Make Believe Mailer Vol. 64: Yeah, Right
"A 25-Year-Old Dinosaur Jr. Song Is a Hit in Japan. Nobody Knows Why." Music stories don't get more perfect than this for the online ecosystem of 2019, and music sites of all stripes have shared it while plenty have logged on to Twitter to big-up algorithms, and talk about how much the song rips (which, fair).
But the key to this little viral thing is the "mystery" element swirling around it. Even Billboard, the authority whose chart this 1994 album cut topped, basically throws their hands up in the English report and say "I don't know, some guy?" While it is probably fair to raise an eyebrow at the company that dictates all sorts of music industry narratives blowing it when it comes to any explanation for this, the surprise does allow anyone to get in on the glee of trying to figure out how this happened, while also allowing music web sites the chance to run a fun story without having to worry about figuring out why, because it's just a fun little oddity.
Ahhhh, but at this email newsletter, "it's just fun" makes us puke and cry. So let's dig into how an obscure album-closing cut from Dinosaur Jr. managed all of this...and what it says about the state of music in Japan.
"Dinosaur Jr. Anime" comes through on Google Image Search!
So a lot of effort has been made on Twitter to figure out how "Over Your Shoulder" managed all of this. The beauty of Twitter is that anyone can enter the discourse fray. The downside is...that anyone can enter the discourse fray, and offer up theories that are totally wrong. But in the last day a pretty common theory emerged -- the song appeared on the boxing show Gachinko Fight Club, with another user pointing out that the song was used on the February 6 episode of TOKIO Kakeru, which found the Johnny's group talking about the show (which one of the TOKIO boys appeared on back in the day....late 90s was boxing, late 2010s is Fortnite). But Patrick Macias -- guiding member of the "Patricks who right about Japanese pop culture" club, but who more importantly appears to have gotten this thing going viral -- didn't hear it played during the episode in question (here I note I haven't seen it either...my DVR space is a no-Johnny's zone..so I can't confirm or deny anything). So...what was that? What's going on?
All of the above is right, but I think they are missing a vital connecting piece that explains everything. Some background -- Gachinko Fight Club aired from 1999 to 2003, which introduces the first distortion in how this has been covered. The show hasn't aired in over a decade and a half, which makes some tweets and even news posts on it off, because it wasn't used "recently." Rather, it was used during the show's original run, joining a list of grunge and grunge-adjacent numbers apt for a show where amateur brawlers beat one another up. It exists in the past.
But Gachinko was featured on the Feb. 6 episode of the TOKIO variety show, as the members of that band and another person who took part in the program caught up and reminisced over the presumably popular offering. Here's the important part -- that trip down memory lane didn't inspire viewers to get nostalgic for J Mascis. It made them want to watch Gachinko.
Is This Anime
Let's take a closer look at the YouTube upload of the show in question. That clip featuring "Over Your Shoulder" was uploaded about one week ago. Dude behind it has uploaded a bunch of episodes of Gachinko to YouTube in recent memory. Of those clips, the following aside from the above contain the Dinosaur Jr. song: this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, and this one. Each one posted over the last seven days and, whether due to luck or some YouTuber knowing how TBS' variety programming can influence the nation, capitalized on the sudden interest in Gachinko. And that account isn't the only one to upload chunks of the show complete with music tags to YouTube. Hop on twitter, and Gachinko is a popular topic of conversation, with some even lamenting how the videos they watch have gotten deleted midway through, implying a potential cache of other uploads propping Dinosaur Jr. up.
The smoking gun that this interest in Gachinko sparked all this? Go further down that Billboard list...and see how Matchbox Twenty's "If You're Gone" comes in at #12 (a song nobody would write about if it was a surprise number one). Guess what show also relied on that forgotten number as a backbone for its soundtrack?
Is....this anime? Also, pour one out for Aztec Camera, whose "The Belle Of The Ball" appears in all the unpopular uploads of Gachinko.
Of course, a few question marks remain. Billboard claims "Over Your Shoulder" earned over 8 million views on YouTube, though it's kind of hard to see how it managed that...Macias says YouTube deleted a video when something suspicious was up, but I sincerely doubt a single upload of an obscure Dinosaur Jr. song was racking 'em up. More likely someone started choppin' at one of the more popular Gachinko re-uploads. Still...add all these sudden clips up, and do they really top 8 million? Something does seem off, but this is also so locked into a specific trend (nostalgia!) that it could be possible if you crunched all the numbers and factored in potentially deleted videos.
