Lily Chou-Chou
Encyclopedia
is a Japan
ese band that debuted in 2000. Initially a fictional band that produced music for the 2001 Shunji Iwai
film All About Lily Chou-Chou
, the group later reformed in 2010 for the 10th anniversary of the film. Lily Chou-Chou is not a person, she is a fictional character.
. The music was produced as a collaboration between Iwai, Salyu
, a musician who had not debuted yet, and Takeshi Kobayashi, a music producer who had previously worked with Iwai on the soundtrack to his 1996 film Swallowtail Butterfly
. Iwai supplied the lyrics of two songs to the project, "Arabesque" and "Tobenai Tsubasa."
In April 2000, Lily Chou-Chou music began to be released, with the single "Glide" and later "Kyōmei (Kūkyo na Ishi)" in June. Three Iwai-directed music videos were produced for the project, "Glide," "Kyōmei (Kūkyo na Ishi)" and "Tobenai Tsubasa." Salyu performed "Kyōmei (Kūkyo na Ishi)" on music shows Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ and Music Station
in June 2000. The group released their album, Kokyū, in October 2001, a week and a half after the release of the film in Japan.
After the release of the film, the group ceased to release music. In 2003, the Lily Chou-Chou song "Kaifuku Suru Kizu" was featured in the Quentin Tarantino
film Kill Bill Vol. 1
. Salyu debuted as a musician in 2004 with the single "Valon," a collaboration with hip-hop musician Ilmari
. She began working with Kobayashi as her producer since her debut, and continues to work with him. Some of Salyu's most notable songs have been composed by him, such as "Atarashii Yes," "Corteo (Gyōretsu)," "Platform," "To U" and "Valon." Salyu included the Lily Chou-Chou songs "Hōwa" and "Glide" on her 2008 greatest hits album Merkmal. On her 2009 tour for Merkmal, she performed "Erotic," "Glide," "Hikōsen," "Kaifuku Suru Kizu," "Sight" and "Tobenai Tsubasa."
For the film's 10th anniversary in 2010, the band reformed as a three-member band featuring guitarist Yukio Nagoshi, however without the direct involvement of Iwai. The group released a digital single, "Ether," on December 8, 2010. The music video for the song was exclusively debuted at MTV Japan
on December 1. The group plan to perform a live at the Nakano Sun Plaza
Hall on December 15.
on this website is a crucial feature to the plot of the film. Lily Chou-Chou is portrayed as being extremely successful, with her CDs lining prominent displays in music stores such as Tsutaya.
Lily Chou-Chou was originally the vocalist of the band , that formed broke up two years after their debut in 1995. This band centred around , who wrote the music for the band. Kayama later lead the major-label band . Lily Chou-Chou wrote the lyrics for the band's songs, though some fans believe they were ghostwritten
. The band is described as having number one releases on music charts. The group debuted with the single on February 21, 1995, which reached number one on the singles charts. The film mentioned the band having an album named , and songs "Abnormality" and "Manic & Depressive." Many of her fans do not like to link Lily Chou-Chou's solo music with Kayama. In the film, when a fan suggested Kayama took part in creating Lily Chou-Chou's solo music, many fans became heated and fought him.
Her fan base is described as being composed of younger people. These fans are described as fanatic, with some of Lily Chou-Chou's detractors likening her to a cult leader. One of her fans even committed suicide in protest of the content of her second album, Kokyū.
Lily Chou-Chou's music is said to have ether, a term used both by Lily Chou-Chou and her fans. She describes ether as the fabric of the universe, and assigns colours to different types of ether (the emotion despair is close to "red" ether, while hope is close to "blue" ether). Lily Chou-Chou also describes the moods of her albums in terms of these colours.
