globe vocalist KEIKO hospitalized, has emergency surgery for subarachnoid hemorrhage
October 25, 2011 by J!-ENT · Leave a Comment
KEIKO (39), the lead vocalist of the pop group globe collapsed at her home on Monday. It was at first reported that it was not a life-threatening injury but reports are now coming out that the vocalist had subarachnoid hemorrhaging and that emergency surgery on KEIKO was done on Tuesday.
Her agency has issued a statement that the surgery was successful.
globe – FACES PLACES (J!-ENT World Groove Classic Album Review)
May 3, 2008 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
“globe’s third album ‘FACES PLACES’ continues the winning streak with a collection of chart topping hits from members: Komuro Tetsuya, KEIKO and Marc Panther”
BAND: globe
ALBUM: FACES PLACES
LABEL: avex trax
CATALOG #: AVCG-70002
DURATION: 1:12:26
RELEASE DATE: March 7, 2007
- overdose
- DEGENERATE
- FACES PLACES
- Is this love
- So far away from home (Beautiful Journey)
- a temporary girl
- Because I LOVE the NIGHT
- Anytime smokin’ cigarette
- Watch the movie?
- a picture on my mind
- FACE
- Can’t Stop Fallin’ in Love
- can’t stop PIANO SOLO
- FACES PLACES (REMIX)
It’s been a little more than a decade when “FACES PLACES”, the third album by globe was released.
Their last self-titled album “globe” raked in 4 million in sales and of course, during this time was the heyday of the TK family with globe, TRF, Amuro Namie, hitomi and a few others leading the charge by chart topping hit one after the other.
The album would feature their chart topping singles “Is this Love” (6th CD single), “Can’t Stop Fallin’ In Love” (7th CD single), “FACE” (8th CD single) and “FACES PLACES” (9th CD single).
As I replay the album again, I recall the TK-related albums beginning and sometimes ending with an instrumental by Komuro Tetsuya.
The second track “DEGENERATE” had that TRF and dance club feel. The song is an all English track featuring Marc Panther with supporting vocals by KEIKO.
The third track “FACES PLACES” is just an awesome song. I remember watching the music video for the first time and seeing that KEIKO dyed her hair blonde and here they were performing and going to foreign countries and the fans going crazy for them. Just an awesome globe song!
The fourth track “Is this love” was a track that I remember slipping right past me. I was purchasing all the CD singles but I remember watching it on “HEY! HEY! HEY! Music Champ” and being a college student at the time, not having the funds to purchase so many other CD singles but watching the music video of the group singing in the middle of a desert and the colors so vibrant, I somehow ended up getting the CD single albeit a little late. A very cool globe song that you just wanted to sing along with over and over.
The fifth track was a song that I played a lot in my car and it would bother friends riding because it was one of those tracks that was just fun and a bit dorky in a J-Pop sense.
The sixth track “a temporary girl” was an all KEIKO song. An ok track!
The seventh track “Because I LOVE the NIGHT” was a track that was another one of those fun globe songs where you just keep singing “Because I LOVE the NIGHT!” and a song that I can imagine people singing it loud during a concert performance.
The eighth track “Anytime smokin’ cigarette”… Wow! I just loved this song to death and played it over and over and over during my commute to college. The concert performance was just uber-cool and sure, it was a bit pro-smoking but just the concert performance and seeing KEIKO in a constant flow of cool vocals, Marc Panther chiming in and smoking his cigarette and TK just jamming. Awesome song!
The ninth track “Watch the movie?” was more of an instrumental song than vocal. You would have KEIKO humming and singing in the background it’s more of an instrumental song with TK showcasing his keyboards and electric guitar playing.
The tenth track “a picture on my mind” was a song that the music shows kept playing over and over on television in Japan when showcasing this album. A cool song and I dig the music!
The eleventh track “FACE” was a CD single a powerful globe track and I just remember wondering why they had two CD single tracks with the word “FACE” in it.
The twelve track “Can’t Stop Fallin’ in Love” was a song that received a lot of airplay. It was a cool track and made me wonder if KEIKO could sing this song perfectly during a live performance. The following track was a piano solo of that song.
