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ORANGE RANGE

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Orange Range is a Japanese band signed to Sony Music (SMEJ) in Japan. They were signed in 2002 and continue to be one of SMEJ's most successful bands.

Contents

History

The band has roots in the Okinawa area of Japan; as do many other Japanese bands. The area is famous for being the home of many well known acts. Before they were signed by a major label, Orange Range played mostly in small art houses and clubs until they were found by a record agent. Their first hit from the album was Michishirube - a road home, which was used on the Fuji TV drama Fire Boys. Their success continued when their single "Viva Rock" was used as an ending to the anime "Naruto".

The band is mix of "Hip-hop" and "Rock" style music as can be heard by the vocals and the instrumentals. Their style is also made up of many different cultures and musical styles from around the world. This is attributed to their hometown being Okinawa, a well known station for American military bases and thus cultures and different styles often blend.

The band has produced a new album every year since they were founded in 2002. They have a string of number one hits and albums. They have produced four number one albums and their album musiQ was the number one album of 2005 in Japan. Four of their singles also held the top 25 spot in the same year. 2005 seems to have been the best year for the band as their sales have never been so successful. They held the title for number one anime song and for the number one song used in a J-Movie. From their entire career, their combined album sales equal well over 4.5 million. The year was met with some misfortune however, Kitao Kazuhito, the band's drummer and founding member quit in early summer 2005. At first it was said he quit due to tendonitis; however, it was later revealed that he left the band due to "creative differences". Nevertheless, the band still continues to move forward in their endeavors and their first single of 2006 "Champione" was picked to be the official single of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Current

Past

Plagiarism accusations

Orange Range has, on several occasions, been accused of plagiarism. These accusations intensified after several interviews band members gave to Japanese magazines. In an interview with Bounce, guitarist Hiroyama Naoto said, "Our slogan is, 'Rip off!' (laugh). We start out with covers, then we discuss stuff, like, let's obfuscate this part or people are going to notice(laugh)." In an interview with Rockin' On, he mentioned that his father had him listen to Grand Funk Railroad's cover version of "The Loco-motion" not long before the band recorded its own hit song. "Locolotion." When the interviewer asked "What? Was that why you created 'Locolotion?'," he replied, "Yeah. That was before we merged it with Shampoo (laugh)." (Shampoo probably refers to "Trouble" performed by the UK group, Shampoo.) Some fans feel this was a bad attempt at humour. However, their single, "Locolotion" was later re-credited to Carole King as a cover of "The Loco-motion", and "Orange Boat" was similarly credited as a cover of the "Banana Boat Song", made famous by Harry Belafonte. [Music enthusiasts] make claims that that Orange Range are merely stealing old tunes and selling them under their hip young teen image. Claims have also been made that Orange Range have taken tunes from even popular artists such as Mr. Children, Kobukuro, B'z, Ketsumeishi & ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION. This has no doubt affected the image of Orange Range very much.

Discography

Albums

Mini-Albums

Singles

DVDs

External links

 

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