On Lily Chou-Chou's official site are two news articles from a fictional newspaper, , describing an incident after a Lily Chou-Chou concert, in which a 15 year old, Shūsuke Hoshino, is apparently crushed to death by fans wanting to see Lily Chou-Chou. Later news puts doubt to this, as a stab wound piercing his heart was discovered during the autopsy. These news reports are direct references to events in the film.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese band that debuted in 2000. Initially a fictional band that produced music for the 2001 Shunji Iwai
Shunji Iwai
is a Japanese film director/video artist, writer and documentarian.-Life and career:Iwai was born in Sendai, Japan, Miyagi prefecture. He attended Yokohama National University, graduating in 1987....
film All About Lily Chou-Chou
All About Lily Chou-Chou
is a 2001 Japanese film written and directed by Shunji Iwai. The film portrays the rough lives of high school children in Japan, and centres around the music of a fictional singer Lily Chou-Chou.-Plot:...
, the group later reformed in 2010 for the 10th anniversary of the film. Lily Chou-Chou is not a person, she is a fictional character.
Biography
Lily Chou-Chou as a character was initially created by Shunji Iwai in 2000, as a part of an online novel that was posted on a BBSBulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
. The music was produced as a collaboration between Iwai, Salyu
Salyu
is a Japanese singer, produced by Takeshi Kobayashi. She debuted in 2000 as the fictional singer Lily Chou-Chou for the film All About Lily Chou-Chou, and later debuted as a solo artist in 2004...
, a musician who had not debuted yet, and Takeshi Kobayashi, a music producer who had previously worked with Iwai on the soundtrack to his 1996 film Swallowtail Butterfly
Swallowtail Butterfly (film)
Swallowtail , also known as Swallowtail Butterfly or Yentown, is a 1996 movie by Japanese film director Shunji Iwai, starring Hiroshi Mikami, pop-singer Chara, and Ayumi Ito....
. Iwai supplied the lyrics of two songs to the project, "Arabesque" and "Tobenai Tsubasa."
In April 2000, Lily Chou-Chou music began to be released, with the single "Glide" and later "Kyōmei (Kūkyo na Ishi)" in June. Three Iwai-directed music videos were produced for the project, "Glide," "Kyōmei (Kūkyo na Ishi)" and "Tobenai Tsubasa." Salyu performed "Kyōmei (Kūkyo na Ishi)" on music shows Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ and Music Station
Music Station
is a Japanese music television program. It began broadcasting on October 24, 1986 and continues to be broadcast weekly in High-definition from 8PM-9PM on tv asahi...
in June 2000. The group released their album, Kokyū, in October 2001, a week and a half after the release of the film in Japan.
After the release of the film, the group ceased to release music. In 2003, the Lily Chou-Chou song "Kaifuku Suru Kizu" was featured in the Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
film Kill Bill Vol. 1
Kill Bill
Kill Bill Volume 1 is a 2003 action thriller film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It is the first of two volumes that were theatrically released several months apart, the second volume being Kill Bill Volume 2....
. Salyu debuted as a musician in 2004 with the single "Valon," a collaboration with hip-hop musician Ilmari
Keisuke Ogihara
is one of the founding members of the hip hop group Rip Slyme. He was born on June 17, 1975 in Helsinki, Finland to a Japanese father and a Finnish mother. He is best known by his stage name Ilmari , which is considered to be his middle name in Finland....
. She began working with Kobayashi as her producer since her debut, and continues to work with him. Some of Salyu's most notable songs have been composed by him, such as "Atarashii Yes," "Corteo (Gyōretsu)," "Platform," "To U" and "Valon." Salyu included the Lily Chou-Chou songs "Hōwa" and "Glide" on her 2008 greatest hits album Merkmal. On her 2009 tour for Merkmal, she performed "Erotic," "Glide," "Hikōsen," "Kaifuku Suru Kizu," "Sight" and "Tobenai Tsubasa."
