The Carnabeats

**The Carnabeats** (ザ・カーナビーツ, *Za kānabītsu*) is a Group Sounds band formed in February 1967 until September 1969. Their first album single was "Sukisa Sukisa Sukisa" (好きさ好きさ好きさ, *I Love You*) on June 1, 1967.

## The Carnabeats

### Genre

Group sounds
Rock

### Members

Ai Takano (vocals, drums)
Keikichi Usui (vocal, presenter, tambourine, maracas)
Hiroshi Koshikawa (guitar)
Tadao Oka (bass)
Jiro Kitamura (guitar)
Paul Okada (vocal)

## Members

* Ai Takano (vocal, drums) (January 12, 1951; Tokyo, Japan - April 1, 2006; Tokyo, Japan {age 55} ) Nickname: **Mocchi** (もっちん), **Chongcho** (チョンチョ).
* Keikichi Usui (vocal, moderator, tambourine, maracas) (January 2, 1946; Kokurakita Ward {age 74} - ) Retired in April 1969. He made his solo debut in the early 1970s under the names **Kei Aoyama** (青山啓, *Aoyama Kei*) and **Masami Aoyama** (青山真巳, *Aoyama Masami*). Nickname: **Ponta** (ポンタ).
* Hiroshi Koshikawa (guitar, band leader) (April 22, 1946 Hiroshima Prefecture {age 75} - ) Nickname: **Hiro-chan** (ヒロちゃん), **Kaeru** (カエル).
* Tadao Oka (bass) (April 1, 1948; Fukushima Prefecture {age 72} - ) Nickname: **Dende** (デンデ), **Kingyo** (金魚). His older brother Norio Oka was a member of the Jukebox. Although he left one month before the dissolution, Tadao participated in the dissolution concert for one day only. My son Yuta Takahashi is an actor from the JUNON Super Boy Contest.
* Jiro Kitamura (guitar) (February 18, 1946; Chiba Prefecture {age 75} - ) Nickname: **Jiro** (ジロー), **Golden Bat** (黄金バット). Although he withdrew one month before the dissolution, Kitamura also participated in the dissolution concert for only one day. After the dissolution, he formed the new rock band "Life".
* Paul Okada (vocal) (August 13, 1947; Otsu, Shiga Prefecture {age 73} - ) Real name: **Kazuhiko Nagaoka** (長岡和彦, *Nagaoka Kazuhiko*). Joined in April 1969 as a successor to Usui who left a month earlier. After the dissolution, he made his solo debut in November 1970. Debuted as "Pysis" in March 1975, and released "Don't Come With Your Lover" written and composed by Yumi Arai in April 1976.
* Kyoichi Saiga (base) (June 3, 1947; Fukushima Prefecture {age 72} - ) Joined as a successor to Oka in September 1969, just before the dissolution.
* Rie Tatsuya (keyboard) (May 2, 1949; Kōchi Prefecture {71}) Joined in September 1969, just before the dissolution.

## History

In January 1967, Takano withdrew from the freelancers he had belonged to, and immediately invited by former Swing West member Jiro Kitamura and his fellow freelancers guitarist Hiroshi Koshikawa to form a new band. Keikichi Usui, who has been an ally since the jazz cafe "Grand Canyon" era, and Tadao Oka, who was also a member of the Sounds of West in Nagoya, were welcomed and they were patronizing the restaurant in Kamata, Ota-ku. With the full backing of former bandmate Masahiro Miike, he started his activities under the name of Robin Hood. Eventually, they passed an audition at Victor Company of Japan, the publisher of Philips Records. The original song "I Love You" (1965) by the British band, The Zombies, played at this time was successfully arranged by them, and the producer Kazushi Honjo was an English-American pop song. They asked Kenji Sazanami, a song lyricist, to translate it into Japanese, and their first debut was released and became the band's first and biggest hit, was included on their debut album *Carnabeats First Album*, which was released in 1968,and re-released in 2003 by Teichiku Records (TECN-20941).

The success of The Carnabeats' Japanese version of "I Love You" in Japan, resulted in the original version by The Zombies being released in Japan, where it was a best-selling hit and was ranked #8 for the year of 1967. At the time of their debut, they changed their name to "The Carnabeats" by Rumiko Hoshika, who was the editor-in-chief of Music Life, and the agency will be Robin's project launched for them. In June 1967, they made their second debut album with The Jaguars, who belongs to the same Philips as an idol of the catchphrase Carnaby Sound Age. In their debut single, "Sukisa, Sukisa, Sukisa", Takano, who sings passionately, sticks out a drumstick and screams "All of you", which captivates female students and immediately the records became a big hit.

With the popularity of other electric bands such as The Spiders, The Tigers, Blue Comets, and The Jaguars, who had already debuted, the song's blockbuster was one of the catalysts for the GS boom. Takano's singing voice grabbed the hearts of the fans and became a hit in the second single "Let's Love Jenny", released in September 1967. In addition, Usui, who was in charge of Japanese translation from the recommendation of Rumiko Hoshika, sings energeticly in "Give Me Lovin" in side B. Their third single released in October is "Okay!", which is a cover song of Dave Dee Group, and Paul Anka's hit song "Crazy Love" on the B side. They dare to fuzz with this song. By using it, it is finished in an arrangement like Carnabeats. The Carnabeats would produced a rock-like sound music with Kitamura and all the members feeling close to Western music.

