Penicillin (band)

Penicillin
Background information
Origin Tokyo, Japan
Genres Alternative rock, hard rock
Years active 1992–present
Labels Pioneer LDC, East West Japan, Omega A.T. Music, Avex Trax/HiBOOM, Crown, That Records/Blowgrow
Website penicillin.jp
Members Hakuei
Chisato
O-Jiro
Past members Yuuji
Shaisuke
Gisho

Penicillin (stylized as PENICILLIN) is a Japanese visual kei alternative rock band, formed in Tokyo in 1992.

History

Formed by friends at Tokai University in Tokyo, Japan on February 14, 1992. Penicillin began with Chisato on vocals, Gisho on bass, O-Jiro on drums and both Yuuji and Shaisuke on guitar.[1] Before anything was recorded however the band's line-up changed to Hakuei on vocals, Gisho on bass, O-Jiro on drums and both Shaisuke and Chisato on guitar. Their name was taken from the punk rock group "Penicillin Shock" in the manga series To-y and they titled their first album, which was released in 1994 and produced by Kiyoshi of Media Youth,[2] after the fictional band.[3] However, after their first album, Shaisuke left Penicillin to join Deshabillz.

The band made their major debut in 1996 with "Blue Moon" on Pioneer LDC. In 1997 the released Limelight, which was named one of the top albums from 1989-1998 in a 2004 issue of the music magazine Band Yarouze.[4] They stayed on Pioneer until 1998 when they changed to East West Japan. Their sixth single released, "Romance", released January 15, 1998 ranked within the top 10 on the Oricon charts for six consecutive weeks, selling over 900,000 copies.[5] It was the opening theme of the Sexy Commando Gaiden. After they were dropped by East West Japan they changed to Omega A.T. Music (an indie label) in 2001. Omega happens to be under Omega Project Holdings which Yoshiaki Kondou (Gisho) is the CEO of.[6] However they were only on Omega for a year before being picked up by Hiboom, which was an indie subsidiary of Avex Trax. In 2005 when Hiboom was closed, they were picked up directly by Avex Trax and were once again on a major label.

On December 12, 2005 Penicillin celebrated its 15th anniversary as a band. On March 9, 2007 Gisho announced that he would leave the band.[7] His last live was his birthday on May 20, 2007 at Shibuya O-East. Since then the band has continued on as a three piece unit. During the February 11, 2008 live, it was announced the Penicillin would once again change labels, this time to Nippon Crown.[8]

As of 2010, they are now on That Records, a division of their talent agency Duplex Developments.

Penicillin's song "Romance" was covered by And on the compilation Crush! -90's V-Rock Best Hit Cover Songs-. The album was released on January 26, 2011 and features current visual kei bands covering songs from bands that were important to the '90s visual kei movement.[9] It was also covered by Jui for the similar album Counteraction - V-Rock covered Visual Anime songs Compilation-, which was released on May 23, 2012 and features covers of songs by visual kei bands that were used in anime.[10]

They covered "Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride", from Lilo & Stitch, for the cover album V-Rock Disney, which was released on September 7, 2011 and features visual kei artists covering Disney songs.[11]

Penicillin released their first cover album, Memories ~Japanese Masterpieces~ which is composed of songs by female singers, on March 18, 2015. The artwork for the album was drawn by Atsushi Kamijo, author of the manga from which the group took their name.[12]