For the film's 10th anniversary in 2010, the band reformed as a three-member band featuring guitarist Yukio Nagoshi, however without the direct involvement of Iwai. The group released a digital single, "Ether," on December 8, 2010. The music video for the song was exclusively debuted at MTV Japan
MTV Japan
MTV Japan is the Japanese version of the cable television network based in Japan. It is a subsidiary of MTV Networks, and was launched on December 24, 1992. It can be viewed on cable television, SKY PerfecTV!, SKY PerfecTV! e2 and IPTV.-History:MTV originally was a music block on JORX-TV from 1989...
on December 1. The group plan to perform a live at the Nakano Sun Plaza
Nakano Sun Plaza
is a hotel in Nakano, Tokyo. The hotel includes a concert hall, the Nakano Sun Plaza Hall.- Nakano Sun Plaza Hall :Built in 1973, this concert hall seats 2,222 people and attracts performers from around the world...
Hall on December 15.
Fictional back-story
Lily Chou-Chou is portrayed as the stage name of a solo musician, . She was born on December 8, 1980 at 10:50pm, a fact that fans in the film link to the same time of the murder of Beatles' member John Lennon. She has an official website, Lilyholic, which features as a back-story to the film, including news articles and a discography. The BBSBulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
on this website is a crucial feature to the plot of the film. Lily Chou-Chou is portrayed as being extremely successful, with her CDs lining prominent displays in music stores such as Tsutaya.
Lily Chou-Chou was originally the vocalist of the band , that formed broke up two years after their debut in 1995. This band centred around , who wrote the music for the band. Kayama later lead the major-label band . Lily Chou-Chou wrote the lyrics for the band's songs, though some fans believe they were ghostwritten
Ghostwriter
A ghostwriter is a professional writer who is paid to write books, articles, stories, reports, or other texts that are officially credited to another person. Celebrities, executives, and political leaders often hire ghostwriters to draft or edit autobiographies, magazine articles, or other written...
. The band is described as having number one releases on music charts. The group debuted with the single on February 21, 1995, which reached number one on the singles charts. The film mentioned the band having an album named , and songs "Abnormality" and "Manic & Depressive." Many of her fans do not like to link Lily Chou-Chou's solo music with Kayama. In the film, when a fan suggested Kayama took part in creating Lily Chou-Chou's solo music, many fans became heated and fought him.
Her fan base is described as being composed of younger people. These fans are described as fanatic, with some of Lily Chou-Chou's detractors likening her to a cult leader. One of her fans even committed suicide in protest of the content of her second album, Kokyū.
Lily Chou-Chou's music is said to have ether, a term used both by Lily Chou-Chou and her fans. She describes ether as the fabric of the universe, and assigns colours to different types of ether (the emotion despair is close to "red" ether, while hope is close to "blue" ether). Lily Chou-Chou also describes the moods of her albums in terms of these colours.
On Lily Chou-Chou's official site are two news articles from a fictional newspaper, , describing an incident after a Lily Chou-Chou concert, in which a 15 year old, Shūsuke Hoshino, is apparently crushed to death by fans wanting to see Lily Chou-Chou. Later news puts doubt to this, as a stab wound piercing his heart was discovered during the autopsy. These news reports are direct references to events in the film.
Album
| Year | Album Information | Oricon Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... albums chart |
Reported sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Kokyū
|
60 | 3,700 |
Singles
| Year | Title | Notes | Oricon singles charts |
Oricon sales total |
Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Released through Sony | — | — | Kokyū | |
| align="left"| | 97 | 4,500 | |||
| 2010 | Digital single | — | — | TBA |
Albums
| Year | Album Information | Tracklisting |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 |
|
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| 1999 |
|
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Extended play
| Year | Album Information | Tracklisting |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 |
|
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Singles
| Year | Title | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | align="left"| | B-side "Kyōmei (Kūkyo na Ishi)" an actual song | Erotic |
| 1999 | align="left"| | Song and B-side "Arabesque" actual songs | Kokyū |
| 2000 | "Glide" | Non-fictional CD released on the same day |