They showed a different look with "Don't Cry", released in February 1968. This work is a ballad by the combination of Jun Hashimoto and Koichi Sugiyama, and it is a song that mixes the sadly singing Takano and the chorus of the members. Ten days later, he released "Cutie Morning Moon," which was recorded with Gary Walker, a drummer of The Walker Brothers (UK), who was as popular as The Beatles in Japan. This song was written by Scott Walker, and the performance and chorus were recorded from the night of January 9th, when the recording was made, to the dawn, and Scott was able to see through the window on the way back from the car. The song title was decided from "The Shadow Of The Moon That Remains Faintly In The Sky" to "Cutie Morning Moon", and the composition was composed by producer Honjo, who is the composer of "Let's Love Jenny". He was in charge of the arrangement under the name of Rinji Motoo.

The sixth single "Love in Search" released in May was the first solo for Usui on side A, and was written by Kohan Kawauchi, who is known as the original creator of "Moonlight Mask", and this song was written by The Spiders. For this reason, Gary was brought it to Victor Records, but he went to The Carnabeats, which belongs to the same company, Philips Records. This year, they would participated in the Nikkei Western Carnival in a row, appeared in multiple movies, released the LP "The Carnabeats First Album", acted as an image character for Fujiya and Pepsi Cola, and in June in Tokyo and Osaka. The single "Um Um Um" was released in August after the strong performance such as holding a one-man show. Their next single "My Baby" was released in October, and even with Koya's singing reminiscent of the early singles and it did not become a hit.

The following March of 1969, The Beatles' next single "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-D", was released with the translation from Kenji Sazanami for the first time in a while. However, in April, vocalist Usui withdrew, and Paul Okada, who was in another GS band, joined in to take his place, and in June, he adopted the "New Rhythm Teltel from South America in 1969" as the first single by a new member. Their song "Teltel Heaven" was released on the same month. In contrast to the A-side, which is a cover song, the B-side, with the Latin song "Midnight Lovers" composed by Takashi Miki, tried to revive with a sound that was ahead of the trend, but the decline of the GS boom could not be continued anymore, and the same year. Kitamura and Oka withdrew in September, and Kyoichi Saiga and Rie Tatsuya joined, but they eventually disbanded in late 1969.

## Major hit songs

* I Love You (好きさ好きさ好きさ) / I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman (口笛天国) (July 1, 1967)
* Let's Fall In Love Jenny (恋をしようよジェニー) / Give Me Lovin (お前に夢中さ) (September 20, 1967)
* Okay! (オーケイ!) / Crazy Love (クレイジー・ラブ) (October 25, 1967)
* Don't Cry (泣かずにいてね) / Chu! Chu! Chu! (チュッ！チュッ！チュッ！) (February 15, 1968)
* Morning Of Love (恋の朝焼け) / Hello Gary (ハロー・ゲイリー) (February 25, 1968)
* Looking For Love (愛を探して) / Go Go Stop (ゴー・ゴー・ストップ) (May 25, 1968)
* Umm Umm Um (ウム・ウム・ウム) / Monnie Monnie (モニー・モニー) (August 5, 1968)
* My Baby (マイ・ベイビー) / Love Memories Box (恋の想い出箱) (October 24, 1968)
* Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-D (オブラディ・オブラダ) / Please (お願いだから) (March 10, 1969)
* Teltel Heaven (テルテル天国) / Midnight Lovers (真夜中の恋人たち) (June 25, 1969)

## Appearance

Televisions:

* April 1967 - "Let's Sing with Youth!" (Broadcast: Fuji TV) as guest appearance
* July 1967 - ''Young 720' (Broadcast: TBS Television) as semi-regular appearance
* October 1967 - "Uneven Montage Battle" (Broadcast: TV Asahi) as regular appearance
* September 1968 - "R&B Heaven" (Broadcast: TV TOKYO Corporation) as guest appearance
* October 1968 - "LOL Young Pops" (Broadcast: Nippon TV) as guest appearance
* October 1968 - "Let's Go! Young Sounds" (Broadcast: Fuji TV) as guest appearance

Movies:

* February 1968 - "The Puppy-Love Singers" (Distributed by: Nikkatsu, Directed by: Kenjiro Morinaga) Starring: Hidekazu Nagai
* March 1968 - "Man In The Storm" (Distributed by: Shochiku, Directed by: Kazuo Hase) Starring: Nana Ozaki
* July 1968 - "Aru joshi kôkôi no kiroku zoku ninshin" (Distributed by: Daiei, Directed by: Michihiko Obimori) Starring: Tamotsu Hayakawa and Masako Mizuki, Performed with The Rangers
* September 1968 - "First Love Declaration" (Distributed by: Shochiku, Directed by: Meijirō Umetsu) Starring: Kaoru Yumi and Etsuko Nami, Also starring: Le Girls