FRANK CHICKENS
Ninja Legends 1983-89
(Cherry Red)
Having recently reviewed the new Betamax remix of ‘We Are Ninja’, it is now time scrutinise the work of the idiosyncratic and most wonderful under-rated and over-looked Frank Chickens in a little more depth, as their 4-CD retrospective box set ‘Frank Chickens Ninja Legends 1983-1989’ is released on the 18th October. Formed in the early 1980s by Kazuko Hohki and Kazumi Taguchi, Frank Chickens sort of fitted into the post-punk scene and definitely fitted into the ‘liked by John Peel’ category and for those of you who are aware of this category, you will know that it can be quite diverse, and eclectic (in-fact ‘diverse and eclectic’ was an essential criteria to be ‘liked by John Peel’). The style of music is a blend of Japanese folk music, and British pop-punk. Kazuko says ‘As I’ve been performing in Frank Chickens for so long (more than forty years!), Frank Chickens has become a multitude of things to me - art, heritage, a community, an attitude, and a vision. It’s become a perfect art form for me, within which I can imagine, create, and communicate. It was really exciting to go back to its origins in the 80s through this back catalogue. It has inspired me to keep going even longer!
Today the band has as many as 20 members and perform shows that incorporate theatre, dance, music and muti-media visuals. If you are interested in seeing them, they are playing at the Ura Matsuri festival on Saturday 19th October at Hoxton Hall, 130 Hoxton Street, London. Described by themselves as 'an evening of East and Southeast Asian music, performance, fun and culture to a knees up of a Saturday night…’. I like where I live but I do miss living in London when events like this are on.
So, what about the music on this box set release? Disc one is the album ‘We Are Frank Chickens’ from 1984 and kicks off with ‘Cheeba Cheeba’. I was instantly and very nostalgically transported back to early 1980s synthesisers and drum machines (whatever happen to the handclap? something me and many others seriously over-used in recordings back then). It is followed by the ‘Mothra’ a more chilled jazz infused track that was a popular sound in the mid-80s. The rest of the disk one is taken up with the more well-known releases such as ‘Fujiyama Mama’, the accordion accompanied ‘Blue Canary’, and a few versions of ‘We are Ninja’. Disc one finishes with the beautiful Korean folk song ‘Ari Lang’ that because of the use of traditional instruments wouldn’t sound out of place in an Irish folk session. Disc two is the more synth pop infused 1987 album ‘Get Chickenized’. I think my favourite tracks from this album is ‘Street Angels’ as its sounds like it could fit very nicely into a Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack, (I do like my 80s movies) and ‘Japanese Girl’ which has that sound of bands such as Propaganda. Disc Three is their 1988 album ‘Club Monkey’ and the stand-out tracks from this are ‘Waiting For A Dog’, the humorous country song ‘Shaken by Gods’ (which both ditch the synths for guitars, accordion and percussion) and ‘Jackie Chan’. Disc 4 contains live sessions from John Peel, Richard Skinner, and Janice Long shows from 1983 -1989, which are always great to listen to due to occasional improvisation.
If you want to explore the origins of J-Pop popularity in this country, wonder where our love for karaoke comes from, or fancy wallowing in some 80s synth pop, this is definitely worth putting on your shopping list. It might even make a great a great Christmas present.
