Super Monkey's

Super Monkey's
General information
Genre (s)	J-pop
founding	1992
resolution	1995
former members
Singing and dancing	Namie Amuro (1992-1995)
Singing and dancing	Hisako Arakaki (1992-1994)
Singing and dancing	Minako Inoue (1992–1995)
Singing and dancing	Anna Makino (1992)
Singing and dancing	Ritsuko Matsuda (1994-1995)
Singing and dancing	Reina Miyauchi (1994–1995)
Singing and dancing	Rino Nakasone (1992-1993)
Singing and dancing	Nanako Takushi (1992–1995)

Super Monkey’s ( Japanese ス ー パ ー ・ モ ン キ ー ズ ; Sūpā Monkīzu - spelling : SUPER MONKEY'S) was a Japanese girl group , from which the successful music careers of Namie Amuro and MAX emanated.

history

Originally the group consisted of 15 people who called themselves Club Heart , in which the future lead singer Namie Amuro was already represented. Before the official debut on September 16, 1992, the name of the music group was changed to Super Monkey’s . In an interview, Namie Amuro announced that the music group was originally intended to be an equal group with five boys and five girls. But the concept was finally changed and a five-member girl group, consisting in alphabetical order of the girls Namie Amuro, Hisako Arakaki, Minako Inoue (then still known as Minako Ameku), Anna Makino and Nanako Takushi, was created.

1992–1993: Official debut and moderate success

On September 16, 1992, the official debut single Koi no Cute Beat / Mister USA was released on EMI Music Japan , which entered the Oricon charts at # 29 and sold almost 37,000 units within five weeks. The group was marketed as an idol group related to American pop music . The original lead singer Anna Makino left the group in December of that year and was replaced by a new group member, Rino Nakasone. Nakasone was advertised as a new member of the group through interviews in magazines and was supposed to appear at the Sapporo Snow Festival in 1992 , but was unable to attend due to appendicitis . However, she left the group the following year without recording any musical material and was not replaced.

The music group now appeared under a new name as Super Monkey's 4 (own writing: SUPER MONKEY'S 4) with the second single Dancing Junk , released in May 1993 . The single did not build on the moderate success of the debut single. Following the release of the second single, the music group took part in an ensemble group called PJG for the music show Pop Jam with other teenage idols on NHK . In November of the same year, the third single entitled Aishite Muscat ( 愛 し て マ ス カ ッ ト ) was released but only reached # 67 on the weekly Oricon chart.

1994–1996: Commercial breakthrough and breakup

After Amuro gained increasing attention through acting and appearances in magazines, the name of the music group was changed to Namie Amuro with Super Monkey’s . Then they were regulars at the karaoke telecast Yoru mo Hippare in April 1994. In July of that year, the next single was titled Paradise Train released, but the entry into the Top 100 missed (at that time published Oricon only one Top 100 and not like today [2018] a top 200 for singles). This made it the music group's worst single in terms of charts. Hisako Arakaki then left the group and was replaced by the two new members Ritsuko Matsuda and Reina Miyauchi in late 1994. The two officially debuted with the fifth single Try Me: Watashi wo Shinjite on January 25, 1995. The theme song was a Japanese-language cover version of the song Try Me by Lolita and the single became a hit because it was the first Top 10 entry Group with # 8 and more than 730,000 units sold. Eventually it also became the 45th best-selling single in Japan in 1995. It was the first of a total of three singles that Max Matsuura ( CEO of Avex Trax ) produced for the group, and also the group's best-selling single.

After the success of the single recommended Matsuura Amuro to debut as a solo artist and let the remaining group members form a new music group, but first the sixth single Taiyō no Season ( 太陽 の SEASON) followed in April of that year. From this single the music group was renamed again to Amuro Namie and should represent the group as a collective based on Amuro. In addition, the group members found, apart from Amuro, a background vocals on the single Taiyō no Season and thus gradually faded into the background. Eventually the breakup of the group became known, so Inoue, Matsuda, Miyauchi and Takushi formed the music group MAX , named after Max Matsuura, and switched to the record company Avex Trax. MAX released the first single Koisuru Velfarre Dance: Saturday Night in May 1995, which was not successful. As the final single, the group released, also under the name Amuro Namie , the single Stop the Music on July 24, 1995, which became the group's top single in the weekly Oricon charts at # 4. Together, the debut album entitled Dance Tracks Vol. 1 was released in October of the same year and sold almost two million times with the highest position in the weekly Oricon charts. A few days later, Amuro released her debut single, Body Feels Exit, produced by Tetsuya Komuro , as a solo artist, also under Avex Trax, and reached # 3 on the weekly Oricon charts. While MAX finally enjoyed success in the mid-90s, but later disappeared from the broad public focus, Amuro became one of the most important singers in Japan.

After the breakup, EMI Music Japan released a compilation entitled Original Tracks Vol. 1 on September 30, 1996 .

Discography

Albums

publication	title	Chart placements *	Sales *	Remarks
October 16, 1995	Dance Tracks Vol. 1	1 (44 weeks)	1,865,000	Studio album
September 30, 1996 +2. May 2018	Original Tracks Vol. 1	1 (9 weeks) 8 (15 weeks)	419,000 13,000	Compilation ( re-released in 2018 under Universal Music )
* Chart positions and sales figures are only based on Japan!

Singles

publication	title	Chart placements *	Sales *	Remarks	Published as
October 16, 1992	Koi no Cute Beat / Mister USA 恋 の キ ュ ー ト ・ ビ ー ト / ミ ス タ ー USA Sweet beat of love	29 (5 weeks)	37,000	1. Single	Super Monkey's
March 26, 1993	Dancing junk	68 (4 weeks)	19,000	2nd single	Super Monkey's 4
05th November 1993	Aishite Masukatto 愛 し て マ ス カ ッ ト I love the muscat grape	67 (2 weeks)	11,000	3. Single
July 20, 1994	Paradise Train	-	-	4. Single	Amuro Namie with Super Monkey's
January 25, 1995	Try Me: Watashi wo Shinjite TRY ME ~ 私 を 信 じ て ~ Believe me	8 (25 weeks)	733,000	5. Single
April 26, 1995	Taiyō no Season 太陽 の SEASON Season of the sun	5 (17 weeks)	611,000	6. Single	Amuro Namie
July 24, 1995	Stop the music	4 (13 weeks)	528,000	7. Single
"-" means no chart entry * Chart placements and sales figures only refer to Japan!

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Oricon CD Ranking Albums - Namie Amuro (Japanese) In Oricon , accessed January 17, 2018
2. ↑ ^{a b} Generasia SUPER MONKEYS In generasia (English), accessed on January 17, 2018
3. ^ RIAJ The Record No. 429 ( June 10, 2014 memento on the Internet Archive ) In RIAJ (Japanese), accessed August 20, 2015
4. ^ RIAJ The Record No. 431 ( June 10, 2014 memento on the Internet Archive ) In RIAJ (Japanese), accessed August 20, 2015