David Fair Mark Jickling Howard Wuelfing Don Fleming Jay Spiegel Henry Beckmeyer Rick Dreyfuss John Dreyfuss Moe Tucker Kramer Rich Labrie
Half Japanese is an American art punk band formed by brothers Jad and David Fair in 1974,[1] after the family's relocation to Uniontown, Maryland. Their original instrumentation included a small drum set, which they took turns playing; vocals; and an out-of-tune, distorted guitar. Both Fair brothers sang, although over time Jad moved into the frontman role. As of the last several releases since the 1990s, according to the album and CD credits, the band composes and plays the entirety of the music while Fair, eschewing his role as guitarist from earlier albums, plays almost no guitar but is responsible for the vocals and lyrics, which typically divide into either "love songs or monster songs." The band, still a vital "art punk" unit, has released six albums since 2014 with the same personnel that recorded Hot in 1993. Three recent releases—Why Not?, Invincible and Crazy Hearts—received four-star reviews from the U.K. magazine Record Collector, while The New Yorker also praised the 2021 release Crazy Hearts. The band members are John Sluggett (guitar), Gilles-Vincent Rieder (drums), Jason Willett (bass), Mick Hobbs (guitar), and Jad Fair (vocals and guitar).
Jad is well known for playing an untuned electric guitar. After more than 40 years, he still does not play in any traditional manner; in the documentary Half Japanese: The Band That Would Be King he states that "you do need cords to plug the guitar in but that's pretty much it."
Their lyrics often deal with monsters and the supernatural (especially as influenced by "creature feature" and sci-fi movies), in addition to more conventional themes, such as young love. They have stated that all their songs are either "love songs or monster songs."
The band released their first single, "Calling All Girls", in August 1977, followed by a triple album, 1/2 Gentlemen/Not Beasts,[2] that gave them a near-instant cult status. It is possible they were the first band to debut with a triple album.
The band played and recorded as a duo until the early 1980s, when they began incorporating additional members into the group: Mark Jickling (guitar and vocals) and brothers Ricky and John Dreyfuss (drums and saxophone). Since that time, dozens of musicians have come and gone under the Half Japanese banner, including Howard Wuelfing, Don Fleming and Jay Spiegel both from the band Velvet Monkeys, and Shockabilly bass player and Shimmy Disc impresario Mark Kramer among others. Jad is the only member who has been with Half Japanese from the beginning.[2] David Fair left the band in the early 1980s to focus on his family. He has continued to make guest appearances with the band from time to time.
The next line-up of Half Japanese came together in the late 1980s, proving to be a long-lasting and stable unit recording several albums and touring frequently throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan. This incarnation featured guitarist/multi-instrumentalist John Sluggett (also a longtime member of Moe Tucker's band), multi-instrumentalist Jason Willett, Mick Hobbs, and drummer Gilles Reider. Since then, the group has worked with Moe Tucker from The Velvet Underground, who produced and performed on Fire In the Sky (1992), as well as The Band That Would Be King, and with Fred Frith, and John Zorn, among others.[2]
Fans and supporters of Half Japanese include Penn Jillette, who helped the band release some of their albums on his label, 50 Skidillion Watts, and Kurt Cobain, who had them open some dates of Nirvana's 1993 In Utero tour. Cobain was wearing a Half Japanese T-shirt when he died.[3]
The 1995 album Hot was one of their noisiest grunge albums with heavily distorted vocals and guitars.[citation needed] In 1997, the band released Heaven Sent.[2] The title track, over 60 minutes long, was a live recording for a radio broadcast on Radio 5 VPRO's De Avonden.
In 2011, the band toured through Europe with the line-up of Jad Fair, John Sluggett, Jason Willett, Mick Hobbs, and Gilles-Vincent Reider. Once a year David Fair is in charge of the ShakeMore Music Festival in Westminster, Maryland. Each year the start-up formation with the Fair brothers, the Dreyfuss brothers, John Moremen, and Mark Jickling perform at ShakeMore. Early drummer Rick Dreyfuss died on March 14, 2013, and was replaced by Skizz Cyzyk and Chris "Batworth" Ciattei from the band Go Pills.
In October 2013, longtime band members John Sluggett, Gilles-Vincent Rieder, Mick Hobbs, Jason Willett, and Jad Fair toured with Neutral Milk Hotel. In 2014 a new album, Overjoyed, was released on Joyful Noise Recordings.