The final track “FACES PLACES (REMIX)” is more of a forgettable mix, mainly an instrumental with Marc Panther rapping and a the vocals from KEIKO used at the end.
As for the CD insert booklet, the booklet featured the lyrics and photos of the group.
Even ten years later, I still feel that “FACES PLACES” by globe as one of the coolest albums as it was a big part of Japanese pop culture during the mid-90′s and was a product of the TK-family hype that dominated Japan.
A good number of hits featured on this album and fortunately, not remixed but the original tracks which was satisfying to know. (Note: Many TK produced albums at the time featured remix versions of the song, not the originals)
But all in all, an album that I can listen to with as much enjoyment that I had back then, still exhibit that same feeling today. “FACES PLACES” was definitely a cool album.
[WORLD GROOVE][Classic Review] Currently listening to avex dance matrix ’95 Live
April 17, 2008 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
ARTISTS: Various
ALBUM TITLE: avex dance matrix ’95 Live
CATALOG #: AVCD-11357/B
DURATION: (DISC 1) DISCO WEEK in VELFARRE: 1:00:51 (DISC2) TK DANCE CAMP: 1:11:49
RELEASED on December 14, 1995
DISCO WEEK in VELFARRE
- Samantha Gilles – Here Comes the Night
- Maio & CO – Dark in the Night
- METAL MIND MANIACS – F.A.Y.
- Cappella – Move It Up
- Youco Kaido – Every Wednesday
- The Secret Life – I Want You
- Nicki French – Total Eclipse of the Heart
- Michael Fortunati – Bany Break It Up!
- EUROGROOVE – Dive to PAradise
- m.c.A*T – Kaze ni Sakebu – Energy Guy no Theme
- Technotronic Feat. Ya Kid K – Move it to the Rhythm
- Jaki Graham – Style
- Bananarama – I Found Love
- John Robinson – Everybody
TK DANCE CAMP
- TRF – masquerade
- TRF – survival dance~no no cry more~
- hitomi – GO TO THE TOP
- Amuro Namie with SUPER MONKEYS – TRY ME ~ Watashi wo Shinjite~
- Amuro Namie – Taiyou no Season
- Suirei – Koi wo surutabini kizu tsuki yasuku
- globe – Joy to the love (globe)
- Sakamoto Ryuichi – VOLTEX OF LOVE
- TRF – CRAZY GONNA CRAZY
- TRF – Overnight Sensation
- H Jungle with T – GOING GOING HOME
- H Jungle with T – WOW WOW WAR TONIGHT ~toki ni wa okose yo MUUVUMEN’TO~
In 1995, there were two live events which brought many artists together courtesy of the avex trax label. The first was “DISCO WEEK in VELFARRE” which was promoting the club music scene of the avex-owned dance night club (which shut down on New Year’s Day 2007) and the other was the outdoor concert “TK DANCE CAMP” (a pre-cursor to avex’s a-nation Summer live event) celebrating the emerging popularity of the TK family ala popular producer and musician Komuro Tetsuya.
The album “Avex Dance Matrix ’95 Live” would feature a total of two discs and also two VHS releases.
The DISCO WEEK in VELFARRE would feature the type of groups that would perform at VELFARRE and some songs that would remind me of the early Juliana’s Tokyo years in the early 90′s with signficant songs such as METAL MIND MANIACS “F.A.Y.” (aka Fuck All Y’all) and Nicki French’s club revival with her classic hit “Total Eclipse of the Heart”. And of course, Technotronic feat. Ya Ki K with “Move It To the Rhythm”.
It was great to hear the crowd cheering the artist at VELFARRE and you can tell the club was full of energy. What is missing though on the CD is on the LaserDisc with the debut performance of MAX (Formerly the SUPER MONKEYS) and a cool performance by (the then spelled in lower case) trf. But they do have m.c.A*T’ featured and also a performance by TK’s EUROGROOVE group.
