Their fourth 45, with one of their finest B-sides, “Chu! Chu! Chu!”
Note Robin Hood figure still on van!In early 1967, teenager Ai Takano was playing drums and singing at the Red Shoes club in Yokohama. When an opportunity to join the Freelancers fell through, Takano and ex-Swing West guitarist Jiro Kitamura formed Robin Hood adding friends Keikichi Usui on vocals, Hiroshi Koshikawa lead guitar, and Paul Tadao Oka on bass.
Within a week of forming they had a contract and a new band name, the Carnabeats. They immediately went into the studio to record their first 45, a cover of “I Love You” by their main influence, the Zombies. It was a huge hit, the biggest of their career, and led to the release of the Zombies original version on 45 in Japan.
They put out a total of ten singles, a split LP with the Jaguars, and their own LP Carnabeats First Album, all of varying quality before breaking up in 1969, but here and there are b-sides and odd releases that together make for a good collection of music.
The B-side of their second 45 “Koio Shiyo Yo Jenny”, is a cover of the Canadian band the Great Scots’ “Give Me Lovin'” every bit as good as the original.
Back cover of “Chu! Chu! Chu!” sleeve.
The b-side to an overwrought ballad, “Chu! Chu! Chu! (Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!)” shows how the Carnabeats could range from silly pop to rocking moments within a single song. Still, this is maybe their wildest performance, containing a stupendous fuzz break and slamming drum work by Takano.
“Cutie Morning Moon” lyrics
Their next 45 was a collaboration with Gary Walker (Gary Leeds). “Cutie Morning Moon” must be one of the strangest of all Group Sounds records. Produced by Scott Walker, “Cutie Morning Moon” is wonderfully moody and uncommercial. Not many have heard the flip, “Hello Gary”, which is merely a dopey Gary Walker goofing over the backing track of “Cutie Morning Moon”. Later on, the Carnabeats opened for Gary Walker and Rain’s Japanese tour.
Although The Carnabeats were friendly with other Group Sounds acts, the band’s management insisted that they maintain a distance in public in order to appear cool and aloof, and Carnabeats drummer Ai Takano later described Jaguars singer Sin Okamoto visiting his house after dark to keep up the deceit.
However, a professional friendship developed between the band and The Walker Brothers. Ai Takano later described drummer Gary Leeds, who appeared on the B-side of their super-groovy Strangeloves style hit ‘Cutie Morning Moon’, trying to sing and play the A-side song and failing miserably.
“Go Go Stop” is from what seems to be their rarest 45. It’s a fine b-side that hasn’t been comped before to my knowledge.
Last up are a couple tracks from various artists LPs from the time. “Love Only For You” is a track from Let’s Go Group Sounds #3 and “Twinkie Lee”, with a brief but rockin’ guitar solo, is from Group Sounds World Top Hits.
After breaking up, Tadao Okada joined the Japanese cast of Hair while Ai Takano joined the Eddie Ban Group and then the Golden Cups, performing with them at their last, disastrous gig in Okinawa. Ai has since passed away.
from left: Mamoru Manu, Kenneth Ito, Dave Hirao, Louis Kabe, and Eddie Ban
Original members:
Tokimune ‘Dave’ Hirao – vocals Eddie Ban – lead guitar, vocals Kenneth Ito – guitar, vocals Masayoshi ‘Louis Louis’ Kabe – bass Mamoru Manu – drums, vocals
Golden Cups’ singer and founder Dave Hirao had played in an earlier combo called the Sphinx in Yokohama, an important city for music in Japan because of the influence of american military bases in the vicinity. He met lead guitarist Eddie Ban who, like Dave, had travelled to the U.S. to hear rock in person. Eddie had brought back a fuzz box with him from his travels, a sound which would be lavished on much of their early work.
Joining Dave and Eddie were Kennith Ito on guitar and vocals, Masayoshi Kabe on bass and Mamoru Manu on drums. Kenneth Ito had grown up in Hawaii and his English vocals on the tougher rock songs gave them an edge over most other Japanese acts of the time. Initially calling themselves the Group and I, they renamed themselves after the Golden Cup nightclub near the Honmoku army base when they became the house band there in 1966. An appearance on the NHK-TV Young 720 show gave them national exposure and led to a contract with Capitol.
Their recordings vary greatly, with lesser tracks ranging from sacharrine ballads written by industry hacks to unspectacular versions of popular soul songs, and later on to sludgy blues covers. Still, almost every 45 and lp release has something to recommend it and a few are really superb. Like most Japanese productions of the period these are all in stereo, and the band makes good use of it.
