....I kind of got off most of the Japanese Garage bands that were popular (Well , KNOWN TO SOME , put it that way.) mainly in the 90's. I liked The Sleez Sisters , still do , tho' I only have one single and maybe a track on a comp (If I did'nt trade it in.). Just kinda fun , catchy all - girl Punk. I still like Mescaline Drive , who were an all - girl Psych/Garage / Pop outfit. Very catchy tunes. There's live video on youboob (Touche , Kopper.) .
But , I'm a little surprised , seems no one's mentioned Group Sound , where this whole thing began in Japan. Group Sound is what they called the mid - 60's Anglo - American - influenced bands in Japan. A lot of this stuff is pretty insane , fuzztone overload sonic boom , but , some , like The Tigers , who were huge in Japan , is more Pop - oriented. Some bands swung both ways. Musically. But , I'd recommend The Spiders , Golden Cups , Carnabeats , Voltage , Beavers , Dynamites , Outkast , Playboy , Rangers , Swing West....The Spiders and Golden Cups were among the biggest , so there IS footage on You Tube, more of The Spiders , last I checked. The excellent "G.S. I Love You" series on Big Beat , curated by Alec Palao , will definitely set you in the right direction. That , and the Teen Trash From Tokyo series (3 volumes , released on colored vinyl , from Italy , they tell us. These came out Late 80'S OR EARLY 90's.) , if you can track 'em down....But , before even that , there was the Elecki movement ,fronted by Guitarist , Singer , Composer and Arranger , Yuzo Kayawa. Elecki was inspired by The Ventures and Surf music. If you like Los Straitjackets , you already like Elecki. As Group Sound took over , Kayawa got into film sountracks , including some of the popular Giant Monster -Sci Fi films. But , his work in that area was also very Psych and Garage oriented. I think he still records today. I saw video from just a few years ago , and it still sounded like the early Elecki stuff. I've only recently taken any interest in post - GS Japanese Rock , but , the first Glam band inJapan , Vodka Collins , come recommended by me , and probably several others , here. Vodka Collins was actually lead by a White guy from the East Coast , Alan Merrill , with two Japanese band members. Man's Ruin put out a CD of their recordings , very Bowie/Bolanesque with a good , hard guitar sound. Merrill moved to the UK ,and had a hit with The Arrows. That song would go on to be one of the biggest Rock singles by a female artist in the last Quarter of the 20TH Century.
"I Love Rock'n' Roll".
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