Career [2]
Formation
In August 2006, the four girls met in an Osakan vocal and dance school called Caless.[3] As they became friends, they decided to form Scandal, writing and playing their own songs while juggling their regular school lives. Shortly thereafter, they started performing street lives every weekend at Shiroten in Osaka Castle Park. As time went on, the group started to get offers from clubs and music halls around Osaka and Kyoto.
Eventually, over one hundred fans began to consistently attend their live performances, causing the band to become more noticed by the Japanese public. In August 2007, Scandal seized the opportunity to participate in a special event at Shibuya Club Asia, a highly recognized and respected club in Shibuya. It was during this time that record label Kitty Records (a subsidiary of Kitty Films) first asked the four girls if they would like to have their music recorded with them. Several months later, the girls had worked out a flexible independent agreement with Kitty in partnership with Tower Records
Indie Label
In 2008, Scandal released three indie singles, all of which were exclusive to Tower Records. Their first indie single was released on March 3, 2008 in celebration of Girl's Day, which, despite being ranked second on Tower Records' "Indies Weekly Chart", sold out throughout Japan and had a hard time being kept in stock due to high demand. In an attempt to alleviate the fan's troubles in getting this album, the single was released on both the US and Japanese iTunes Music Store on April 9, 2008. Two more singles (in CD form) were released in the months following, both being ranked number 1 on the "Indies Weekly Chart". Their second single, Koi Moyō, was also designated as the Japanese iTunes Store's "Song of the Week" from April 16 to April 22, 2008.[4]
Right after their first release, Scandal left Japan to go on their first international tour, "Japan Nite US Tour 2008", followed by two concerts at the Japanese cultural and anime convention, "Sakura-Con 2008" from March 16 to March 30. In July of the same year, they performed at France's Japan Expo and also at Hong Kong's Ani-Com in August. Scandal concluded their indie career with the release of their first mini-album, Yah! Yah! Yah! Hello Scandal.
Major Label
In early September 2008, Scandal began talks with the head of Sony Music Japan because with Kitty, their CDs were made in very limited quantities (only 2000 of each) which caused them to sell out quickly. They soon worked out a contract with Sony, who signed them on to their Epic Records label. However, due to Sony's ongoing disagreements with Apple Inc. over their iTunes Music Store and Sony's ownMora, the band's music which was formerly available on iTunes, was quickly removed from both the US and Japanese iTunes stores.
In October, they released their major debut single, entitled "Doll". It gave them more exposure, including appearances on mainstream music television shows like Music Station. They released "Sakura Goodbye" in March 2009 to commemorate Mami and Tomomi's high school graduation.[5] The following month, "Shōjo S" was used as the tenth opening of the anime series Bleach This brought their popularity up even higher, as the single ranked #6 on the Oricon charts when it was released two months later in June.[6]
On October 14, Scandal released "Yumemiru Tsubasa" and their first album, Best Scandal, a week later. The album ranked #5 on the Oricon weekly chart, making them the first Japanese girl band since ZONE to have a debut album chart in the top five.[7] On December 30, 2009, the 51st Japan Record Awards was held, of which Scandal was nominated for Best New Artist. In the end, they were voted runner-up to Korean boy band Big Bang.
2010 was a busy year for the group. Their single, "Shunkan Sentimental" was released, in which the title song was used as the fourth ending theme of the anime series Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. In June, the band released their single, "Taiyō to Kimi ga Egaku Story", and their first live concert DVD, Scandal First Live -Best Scandal 2009-. They released another single a month later, entitled "Namida no Regret", followed by their second album, Temptation Box. Scandal released another single on October 6, 2010 titled "Scandal Nanka Buttobase". It ranked #3 on the Oricon weekly chart, the highest ranking of any singles they've released so far.[8]
Tie-Ins & Promotions
Being fans of Japanese animation and manga themselves they wanted to be represented in animated form, turning each member into an animated character. The animated Scandal is featured on a series of promotional videos on the band's website.
Scandal's music has been featured in a range of popular media. Besides their aforementioned "Shōjo S" and "Shunkan Sentimental" singles, which were featured in the anime series "Bleach" and "Fullmetal Alchemist" respectively, their first single, "Space Ranger", was the opening to Kyoto Sports Weekly, and their second single, "Koi Moyō" was the main theme of the movie Corazon de Melon. Their song, "Start", is the theme of Star Ocean: Second Evolution and is available on the game's soundtrack. More recently, "Daydream" was featured on a tribute album to the classic multi-genre Japanese band, Judy and Mary.
Scandal also provided the theme music to the animated movie, Loups=Garous.[9] The movie's insert song "Koshi-Tantan" was on their single "Taiyō to Kimi ga Egaku Story". Scandal also provided both the opening and ending themes for the movie, appearing in their animated form during a special musical performance scene.
They have also been featured in commercials, promoting a line of Cecil McBee cosmetics,[10] for Nike, featuring four different colors of their footwear, and were chosen to represent Pocari Sweat in posters and in the promotional video for their song "Beauteen" as part of their summer 2009 campaign.
Fanclub [11]
Mobile
In October 2009, pamphlets were enclosed in the band's first album, "Best Scandal", announcing the formation of "Club Scandal".
Club Scandal is a cellphone-based fanclub with exclusive videos and interviews, behind the scenes bonus material, pictures, and up-to-the minute news on the band. It is only available for Japanese cellphones. The date it launched depends on the cellphone service provider:
- NTT Docomo: Monday, November 9, 20
Traditional
On August 21, 2010 (the 4-year anniversary of the band being founded), Scandal launched a separate, traditional mail-based fanclub alongside "Club Scandal", called "Scandal Mania".
When joining, one would receive an official membership card, a full color newsletter mailed to the member tri-annually, a special birthday message written by their favorite member (chosen at sign-up) and signed by the whole band, as well as perks such as getting advance notice on tickets to live events, and special live events only for members.
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