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I really clicked with the band after watching a video of their Warp concert. It could be Takuya’s carefully played solos, Kohta lip-synching to the lyrics, Onda’s dancing or Yuki’s tears after singing Lover Soul but something confirmed my assumptions that all members of J.A.M. loved music and were really devoted to their work. When it comes down to it, this is what makes a band stand out of the crowd.
This aspect is a huge contrast when compared to the band’s fashion and stage antics; their seemingly homemade clothes and recklessness show they are not in show business to look pretty and count their money. They got together because they were good friends and loved music. This is something that always reflects in an artist’s music; being able to feel all the fun, and sometimes despair, put in the making of Judy and Mary’s songs is an essential part of their success. This cute and scandalous mixture is where their band name came from. They explained "Judy" and "Mary" are the two conflicting personalities embodied in every human being. Music is more on the catchy than complex side but every member can pull their load and display their respectable music talent. When a band has such a distinctive vocalist, extra attention needs to be put to the music or songs quickly become repetitive. Takuya, Onda and Kohta have nothing to reproach themselves for; as catchy as most of their songs are, none of them sound like reprocessed material. It would be easy for them to stand in Yuki’s shadow but thankfully, they are all too talented to let that happen.
Their two first singles, Power of Love and Blue Tears prepared the stage for their first official album, J.A.M. Steadily climbing up the charts the band slowly but surely made their name as one of the leaders in Japanese pop music. Two albums later, one of their songs, Sabakasu, was used as the opening for the first season of the very popular animated series Rurouni Kenshin. Sabakasu was an instant hit and propelled the band into more fame than they could ever imagine. Without sitting on their success, Judy and Mary continued on their winning streak and produced four more albums (excluding live albums and compilations) until the band’s dissolution in 2001. After the release of Warp in summer 2001, they decided to call it quits. Yuki now has a solo career and drums for an all-female band named Mean Machine and Takuya decided to spend all his time with his newly reformed band, Robots. The band leaves behind nine albums, twenty-two singles and legions of fans who still groove to their music.
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Pop Life
Now, I am a huge fan of Judy and Mary's early works but Daydream is no match for the combined powers of the energetic Sanpomichi and the powerful Lover Soul. This album features many different styles, sometimes even in a single song. I suggest buying this one right before the self-titled album J.A.M. or one of the "best of" albums, Fresh and The Great Escape. |
No one can resist the charm of Daydream. My stepping stone into J-Pop, it's the song which opened my eyes to the potential of international music and foreign lyrics by its liveliness and catchiness. Gotta love the short but sweet Latin guitar solo and the wonderful chorus vocals.
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Takuya's Official Site: http://www.takuya.mu/ Robots (featuring Takuya)'s Official Site: http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/music/pickup/9809/robots Yuki's Official Site: http://www.yukiweb.net Chara+Yuki (featuring Yuki)'s Official Site: http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/music/info/charayuki/ (Tip: use AltaVista's Babel Fish translator)
English Fan Site: Hyper JAM: http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Ginza/3851/
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My
first steps into J-Pop were made with Judy and Mary. I
could really listen to this band all day long, which I do. New and old,
their songs transcend time and leave me continually humming their haunting
melodies. This band emits such energy in their songs and style; trying to
resist the toe tapping is just too much for one person to handle. 
The
first standout one notices in Judy and Mary is undeniably
the vocals performed by Isoya Yuki. No matter how loud, no matter how high
or how low, Yuki’s piercing voice never fails or becomes annoying to
the ear. It has a kind of adorability to it, not to mention she is,
herself, exceptionally cute. 
Yuki
and Onda started Judy and Mary in 1992. Yuki was only
twenty years old at the time but Onda and herself already had been a
part of several bands before then. Kotha was also part of the original
ensemble but things only started to happen when Tokuya left his band
called Robots to join with J.A.M. in
1993. His music writing style matched with Yuki’s enthralling voice
with aplomb.