But for me, the disc that I have listened to and truly enjoyed was the “TK DANCE CAMP”. For me, avex trax in the mid-90′s was all about the emerging TK family.
During this time, TRF was the top group and establishing avex trax as a record label. Komuro Tetsuya then would produce the music for teen idol Amuro Namie which would dominate the charts and break records from 1995-1998. globe would be the group that would come out in the forefront and feature Komuro Tetsuya along with KEIKO and Marc Panther and hitomi would be the fashion model that Komuro Tetsuya was bringing to the masses as a singer. Of course, part of the TK mystique was taking someone who can’t sing but making them popular and through a dare, he did it with DOWNTOWN comedian (and “HEY! HEY! HEY! Music Champ host) Hamada Masatoshi (aka Hama-chan) which he took the comedian to the top of the charts with “WOW WOW WAR TONIGHT”.
But part of the mystique at that time was that mega-producer mystique of Komuro Tetsuya and what he had accomplished at that time before going to the next phase of the music industry in 1999 with the likes of pop stars such as Utada Hikaru and Hamasaki Ayumi.
But I still listen to this CD because you can hear the crowd as they were excited by these groups and artist. It was definitely a golden time for the J-Pop fan during that time and something I will never forget. One of the few live CD’s featuring various artists from the avex trax label and this album was worth owning for this disc alone.
The CD insert features track listings for both discs and pictures from the live performance.
“avex dance matrix ’95 Live” is one of those live CD’s that I will probably treasure, mainly for the nostalgic factor of the mid-90′s. As a big trf fan back then, to see how the group exploded into popularity was phenomenal. To see how globe would then exploded into the music scene and dominate the charts and of course, Amuro Namie winning the hearts for her music and dance and hitomi winning the hearts of fans by her sexiness, it was a charming time.
But the best part of me was two tracks. When Amuro Namie and the Super Monkeys performed “TRY ME” and got the crowd going like crazy and the final track where H Jungle with T performed “WOW WAR TONIGHT” and everyone from the TK family would join on stage with the dancers and support Hama-chan as he was tired, sweaty and basically just screaming the lyrics and the other performers just singing and dancing along on stage with him. That was incredible.
Definitely a golden year for J-Pop if you were a TK fan.
globe – Wanderin’ Destiny (a J!-ENT World Groove CD Single Review)
October 15, 1997 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
It’s been awhile since glove has released a ballad or a mid-tempo track, but overall, “Wanderin’ Destiny” is a pretty enjoyable song with cool vocals by KEIKO!
GROUP: globe
CD SINGLE: Wanderin’ Destiny
LABEL: avex globe
CATALOG #: AVDG-71011
DURATION: 18:00
RELEASE DATE: October 15, 1997
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1. Wanderin’ Destiny
2. Wanderin’ Destiny -”BOOM THE BASS” MIX-
3. Wanderin’ Destiny -INSTRUMENTAL-
globe is back with “Wanderin’ Destiny”, the group’s 11th single and is a slow-to-mid-tempo ballad and is similar to “DEPARTURES” but instead of a sad song, we have a more positive song which happens to be the theme song to the Japanese drama “Aoi Tori”.
The song is written by both TK and Marc Panther and is a pretty cool with a catchy chorus sung by KEIKO. Marc Panther’s rap section does remind me of “DEPARTURES” but overall, the single is a pretty awesome.
The second track is a “BOOM THE BASS MIX” and is pretty much an experimental track by TK relying more on drum beats. It’s an OK remix as it tends to interfere with KEIKO’s vocal portion of the song at times. The third single is the instrumental version of “Wanderin’ Destiny”.
Overall, I’m sure many fans have been waiting for a ballad by globe since “DEPARTURES” and “Is this love”, and it took nearly over a year but for the most part, “Wanderin’ Destiny” is a pretty cool and positive ballad. Recommended for the hardcore globe fan!
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globe – FACES PLACES (a J!-ENT World Groove CD Single Review)
April 8, 1997 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
“FACES PLACES” comes from a more edgier globe…and I love it! A solid single and globe fans will definitely want to pick this one up!
