If there was one record label behind Japan's dance music boom in the early '90s, it was Avex Trax; and if there was one musician shaping the scene's musical direction, it was Tetsuya Komuro. In 1995, label and producer formalized their relationship when Komuro's group globe signed up with the Avex label. The group quickly became a techno/dance-pop phenomenon, and one of Japan's biggest selling acts of the '90s, registering 26 Top Ten singles and 13 Top Ten albums. Three of those singles -- and five of those albums -- were million sellers. Globe signaled Komuro's return to the stage after years spent writing and producing hits behind the scenes for the likes of Namie Amuro, TRF and Tomomi Kahara. But like many J-pop groups, such as Dreams Come True and Every Little Thing, the real focus of attention was a female vocalist -- in globe's case, Keiko Yoshida. Despite the huge sales, globe's formula is less rigid than that of most of their peers, with Komuro's magpie-like instincts taking the band through various genres, including rock, techno and drum'n'bass.
Tetsuya Komuro's career began in the early '80s in TM Network, a Yellow Magic Orchestra-influenced techno-pop outfit. After a decade of penning hits with TM Network, Komuro (born in Tokyo on November 27, 1958) began hawking his talents elsewhere, writing and producing hits for a string of other J-pop stars to such an extent that for one week in 1995, the Top Five spots in the Oricon charts were all occupied by Komuro-produced artists. It's little surprise then that the mid-'90s were dubbed the "Komuro Era" by the Japanese media. One of the acts Komuroproduced was the Eurobeat/rave group TRF. Musically, globe would also be in this vein but with one important difference -- Komuro would be a working member of the band.
His cohorts in globe did not share his pedigree. Legend has it that at an audition organized by Avex in 1994, Keiko Yoshida (born in Oita Prefecture on August 18, 1972) fell over on the stage. Still, her ability to hit the high notes was enough for Komuro. Multilingual rapper Marc Panther (born Ryuichi Sakamoto in Marseille, France on February 27 1970), a former MTV VJ and fashion model, completed the group's lineup. In 1995, they signed with Avex.
Globe's debut single "Feel Like Dance" was released in August 1995, coming on like a Japanese version of the much-maligned Dutch techno chart act, 2 Unlimited, Panther's rapped verses giving way to a chorus sung by Yoshida. It was followed up by the more successful single "Joy to the World," a jungle influenced tune that suggested Komuro was using globe as an outlet for his (very slightly) more experimental creations. It took the more conventional mid-tempo pop of fourth single "Departures" to truly break the band: the single sold four million copies. Globe's self-titled debut went even better, selling four-and-a-half million copies and becoming one of 1996's biggest-selling albums.
After the release of their second album, Faces Places the following year, globe went on a four-date stadium tour, the album's rockier sound perhaps better suited to venues like Tokyo Dome, Japan's largest venue for concerts. Globe also ventured outside of Japan for the first time, headlining the TK Pan-Pacific Tour 1997, a joint tour with Namie Amuro and other members of the "Komuro Family" that took in several Asian countries.
Two globe albums came out in 1998, Love Again and Outernet. The latter was preceded by the release in October of four singles in one month (the group were the first act in the history of the Oricon charts to register four singles simultaneously in the Top Ten). One of these singles, the grammatically challenged "Wanna Be to Dreammaker," was awarded the Japan Record Award, one of Japanese recording industry's highest honors (which isn't saying much). But record-breaking feats and industry awards could not mask the disappointing sales of the album compared to previous efforts.
The group responded by beginning their "globe featuring..." series in 2000, in which each band member released a "solo" single under the globe banner. The most successful of the three was Yoshida's "On the Way to You"; she undertook two solo tours that year.
After a hiatus, globe re-emerged in 2002 with a more pronounced trance sound on the albums Lights and Lights, Vol. 2, as well as adding a new member in Yoshiki Hayashi, a former member of X-Japan, one of Japan's first visual-kei bands. Hayashi, who had worked on various successful projects since the demise of X-Japan in 1997, did not last long, leaving the band after a year. Also in 2002, Komuro and Yoshida married in a star-studded ceremony broadcast live on national television.
