Biography
Kazuhiko Kato 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 Kato, Mika, drummer Hiro Tsunoda and lead guitarist Masayoshi Takanaka. This lineup recorded the single "Cycling Boogie" in 1973. 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.
Kato passed the album to Malcolm McLaren who at the time had a shop with Vivienne Westwood, and McLaren passed it on to Bryan Ferry, whose band Roxy Music would later support on a tour.
Their second album Kurofune (黒船, Black Ship(s)?) 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" (translating Pete Ham's lyrics to Japanese). 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 Goto. Chris Thomas also produced their third album Hot! Menu. The album, which featured tracks such as "Mada Mada Samba", is now quite rare though it was featured on BBC Radio 3's Sounds Interesting. The band played live on BBC TV's Old Grey Whistle Test during October 1975. The band performed 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 joke on the Japanese mispronunciation of the letters L and R.
The band also made an appearance on BBC TV's Pebble Mill at One and were interviewed by Jan Leeming. Photographs from this appearance were published in the book S/M/B/2 (2006, Shinko Music) by Masayoshi Sukita, who was a close friend of the band.
The band played live in the United Kingdom supporting Roxy Music including a show at Wembley Stadium. It was the first ever tour by a Japanese rock band. Recordings from these concerts were released as their Live in London album. After this album was released, Kazuhiko Kato and Mika divorced, and both left the band. Mika later married Chris Thomas and moved to the UK, where she worked as a food researcher.
Read more about this topic: Sadistic Mika Band
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