Speed (band)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Speed is an Okinawan female vocal/dance group comprising Hiroko Shimabukuro, Eriko Imai, Takako Uehara and Hitoe Arakaki. All four members are former students of Okinawa Actors School which also trained popular artist Namie Amuro and MAX.

Speed made their major label debut on August 5, 1996 and became an immediate success. They would eventually become the most successful Japanese girl group with sales of over 20 million singles and albums in just three years.^[1] They disbanded on March 31, 2000 to pursue solo careers.^[2]

Following their disbandment, the group reunited several times for charity, but on August 20, 2008 they officially announced plans to reunite permanently.^[2] They made their comeback on November 12, 2008 with the single "Ashita no Sora."

[edit] History

[edit] 1996–1997: Early success

When the group formed in 1996 the youngest member of the group Hiroko was only 12 years of age. Unlike most artists from the Okinawa Actors School which were signed to the Avex record label, Speed were instead signed up by Toys Factory. Their sole producer during their time together was Hiromasa Ijichi.

Upon forming, Speed recorded a few songs, however "Body & Soul" was quickly chosen to be their debut single. The video for the song was filmed on location in San Francisco and Los Angeles and the single sold an impressive total of 638,000+ copies upon its release. Body & Soul was also Speed's longest chart song, lingering in the charts for 31 weeks.

Body & Soul was quickly followed up by the ballad single "Steady" which was their first million selling single (1.27 million copies). Following Steady, Speed decided to go with a more upbeat song and released "Go! Go! Heaven". The video for the song was filmed on location in New York and Miami. The song sold over 665,000 copies and became the girls first single to hit No.1 on Japan's Oricon weekly charts. Following "Go Go Heaven", Speed released their debut album Starting Over. The album contained a mix of upbeat songs mixed with soft ballads. Their debut album became their first number-one album on the Oricon charts.^[3]

After the release of Starting Over, Speed followed on with their upbeat genre and released the single "Wake Me Up!". The video for the song was filmed on location in the Philippines and sold approximately 671,000 copies (total shipment: 890,000) when it was released. It was also during this time that Speed decided to have their debut concert. The concert titled 'Speed - First Live' was staged outdoors on location in Odaiba and featured an impressive stage with pyrotechnics and acrobatic stunts.

[edit] 1997–1998: Rise to the top

In October 1997, they released "White Love". Their style took a change from dance music by the single.^[4] The Winter themed single became the smash hit single of that year's holiday period. By the time the single exited the charts it had already sold an impressive 1.845 million copies.^[5] After White Love, Speed continued on with their more mature style and released the anthem like song "My Graduation". The single sold 1.475 million copies and became the Japan's highest-selling single on the subject of graduation.^[6]

After "My Graduation", Speed finally released their highly anticipated second album Rise. Rise introduced a change in their musical style and took on a much more futuristic sound compared to their original album. Apparently, the single "Wake Me Up!" received a remix just so it could fit in more appropriately with the other tracks on the album. Rise was highly successful, entering the Oricon chart in the top spot^[7] and sold over two million copies.^[6]

[edit] 1998: Continued success

After Rise, Speed decided to give acting a try with the girls starring in the Takashi Miike directed Sci-Fi thriller Andromedia. The film was screened across Japan and was highly successful. To accompany Andromedia, they also recorded a theme track titled "Alive". The single was shot in location in Hawaii and became one of Speed's most popular singles. Despite the single's popularity, the song slightly failed to cross the 1 million mark in sales (total 967,000 copies). However, this was perhaps due to the fact that Andromedia also released a soundtrack that contained the single "Alive", thus undermining the single's sales.

Following Andromedia and "Alive", Speed began what was to be one of their incredible feats - their Rise Tour. They began their tour first by visiting most of the major cities throughout Japan. All of their concerts immediately sold out. They followed up their Japanese tour with what can only be achieved by the most formidable artists in Japan - the Dome Tours (Tokyo Dome, Nagoya Dome, Osaka Dome, and Fukuoka Dome). Speed are the only female band in Jpop history to have achieved the Dome Tour feat and with an average of 15.25 years at the time, they also hold the record for the youngest performers to do so as well.^[4]

During the Dome tours Speed also released another single titled "All My True Love", a fast upbeat song shot on location in the Grand Canyon Arizona. The single excited fans, however it was also the turning point for Speed as seen by many. The single was exciting because it contained the first official solo tracks sung by the two lead singers of Speed: Hiroko and Eriko. Hiroko's song was titled Mitsumete itai and Eriko's, Tsumetaku shinaide (Eriko actually teamed up with a dance troupe called Crunch at the time and thus was known under the name, Eriko with Crunch). Both songs also contained their own music videos that were shot in sound stages in Universal Studios, Hollywood. The single was also Speed's first Maxi single to be released on a regular 12 cm CD cased within a Digi Pak. The single topped the charts again and went on to sell over 1.22 million copies.

