By the time Keigo Oyamada became a worldwide phenomenon as
Cornelius, he had already conquered Shibuya and the rest of Japan as half of pop duo Flipper's Guitar. Along with bandmate
Kenji Ozawa (nephew of composer Seiji Ozawa), Oyamada hacked through the de facto rules for pumping out pop music, creating sweet confections referencing Brian Wilson, bossa nova, British guitar pop, Burt Bacharach, psychedelic music, and anything that was continental and suave. The five member band, founded in 1988 while its two leaders were still in high school, was originally called Lollypop Sonic, and pledged allegiance to British neo-acoustic bands like The Pastels (although the cut "Goodbye, our Pastels Badges" from Flipper's first album would preface a change in their sound). The band's name changed to Flipper's Guitar around the time of the release of their first album on Polydor,
Three Cheers for Our Side, in 1989. Although the album was a commercial flop, the band was creating a minor buzz, and had songs featured in a movie and television drama. Shortly after the release of their first album, the band had been whittled down to a duo of Oyamada and Ozawa, and a powerful new songwriting and marketing force was emerging. Polydor released
Camera Talk in 1990, featuring the pared-down lineup and all Japanese lyrics. The album would go on to be their biggest seller, featuring lush arrangements and a further sharpened pop sensibility, with nods to bossa, jazz, house, and Bri...
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By the time Keigo Oyamada became a worldwide phenomenon as
Cornelius, he had already conquered Shibuya and the rest of Japan as half of pop duo Flipper's Guitar. Along with bandmate
Kenji Ozawa (nephew of composer Seiji Ozawa), Oyamada hacked through the de facto rules for pumping out pop music, creating sweet confections referencing Brian Wilson, bossa nova, British guitar pop, Burt Bacharach, psychedelic music, and anything that was continental and suave. The five member band, founded in 1988 while its two leaders were still in high school, was originally called Lollypop Sonic, and pledged allegiance to British neo-acoustic bands like The Pastels (although the cut "Goodbye, our Pastels Badges" from Flipper's first album would preface a change in their sound). The band's name changed to Flipper's Guitar around the time of the release of their first album on Polydor,
Three Cheers for Our Side, in 1989. Although the album was a commercial flop, the band was creating a minor buzz, and had songs featured in a movie and television drama. Shortly after the release of their first album, the band had been whittled down to a duo of Oyamada and Ozawa, and a powerful new songwriting and marketing force was emerging. Polydor released
Camera Talk in 1990, featuring the pared-down lineup and all Japanese lyrics. The album would go on to be their biggest seller, featuring lush arrangements and a further sharpened pop sensibility, with nods to bossa, jazz, house, and British guitar rock. Flipper's kept up the pace after the release of
Camera Talk, dropping a series of successful singles, a magazine column in
Takarajima, a radio show called Martians Go Home, and plenty of cute photo shoots. With news of their imminent breakup already circulating, the band dropped
Dr. Head's World Tower in 1991. Referencing the Monkees disastrous film excursion into psychedelia,
Head, the record was a tripped-out free-for-all that showed Oyamada and Ozawa experimenting even more daringly and successfully, and hinted at what was to come for Oyamada as
Cornelius. Like many bands that turn out to be influential or somehow pivotal in music history (think Velvet Underground, Ramones), Flipper's Guitar has grown in stature in the years since its breakup, and while the band never achieved the long-running commercial success of some of its counterparts, it was instrumental in opening Japan up to a wide and eclectic range of music and fashion, which has for better or worse become part of the mainstream.
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