1996-'' (29 March 2000) * ''TRF Live in Yokohama Arena'' (29 March 2000) * ''TRF Tour '98 Live in Unite!'' (29 March 2000) * ''Video Clips'' (11 December 2002) * ''Works -The Best of TRF-'' (28 January 2004) - audio DVD * ''Complete Best Live from 15th Anniversary Tour -Memories- 2007'' (23 April 2008)

Video

* ''World Groove'' (26 September 1994) * ''trf Tour '94 Billionaire - Boy Meets Girls'' (16 December 1994) * ''Ultimate Films 1994-1995'' (21 June 1995) * ''trf Tour '95 Dance to Positive Overnight Sensation'' (22 November 1995) * ''Brand New Tomorrow in Tokyo Dome -Presentation for 1996-'' (21 February 1996) * ''TRF Live in Yokohama Arena'' (30 April 1997) * ''TRF Tour '98 Live in Unite!'' (17 September 1998) * ''Rave 2001 Dancer Selection Vol. 1'' (30 June 1999) * ''TRF Tour 1999'' (15 December 1999)

References

External links

Official website of TRF at Avex's website (in Japanese)

Official website of YU-KI at Avex's website (in Japanese)

Special J!-ENT 15th Anniversary Interview and Tribute to TRF (in English)
{{Authority control Avex Trax artists Tetsuya Komuro Japanese pop music groups Japanese dance music groups Japanese techno music groups