3/2/2007

Thee Michelle Gun Elephant (also known as TMGE) was a Japanese Garage band of notable popularity in its country of origin. Their music is known for the loud guitars of Abe Futoshi and lead singer Chiba Yusuke’s loud, gravelly yet melodious vocals. The other members of the band were drummer Kuhara Kazuyuki and bass player Ueno Koji. They have cited bands such as Johnny Thunders, The Stooges, Iggy Pop, The Damned, The Clash, The Addicts, The Who and Dr. Feelgood as their influences.

I frankly think they sound a lot like The Ramones.

The band was formed while the band members were students at Tokyo’s Meiji Gakuin University, and their name came from a combination of the name of Billy Childish’s offbeat band Thee Headcoats and a former bassist’s mispronunciation of the name of The Damned’s album, Machine Gun Etiquette.

Their first major label release, Wonder Style, was released in 1995, and produced in London, United Kingdom, by Chris Brown, who previously engineered albums and tracks for Radiohead and Pink Floyd. The band was later spotted by The Brian Jonestown Massacre during a gig in Los Angeles. They were so impressed by the band that they told Alive Records owner Patrick Boissel about them, who then sought them out and signed them to his label. This led to the American release of Gear Blues in 2000, an album which had already proved to be their breakthrough album having sold 4 million copies worldwide.

Around 2002, vocalist Chiba Yusuke and Blankey Jet City bassist Terai Toshiyuki formed ROSSO, which is currently active. The band announced that they would break up on October 11, 2003, after their Last Heaven tour of Japan.

Thee Michelle Gun Elephant frequently used the The Godfather theme song as opening during their shows.

You can go to their English fan page by Troy Johnson

and their VH1 bio for more information about the band.

Here are some of their videos:

Candy House

Thunderbird Hills

Lily

Source: Wikipedia