After the release of "All My True Love", Speed followed up by releasing their greatest-hits album: Moment, which topped the charts and shipped over 2.3 million units. Moment contained all of Speed's released singles at that time along with a couple of popular album and single tracks. The album also contained a critically acclaimed Christmas Standard version of the single "White Love" and a hidden instrumental track of the song as well. The first print edition of the album came with flip book that shows the girls performing their trademark dance moves when flipped through quickly. Three versions were available (though fans didn't know which one they were getting) - "Body & Soul", "White Love", and "my graduation".

[edit] 1999: Go to solo projects

Following Moment, Speed released the single "Precious Time". The single's video was shot on location in Los Angeles and the single itself also featured a coupling track to celebrate the cartoon character Doraemon's 40th anniversary. The single went on to sell over 623,000 copies.

Shortly after the release of "Precious Time", news broke that Takako of the group will be releasing a solo single in March. More surprisingly, the producer will not be Hiromasa Ijichi, but instead Ryuichi Kawamura of Luna Sea. Takako's debut single "My First Love" was highly anticipated and came in at number 1, selling over 530,000 copies. The video for the single was shot on location in Hawaii.

Following Takako's solo debut, it was revealed that another Speed member, Hitoe would also be releasing a solo single. For her debut Hitoe decided to go with a much more adult look, appearing in her video wearing mini skirt & bikini with a short coat. The single titled "Inori" was more RnB in nature and show cased Hitoe's impressive dance moves. In fact for the single, Hitoe adopted the pseudonym Hitoe's 57 Move (57 meaning Go-Na - gonna in Japanese). Hence Hitoe's 57 Move. The shock value of her image may have worked against her as Hitoe's debut single sold approximately 230,000 copies - nonetheless an impressive figure for a debut single.

After "Inori", Speed was back on track again and released another upbeat maxi single, this time titled "Breakin' Out the Morning". The single also contained another solo track by Eriko with Crunch titled - "Everyday, Be With You". The single sold over 582,000 copies and at the time was actually Speed's worst selling single. It was also the first single by Speed which was not an original release but a cover.

Following Breakin' Out to the Morning, the time came for Hiroko to show case her solo talents. Her single titled "As Time Goes By" was produced by Hiromasa Ijichi and was the theme song of the drama series Tengoku no Kiss. The video for the single was shot on location in New York (mainly Brooklyn). "As Time Goes By" was an instant hit, high charting at no. 2 selling close to 900,000 copies.

After hiro's single, Takako released her second single titled: "Come Close to Me". The single was again produced by Ryuichi Kawamura and sold over 200,000 copies.

[edit] 1999–2000: Disbandment

In October 1999, Speed announced that they would disband.^[1] The news shock many fans and artists alike as they appeared to be breaking up at the peak of their music career. The reason offered was that they have grown up and would like to pursue their own solo paths and interests. The date announced for the disbandment was the following year - March 31, 2000. This date was chosen because it was the time when the Sakura would bloom in Japan, thus signaling new life.

Following the news, Speed, released their final single together as a group titled "Long Way Home", which had an R&B vibe to it.^[8] Although the single didn't top the charts at no. 1 (due to competition from Arashi's debut single "Arashi" and Hikaru Utada's highly anticipated First Love follow-up "Addicted to You") it still sold over 613,000 copies in total. Shortly after Long Way Home, Speed released their final album Carry On My Way. The album contained a variety of tracks from soft tone ballads, to R&B songs and even a couple rock songs. Overall the album sold 880,000 copies in total. At this period Speed also commenced their final dome tour in Japan titled Speed Dome Tour 1999 Real Life with 6 dome concerts. This is also their tour sequel to their summer tour Speed Tour 1999 Real Life which visited arenas and various concert hall. The concerts outdid their previous ones in terms of stage settings and performance. In addition they also managed to complete another Dome Tour of Japan with their very final concert being held in the Fukuoka Dome on Christmas Day.

