Scandal (スキャンダル Sukyandaru) (stylized as SCANDAL) is a Japanese pop rock group. Proclaiming themselves as "The Most Powerful Japanese Girlie Pop Rock", they are composed of four high school girls from Osaka, Japan: Haruna Ono, Tomomi Ogawa, Mami Sasazaki, and Rina Suzuki. Scandal is very energetic, mostly because Ono, the eldest and leader of the band, shares lead vocals with the other three members, in order to not have a focus on one girl in particular and to give each time in the limelight.
An interesting note about the group is the unique way in which they chose to promote themselves. Since they are fans of Japanese animation and manga, they wanted to be represented in animated form, turning each member into an animated character. The animated Scandal is featured on a series of promotional videos on the band's website.
Formation
In August 2006, the four girls met in an Osakan vocal and dance school called Caless.[3] As they became friends, they decided to form Scandal, writing and playing their own songs while juggling their regular school lives. Shortly thereafter, they started performing street lives every weekend at Shiroten in Osaka Castle Park. As time went on, the group started to get offers from clubs and music halls around Osaka and Kyoto.
Eventually, over one hundred fans began to consistently attend their live performances, causing the band to become noticed more in the eyes of the Japanese public. In August 2007, Scandal seized the opportunity to participate in a special event at Shibuya Club Asia, a highly recognized and respected club in Shibuya. It was during this time that record label Kitty Records (a subsidiary of Kitty Films) first asked the four girls if they would like to have their music recorded with them. Several months later, the girls had worked out a flexible independent agreement with Kitty in partnership with Tower Records
Member Profil
Name: Ono Haruna
Instruments: Vocals & Rhythm Guitar
Birthday: 1988/08/10
Birthplace: Aichi Prefecture
Blood type: A
Height: 153 cm
▪ Description ▪
HARUNA, the eldest among the group and also serves as the leader. A girl who had a passion for dancing and dreamed of becoming a dancer, but things changed when she met her co-members and eventually took on a rock n’ roll path. But the influence of dance stayed, the reason why some of their PV, choreography can be seen. HARUNA has the most powerful and deep voice that usually leads in their songs combined with the voices of the other 3 members.
Name: Sasazaki Mami
Instruments: Lead Guitar & Vocal
Birthday: 1990/05/21
Birthplace: Aichi Prefecture
Blood type: AB
Height: 161 cm
▪ Description ▪
MAMI, the lead guitarist and serves that role very well. She has awesome and cool guitar skills that makes her fans more amaze. She appears serious and kinda dark in stage that is different from the other members, but it turns extremely opposite offstage – as she shows a very cheerful personality. Also among the group, she’s the biggest fan of Japanese Anime. She also has very noticeable solo parts in their songs because of her soft-punkish voice.
Name: Suzuki Rina
Instruments: Drums & Vocal
Birthday: 1991/08/21
Birthplace: Osaka
Blood type: B
Height: 160 cm
▪ Description ▪
Name: Ogawa Tomomi
Instruments: Bass & Vocal
Birthday: 1990/05/31
Birthplace: Hyogo Prefecture
Blood type: A
Height: 157 cm
▪ Description ▪
Indie Label
In 2008, Scandal released three indie singles, all of which were exclusive to Tower Records. Their first indie single was released on March 3, 2008 in celebration of Girl's Day, which, despite being ranked second on Tower Records' "Indies Weekly Chart", sold out throughout Japan and had a hard time being kept in stock due to high demand. In an attempt to alleviate the fan's troubles in getting this album, the single was released on both the US and Japanese iTunes Music Store on April 9, 2008. Two more singles (in CD form) were released in the months following, both being ranked number 1 on the "Indies Weekly Chart". Their second single, Koi Moyō, was also designated as the Japanese iTunes Store's "Song of the Week" from April 16 to April 22, 2008.[4]
Right after their first release, Scandal left Japan to go on their first international tour, "Japan Nite US Tour 2008", followed by two concerts at the Japanese cultural and anime convention, "Sakura-Con 2008" from March 16 to March 30. In July of the same year, they performed at France's Japan Expo and also at Hong Kong's Ani-Com in August. Scandal concluded their indie career with the release of their first mini-album, Yah! Yah! Yah! Hello Scandal.