GROUP: globe
CD SINGLE: FACES PLACES
LABEL: avex globe
CATALOG #: AVDG-71009
DURATION: 18:40
RELEASE DATE: March 5, 1997
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1. Faces Places [Straight Run]
2. Faces Places [Dr.Distorto' Mix]
3. Faces Places [Instrumental]
globe returns with their 9th single “FACES PLACES” and their second single for 1997. According to TK, the songs lyrics reflect how he has changed musically in different periods of time (1970, 1981, 1984, 1994 and 1997).
Although the single didn’t reach #1 on the Oricon Charts, “FACES PLACES” is a single that not only captured my attention (thanks to their awesome music video for it) but it just showed this raw edge to the group that they have developed since KEIKO had died her hair blonde. The group seems to be much more edgier than when they first debuted, almost rebellious in some ways and I love it!
I just love the overall track and KEIKO shines on this single and even TK and Marc Panther also do a wonderful job. I love the harmony and once again, it’s that edginess that has me listening to this CD single over and over again.
The coupling track is a “Dr. Distorto Mix” for “FACES PLACES”. I find myself always talking about how TK’s mixes are hit and miss, this one is OK musically. It’s a more Marc Panther driven track with occasional KEIKO vocals but its an OK remix. The single ends with a instrumental version of “FACES PLACES”.
Overall, if you are a globe fan and you’re digging this new and edgier globe, then definitely pick this single up!
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globe – FACE (a J!-ENT World Groove CD Single Review)
January 24, 1997 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
“FACE” is the globe’s 8th CD single and a KEIKO-driven track. Catchy, upbeat and enjoyable!
GROUP: globe
CD SINGLE: FACE
LABEL: avex globe
CATALOG #: AVDG-71008
DURATION: 19:06
RELEASE DATE: January 15, 1997
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1. FACE
2. FACE (Tristesse De L’amour Mix)
3. FACE (Instrumental)
globe’s 8th single became the group’s fifth single to debut at #1 and a track that relies heavily on KEIKO’s vocals.
“FACE” begins slowly with KEIKO singing and then transitions to a fast-paced track and then transitions to a smoother style of music that compliments Marc Panther’s rap style. Definitely an upbeat, enjoyable, fast-paced globe song.
The second track is a “Tristesse De’Lamour Mix” and is a pretty good mix with a deeper bass and more pronounced beats and also an extended musical intro. The third track is an instrumental version of “FACE”.
If you enjoyed songs like “FREEDOM”, that are faster-paced, you’ll definitely find “FACE” to be an awesome song. If anything, the single is more KEIKO and I’m sure many fans won’t mind. Overall, another awesome single from globe!
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TK presents YOU ARE THE ONE (a J!-ENT World Groove CD Single)
January 7, 1997 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
The TK family have dominated the charts and it’s great to have everyone together and take part in this song. If you are a TK family fan, “YOU ARE THE ONE” is highly recommended!
GROUP: TK Presents/TK Presents Konetto
CD SINGLE: YOU ARE THE ONE
LABEL: Nippon Crown, Ltd.
CATALOG #: KPDD-20171
DURATION: 17:30
RELEASE DATE: January 1, 1997
BUY THIS CD SINGLE from:
- YOU ARE THE ONE ORIGINAL MIX
- YOU ARE THE ONE A CAPPELLA MIX
- YOU ARE THE ONE JUST INSTRUMENTAL
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globe – is this love (a J!-ENT World Groove CD Single Review)
September 4, 1996 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
An awesome globe song that is not fast-paced. Just a smooth track which showcases KEIKO’s vocals and Marc Panther’s rhymes! Awesome single!
GROUP: globe
CD SINGLE: is this love
LABEL: avex trax
CATALOG #: AVDG-71006
DURATION: 18:25
RELEASE DATE: August 28, 1996
BUY THIS CD SINGLE from:
1. Is this love
2. Is this love (CLUB BOURBON MIX)
3. Is this love (INSTRUMENTAL)
globe is back with a new single titled “is this love”, their sixth single and their third #1 single since their New Year’s hit single “DEPARTURES”.