Another break followed before globe returned to the pop sound of the early years for the release of their tenth album, globe pop/rock In summer 2006, they changed direction again with a Latin-tinged mini-album, New Deal, featuring some lyrics in Spanish. ~ David Hickey, All Music Guide
Globe (styled globe) is a dance-oriented Japanese pop band, formed in 1995 by producer and songwriter Tetsuya Komuro. Originally consisting of Komuro, Keiko Yamada and Marc Panther, the group has been another triumph in a long line of successes associated with Komuro, with its singles consistently hitting the charts even to the present day. In late 2002 Yoshiki, former drummer and pianist for X Japan, joined the group, but he left the band about a year later.
Their 1996 debut album, Globe, sold over 4 million copies, and their 1998 single "Wanna Be A Dreammaker" won the grand prix award at the 40th Japan Record Awards, the Japanese record industry's highest honor. Komuro also mentioned there will be some collaboration work with other artists with the artist title of Globe Featuring, and Globe Extreme for collaborations with Yoshiki.
Tetsuya Komuro(小室 哲哉,Komuro Tetsuya?) (November 27, 1958 in Fuchu, Tokyo) – The ex-pianist, producer and mastermind of the band, also known just as "TK". In the Globe Extreme era he played the guitar instead of keyboards.
Keiko Komuro(小室 桂子,Komuro Keiko?) (Formerly Yamada) (August 18, 1972 in Usuki, Oita) – The vocalist of the band, known for the high notes she reaches.
Globe Extreme
Yoshiki (November 20, 1965 in Tateyama, Chiba) – Played piano and keyboards. In September 2002 he joined the band, but by August 2005 he was already out of Globe because of work matters.
Background
1994–1998: Origins and early success
In the climb of his fame, producer Tetsuya Komuro organized one of his castings, searching for new singers in 1994, (especially one that was called Eurogroove Night). The young girl Keiko Yamada assisted there, encouraged by her friends, and her voice undoubtedly got the attention of Komuro instantly. He chose her initially for a solo career. Another one of the careers that TK was thinking about producing at that time was that of the model and MTV VJ Marc Panther, who knew English and French apart from Japanese. Komuro finally had the idea to make a band using Keiko and Marc in main vocals and himself as keyboardist (and also some vocals).
The band signed with label Avex in 1995, creating their own sub-label called Avex Globe. In August of the same year they released their first single, entitled "Feel Like Dance". Little by little the band was becoming more popular. Their 4th single, "Departures", released in 1996, sold more than 2 million copies. The band's first studio album Globe, also released in 1996, became a sensation, managing to sell more than 4 millions copies according to Oricon. The album was also the best selling one of that year. After having obtained such explosive sales in only two years of work, with more than 12 million singles sold (only in Japan) and 13 million copies of albums, the band was established as a premiere pop band inside the Japanese culture. After their second album's release, Faces Places, the band began their first large scale tour called Globe@4Domes in which they performed at the four biggest Japanese domes: Osaka, Fukuoka, Nagoya, and Tokyo. All of them were amazing successes. A few months later they began their first overseas tour around Asia alongside another artist from the Komuro family where they shared the stage with Namie Amuro and TRF. In 1998 they released 4 different singles in about one month in a project called the Brand New Globe 4 Singles. One of those songs, "Wanna Be a Dreammaker", won the grand prix award at the Japan Record Award.
1999–2002: Experimentation and declining sales
After a regular period of singles and albums, including their massive hit best-of compilation Cruise Record 1995-2000 (#1 at Oricon), the band started to experiment with their music, exploring new musical areas. The first big step in this new era was the Globe Featuring project of 2000, in which each member of the band released one single as solo artists. The most successful of the 3 singles was Keiko's "On the Way to You," and the singer went on her first solo nationwide tour of Japan because of the success.