Major Label
In early September 2008, Scandal began talks with the head of Sony Music Japan because with Kitty, their CDs were made in very limited quantities (only 2000 of each) which caused them to sell out quickly. They soon worked out a contract with Sony, who signed them on to their Epic Records label. However, due to Sony's ongoing disagreements with Apple Inc. over their iTunes Music Store and Sony's own Mora, the band's music which was formerly available on iTunes, was quickly removed from both the US and Japanese iTunes stores.
In October, they released their major debut single, entitled "Doll". It gave them more exposure, including appearances on mainstream music television shows like Music Station. They released "Sakura Goodbye" in March 2009 to commemorate Mami and Tomomi's high school graduation.[5] The following month, "Shōjo S" was used as the tenth opening of the anime series Bleach This brought their popularity up even higher, as the single ranked #6 on the Oricon charts when it was released two months later in June.[6]
On October 14, Scandal released "Yumemiru Tsubasa" and their first album, Best Scandal, a week later. The album ranked #5 on the Oricon weekly chart, making them the first Japanese girl band since ZONE to have a debut album chart in the top five.[7] On December 30, 2009, the 51st Japan Record Awards was held, of which Scandal was nominated for Best New Artist. In the end, they were voted runner-up to Korean boy band Big Bang.
2010 was a busy year for the group. Their single, "Shunkan Sentimental" was released, in which the title song was used as the fourth ending theme of the anime series Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. In June, the band released their single, "Taiyō to Kimi ga Egaku Story", and their first live concert DVD, Scandal First Live -Best Scandal 2009-. They released another single a month later, entitled "Namida no Regret", followed by their second album, Temptation Box. Scandal released another single on October 6, 2010 titled "Scandal Nanka Buttobase". It ranked #3 on the Oricon weekly chart, the highest ranking of any singles they've released so far.
Discography
Singles
| # | Title | Release date | Sold copies | DVD Footage | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Space Ranger" (スペースレンジャー) | March 3, 2008 | 401 | Footage of Scandal on tour, with "Space Ranger" as background music. | |
| 2 | "Koi Moyō" (恋模様, "Love Pattern") | April 4, 2008 | 686 | Footage of Scandal on tour and recording session of Space Ranger in home studio | |
| 3 | "Kagerō" (カゲロウ, "Dragon Fly") | May 5, 2008 | 586 | Japanese anime-style PV of "Koi Moyō" | |
| 4 | "Doll" | October 22, 2008 | 12,572 | Instrumental version of the PV for "Doll", with onscreen kanji for karaoke. Also has voice overs of the band cheering for the viewer to sing along. | Major label debut single. |
| 5 | "Sakura Goodbye" (SAKURA グッバイ) | March 4, 2009 | 6,995 | US tour footage, including Japan Nite 2008 and Sakura-Con 2008. Also includes personal commentary/reflection. | Prior to Haruna's graduation from high school, the title song was known simply as "Sakura" and had slightly different lyrics than the studio recording. |
| 6 | "Shōjo S" (少女S, "Girls")[12] | June 17, 2009 | 33,881 | N/A | The 10th opening theme for the anime Bleach. |
| 7 | "Yumemiru Tsubasa" (夢見るつばさ, "Dreaming Wings") | October 14, 2009 | 7,450 | N/A | Contains the tracks "Daydream" (previously featured on the Judy and Mary Tribute album) and "Beauteen" |
| 8 | "Shunkan Sentimental" (瞬間センチメンタル, "Sentimental Moment") | February 3, 2010 | 28,838 | N/A | The 4th ending theme for the anime Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. The limited edition has the shortened TV Size version of the title song as a bonus track. |
