Andy Sturmer | |
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Birth name | Marvin Andrew Sturmer [1] |
Born | [1] Los Angeles County, California, U.S. [2] | March 11, 1965
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Years active | 1987–present |
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Marvin Andrew Sturmer (born March 11, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and composer who co-founded the rock band Jellyfish in 1989. He was the group's lead vocalist, drummer, and primary songwriter. Following their break-up in 1994, Sturmer became involved with Tamio Okuda, as writer and producer for the Japanese pop duo Puffy AmiYumi. Although Sturmer maintains a low public profile, he continues working as a songwriter for cartoons produced by Disney and Cartoon Network. [3]
Sturmer attended Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton, California in the 1970s. [1] There, he was a drummer in the school's jazz band, and met keyboardist Roger Manning. Manning recalled of Sturmer: "I've never seen anyone of his age with that expertise and command of his instrument. Andy was one of the first kids in our town who took it seriously and had a goal. He was my hero." [3] They later joined the group Beatnik Beatch. When the band dissolved in 1988, Sturmer and Manning formed Jellyfish. [4] [3]
Jellyfish released two albums, Bellybutton (1990) and Spilt Milk (1993). Sturmer wrote all of the lyrics, but composed the music with Manning. [5] He had the rare distinction of not only being a drummer who regularly sang lead in a rock group, but also one who played a stand-up drum set at the front of the stage instead of sitting on a throne at the rear of the band. [6] [5] While their records earned critical praise and they toured the world several times, Jellyfish failed to meet commercial expectations, and intra-group friction led to Jellyfish's dissolution in early 1994. [7] [3]
In a May 1994 article published in the San Francisco Chronicle , it was reported that Sturmer and Manning would form new bands in the aftermath of Jellyfish. [8] Sturmer nearly released a solo album on Virgin Records before deciding against the proposal. [9] Manning later said, "It was a surprise to me that Andy chose the route he did. I felt sure he'd make solo albums of his own material, like [one unreleased] ballad he played me. That was a brilliant song and the world should hear it." [3] Elsewhere, Manning attributed the break-up partly to Sturmer's discomfort as frontman: "Andy never wanted to be in the spotlight, but he was never honest with himself. With Jellyfish, he couldn't have been in more foreign territory." [7]
Sturmer subsequently devoted his career to producing and writing for other artists. [10] [3] Among his first projects was the Japanese pop duo Puffy (known as Puffy AmiYumi outside of Japan). [11] He was already a friend of main Puffy composer and producer Tamio Okuda [12] and was credited as "godfather" of the band [13] for giving the group their name. [14] Sturmer also worked with the Swedish pop band the Merrymakers, who tracked him down through the Internet. He ultimately played all the drums on their 1997 album Bubblegun and co-produced four tracks. [15]
Puffy were approached by Cartoon Network to sing the theme song for the 2003 animated series Teen Titans . Originally suggested by the series' producer Sam Register, creator Glen Murakami was delighted when he learned Sturmer would be writing and producing the track. [16] In 2004, Sturmer also became the consulting producer and theme song composer for the cartoon Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi . After composing and producing most of the songs on Puffy AmiYumi's Nice. (2003) and 59 (2004), his involvement with the band lessened.[ citation needed ]
Following his work on Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, Sturmer composed theme songs for other Cartoon Network series, including Ben 10 (alongside its score composition), Batman: The Brave and the Bold , and the third season of The Batman animated series. He also composed the score and wrote the songs for the Disney series My Friends Tigger & Pooh and performed the theme song for Transformers Animated .[ citation needed ] In 2006, he worked with Mike Viola on the album Alpacas Orgling (credited to LEO). [3]
In the liner notes for the 2002 Jellyfish box set Fan Club , it is stated that Sturmer had been planning "an imminent solo record to be released over the Internet." [9] In 2015, a journalist reported that Sturmer had refused all requests for interviews about his past or current work, [10] although Sturmer agreed to be interviewed for the 2016 book Brighter Day: A Jellyfish Story. [17] Also in 2015, Manning commented in an interview that the reason Jellyfish has never reunited was mostly due to Sturmer's "lack of interest". He added: "I know many people that work with him in film and TV always tell me how happy and successful he is. Last I heard he had four or five shows on Disney that he was scoring." [18]
Jellyfish was an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1989. Led by songwriters Andy Sturmer and Roger Manning, the group was known for their blend of 1960s classic rock and XTC-style power pop. They released two albums, Bellybutton (1990) and Spilt Milk (1993), that proved influential to many subsequent acts in a similar vein.
Tamio Okuda is a Japanese singer, songwriter, and producer. He started his career in 1986 as a member of the band Unicorn. After Unicorn broke up, Okuda moved on to a solo career in 1994 with the single "Ai no Tame ni". He has written and composed many songs for various artists, particularly Puffy. He is signed to Sony Music Japan.
