Sadistic Mika Band (ă”ăăŁăčăăŁăăŻă»ăă«ă»ăăłă) â Black Ship (é»èč) (1974, Japan)
Our next spotlight is on number 84 on The List, submitted by avi_miller.
Black Ship (é»èč, or Kurofune) is Sadistic Mika Bandâs second LP, their line-up at the time consisting of married couple Mika (vocals) and Kazuhiko KatĆ (guitar and vocals) with Yukihiro Takahashi (drums), Masayoshi Takanaka (lead guitar), Ray Ohara (bass), and Yu Imai (keyboard). The album was produced by Chris Thomas, who at this point had already worked with the Beatles, Roxy Music, Pink Floyd, and Badfinger.
I feel like the cover art plus the fact that this bandâs name is a parody of âPlastic Ono Bandâ â with âsadisticâ a reference to how Mika used knives in the kitchen â tells you exactly what Black Ship is going to sound like. Itâs quirky, itâs breezy, itâs delightful. And Iâm not certain if Black Ship was intended as a statement or concept album, but the title at least seems symbolic, referring to the Perry Expedition or âArrival of the Black Shipsâ in the 1850s that essentially forced Japan to open up to trade with the West and resulted in âJaponismeâ or the influence of Japanese art/design on Western art. While Black Ship sold poorly when it was first released, it has since been regarded as an influential album in Japanese rock history. With the release of the bandâs next album, Hot! Menu (1975), Sadistic Mika Band toured with Roxy Music, becoming the first Japanese rock band to tour the UK.
Upon release of Hot! Menu (another Thomas-produced album), the band broke up, essentially due to the end of the KatĆsâ marriage. The band members would all continue to go on making music together, solo, or in other bands, and in various genres â including the jazz-rock/fusion focused The Sadistics, Kazuhikoâs solo ska and experimental work, and, of course, Takahashiâs synth-pop trio with Haruomi Hosono and Ryuichi Sakamoto, Yellow Magic Orchestra. In other words: rabbit hole time.
Happy listening.
#1970s #artRock #funkRock #glamRock #Japan #KazuhikoKatĆ #MasayoshiTakanaka #MikaKatĆ #progRock #psychedelicRock #SadisticMikaBand #YukihiroTakahashi