| 9 | "Taiyō to Kimi ga Egaku Story" (太陽と君が描くSTORY, "The Story That You and the Sun Drew") | June 2, 2010 | 12,359 | N/A | Track 2 features the Loups=Garous insert song, "Koshi-Tantan." |
| 10 | "Namida no Regret" (涙のリグレット, "Tears of Regret") | July 28, 2010 | 11,764 | N/A | SCANDAL's first ballad. |
| 11 | "Scandal Nanka Buttobase" (スキャンダルなんかブッ飛ばせ) | October 6, 2010 | 31,578 | Limited edition A: Live performance of "Namida no Regret" Limited edition B: Live performance of "Taiyō to Kimi ga Egaku Story" Limited edition C: Live performance of "Shunkan Sentimental." Portions of these live performances were featured on the band's short television program, "Shiteki Ongaku Jiyou". | Ranked #3 on Oricon chart |
| 12 | "Pride"[13] | February 9, 2011 | 24,565 | N/A | The title song was used as the second ending theme for the anime series, "Star Driver: Kagayaki no Takuto". |
| 13 | "Haruka" (ハルカ "Distant")[14] | April 20, 2011 | N/A | N/A | The title song was used as the theme song for the anime film, "Tofu Kozo". |
Mini-Albums
| # | Title | Release date | Sold copies |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yah! Yah! Yah! Hello Scandal | August 8, 2008 | 1,736 |
| 2 | R-Girl's Rock! | November 17, 2010 | 19,908 |
Albums
| # | Title | Release date | Sold copies | DVD Footage | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Best Scandal | October 21, 2009 | 52,956 | Original PVs for "Space Ranger", "Koi Moyō", "Doll", "Sakura Goodbye", "Shōjo S", and "Yumemiru Tsubasa". Also has "Making-of" featurettes for "Shōjo S" and "Yumemiru Tsubasa" and digest videos of the bands 2008 gigs in the USA and Europe. | Debuted at #5 |
| 2 | Temptation Box | August 11, 2010 | 60,301 | Digest movie of the bands Spring 2010 Japanese tour and highlights of the first two "Scandal Summit" internet TV shows. | The song, "Hi-Hi-Hi" was used as a tie-in for the Japanese online game "ELSWORD". It was also featured in-game. |
Compilations
| Title | Release date | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Star Ocean: Second Evolution Original Soundtrack | May 2, 2008 | The theme song of the game, "Start", is the first track on Disc 1. |
| Judy and Mary 15th Anniversary Tribute Album | March 18, 2009 | "Daydream" is track 8. |
DVD
| Title | Release date | Sold copies | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scandal First Live -Best Scandal 2009- | June 30, 2010 | 11,107 | First live concert released on DVD. |
| Everybody Say Yeah! -Temptation Box Tour 2010- Zepp Tokyo | March 16, 2011 | 10,457 | Live DVD of Scandal featuring the band's "Temptation Box Tour 2010" performance at Zepp Tokyo. |
Unreleased Songs
Scandal has a number of songs which have only been performed in concert, not appearing on any of their commercial releases.
Original
"Play-Boy": Performed live during their 2008 American tour and at Japan Expo 2008. It was also published on their MySpace page, but was deleted shortly thereafter.
"Scandal no Theme" (SCANDALのテーマ Scandal's Theme): Performed during their 2008 American tour, their televised Mezamashi Live in August 2009, and their first one-man tour in December 2009.[15]
Covers
"Don't Say "Lazy"" the ending theme to the first season of K-On!. Performed on the Music Japan Shinseiki Anisong SP in August 2009.[16] and Performed on ANIMAX MUSIX – Fall 2010 featuring Shoko Nakagawa.[17]
"Time Machine ni Onegai" (タイムマシンにお願い Please Use Your Time Machine): Originally performed in early 2006, as the band was just beginning their career,[18] it was performed again at their one-year anniversary acoustic live in October 2009[19] and during their first one-man tour in December 2009. It is a Sadistic Mika Band cover and was a tribute to the lateKazuhiko Kato (a member of that band).
"Secret Base": Originally performed by Zone.
Video:
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