"Funky Days!" (ファンキーデイズ!) is the fourth domestic single by Japanese

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

group

Lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

, released on July 30, 2003. It was their first to be released after their debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

'' Life on da Beat'', bringing in their new era of '' Brand New Era'' (2004). The single charted well on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

charts at #10 and remained on the charts for five weeks. Bonuses with the single included one of five possible

trading card A trading card (or collectible card) is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing (fictional or real) and a short description of the picture, along with other t ...

s, a

URL A uniform resource locator (URL), colloquially known as an address on the Web, is a reference to a resource that specifies its location on a computer network and a mechanism for retrieving it. A URL is a specific type of Uniform Resource Identi ...

in which fans could download a specialized

wallpaper Wallpaper is used in interior decoration to cover the interior walls of domestic and public buildings. It is usually sold in rolls and is applied onto a wall using wallpaper paste. Wallpapers can come plain as "lining paper" to help cover uneve ...

screensaver A screensaver (or screen saver) is a computer program that blanks the display screen or fills it with moving images or patterns when the computer has been idle for a designated time. The original purpose of screensavers was to prevent phosphor s ...

, and a Lead 2003 Summer Campaign postcard.

Information

"Funky Days!" was released three months after their debut

'' Life on da Beat'' on July 30, 2003. The single performed well on the

Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard Single (music), singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track down ...

s, taking #10 for the weekly ranking, and remained on the charts for five consecutive weeks. The single was released as a standard CD and came with three bonuses: one of five possible

s, a

where fans could download a Lead-themed

and

, and a Lead 2003 Summer Campaign

postcard A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. In some places, one can send a postcard f ...

. Along with the title track and its corresponding instrumentals, the

b-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

"All My Life ~Manatsu no Umi Monogata~" (ALL MY LIFE ～真夏の海物語～ / ''Midsummer Ocean Story'') was included, as was a 2003

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

of their debut song "

Manatsu no Magic is the debut single by Japanese hip-hop group Lead released on July 31, 2002, under the Pony Canyon sub-label Flight Master. The single debuted on Oricon at #18 and remained on the charts for five weeks. The success of the single and their foll ...

." The 2003 remix was done by AKIRA, who created the side-project PALM DRIVE. While the

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

was released for syndication upon the single's release, it did not become available to purchase until the release of their first video compilation, '' Lead Movies 1'', in September of that year. "Funky Days!" was written and composed by

musical composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Classical music, Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. E ...

Shinji Tamura, with lyrics written by

lyricist A lyricist is a writer who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income derives ...

Atsuyuki Enokido. The song carried both elements of

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

and

hip-hop music Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music Music genre, genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African Americans, African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide r ...

. The coupling track, "All My Life ~Manatsu no Umi Monogata~," was written and composed by Yasushi Sasamoto.

Background and composition

"Funky Days!" was written and composed by musical composer Shinji Tamura, with lyrics written by Atsuyuki Enokido. Atsuyuki has written lyrics for the comedy group No Plan, who occasionally perform music,

Mitsuo Iwata is a Japanese actor, voice actor and singer who was born in Tokorozawa, Saitama.Endo, Akira et al. "Voice Actor Spotlight". (November 2006) ''Newtype USA''. pp. 110-111. He is previously married to voice actress Rikako Aikawa. Mania.com prais ...

and Abe Natsumi. Shinji Tamura is most well-known for composing the music for

Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company founded in 1955. It operated video arcades and amusement parks globally, and produced video games, films, toys, and arcade cabinets. Namco was one of the most influential c ...

games, most notably ''

Tales of Phantasia is an action role-playing video game developed by Wolf Team and published by Namco for the Super Famicom. Originally released only in Japan in December 1995, it is the first title in the '' Tales'' series. It was later ported to a number of othe ...

'' (1999), which is part of the '' Tales of...''

role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...

series. The coupling track, "All My Life ~Manatsu no Umi Monogata~," was written and composed by Yasushi Sasamoto, who worked with Lead on their previous songs, "Manatsu no Magic", " Show me the way" and " Fly Away," and who composed much of the music from their ''Life On Da Beat'' album. Yasushi has also worked predominantly with the female vocal group

MAX Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

. Their other efforts include

Hitomi Shimatani is a Japanese pop singer. Formerly signed to the Avex Trax label for 22 years, Shimatani started her career as an Enka singer with the release of her debut single in 1999, but later decided to get into the dance/ pop style for her music. Shim ...

Aya Matsuura is a former Japanese pop singer and actress, from Himeji, Hyogo, Japan. Career 2000–2009: Hello! Project Aya auditioned in 2000 for the fourth Morning Musume & Heike Michiyo Protegee Audition and was selected along with Sheki-Dol to become ...

and

MISIA commonly known as and stylized in all caps, is a Japanese singer and songwriter. Born in Tsushima, Nagasaki, Misia moved to Fukuoka at the age of 14 to pursue a recording career. There, she continued her secondary education and briefly attend ...

Track listing

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Funky Days! 2003 singles 2003 songs Pony Canyon singles J-pop songs Lead (band) songs