Thee Michelle Gun Elephant
OriginJapan
GenresGarage rock
Blues rock
Punk blues
Years active1991–2003
LabelsNippon Columbia
Universal Music Group
Alive Records
Past membersYusuke Chiba
Futoshi Abe
Kōji Ueno
Kazuyuki Kuhara
WebsiteRockin' Blues

Thee Michelle Gun Elephant (often abbreviated to TMGE) was a Japanese garage rock band formed in 1991.[1]

History

The band was formed in 1991,[2] while Chiba, Ueno, and Kuhara were students at Tokyo's Meiji Gakuin University. They later drew influence from The Roosters. Their unusual name originated when a friend mispronounced the title of an early jam session recording; featuring cover songs of Thee Headcoats (one of the band's main influences) and from The Damned's album Machine Gun Etiquette.[3] 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.[2] Chicken Zombies (1997) gave them a top five hit.[2] The band's 1998 album Gear Blues was the first to be released in the US (in 2000).[2] 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. Guitarist Futoshi Abe died of an acute hematoma in July 2009,[4] and vocalist Yusuke Chiba died due to complications of esophageal cancer in November 2023.[5]

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 (1968–2023)

  • ROSSO (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 (Vocals on one song on the album 'Stompin' On Down Beat Alley')
  • Raven
  • Bugy Craxone
  • Midnight Bankrobbers

Kazuyuki Kuhara (1969– )

Koji Ueno (1968– )

Futoshi Abe (1966–2009)

  • KOOLOGI (Guitar on first album)
  • Barebones
  • Strawberry Jean (Guitar - This was Futoshi Abe's pre-TMGE band)

Discography

Albums

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 (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 10 disc live DVD box set titled 'THEE LIVE' was released by Nippon Columbia in January 2010.

References

  1. ↑ "Ｔｈｅｅ ｍｉｃｈｅｌｌｅ ｇｕｎ ｅｌｅｐｈａｎｔ │ オリコン芸能人事典-ORICON STYLE". Oricon.co.jp. Retrieved 2014-07-04.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Strong, Martin C. (2003) The Great Indie Discography, Canongate, ISBN 1-84195-335-0, p. 1025-6
  3. ↑ "ROCKIN'ON JAPAN インタビュー : チバCollection". Shine1771.exblog.jp. 2009-05-01. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-04.
  4. ↑ ドコデモタワレコ. "ニュース - Tower Records Online". Bounce.com. Archived from the original on 2009-07-27. Retrieved 2014-07-04.
  5. ↑ "The Former Vocalist for Thee Michelle Gun Elephant Yusuke Chiba Died at the Age of 55". The Japan News by the Yomiuri Shimbun. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
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