Playing at jazz kissas such as Tokyo’s La Seine, the boys would go for total burn up, but compromise totally at concert halls, playing the dull overly arranged ballads, even accompanied by an orchestra.
“Hiwa Mata Noboru” is the b-side to their first 45, “Itoshi No Jezebel” from June of 1967, and has many of the hallmarks of their sound – prominent bass playing, cymbals crashing, fuzz guitar, and Dave Hirao’s surly lead vocals.
Their second 45 “Love Is My Life” has it all – fuzz, screams, and incredible bass runs by Kabe. I recommend the flip, “Do You Know I Love You” (written by Ito and Ban) to real fans of the Japanese pop sound, but others may want to pass on it. Released on November 15, 1967.
The Golden Cups issued their first album in March of 1968, including their take on “Hey Joe”, surely one of the best versions of this song ever cut. The band takes it at an incredibly fast speed, with more amazing bass playing from Kabe, piercing fuzz leads, Kenneth Ito’s lead vocals and a full three minutes of feedback laden freak-out during the middle of the song!
The rest of the LP is a disappointment. Besides the singles tracks it’s chock full of cover songs whose very titles are enough to make a true rock fan cringe: “Whiter Shade of Pale”, “Unchained Melody”, “I’m Your Puppet” and “My Girl”. The promisingly-titled “LSD Blues” is just a slow, harmonica-wailing blues of no special distinction, and a couple r&b tunes “I Got My Mojo Workin’” and “I Feel Good” are good without being remarkable.
No other Group Sounds recording comes close to matching “This Bad Girl” for pure garage sound.
Again, it’s Kenneth Ito’s lead vocals that help put the song across. It’s probably their very best. It was the flip of their biggest hit from April of 1968, “Nagaikami No Shojo (Girl With Long Hair)”, a dismal song promoted by an idiotic Girl With Long Hair contest.
In the summer of 1968 the band lost Kenneth Ito when he returned to Hawaii to renew his visa (he was half-American) and was denied reentry to Japan because of his draft eligiblity. His replacement was a sixteen-year-old keyboardist, Mickey Yoshino. Ito would rejoin from time to time and sang “Take Three” on their third LP, Blues Message.
They did a good film clip promoting their next 45, “My Love Only for You”, but it’s currently unavailable on youtube.
A good example of what the band sounded like in late 1968, covering Cream’s “I’m So Glad”.
Pop, yes, but I love this song
The pop singles continued (“My Love Only for You”, “Goodbye My Love”) and a second LP released in September of 1968. Although it lacks any stellar songs like “Hey Joe”, I’d say this one isn’t as bad as the first. The cover songs tend to be soul standards like “Shotgun”, “Hold On I’m Comin'”, “In the Midnight Hour” and even “Spooky”, but Eddie Ban’s generous helpings of fuzztone keep them from being terminally boring.
The LP contained only one new song of note, “Happening at 3 O’Clock A.M”, where a speeded-up excerpt from the Electric Prunes’ Vox Wah Wah ad segues into a psychedelic spaghetti-western style trip. It features Louis Kabe’s only lead vocal, if you can call it that, with the Cups. This song was also put on the flip-side of their fifth 45 in December of 1968. Jean-Pierre sent it in and insisted I post it!
Eddie Ban left in April of 1969, followed by more personnel changes and a shift to a blues and standard rock repertoire.
Julian Cope writes:
Each release sounded more and more like a cruise ship entertainment than a heavyweight outfit, and it was something of a mercy killing when, on New Year’s Eve 1972, the Okinawa discotheque in which they were playing burned to the ground, taking all of The Cups’ possessions and equipment with it.
Kenneth Ito died in the 1980’s. Dave Hirao later ran a club called “Bold” in Roppongi, he passed away on November 10, 2008. Eddie Ban opened a famous Chinese restaurant in Yokohama but is again playing music. Before Dave passed away, there was a documentary on the group One More Time that led to a reunion, and Mamoru Manu also led a reunion in 2007.
Much more info is at japrocksampler.com, and thanks again to Buis for his informative comments on the original article – I’ve incorporated some of that info into this revised piece (10/2009).
This site is a work in progress on 1960s garage rock bands. All entries can be updated, corrected and expanded. If you have information on a band featured here, please let me know and I will update the site and credit you accordingly.
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