Help me find a strange outsider rock band

August 17, 2014 7:55 PM

I've searched and searched to no avail, and I'm starting to think this whole thing was a fever dream. I could swear that I read an article a few years ago about a Japanese rock band which was formed by a few schoolgirls who had never actually heard rock music. Everything they knew came from reading about it in magazines. I believe this took place during the 1960's. Of course, I may have some or all of the details wrong. Can you restore my sanity?
posted by stephennelson to Media & Arts (16 answers total)

The Pinky Chicks? Can't link on my phone, but give them a listen.
posted by Floydd at 8:00 PM on August 17, 2014

Might you be thinking of The Shaggs?
posted by shirobara at 8:00 PM on August 17, 2014 [1 favorite]

Yeah, it's totally The Shaggs.
posted by bibliogrrl at 8:17 PM on August 17, 2014

Thirding The Shaggs.
posted by c'mon sea legs at 8:29 PM on August 17, 2014

The 5.6.7.8's?
posted by ovvl at 8:49 PM on August 17, 2014 [1 favorite]

I don't think it's the Shaggs because they actually were familiar with pop music. Dot Wiggin just has her own beat, which made Philosophy of the World weird and iconic. I think a lot of people like the story and myth of the Shaggs more than they listen to the Shaggs (which makes sense, though I really think that album is a gem.) Also they're not Japanese.

This story sounds familiar and the name of the band is bubbling up from the depths of my brain. Hopefully it will sally forth soon.
posted by kendrak at 8:58 PM on August 17, 2014

Response by poster: Thanks for the answers so far everybody! The Shaggs are certainly in the same vein, but it's not them that I'm thinking of.
posted by stephennelson at 9:18 PM on August 17, 2014

Longshot here...Half Japanese?
Schoolgirls, no. Outsider, oh my yes.
posted by Soap D. Spencer at 12:23 AM on August 18, 2014

Response by poster: Half Japanese certainly brought a smile to my face! Alas, that's not them either. Part of this dilemma is a google problem: when I try searching for rock bands who had never heard rock music before, I get a bunch of results for "the best rock bands you've never heard before".
posted by stephennelson at 12:58 AM on August 18, 2014

The closest I can think of is an Indonesian band called Dara Puspita -- they certainly heard other bands, but rock music was illegal in Indonesia at the the time they started, so they would've had to listen to it in secret.
posted by Karlos the Jackal at 1:21 AM on August 18, 2014 [1 favorite]

Sounds a little bit like Pink Lady. They might have known about rock music, but they apparently didn't know any English -- though they sang in English (they had to do it phonetically).
posted by akk2014 at 5:39 AM on August 18, 2014 [1 favorite]

Not exactly what you're looking for, but Babymetal is a metal band made up of Japanese school girls with no previous knowledge of metal music.
posted by Bourbonesque at 6:50 AM on August 18, 2014 [3 favorites]

Shonen Knife?
posted by capricorn at 7:29 AM on August 18, 2014 [2 favorites]

Someone in here, perhaps? At the very least, you'll probably find this interesting...
posted by Naberius at 8:29 AM on August 18, 2014

I don't have any suggestions, but you should check out the movie "We Are the Best!"
posted by humboldt32 at 9:33 AM on August 18, 2014

Maybe you're thinking of the band Paranmaum from the movie Linda Linda Linda? (And if not, you should watch it anyway... it's a really great film. I haven't seen We Are the Best! yet but it sounds like a Swedish version of the same story).
posted by Gortuk at 10:34 AM on August 18, 2014