An Illustrated History is the second North American album released by Japanese pop group Puffy AmiYumi. It was released on May 21, 2002..
Nice is an album by Japanese pop group PUFFY, released in 2003 it is their third North American album. The US release featured a few track changes: "Atarashii hibi" and "Tomodachi" were replaced with "Urei", "Teen Titans Theme" and "Planet Tokyo", an English song with the melody of "Akai buranko". The album peaked at No. 20 on the Japanese Albums Chart.
Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi is an American animated series created by Sam Register and produced by Renegade Animation and Cartoon Network Studios, which aired on Cartoon Network from 2004 to 2006. The series stars fictionalized and animated versions of the Japanese pop rock group Puffy AmiYumi. The series premiered on November 19, 2004, and ended on June 27, 2006, with a total of three seasons and 39 episodes.
Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi is a compilation album by pop duo Puffy AmiYumi, released in 2004. It was compiled to tie in with the group's animated series of the same name. There is also a Japanese version of this CD, of which contains the subtitle, "Happy Fun Rock Music from the Series" and includes two additional "TV Mix" tracks. The album peaked at #49 on the Japanese Albums Chart.
Yumi Yoshimura is a Japanese singer, best known as a member of the pop duo PUFFY, along with Ami Onuki.
Ami Onuki is a Japanese singer and a member of J-pop group PUFFY, along with Yumi Yoshimura.
Roger Joseph Manning Jr. is an American keyboardist, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the bands Jellyfish, the Moog Cookbook, and Imperial Drag. He has also spent several years as a member of Beck's backing band, contributed to several recordings by the band Air, and toured or recorded with acts such as Jay-Z, Blink 182, and Johnny Cash. In 2005, he released his first solo record, Solid State Warrior, followed with Robo-Sapiens, Catnip Dynamite (2008), and Glamping (2018). He is usually credited by his full name to avoid confusion with the folk musician Roger Manning.
Renegade Animation is an American animation studio located in Glendale, California, which currently specializes in Adobe Animate and Toon Boom animation. It was founded by Disney and Warner Bros. animator and director Darrell Van Citters and his business partner Ashley Postlewaite in July 1992 in Burbank, California. The studio previously produced Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi and The Mr. Men Show for Cartoon Network, and The Tom and Jerry Show, Unikitty!, and Tom and Jerry in New York for Warner Bros. Animation.
Puffy is a Japanese pop rock duo formed in Tokyo in 1995, consisting of singers Ami Onuki and Yumi Yoshimura. In the United States, they adopted the name Puffy AmiYumi to avoid legal naming conflicts with Sean Combs, who also performed under the name Puffy. They sing in Japanese and English.
Fever Fever is a 1999 album by PUFFY.
Splurge is a Japanese-language pop album by Puffy Amiyumi that was released on June 28, 2006 in Japan. It was released in the US on July 25, 2006, after their East Coast Tour.
"Boogie Woogie No.5" is the 12th single released by Japanese pop duo Puffy AmiYumi with the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra on September 27, 2000.
"Umi e to" is the 11th single released by Japanese pop duo Puffy AmiYumi on April 5, 2000.
"Ai no shirushi" is the 6th single released by Japanese pop duo Puffy AmiYumi. It was released on March 14, 1998. This song was written and composed by Masamune Kusano of band Spitz. Some of this song was played in the film Waterboys. They also sang a Chinese Mandarin version of it on their album The Very Best of Puffy/AmiYumi Jet Fever. Captain Funk also did a remix of it on their album An Illustrated History. There was also a special version of the song sung for the Drummania game. This song was also featured on the live action movie Lovely Complex. A portion of the song was also featured in the Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi episode "The Phantom of Rock."
"Kore ga Watashi no Ikiru Michi" is the 2nd single released by the Japanese pop duo Puffy AmiYumi on October 7, 1996. It sold over 1.5 million copies and was their first #1 hit. They won "Japan Record Award for Best New Artist" in 1996.
"Hataraku Otoko" is a single by Japanese pop duo Puffy AmiYumi released on November 22, 2006. The title song is used as the theme to the anime series Hataraki Man.
Honeycreeper is an album by Japanese pop band PUFFY that was released on September 26, 2007 in Japan. The album is notable for being the first Puffy album where "band Godfather", Andy Sturmer, is not credited for writing any of the songs.
"All Because Of You" is the 25th single from Japanese pop duo Puffy AmiYumi released on May 21, 2008. The title song is written and composed by Avril Lavigne and Butch Walker, and is performed entirely in English. The second song Frontier no Pioneer is a cover originally produced by Tamio Okuda and was used as a CM song for Kagome vegetable juice "Yasai Seikatsu 100!".
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