Thee Michelle Gun Elephant (often abbreviated to TMGE) was a Japanese

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

band formed in 1991.

History

The band was formed in 1991,Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 1025-6 while Chiba, Ueno, and Kuhara were students at

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

Meiji Gakuin University is a Christian university in Tokyo and Yokohama that was established in 1863. The Reverend Dr. James Curtis Hepburn was one of its founders and served as the first president. The novelist and poet Shimazaki Toson graduated from this coll ...

. They later drew influence from

The Roosters are a Japanese rock band formed in Fukuoka Prefecture in 1979. Their music has mixed rock and roll, punk rock, British blues, ska, and new wave. Originally active from 1979 to 1988, they performed at the 2004 Fuji Rock Festival before restarti ...

. Their unusual name originated when a friend mispronounced the title of an early

jam session A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without ext ...

recording; featuring cover songs of

Thee Headcoats Thee Headcoats was a band formed in Chatham, Kent, England in 1989, that was well known for its garage rock sound, explicitly sticking to this style on almost all of their albums. The band's signature sound as well as their prolific writing ha ...

(one of the band's main influences) and from The Damned's album ''

Machine Gun Etiquette ''Machine Gun Etiquette'' is the third studio album by English punk rock band the Damned, released on 2 November 1979 by Chiswick Records. Background The album was the group's first since reforming with Dave Vanian on vocals, Captain Sensib ...

''. Some years later Futoshi Abe joined the band. After an independently released EP in 1995, they signed to Nippon Columbia's Triad label, releasing the album ''Cult Grass Stars'' in 1996, followed later that year by ''High Time'', the band enjoying chart success in their home country. ''Chicken Zombies'' (1997) gave them a top five hit. The band's 1998 album ''Gear Blues'' was the first to be released in the US (in 2000). A lot of their songs were also used in '' Blue Spring'', a Japanese movie made in 2002. The band announced that they would break up on October 11, 2003, after their ''Last Heaven'' tour of Japan. On July 22, 2009, the guitarist Futoshi Abe died of an acute

hematoma A hematoma, also spelled haematoma, or blood suffusion is a localized bleeding outside of blood vessels, due to either disease or trauma including injury or surgery and may involve blood continuing to seep from broken capillaries. A hematoma is ...

Song titles and lyrics

The majority of the band's songs have English titles, which often appear to be a random selection of words cobbled together - 'Pinhead Cranberry Dance', for example. The lyrics are almost entirely Japanese, with the odd English phrase or word thrown in.

Side projects

All four members have had other musical projects or played with other bands both while in TMGE and after its break-up. Some of these are as follows: Yusuke Chiba *

ROSSO Rosso is the major city of south-western Mauritania and capital of Trarza region. It is situated on the Senegal River at the head of the river zone allowing year-round navigation. The town is 204 km south of the capital Nouakchott. The A ...

(Vocals, Guitar and Songwriting on all releases) * The Birthday (Vocals, Guitars and Songwriting on all releases) * The Midwest Vikings (Vocals, Guitars and Songwriting under the alias 'LACOSTE') *

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra , commonly abbreviated by fans as Skapara or TSPO, is a Japanese ska and jazz band formed in 1988 by the percussionist Asa-Chang, and initially composed of over 10 veterans of Tokyo's underground scene. At the time, the band's sound was unlike t ...

(Vocals on one song on the album 'Stompin' On Down Beat Alley') * Raven * Bugy Craxone * Midnight Bankrobbers Kazuyuki Kuhara *

(Drums on some live appearances) * The Birthday (Drums on all releases) * The Midwest Vikings (Drums and Pianica under the alias 'HANG TEN') *

Yoko Utsumi Yoko Utsumi is a Japanese musical artist. Her solo music is a blend of punk, rock and ska influences, with some blues and jazz thrown in. During her long career, she has also played Japanese traditional music. Utsumi has been a member of a few ...

'
YOKOLOCO BAND
(Drums on later releases)
Shigeki Hamabe
(Drums on first two albums)
M.J.Q
(drums on all releases) Koji Ueno
Radio Caroline
(Bass on all releases) *

The Hiatus The Hiatus is a Japanese rock supergroup formed by Takeshi Hosomi, lead vocalist of Ellegarden. Members * – vocals, guitar ( Ellegarden, MONOEYES) * Masasucks – guitar (Fullscratch) * – bass (Radio Caroline, ex- Thee Michelle Gun Elep ...

(Bass on all releases) Futoshi Abe (died 2009) * KOOLOGI (Guitar on first album) * Barebones * Strawberry Jean (Guitar - This was Futoshi Abe's pre-TMGE band)

Discography

Albums

* '' Maximum! Maximum!! Maximum!!!'' (1993) Self-released * '' Cult Grass Stars'' (1996) Triad * '' High Time'' (1996) Triad * '' Chicken Zombies'' (1997) Triad * '' Gear Blues'' (1998) Triad * ''

Casanova Snake ''Casanova Snake'' is an album by Thee Michelle Gun Elephant, released in 2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Mi ...

'' (2000) Triad * ''

Rodeo Tandem Beat Specter ''Rodeo Tandem Beat Specter'' is an album by Thee Michelle Gun Elephant, released in 2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining ...

'' (2001) Triad * ''Sabrina Heaven'' (2003) Island * '' Sabrina No Heaven'' (2003) Island

Live albums

* ''Casanova Said "Live or Die"'' (2000) Triad * ''Last Heaven's Bootleg'' (2003) Island

Singles

* ''Sekai no Owari'' (1996) Triad * ''Candy House'' (1996) Triad * ''Lily'' (1996) Triad * ''Culture'' (1997) Triad * ''Get Up Lucy'' (1997) Triad * ''The Birdmen'' (1997) Triad * ''G.W.D'' (1998) Triad * ''Out Blues'' (1998) Triad * ''Smokin' Billy'' (1998) Triad * ''GT400'' (2000) Triad * ''Baby Stardust'' (2000) Triad * ''Abakareta-Sekai'' (2001) Triad * ''Taiyou wo Tsukande Shimatta'' (2002) Island * ''Girl Friend'' (2003) Trippin' Elephant * ''Electric Circus'' (2003) Island

B-sides compilations

* ''Rumble'' (1999) Triad

Best of compilations

* ''TMGE 106'' (2000) Triad * ''

Collection Collection or Collections may refer to: * Cash collection, the function of an accounts receivable department * Collection (church), money donated by the congregation during a church service * Collection agency, agency to collect cash * Collection ...

'' (2001) Alive Records (US release) * ''Grateful Triad Years'' (2002) Triad * ''Thee Greatest Hits'' (2009) Columbia

Other releases

* ''Wonder Style'' (1995) Trippin' Elephant * ''Wonder Style'' (reissue) (1997) Triad * ''Vibe On!'' (1998) Trippin' Elephant * ''Kwacker'' (with Mick Green) (2001) Trippin' Elephant

DVDs

TMGE have released a number of live and PV DVDs. A box set of some of these were due to be released by

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

in January 2010, consisting of 10 discs under the title of 'THEE LIVE'.

References

External links

* AllMusic.com: Biography
Official Site
* *
ミッシェル・ガン・エレファント
- 日本コロムビア内の公式ページ
THEE MICHELLE GUN ELEPHANT
- ユニバーサルミュージック内の公式ページ {{DEFAULTSORT:Thee Michelle Gun Elephant Japanese punk rock groups Japanese garage rock groups Universal Music Japan artists Nippon Columbia artists Alive Naturalsound Records artists Musical groups established in 1991 Musical groups disestablished in 2003 1991 establishments in Japan 2003 disestablishments in Japan