Sadistic Mika Band was a Japanese rock band formed in 1972. Its name is a parody of the late 60s band Plastic Ono Band. Produced by Masatoshi Hashiba on Toshiba-EMI Records, the band was led by guitarist Kazuhiko Kato and singer Mika Fukui, who were a married couple at the time. The word “sadistic” is reported to be inspired by Mika’s sadistic way of using knives in the kitchen (and their sense of humour).
Kazuhiko Katō moved to Kensington, London in 1972 and, impressed by the burgeoning glam rock scene led by T.Rex and David Bowie, he set about forming a new group in Japan to emulate the style. The original lineup of the band included Katō, Mika, drummer Hiro Tsunoda and lead guitarist Masayoshi Takanaka. This lineup recorded the single “Cycling Boogie” in June 1972, released on Doughnut Records, Japan’s first private label that was founded by Katō. Subsequently Tsunoda left the band, to be replaced by Yukihiro Takahashi, and bassist Ray Ohara joined the band. This lineup completed the band’s self-titled debut album, which was released on the Harvest label in the United Kingdom.
Their second album Kurofune (Black Ship) was recorded in England, produced by Chris Thomas. Thomas also introduced Mika to Badfinger while he produced their 1974 LP Wish You Were Here. Her vocals can be heard on the track “Know One Knows”. Keyboardist Yu Imai, who had worked as a supporting musician on the first album was promoted to full member status. The album sold well in Japan. In the UK; however, the album sold poorly but received high praise from critics.
Ohara left the band, and was replaced by Tsugutoshi Gotō. Chris Thomas also produced their third album Hot! Menu. The album, which featured tracks such as “Mada Mada Samba”, is now quite rare although it was featured on BBC Radio 3’s Sounds Interesting. The band played live on BBC TV’s Old Grey Whistle Test in October 1975, performing two tracks: “Time to Noodle” and “Suki Suki Suki”. When they appeared, a stagehand arranged for the name of the programme (usually shown hung from the back wall) to be spelt as The Old Gley Whistle Test as a nod to the Japanese pronunciation of the letters L and R
In 2003, HMV Japan ranked the band at No. 94 on their list of the “Top 100 Japanese Pops Artists”. In September 2007, Rolling Stone Japan rated their 1974 album Black Ship at No. 9 on its list of the “100 Greatest Japanese Rock Albums of All Time”
