High school...Weren't those three or four years, like, fun? Everyone has a few high school stories, here's one of mine: the events leading up to my first punk show.
I attended a private Christian high school on the outskirts of Tokyo. The commute was hell, two hours each way, every day, for three years. I don't even want to think about the total accumulative hours spent on that train over the years. Thank God for
Walkman's and
books!
Anyway, the faculty were somewhat stuck in the middle-ages, especially concerning school regulations. You could not:
Work: I guess working at McDonalds got in the way of one's academic life, fuck if I remember.
Get A Driver's License: No bosozoku at our school.
Grow Out Your Hair: Or dyeing your hair, get piercings, tattoos, etc... One sempai I knew who secretly played in a thrash metal cover band and had long hair, wore a wig to school every day for a few months, only to have it fly off during judo. I am not shitting you.
I could go on, but the one regulation I will never forget, it's almost embarrassing to share.
Someone got it in their head that rock music was evil.
Satanic evil. So I guess they had a meeting.
sensei A: "What defines rock music?"
sensei B: "Uhh, electric guitars?
sensei A: "Yes, that's it! Regulation #666, our students will not play power chords!"
Yes, electric guitars were banned at our school. They were considered, "The Devil's Instrument." I am totally serious.
So, yeah, we started a band.
It wasn't really a reaction against the regulation, we were all into music and wanted to play. We had a name, Prelude XXX (don't ask). Eguchi and me on guitars, Motegi on drums and Ao-chan on bass. We didn't have a singer. We did
Sex Pistols and
Beach Boys covers and whoever felt like it, screamed along. Or attempted to. We never played live and would have probably been lynched if we had. I actually have a practice tape around somewhere, never to be heard unless I get really, really drunk.
Somehow, rumor got around school that we were in a band. A friend of the aforementioned toupeed/thrash metalist (who was now, newly, sporting a crew cut due to the judo incident,) got in touch and, hey, we had a singer. We practiced, changed names, got a new bassist and started writing songs. We were a
real band!
Our new singer, Uchino-san, was and still is, a hard core punk scenester. He had been going to shows for a few years and knew a lot of people in the Japanese hard core scene. I had never been to a punk show, let alone a club show. So I jumped at a chance to go see a band that he was friends with, a band called Trash.
The show was at
Yaneura in
Shimokitazawa. I have no recollection of who they played with. Don't really remember Trash's set either. Probably freaked and in awe.
One memory though, a punk coming up to me, eyeing my skateboard and telling me that if I was a skater, that I should pick up the
S.O.B record.
That I did, along with a Trash 7" from which this song is from.
"Trash "Tiger Boogie (Special)"
Endnotes
1. The skit in the middle of the song includes Jha Jha (
Lip Cream), Hiroto (
The Blue Hearts), Masami (Ghoul), Baki (Gastunk), etc...
2. Our band got some songs together and played about 25 shows or so, before I left. We actually played a show with Trash, and they played this song!
3. Uchino-san somehow became our school president. I still see him once every couple of years at an odd show. And they are still together, he being the only original member.
4. No matter how horrid it sounds, my high school wasn't that bad.
はじめて観に行ったパンクのライブって何でした？僕はトラッシュでした。ライブはあまりおぼえていないけど、７"を買いました。いいっすね。リップのJha Jha、ヒロト、バキとマサミさんも参加！
1~2年後、トラッシュと対バンをした。"タイガー..."やりました。YES!
