Pizzicato Five (formerly typeset as Pizzicato V and sometimes abbreviated to P5) was a Japanese pop band formed in Tokyo in 1979 by multi-instrumentalists Yasuharu Konishi and Keitarō Takanami. After some personnel changes in the late 1980s, the band gained international fame as a duo consisting of Konishi and vocalist Maki Nomiya. With their music blending together 1960’s pop, jazz and synth-pop, the group were a prominent component in the Shibuya-kei movement of the 1990s.
The band released its first single on Haruomi Hosono’s Non-Standard label (Teichiku Records), a 12-inch release titled “The Audrey Hepburn Complex” which was produced by Hosono, in 1985. They followed this with the single “Action”. In 1986, Pizzicato V signed with CBS/Sony. In 1987, the band released their first all-new album, Couples. It was a commercial failure, and the record company began pressuring the band to find a new lead singer. Takao Tajima, Original Love’s frontman, joined the band soon as the new vocalist. He decided to work at these two bands. With Tajima, the band released its second album, Bellissima! in 1988.
In 1990, Maki Nomiya, who had previously released one solo album, joined as the third lead vocalist. Takao Tajima left to concentrate on his own band Original Love. In 1991, Pizzicato Five signed with Nippon Columbia/Seven Gods (later Triad Records). Following three EP’s showcasing Nomiya’s vocals, Pizzicato Five released This Year’s Girl. Inspired by the advent of sampling, the group put together a sound which would help start the burgeoning Shibuya-kei scene. The album would spawn two of their best-known songs: “Twiggy Twiggy” and “Baby Love Child”.
1992 saw a change in direction as the clubby Sweet Pizzicato Five was released. The band began to get increasing exposure via the theme songs it recorded for television dramas (a common practice for pop bands in Japan), achieving widespread fame with the 1993 single “Sweet Soul Revue”, which was featured in a major spring advertising campaign for Kao Corporation (Kanebo Cosmetics). In December, the single “The Night Is Still Young” (東京は夜の七時, tōkyō wa yoru no shichiji) (literally, 7 p.m. in Tokyo) became another smash hit after it was used as the opening theme of the children’s television programme UgoUgo Rūga Ni-gō.
The band’s American debut came in 1994 with the release of the EP Five by Five. This was quickly followed by a full-length album, Made in USA, a compilation of tracks from their last three Japanese albums which sold 200,000 copies worldwide. Shortly before the release of the next album Overdose in the same year, Keitarō Takanami quit the band, leaving Konishi and Nomiya as the only remaining members. In February 1995, the two set off on a successful 14-stop tour of Europe and America. After the 1996 release of the album Romantique 96 and several singles, including the hit “Baby Portable Rock”, in 1997 the band formed its own label, Readymade Records, and released the commercially successful album Happy End of the World – the only Pizzicato Five album to be released unchanged in both Japan and the rest of the world.
In 2000, Matador Records released Pizzicato Five under the somewhat less confusing name of The Fifth Release from Matador. The CD version of this left out the first song “Love Again” but added three extra tracks (one from each of the JBL Maxisonic EPs), while the LP version shared the same title but deviated still further from the original track listing. It would also be Pizzicato Five’s last American release. 2001 saw the Japanese release of the album Ca et la du Japon and the announcement that the band was to break up, followed by a series of live events featuring guest performances by old members and two further Big Hits and Jet Lags albums – Pizzicato Five R.I.P. (1998–2001) and Singles (1993–2001).
