![]() Bossa Nova 2001, somewhat ironically named 2001 would be the year they disbanded, dropped in June 1993 and is on record as their highest-charting album to date. And it’s no wonder, with a catchy chorus and an overall feel-good sound interspersed with lyrics about falling in love. The 90s showed a huge turn around for Pizzicato Five, especially once they started to do theme songs for television dramas, and their 1993 single Sweet Soul Revue catapulted them into the public awareness. Pizzicato Five then switched from releasing albums to EPs, this time with Maki Nomiya at the helm vocally, and they got on to sampling music which helped jumpstart the Shibuya Kei movement. Takao Tajima bowed out and returned to his “Original Love.” The next two albums weren’t doing much for them, or anyone else for that matter, as they failed pretty hard, doing disastrously on the charts.įinally, Maki Nomiya was brought in to save their rapidly sinking ship in 1990, recruited after the success of her solo album as the lead vocalist of Portable Rock, a new wave band. Pizzicato Five then recruited Takao Tajima, the lead singer of Original Love, as a new vocalist and released their second album, Bellissima! In 1988. However, it didn’t do very well and they were advised to change things up in a major way or quit altogether. They got their big break in 1986 when they signed with what is now Sony Music Entertainment Japan and released their first album in 1987. The group originally consisted of Yasuharu Konishi, Keitarou Takanami, Ryo Kamomiya, Mamiko Sasaki, and Shigeo Miyata, but the number of members eventually dwindled down until Konishi was the only remaining founding member. Pizzicato Five originally formed in 1985 after meeting at a local music Society conference at their university. From the upbeat sounds of the sixties to the cooler sounds of jazz, it’s exactly the kind of kitschy, funky, and upbeat mix you’d expect from one of the leading groups of Shibuya-kei. Pizzicato Five might not be the most well-known groups, but it’s undoubtedly an essential part of the multi-threaded fabric of J-Pop as we know it today. Pizzicato Five is kind of a misnomer, since there were barely five members at the beginning and two at the end of their run, but they maintain the energy and fun of a five-man band.
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