Mi-Ke were an award-winning

J-Pop J-pop (often stylized in all caps; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in trad ...

idol group in the early

1990s File:1990s decade montage.png, From top left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope orbits the Earth after it was launched in 1990; American jets fly over burning oil fields in the 1991 Gulf War; the Oslo Accords on 13 September 1993; the World ...

. Formed as the chorus group for B.B.Queens under

Being Inc. (aka B ZONE Group), formerly known as (aka Being Giza Group), is a Japanese private entertainment conglomerate and recording label based in Tokyo's Roppongi district, founded on November 1, 1978, by music producer Daiko Nagato. The company a ...

recording agency, they had several singles which made the music charts, and released a number of albums. Their music and onstage image were reminiscent of the 1960s. They also did a number of cover versions of older songs (some in English, some as Japanese translations) from the

Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by thei ...

and from

British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when Rock music, rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of Culture of the United Kingdom, British culture became popular in the United States with sign ...

groups. The name ''Mi-Ke'' is a Japanese phrase meaning "three colors," commonly used for multicolored cats. Costumes used in performances usually featured different colors or styles.

Members

Keiko Utoku is a Japanese singer and songwriter under UK Sweet label. Biography Keiko made her debut with a chorus part in the band B.B.Queens then joined with J-pop female band Mi-Ke from 1991 to 1993, before starting a solo career. As a child, Utoku l ...

*Mami Watanabe *Haruka Murakami

Biography

In the 1990s, the group debuted as back-up chorus singers in the B.B.Queens band. On 14 February 1991, they debuted with the single ''Omoide no Kujuukurihama''. The group later went onto to win the Rookie of the Year award at various award ceremonies, including the Golden Discs Award and Nihon Record Taishou. As the first

artists, they made their first appearance on the NHK's end of the year program ''Kouhaku Uta Gassen''. From 1992 April until 1993 March, they were regular members of the NHK program '' NHK Hit Stage'' with total 31 broadcasts. In August 1993 Keiko debuted as a soloist with single ''Anata no Yume no Naka Sotto Shinobikomitai''. After the release of album ''Eien no Liverpool Sound ~ Please Please Me, Love'', the group disappeared from the music scene, though Keiko continued to develop her solo career. There was never any announcement of the group disbanding or any kind of hiatus.

Post Disbandment

In 2011, during the 20th anniversary of their original debut, the third compilation album ''Mi-Ke Golden Hits: 20th Anniversary'' included two previously unreleased songs. In 2012, Keiko appeared with B.B.Queens during the live special ''Being Legends'', where, along with solo songs, she performed Mi-ke's biggest hits as well. Keiko has been active as a solo singer as of late 2021. Haruka currently runs her blog about plants and Mami works as an independent singer under the alias, JanMei.

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

Awards

Japan Gold Disc Award The is an award presented by the Record music Industry Association of Japan in the field of music. The Japan Gold Disc Awards have multiple Grand Prix categories, including: Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year (download and ...

1992: Grand Prix New Artist, Best 5 New Artist *

33rd Japan Record Awards took place at the Nippon Budokan in Chiyoda, Tokyo, December 31, 1991, starting at 7:00PM JST. The primary ceremonies were broadcast in Japan by TBS/JNN/JRN. Award winners Pops and Rock Japan Record Award * KAN for "Ai wa Katsu" Best Vocalist ...

: Best New Artist Award, New Artist Award (Nomination for the Best New Artist Award) *24th

Japan Cable Awards are an annual set of music awards, sponsored by the . The awards were presented annually since 1968 and are based on requests from the audience received by cable broadcasters. The awards ended in 2017; Kiyoshi Hikawa, who is a Japanese enka si ...

: Best Newcomer Award

In-media usage

*Omoide no Kujuukurihama was used as a theme song for TBS television series '' Nurse Station''. *Sukisa Sukisa Sukisa was used as an opening theme for

NTV NTV may refer to: Television * NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh * NTV (India), Telugu regional channel * NTV (Kenya) * NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia * NTV (Newport Televisio ...

program ''N!Sanma''. *Blue Light Yokosuka was used as an ending theme for NTV Television quiz program '' Quiz Sekai Show by Jo-Bai!!''. *Mu~n na Kimochi wa Osenchi was used as an ending theme for Anime television series '' Obocchama kun!''. *Shiroi Shiroi Sangoshou was used as an ending theme for

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as , and better known as , is a Japanese television station serving the Kanto region as the flagship station of the All-Nippon News Network. It is owned-and-operated by the a subsidiary of , itself controlled by ...

program ''Disney Time''. *Kanashiki Teddy Boy was used as an ending theme for NTV Television quiz program '' Quiz Sekai Show by Jo-Bai!!''. *Surfing Japan was used as a

Snow Brand Milk Products , formerly is one of the largest dairy companies in Japan. In 2000, more than 14,000 people got sick from old milk sold by Snow Brand contaminated with the ''Staphylococcus aureus'' bacteria, the worst case of food poisoning in Japan. A crim ...

commercial song of ''Tottemo Jelly''. *Asa Made Odorou was used as an insert song for TBS television series '' Tenshi no you ni Ikitemitai''. *Pink Christmas was used as an ending theme for NTV Television quiz program '' Quiz Sekai Show by Jo-Bai!!''. *Namida no Vacation was used as a theme song for NHK Program ''NHK Hit Stage''. *Please Please Me, Love was used as a theme song for

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...

television series '' Aijou Monogatari''.

Television appearances

Music Station , stylised in all caps, is a Japanese music television program. Broadcasting live weekly on TV Asahi since October 24, 1986, it currently airs from 9PM-10PM on Fridays. The program is also colloquially known as , , and . The show is currently sy ...

*Suki sa Suki sa Suki sa *Blue Light Yokosuka *Shiroi Shiroi Sangoshou *Kanashiki Teddy Boy *Surfing Japan *Asa Made Odorou *Pink Christmas (twice) *Namida no Vacation *Please, Please me Love

Kōhaku Uta Gassen , more commonly known simply as ''Kōhaku'', is an annual New Year's Eve television special produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. It is broadcast live simultaneously on television and radio, nationally and internationally by the NHK net ...

*42nd: Omoide no Kujuu Kurihama *43rd: Namida no Vacation

References

External links

Official Site
{{Authority control Japanese pop music groups Living people B Zone artists Musical groups established in 1991 Musical groups disestablished in 1993 Year of birth missing (living people)