As new music influences were being received in Japan, electronic music like Trance became one of the main styles that Globe decided to try. However, this new style was not so well received by Globe's fanbase. Their 4th studio album, Outernet, sold poorly compared to previous works; Globe went from selling millions of copies of an album to selling a mere 100 thousand. But Komuro was not at all willing to give up his new style of music for the J-Pop tunes that made Globe so popular in the early nineties.
In 2002 Globe got even more into the Trance style, releasing 2 studio albums in that year: Lights and its sequel, Lights2. In July of that year Globe and Belgian DJ Push collaborated on the single "Dreams From Above" for the set of Avex's Cyber Trance series. On September 1 Yoshiki, former drummer and pianist for X Japan, joined Globe as its fourth member. Meanwhile, the band was appearing in A-Nation, and the news of the change spread throughout Asia and the world quickly. Then on November 22, it was announced that Tetsuya Komuro and Keiko were marrying. The ceremony was televised live by a Japanese TV channel causing considerable controversy. The new era of the band as Globe Extreme (now with Yoshiki) began some weeks later, with the single "Seize the Light", a song created by Yoshiki and produced by Komuro. A second "Best Of" album was also released to commemorate the first 8 years of Globe's musical career, entitled 8 Years: Many Classic Moments (#2 at Oricon).
2003–2006: Hiatus, solo interests, and new style
After the release of a new album called Level 4 and "Get It On feat. Keiko" (the only works with Yoshiki as a member of Globe), the band went on a 2 year hiatus, and its members pursued solo interests. Keiko was the first one to go solo, releasing her first single KCO in December 2003. Months later in 2004, Marc started his solo project under the pseudonym of 245, a project that has plans for international projection beyond Japan. Later it was announced that the Globe Extreme era had ended and that Yoshiki was leaving Globe. The band went back to having three members: TK, Keiko and Marc. Yoshiki's departure from the group was not completely clarified, but apparently the musician had other work-related commitments. The only release from Globe during 2004 was their complete singles collection, Globe Decade: Single History 1995-2004, which included all of the band's singles from "Feel Like Dance" to "Get It On feat. Keiko" (a limited edition deluxe box contained every single, album, and DVD ever released by the band).
In 2005, after the two year hiatus, Globe returned to the musical scene with a new single called "Here I Am" (used as the opening theme of TV anime series Black Jack), and in August of that year released their 9th studio album Globe2 Pop/Rock to commemorate their 11th anniversary. This album was supposed to be a continuation of the band's first album; the hard electronic music was replaced by pop and rock influences. They also released their first online single through iTunes Japan called "Judgement".
In 2006 it was announced that Globe was about to release their 31st single "Soldier" on March 1. Later that release was cancelled, and as its replacement the band released a new studio album on March 23, entitled Maniac. The album didn't have any single or music video promoting it. Only "Soldier" was used in ads, using a few incomplete scenes from the shooting of the PV in TV spots because the full music video was never finished. A few months later they went to Latin America to record new material for their first mini album, New Deal, released on August 9, 2006. The "Latino" style is the main theme of the mini album, even adding Spanish phrases to songs for the first time.
2007–2008: TK's legal controversy and presumed hiatus
Although the band had not released anything since 2006's mini-album "New Deal," no official announcement was made by TK that they have disbanded. They were originally set to release two new singles in 2008, covers of TM Network's songs "Get Wild" and "Self Control." However, these singles were cancelled by Avex because of Tetsuya Komuro's fraud controversy. All of their music was removed from digital downloads, such as iTunes (in both Japan and US).
2009–present: Return from hiatus
In August 30, 2009 globe officially announced their return at the a-nation music festival. TK appeared first, speaking about the return and end of the legal issues. He played several of his greatest hits (both by globe and songs he wrote for other artists) on piano. Keiko and Marc than joined him and they sang "Face" and "Many Classic Moments". Their music returned to iTunes (Japan and US) around this date as well.
