Half Japanese is a seminal punk rock band formed by brothers Jad and David Fair in their Uniontown, Maryland bedroom around 1975 - 1977. Like The Shaggs, the Fair brothers were self-taught and thoroughly unconventional musicians; their early raw, unvarnished sound careened between naïvely amateurish-sounding canoodling and avant-garde experimentation. Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ... Jad Fair is a member of lo-fi alternative rock group Half Japanese. ... The Shaggs on the cover of their only official album, Philosophy of the World (1969) The Shaggs was an American all-woman band. ...

Their quirky song lyrics often deal with monsters and the supernatural (especially as influenced by campy "creature feature" and scifi movies), in addition to more conventional themes, such as the visceral thrills of crushes and infatuations. They have stated that all their songs are either "love songs or monster songs." DVD cover showing horror characters as depicted by Universal Studios. ... Poster for The Day the Earth Stood Still, an archetypal science fiction film. ...

Fans of Half Japanese include Penn Jillette, who helped the band release some of their albums on his ad hoc 50 Skidillion Watts label, and the late Kurt Cobain, who had them open for Nirvana's 1993 tour. In fact, Cobain died wearing a t-shirt featuring the band.^{[citation needed]} Over time David Fair became less involved, ultimately quitting the band in favor of married life. Subsequently, the band was plagued with a revolving door group of musicians for a period. Penn Fraser Jillette (born March 5, 1955 in Greenfield, Massachusetts) is an American illusionist, juggler and comedian known for his work with fellow illusionist Teller in the team known as Penn & Teller. ... Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – c. ... Nirvana was a popular rock band from Aberdeen, Washington, United States. ...

The line-up stabilized when guitarist, multi-instrumentalist John Sluggett (who is also a longtime member of Moe Tucker's band), joined in 1988 and when Jason Willett, also a multi-instrumental experimentalist joined in 1990. Willett was invited by Jad and also given the task of recruiting the new lineup, which included drummer Gilles Reider. Maureen Ann Moe Tucker (born 1945, in New Jersey, United States) is best know for having been the drummer for the rock group The Velvet Underground. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

They have worked with Moe Tucker from the Velvet Underground, who produced Fire In the Sky (1990), Don Fleming, Fred Frith, and John Zorn, among others. Maureen Ann Moe Tucker (born 1945, in New Jersey, United States) is best know for having been the drummer for the rock group The Velvet Underground. ... Donald Denver Fleming (born June 11, 1937, in Bellaire, Ohio, died June 4, 1963 in Winter Park, Florida) was an American football defensive back who played for the University of Florida and the Cleveland Browns. ... Fred Frith performing at the Moers Jazz Festival, 1 June 1998. ... John Zorn (born September 2, 1953 in NYC, USA) is an avant-garde Jewish American composer and saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist. ...

The band's history and influence was chronicled in the 1993 documentary Half Japanese: The Band That Would Be King by Jeff Feuerzeig.

Discography

• Half Alive (1977)
• Calling All Girls 7" (1977)
• Mono/No No 7" (1978)
• Half Gentlemen/Not Beasts (1980)
• Loud (1981)
• Spy/I know how it Feels...Bad/My Knowledge Was Wrong 7" (1981)
• Horrible (1982)
• 50 Skidillion Watts Live (1984)
• Our Solar System (1985)
• Sing No Evil (1985)
• Music To Strip By (1987) -- (1993) re-release has bonus tracks
• U.S. Teens Are Spoiled Bums 7" (1988)
• Charmed Life (1988)
• Real Cool Time/What Can I Do/Monopoly EP (1989)
• the Band That Would Be King (1989)
• We Are They Who Ache with Amorous Love (1990)
• T For Texas/Go Go Go Go 7" (1990)
• Everybody Knows, Twang 1 EP (1991)
• 4 Four Kids EP (1991)
• Eye of the Hurricane/Said and Done/U.S. Teens are Spoiled Bums/Daytona Beach EP (1991)
• Fire In the Sky (1993)
• Postcard EP (1991)
• Best Of Half Japanese (1993)
• Boo: Live in Europe 1 (1994)
• Hot (1995)
• Greatest Hits (1995)
• Best Of Half Japanese Vol. 2 (1995)
• Bone Head (1997)
• Heaven Sent (1997)
• Hello (2001)

For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ... For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year 1984. ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Charmed Life may refer to: Charmed Life, a 1977 novel by Diana Wynne Jones Charmed Life, a 1990 album by Billy Idol Charmed Life, a 1997 film directed by Eugene Lo Charmed Life, a 1988 album by Half Japanese. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... This article is about the year. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year 2001. ...

External links

• The Half Japanese Fan Site
• Half Japanese entry at the Trouser Press website
• Half Japanese band page at Alternative Tentacles label website
• Jad Fair's official website

Listening

• Epitonic.com: Half Japanese featuring tracks from "Hello"
• Myspace Page featuring tracks from various albums