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Half Japanese
215,339 plays
18,440 listeners
Half Japanese is a lo-fi indie rock band formed by brothers Jad Fair and David Fair in their Uniontown, Maryland bedroom around 1975 - 1977. Like The Shaggs, the Fair brothers were self-taught and thoroughly unconventional musicians; their early raw, unvarnished sound careened between naïvely amateurish-sounding canoodling and avant-garde experimentation.
Their quirky song lyrics often deal with monsters and the supernatural (especially as influenced by campy “creature feature” and scifi movies), in addition to more conventional themes, such as the visceral thrills of crushes and infatuations. They have stated that all their songs are either “love songs or monster songs.”
Fans of Half Japanese include Penn Jillette, who helped the band release some of their albums on his ad hoc 50 Skidillion Watts label, and the late Kurt Cobain, who had them open for Nirvana’s 1993 tour. Over time David Fair became less involved, ultimately quitting the band in favor of married life, and Jad brought in more outside musicians who have contributed to an increasingly coherent and organized sound.
They have worked with the Orthotonics, Moe Tucker, Teenage Fanclub, Daniel Johnston and John Zorn, among others.
The band’s history and influence was chronicled in the 1993 fan documentary Half Japanese: The Band That Would Be King by Jeff Feuerzeig.
Their quirky song lyrics often deal with monsters and the supernatural (especially as influenced by campy “creature feature” and scifi movies), in addition to more conventional themes, such as the visceral thrills of crushes and infatuations. They have stated that all their songs are either “love songs or monster songs.”
Fans of Half Japanese include Penn Jillette, who helped the band release some of their albums on his ad hoc 50 Skidillion Watts label, and the late Kurt Cobain, who had them open for Nirvana’s 1993 tour. Over time David Fair became less involved, ultimately quitting the band in favor of married life, and Jad brought in more outside musicians who have contributed to an increasingly coherent and organized sound.
They have worked with the Orthotonics, Moe Tucker, Teenage Fanclub, Daniel Johnston and John Zorn, among others.
The band’s history and influence was chronicled in the 1993 fan documentary Half Japanese: The Band That Would Be King by Jeff Feuerzeig.
Videos
Top Albums
Top Tracks
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Put Some Sugar On It
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Charmed Life
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1,000,000 Kisses
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Penny in the Fountain
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Said and Done
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Evidence
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On the One Hand
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Love at First Sight
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Red Dress
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Roman Candles
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Day and Night
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| 13 |
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Rub Every Muscle
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Double Trouble
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This Could Be The Night
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Shoutbox
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sodiumneck wrote:
the 'pataphysics group exists
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akzincke wrote:
Now that's what I call... Beautiful music! Romantic, wild and free.
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edith_lunch wrote:
my favorite band!
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TeenageCreep wrote:
one of the best lo-fi groups ever.
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Justin1983 wrote:
Don't forget Music to Strip By! =)
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sepmilosci wrote:
how can you, charmed life and sing no evil are almost orgasmic! ;)
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denyc wrote:
good Half's.one more time thank's The Half Japanese.great.
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swiftybot wrote:
how is thing with a hook not freaking #1. what te hell
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sohodapop wrote:
My favourite!
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Justin1983 wrote:
Awesome! The pic is the main one now =) (All is right with the world.)
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TeeMcCee wrote:
....but i like half japanese better
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TeeMcCee wrote:
the wipers are really good, i know the drummer
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Justin1983 wrote:
Everyone should vote for this image: http://www.last.fm/music/Half+Japanese/+images/5575681
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Joebob91 wrote:
oh yeah, that kurt. i was shocked when i heard he died last year
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the_savage wrote:
i knew that mitch, but Cobain(e)? is irrelevant here. This band can stand on its own. p.s. check out wipers or fang.
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mitchkrokodil wrote:
Kurt Cobaine
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Joebob91 wrote:
who's kurt? anyway... this band is sick
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TeeMcCee wrote:
ya kurt loved these guys he took em on tour with him to really great band
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antonio_m wrote:
cul :D
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mitchkrokodil wrote:
The earlier stuff is the best. Their songs were either about love or monsters. It's so amateur it's amazing! For those Nirvana fans out there Kurt Cobaine was wearing a 1/2 Japanese shirt when he shot himself. So if you love Kurt Cobaine listen to this band!!!!!
Listeners
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Pushkin_as
Top Listener
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yes0k
Top Listener
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moregregorysir
Top Listener
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hopeysinn
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SHED82
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noregna
Top Listener
Recent Activity
- MarcJohnHenry74, oliviadallaluna, boinky33 and 19 other people added Half Japanese to their libraries. 5 hours ago
- ramonzavala shared Half Japanese with ChiliLady. last week
- Iveldie tagged Half Japanese with iveldie, lo-fi and american underground. last week
- ramonzavala and anatenis added Half Japanese to their libraries. last week
- noregna tagged Half Japanese with ‘creo que es escencial escuchar a esta banda para comprender la revuelta underground’. last week
- AmaNoSode, axlrowe and asterisk- added Half Japanese to their libraries. last week
- kudawas tagged Half Japanese with ‘noise rock’. last week
- ramonabarbera, Goldingus, leexoc and 15 other people added Half Japanese to their libraries. last week
- sepmilosci connected Half Japanese to the group teeth like god's shoeshine. September 2008
- A deleted user connected Half Japanese to the group No Rave. September 2008
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