“is this love” is not fast paced as their previous single releases and if anything, it’s kind of mellow and smooth. Nice steady beats and KEIKO pretty much takes control of this song with her beautiful vocals as does Marc Panther with his rhymes. If anything, the single shows that TK doesn’t have to rely on fast-paced synth/electro-pop to produce major hits. A pretty cool single release!
The coupling track is a swanky “CLUB BOURBON MIX” of “is this love”. To tell you the truth, a lot of the remixes by TK are hit and miss and this one was OK. But definitely not a mix I find myself listening to many times.
The third track is the instrumental version of “is this love”.
Overall, if you are a globe fan, you can definitely be happy with “is this love”. It’s a catch, smooth single and I definitely recommend it!
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globe – FREEDOM (a J!-ENT World Groove CD Single Review)
March 28, 1996 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
I absolute love “FREEDOM” and like how everything is all balanced between TK, KEIKO and Marc Panther. Everything works just right for this song! Definitely recommended!
GROUP: globe
CD SINGLE: FREEDOM
LABEL: avex globe
CATALOG #: AVDG-71005
DURATION: 16:19
RELEASE DATE: March 27, 1996
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1. FREEDOM (Radio Edit)
2. FREEDOM (Extended Mix)
3. FREEDOM (Tv Mix)
globe’s fifth single “FREEDOM” was denied the #1 spot again (debuted at #3 on the Oricon Charts) but I have to say that I love this single! Of the five singles that have been released, I would put “FREEDOM” and “DEPARTURES” on the top.
The song is fast-paced, upbeat and enjoyable! I like the musical arrangement by TK and I like the harmony between KEIKO and TK and I even like the rapping of Marc Panther on this single. If anything, the song is unlike their previous released CD singles. It’s probably the first single in which the three are well-balanced in what they bring to the song vocally and musically.
The second track is an extended mix of “FREEDOM” featuring more music tacked onto the beginning and end. Also, more guitar playing this time around by TK. The third track is the usual “TK Mix” which is the instrumental version of the song plus TK’s background vocals.
Overall, I feel that “FREEDOM” is a pretty awesome song and one of my favorite tracks from the group thus far. Definitely recommended!
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globe – DEPARTURES (a J!-ENT World Groove CD Single)
January 1, 1996 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
“DEPARTURES” is a fantastic globe song and unlike their previously released singles. The arrangement for this track is awesome, KEIKO sounds spectacular and Marc Panther was very good as well. If you enjoy the music of globe, “DEPARTURES” is highly recommended!
GROUP: globe
CD SINGLE: DEPARTURES
LABEL: avex globe
CATALOG #: AVDG-71004
DURATION: 17:22
RELEASE DATE: January 1, 1996
BUY THIS CD SINGLE from:
1. DEPARTURES (RADIO EDIT)
2. DEPARTURES (EXTENDED MIX)
3. DEPARTURES (INSTRUMENTAL)
When I first listened to globe’s “DEPARTURES”, I knew immediately…this song is going to be #1!
And sure enough, the fifth single from globe has reached #1 and is the second #1 single for the trio who just debuted five months ago.
A lot of credit has to go to this well-oiled machine ala the TK Family and the domination Tetsuya Komuro and his artists/groups have literally had since 1994 beginning with trf and continuing today with his own group, globe.
What’s not to like about “DEPARTURES”. The song features an awesome arrangement and piano background. KEIKO is just magnificent vocally in this song and Marc Panther, his rap is kept to a minimum and it’s not happy or anything distracting. Everything comes together quite well for this song but most of all, the vocal performance by KEIKO really grabs your attention and for me, I haven’t stopped listening to this CD single since I received it.
The second track on the single features an extended mix and is more music on the intro and bridge of the song and the third track is the instrumental version of “DEPARTURES”.
An insert does come with the single featuring the lyrics to “DEPARTURES” and on the other side, a promotion for TK’s website and the globe fan club “house of globe”.
“DEPARTURES” is a fantastic single and if you are a globe fan, I highly recommend purchasing this single!
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