ZOO was a

J-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 formed in 1989. They debuted with the single "Careless Dance" on 5 May 1990. They had one major hit with the song "Choo Choo TRAIN," released on 7 November 1991. JR East Railway used the song "YA-YA-YA" in their Ski-Ski campaign for the 1992-1993 ski season. In 1993 British dance music duo Band of Gypsies and singer

Miriam Stockley Miriam Arlene Stockley (born 15 April 1962) is a British singer. She was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and her work is influenced by the African music of her home country. Her distinctive ''vocal warm up#Vocalise, vocalise'' style gained in ...

released an album of cover versions of ZOO songs called ''Song of ZOO Meets House Style''. After disbanding in 1995, a former member,

Hiroyuki Igarashi is a Japanese dancer and producer. He is the leader of Exile and the creative leader of LDH World. Igarashi grew up in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. His wife is actress Aya Ueto. Igarashi retired from performing with Exile in 2013, and has co ...

, made the band Luv Deluxe debut in 1996, but it was soon disbanded in 1997. In 1999, he formed the band

J Soul Brothers , formerly simply J Soul Brothers and stylized as Sandaime J Soul Brothers from Exile Tribe, are a J-pop vocal and dance group formed by Exile ex-leader and producer Hiroyuki Igarashi in Japan in 1991. Sandaime J Soul Brothers are managed by Hiro ...

, which was renamed

Exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

in 2001, which in turn re-made the song "Choo Choo Train" in 2003 and quickly became one of their biggest hits.

Members

Final line-up

* TACO (Senteru Nojima): leader of ZOO, dancer * SATSUKI (Satsuki Goki): lead singer * SAE (Saeko Ebisawa): dancer * HIRO (

): dancer, leader of

EXILE Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

* CAP (Toshihiro Sakai): * LUKE (Kenji Saitou): dancer * MARK (Junhisa Okayama): dancer, now a member of ''Runningman Tokyo''. * NAOYA (Naoya Setani)

Former members

* HISAMI (Hisami Takemura): instructor, now a member of ''Runningman Tokyo''. * MAMI (Mami Murao) * YU-KI (Yuuki Kitamura): singer, now a member of '' TRF''.

Discography

Singles

* Careless Dance (5 May 1990) * GIVEN (5 February 1991) * NATIVE (3 July 1991) * Choo Choo TRAIN (7 November 1991) * Gorgeous (23 April 1992) * YA-YA-YA (21 October 1992) * SHY-SHY-SHINE (18 June 1993) * Ding Dong Express (21 October 1993) * On Time (21 April 1994) * Angelic Dream (7 November 1994) * Adam (1 March 1995)

Albums

* NATIVE (21 July 1991) * Present Pleasure (15 December 1991) * Gorgeous (13 May 1992) * JUNGLE (16 December 1992) * ZOO FOR SALE (21 May 1993) * Can I Dance? (19 November 1993) * PALAST (7 December 1994) * ZOO LAST DANCE (16 December 1995) * ZOO THE FINAL ~LAST DANCE LIVE~ (21 March 1996)

LUV DELUXE Albums

LUV DELUXE was a side-band formed in 1995 by CAP, SAE and HIRO. They split up in June 1997. * どうなってんだ！ (''Dou natten da!'' – ''What it has become!'') (22 July 1996) * トパーズの涙 (''Topazu no Namida'' – ''Tears of Topaz'') (10 October 1996) * LUV DELUXE (22 January 1997)

Video Works

* ZOO ~Careless Dance~ (21 July 1990) * ZOO II ~GIVEN~ (21 March 1991) * ZOO+ZOO II (

Laserdisc The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as DiscoVision, MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978. Its diam ...

) (21 March 1991) * ZOO III ~NATIVE~ (21 August 1991) * ZOO IV ~Choo Choo TRAIN~ (15 December 1991) * ZOO Night 1991 LIVE (21 March 1992) From their 25 December 1991 concert. * ZOO V ~Gorgeous~ (17 July 1992) * ZOO VI ~YA-YA-YA~ (21 January 1993) * ZOO JAPAN TOUR '92 ~YA-YA-YA~ IN

BUDOKAN The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. While its primary purpose is to host martial arts ...

(21 April 1993) * ZOO VII ~Ding Dong Express~ (1 December 1993) * ZOO JAPAN TOUR 1993 ~CAN I DANCE~ IN BUDOKAN (18 March 1994) * ZOO THE BEST (21 July 1994) * ZOO VIII ~Angelic Dream~ (16 December 1994) * ZOO LAST DANCE (16 December 1995) * ZOO THE FINAL ~LAST DANCE LIVE~ (21 March 1996)

Compilations

* Dance Paradise Hyper Euro ZOO (22 November 2000) * ZOO REMIX 2000 (20 December 2000) * PURE BEST (27 September 2001) * ZOO GOLDEN BEST: Special Works (19 March 2003) {{Authority control J-pop Japanese pop music groups Musical groups established in 1989