It's also a great snapshot of the Japanese music landscape (errrr, maybe the global music landscape?). Here's where you should turn away if you don't like cold realism crashing into your fantasies -- this all really just underlines how little Western music actually makes a dent in Japan. It's noteworthy and downright adorable that an old Dinosaur Jr. song could leapfrog Queen and Ariana Grande -- but the latter two have been present on this chart for weeks and weeks ("Bohemian Rhapsody," 14 weeks!), so it looks like "Over Your Shoulder" caught them at just the right moment to pass them by. I mean, look at the other tracks debuting this week -- they are Matchbox Twenty (see above) and Dawin featuring Silentó's "Dessert," which came out in 2015 (gahhh, I assume this is TikTok's doing). And uhhhhh...the Billboard "Hot Overseas" chart isn't exactly anything to brag about, considering the weakened state of Western music (Ed Sheeran's "Shape Of You," 108 weeks!) and the fact that chart just ignores K-pop entirely (Seventeen's "Home" places one spot ahead of "Shape Of You" on the real Hot 100, but is nowhere on the "overseas" chart despite coming from overseas).
On Oricon...nothing. I mean, this is obviously not a hit in the way "a hit" traditionally operates (lots of people know about it).
Which isn't to say this isn't an interesting story...it is! But when you dig into it, the picture isn't quite as rosy for aged indie rockers as you might think (but it's FANTASTIC for bygone yanki boxers). Basically...shut up boring rock dudes! Try listening to TOKIO's music to fix that view.
News And Views
Hi there, sorry for taking last week off, life got in the way. But the biggest music news of the week in Japan...of the year in Japan...was the announcement that Arashi will be taking a break at the end of 2020. I wrote a big feature about the group's legacy and a follow up about which group fills the void afterwards, so I don't feel like writing more about the outfit. At least for now, give me a break from all these Johnny's guys.
Fuji Rock announced their initial line-up and...it's pretty good? Give or take a Jason Mraz? One headliner will be The Chemical Brothers, who announced that they will be working with Yurufuwa Gang member Sophie on their new album, so...they best bring her out at Naeba.
I swear to god, if you have the excess funds necessary to see Haruomi Hosono in New York or Los Angeles this Spring and you don't....why I'll be mighty flustered!
Music Station appearances are rarely noteworthy, but ZARD's recent set on the long-running program featured...well, a person who has been dead since 2007 on stage. Thank the power of holograms, resurrecting another deceased individual to sing songs with other J-pop acts.This blew up on the internet bigger than anything non-Arashi related, and reminds of what this technology could do in the right (still kinda wrong?) circumstance).
Pro gamers -- basically J-pop idols.
Future of Japan -- guitar-shaped hotels and casinos?
Still time to get tickets for an evening of conversation between KOM_I of Suiyoubi No Campanella and...Barry Jenkins???
About two years ago, I got in a car accident while visiting my parents in Southern California. It was the first time I was ever in an accident, caused after a (most likely drunk) driver shot over the freeway on-ramp and plowed into the passenger side of our car (and then sped away...so LA!). Thankfully, nobody was hurt, though I discovered a gross cut on the top of my head the next morning. The next week, back in Japan, I saw The Fate Of The Furious in 4DX, which is the type of viewing where the seats jolt around a lot and water shoots onto you at various points. It was every bit as unpleasant as the car crash.
Which is all a long way of saying...who the hell wants to see a Kohh music video in 4D??? Does it shoot out foul-smelling gas every other line???
Oricon Trail For The Week Of Jan. 28, 2019 To Feb. 3, 2019
If you really want to see what non-Japanese music is excelling in Japan, check these charts where GOT7 are doing well as are...the Backstreet Boys.
Perfume's GAME (33 1/3)
My entry in the 33 1/3 Japan series is out now! Get a copy at Bloomsbury or Amazon. Or at Kinokuniya bookstores in the US. Perfume shared an "All Time Favorites" playlist on Spotify this week and it has some real heaters in there. Which is a good enough reason to reflect on Kashiyuka's stellar 2013 taste in music. Madegg!!!!!
Look At Me!
Talked to Chanmina, rising rapper, who is eyeing more international attention in 2019.
Wrote about the continued success of Bohemian Rhapsody for The Japan Times which is bucking trends in how Western music sells in Japan...oh, hey that ties to all the text above too.
Wrote about a big tiramisu-related scandal in Japan...which soon revealed more layers to it (scroll on down).
Meanwhile, this week's big online loser was Loft. On that one for Pulse today.
Blog highlights: Ice, Okinawa Electric Girl Saya, Pictured Resort
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
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