Member information

Vocalist Hakuei in 2008.
Former

Discography

Singles

Title Release Oricon
Ranking
[16]
"In the Kingdom of the Moonlight" September 30, 1995
"Melody/Mother Goose" (Melody/マザー・グース) January 25, 1996
"Blue Moon/Tenshi yo Mezame te" (Blue Moon / 天使よ目覚めて) March 15, 1996 17
"Imitation Love/Never Ending Story" May 15, 1996 19
"99banme no yoru" (99番目の夜) March 19, 1997 9
"Dead or Alive" May 28, 1997 12
"Yoru wo Buttobase" (夜をぶっとばせ) June 25, 1997 18
"Romance" (ロマンス) January 15, 1998 4
"Make Love" May 30, 1998 8
"Crash" September 9, 1998 4
"Butterfly" November 26, 1998 24
"Nice in Lip+L" September 1, 1999 9
"Risou no shita" (理想の舌) February 23, 2000 20
"Ultrider" (ウルトライダー) May 17, 2000 23
"Japanese Industrial Students" May 17, 2000 25
"Inazuma" (イナズマ) January 24, 2001 47
"Limit Complex" (リミットコンプレックス) May 30, 2001 66
"Fukai no Suna/St. Marian Hurricane" (腐海の砂 / 聖・MARIAN HURRICANE) November 28, 2001 24
"New Future" June 26, 2002 42
"Hanazono Kinema" (花園キネマ) September 19, 2002 27
"Yojigen Diver/Shonen Diver" (四次元ダイバー・少年ダイバー) May 28, 2003 46
"Byakuro no Mai " (白髏の舞) November 27, 2003 60
"Samurai Boy/Love Dragoon" May 26, 2004 67
"Freesia" (フリージア) February 2, 2005 50
"Jump#1/Hakana" (JUMP#1 / ハカナ) June 28, 2005 30
"Tsuki Senko Teru/Zero" (月千古輝/零) March 15, 2006 42
"Hyper Chord/Hyper Kids ~Tokai Daigaku Monogatari~" (hyper chord / hyper kids~東海大学物語~) September 27, 2006 35
"Grind Candy/Eden" (Grind Candy / エデン) January 31, 2007 33
"Sun" (太陽 Taiyo) April 23, 2008 45
"Rainbow/Scream" August 20, 2008 37
"Blackhole" May 8, 2009 26
"Warp" September 2, 2009 24
"Rosetta" August 4, 2010 28

Albums

Title Release Oricon
Ranking
[17]
Penicillin Shock May 30, 1994
Missing Link December 24, 1994
God of Grind- Real Penicillin Shock June 20, 1995
Earth September 30, 1995 42
Into the Valley of the Dolls 45
Missing Link October 25, 1995 46
Indwell July 24, 1996 75
Vibe∞ June 26, 1996 10
Fly Penicillin featuring Chisato (FLY PENICILLIN featuring 千聖) November 27, 1996 37
Limelight July 2, 1997 8
Ultimate Velocity October 21, 1998 2
This is Penicillin 1994-1999 October 6, 1999 6
Union Jap May 24, 2000 19
Singles February 21, 2001 48
Nuclear Banana November 7, 2001 27
No.53 October 30, 2002 48
Kakkaku (赫赫) October 1, 2003 55
Flower Circus October 20, 2004 44
Hell Bound Heart November 23, 2005 72
Blue Heaven February 28, 2007 87
Supernova November 26, 2008 71
Cell November 4, 2009 52
Will March 2, 2011 31
20th Anniversary Fan Selection Best Dragon Hearts November 4, 2009 27
20th Anniversary Member Selection Best Phoenix Star March 2, 2011 75

References

  1. Quarterdoll: The Report Magazine of Penicillin QD No. 005, Published February 2003
  2. Penicillin Shock: Tears Music: TEC-0013
  3. ""TO-Y" Manga Artist Draws Visual-kei Band PENICILLIN's Latest Album Jacket". Crunchyroll. 2015-03-03. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
  4. "Top 44 Albums from 1989 - 1998". jame-world.com. 2004-05-09. Retrieved 2015-02-19.
  5. Musicjapanplus bio
  6. Omega OHP.
  7. Penicillin's Blog Post
  8. Media news
  9. "'90s Visual Kei Cover Album". jame-world.com. Retrieved 2011-03-06.
  10. "V-Kei Anime Song Cover Compilation "Counteraction!" and MJP TV to Collaborate! Live Talk Program with Asai Hiroaki and the Artists Participating!". musicjapanplus.jp. Retrieved 2012-04-21.
  11. "Visual kei bands to take on Disney songs for ‘V-ROCK Disney’!". tokyohive.com. Retrieved 2011-07-12.
  12. "PENICILLIN’s first cover album illustrated by Kamijo of "TO-Y"". barks.jp. 2015-03-09. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
  13. "Hakuei Personal Interview"ROCK AND READ 007(2006/04), TOKYO FM Publications, Tokyo, Japan
  14. Machine's OHP
  15. Movie Jacket
  16. "PENICILLINのシングル売り上げランキング". Oricon (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  17. "PENICILLINのアルバム売り上げランキング". Oricon (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-07-02.

External links

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