A few weeks prior to the disbandment of Speed, hiro release her 2nd single "Bright Daylight" and Eriko finally released her own solo CD under stage name Eriko with Crunch. Her debut solo single titled "Red Beat of My Life", a fast paced song was produced by Hiromasa Ijichi. The video was filmed on location in New Mexico, USA. The single came in on the charts at no. 3 and sold over 240,000 copies. On March 29, 2000 Speed released two greatest-hits albums titled Speed The Memorial Best 1335days Dear Friends 1 and Speed The Memorial Best 1335days Dear Friends 2. The albums contained all their hit singles along with previously unreleased tracks and other popular songs from their single b-side and album. Dear Friends 2 contained their break up theme song April and the video featured the girls along with review clips of their past music videos and concerts. The albums also contained a program that when installed displayed little virtual images of the girls on your computer screen. On 31 March 2000, Speed attended Music Station and had a roughly 30 minutes mini live singing a few of their hit song. The last song they sang together is "Starting Over", which had Takako cried during singing. This is Speed's Final Live, and after which, Speed officially disbanded.

[edit] 2001–2007: Post break-up and reunions for charity events

On October 6, 2001, Speed held a one night outdoor live concert at Kobe Awaji for an earthquake charity, attracting more than 24,000 fans. The concert featured past Speed hits, solo titles from individual members and a new single One More Dream.

Subsequently, One More Dream and a live recording album of the concert Speed Memorial Live “One More Dream” + Remix were released on December 12 and December 19 respectively. After being under Toy's Factory record label for 6 years, Speed officially switched to Avex's sub-label, Sonic Groove, at the end of 2001.

On December 2, 2001, all Speed members attended the wedding of their long time producer Hiromasa Ijichi at which they sang Two of Us from their final studio album, Carry On My Way

On July 17, 2002, all Speed members attended Suisupe! together as solo artistes.

On April 8, 2003, Speed held a press conference which they announced they will be temporarily reuniting for another charity Save the Children. The charity aims to raise money for unfortunate children in Asia. The temporary reunion lasted until 31 December of the same year. During this period, Speed released their 13th single, Be My Love on 27 August, 2003 and all of their past VHS releases to DVD formats, which included Speed Spirits 1 and 2, and their 3 concerts. From 29 September to 14 November, Speed held 19 "Speed Save the Children Live 2003" nation-wide concerts.

On 27 November, 2003, Speed released their 14th single Walking in the Rain / Stars to Shine Again and 4th studio album Bridge. This was also the first single that was not produced by Hiromasa Ijichi.

On the Christmas Day of 2003, Speed released a DVD of their charity concert, Speed Save the Children Live 2003 which also included the promotional videos of Be My Love and Walking in the Rain. During the temporary reunion, Speed visited Vietnam to get to know more about the living situations of children over there.

Speed attended their last TV program Japan Record Awards 2003 on 31 December, 2003, to receive a special award before ending their status as ambassadors of Save the Children. It was also their last appearance in the public together as Speed. The charity raised approximately 146,445,469 yen during this period.

On January 9, 2004, Speed released a photo book Bridge consisting of photographs from this temporary reunion. On 11 February, 2004, , Speed released a live recording album Best Hits Live: Save the Children Speed Live 2003. The live album includes "Snow Kiss" which was not included in their Speed Save the Children Live 2003 DVD.

On 1 August 2006, Toy's Factory opened a Speed 10th anniversary website which provided digital downloads for all Speed songs released under Toy's Factory. The songs were available for download on August 5, their debut date.

On July 2007, all Speed members donated a sum of money to a charity together.

[edit] 2008: Return of Speed

On 5 August 2008, the 12th Anniversary of Speed, the digital download for all their songs started.^[9] On 19 August, a breaking news of Speed attending 24 Hour Television on 30 and 31 August.^[10] After 4years 8months, a 3rd public reunion was confirmed. However, nothing was confirm as to a temporary or permanent reunion. On 31 August 2008, Speed again appeared together on 24 Hour Television for the purpose of raising awareness. They performed a medley of White Love, Steady, All My True Love, Alive & Body & Soul. It has been 9 years since they last hosted 24 Hour Television on 1999. After the appearance, Speed's management company received many calls & respone on whether Speed will reform or go on hiatus again.

On 23 September, an official statement was made on Speed management company that they will be back officially and permanently, and also a new single was announced to be release on 12 November 2008 titled Ashita no Sora (あしたの空^?) (Sky of Tomorrow).^[11] This single is set once again to be produced by their long time producer Hiromasa Ijichi. This is Speed's 15th Single and also their first single in five years. This will be Speed first single to have two version, CD-only & CD+DVD. It will be the theme song to drama "OL Nippon".

[edit] 2009

Speed released their 16th single on May 27 2009. The single titled S.P.D., is produced by Kye Sones, Peter Martin, and Jonathan Shave. The B-Side track Utakata is written by Mats Lie Skare.^[12] The single was completely different from their past works, and indicated the reunited group's future direction.

Their latest release is the best-of album Speedland: The Premium Best Re Tracks, high charting at number-two on the Oricon weekly album charts.

[edit] Discography

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Website
• Speed Oricon profile (Japanese)