j-pop lover

SCANDAL

Performing at Japan Expo 2008

Background information
Origin    Osaka, Japan

Genres
J-pop, garage rock[1]

Years active    2006–Present
Labels
Kitty Records, Epic Records (current)

Website    www.scandal-4.com

Members
Haruna Ono (vocals, guitar)
Tomomi Ogawa (bass, vocals)
Mami Sasazaki (guitar,vocals)
Rina Suzuki (drums,vocals)
SCANDAL (スキャンダル?) is a Japanese pop and 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.


Scandal, in an autograph session during their US tour.
[edit] 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
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.[8]
[edit] Tie-Ins
Scandal's music has been featured in a range of popular media. Besides their aforementioned "Shōjo S" and "Shunkan Sentimental" singles, which were featured in the anime series "Bleach" and "Fullmetal Alchemist" respectively, their first single, "Space Ranger", was the opening to Kyoto Sports Weekly, and their second single, "Koi Moyō" was the main theme of the movie Corazon de Melon. Their song, "Start", is the theme of Star Ocean: Second Evolution and is available on the game's soundtrack. More recently, "Daydream" was featured on a tribute album to the classic multi-genre Japanese band, Judy and Mary.
Scandal also provided the theme music to the animated movie, Loups=Garous.[9] The movie's insert song "Koshi-Tantan" was on their single "Taiyō to Kimi ga Egaku Story". Scandal also provided both the opening and ending themes for the movie, appearing in their animated form during a special musical performance scene.
They have also been featured in commercials, promoting a line of Cecil McBee cosmetics,[10] for Nike, featuring four different colors of their footwear, and were chosen to represent Pocari Sweat in posters and in the promotional video for their song "Beauteen" as part of their summer 2009 campaign.
[edit] Fanclub [11]


Scandal, as represented in their animated form.

In October 2009, pamphlets were enclosed in the band's first album, "Best Scandal", announcing the formation of "Club Scandal".
Club Scandal is a cellphone-based fanclub with exclusive videos and interviews, behind the scenes bonus material, pictures, and up-to-the minute news on the band. It is only available for Japanese cellphones. The date it launched depends on the cellphone service provider:
•    NTT Docomo: Monday, November 9, 20

On August 21, 2010 (the 4-year anniversary of the band being founded), Scandal launched a separate, traditional mail-based fanclub alongside "Club Scandal", called "Scandal Mania".
When joining, one would receive an official membership card, a full color newsletter mailed to the member tri-annually, a special birthday message written by their favorite member (chosen at sign-up) and signed by the whole band, as well perks such as getting advance notice on tickets to live events, and special live events only for members.
les
#    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    N/A    Contains the PV for "CUTE!" Pride's B-side song and the PV for Pride    The title song was used as the second ending theme for the anime series, "Star Driver: Kagayaki no Takuto".

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   
 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    58,889    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    Details
Scandal First Live -Best Scandal 2009-    June 30, 2010    First live concert released on DVD.
EVERYBODY SAY YEAH! -TEMPTATION BOX TOUR 2010- ZEPP TOKYO    March 16, 2011    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.[14]
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.[15] and Performed on ANIMAX MUSIX – Fall 2010 featuring Shoko Nakagawa.[16]
"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,[17] it was performed again at their one-year anniversary acoustic live in October 2009[18] and during their first one-man tour in December 2009. It is a Sadistic Mika Band cover and was a tribute to the late Kazuhiko Kato (a member of that band).
"Secret Base": Originally performed by ZONE.
Major Tours / Performances
•    (03/16/2008 - 03/23/2008) Japan Nite US Tour 2008
•    (03/28/2008 - 03/30/2008) Sakura-Con 2008
•    (07/03/2008 - 07/06/2008) Japan Expo 2008
•    (08/02/2008) Hong Kong Ani-Com 2008
•    (08/03/2009) Hong Kong Ani-Com 2009
•    (12/04/2009 - 12/24/2009) First One-Man Live Tour (ファーストワンマンライブツアー)
•    (03/23/2010 - 04/10/2010) Scandal ~Shunkan Sakura Zensen TOUR~ 2010 Spring (瞬間サクラゼンセン)
•    (09/18/2010 - 10/02/2010) TEMPTATION BOX Tour
•    (11/14/2010) Anime Festival Asia X - I Love Anisong (Side B) @ Singapore