Danielson is an American rock band from Clarksboro, New Jersey, that plays indie pop gospel music. The group consists of frontman Daniel Smith and a number of various artists with whom he collaborates. Smith has also released solo work as Brother Danielson.
Norman Blake is a Scottish singer, instrumentalist and songwriter in the Glasgow-based band Teenage Fanclub.
Words of Wisdom and Hope is an album produced in collaboration between Glasgow, Scotland's Teenage Fanclub and Half Japanese frontman Jad Fair. It was released on 4 March 2002 on Domino's subsidiary label Geographic in Europe and on Alternative Tentacles in the US.
Jadwin B. Fair is an American singer, guitarist, graphic artist, and founding member of lo-fi alternative rock group Half Japanese.
"Sway" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones from their 1971 album Sticky Fingers. It was also released as the b-side of the "Wild Horses" single in June 1971. This single was released in the US only. Initial pressings of the single contain an alternate take; later pressings include the album version instead.
Nothing Sacred is an Australian thrash metal band formed in the 1980s.
MoeJadKateBarry is a 1987 EP by Moe Tucker. The title refers to Tucker and the members of her backing band. It's composed of a mixture of re-recordings of recently released outtakes from The Velvet Underground's mid years (1967-1968), covers of songs from the 1950s-1960s,, and a singular new composition.
The Work were an English post-punk rock group, founded in 1980 by multi-instrumentalist/composer Tim Hodgkinson and guitarist/composer Bill Gilonis, with bass guitarist Mick Hobbs and drummer Rick Wilson. The band toured Europe in 1981 and 1982, and recorded their first album, Slow Crimes in 1982. After a tour of Japan later that year and releasing Live in Japan, the band split up. In 1989, the Work reformed to record Rubber Cage and performed throughout Europe between 1989 and 1994, releasing another album, See in 1992. A live album, The 4th World, recorded in Germany in 1994, was released in 2010.
Donald Gene Fleming is an American musician and producer. Besides fronting a number of his own bands, Fleming has produced Sonic Youth, Screaming Trees, Teenage Fanclub and Hole.
It's Spooky is a collaborative album by musicians Jad Fair and Daniel Johnston. It was first released in 1989 on 50 Skidillion Watts Records, under the title Jad Fair and Daniel Johnston. Although receiving praise from critics and fans alike, the record was commercially overlooked. Both Johnston and Fair play the majority of instruments, including vocals, guitars, piano, keyboards and drums.
Charmed Life is an album by the punk rock group Half Japanese, released in 1988. It is their second studio album released on their label, 50 Skidillion Watts.
Greatest Hits is the first compilation album released by the punk rock band Half Japanese, in 1995. It includes the line ups from all albums released by the band.
Merry Christmas is the tenth self-released music cassette album by singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston, recorded in 1988. The back of the cover features a typed message from Daniel: "Thanks to everyone who's helped in the past year, especially those who have bought and played my album. Thanks again."
50 Skidillion Watts, also known as "50,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Watts Records", was the label used by brothers David and Jad Fair of the punk rock band Half Japanese to release their first albums recorded in the late 1970s.
1/2 Gentlemen/Not Beasts is the debut album by American rock band Half Japanese. Originally released in 1980 by Armageddon Records as a triple record, it was re-released in 1992 on CD on T.E.C. Tones with additional material. Fire Records reissued it again in 2013 on three-CD and four-LP sets on Record Store Day 2013 with further additional material, limited to 1,000 copies in each format.
Loud is an album by the rock group Half Japanese. It was released on the Armageddon label in 1981.
The Band That Would Be King is an album released by the Maryland rock group Half Japanese. It was also their third and last studio album released on their label, 50 Skidillion Watts.
Fire In the Sky is an album by the rock group Half Japanese, released in 1993. "Tears Stupid Tears" is a cover of the Daniel Johnston song.
Overjoyed is an album by the American art punk band Half Japanese, released on September 2, 2014, on Joyful Noise Recordings. It is their first album since Hello, released in 2001. It was produced by John Dieterich of Deerhoof.
Uzi was an American alternative rock band, formed in 1984 in Boston, Massachusetts and disbanded in 1987. The band featured Thalia Zedek, Danny Lee (drums), Randy Barnwell, Bob Young (guitar) and Phil Milstein. Never achieving commercial success during their short period of activity, the band gained a cult following, becoming a part of Boston's underground rock scene.
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