One more Japanese band to discover: Dida Dida Doo.
I had forgotten about that very good compilation “Wheels Go Round” that had White Town’s track “Anal Sex”. Yeah. Do you know this compilation? It has this lovely, cute, artwork by Megumi Yoshimura and then you read the tracklist and the first track is that one. It is odd to say the least.
A Trumpet Trumpet Records put out this 10 song compilation CD in 1993 (TT501). This Japanese label is a good one if you are not familiar with it. They released the wonderful The Love Mushrooms and also Budgie Jacket. On “”Wheels Go Round” the band Dida Dida Doo appears with the last track, “Love Makes Sweet Music”. And no, don’t think it is a cover of Soft Machine.
This was how I discovered this band. It was a very nice track and always thought it was a good closer to a good compilation that had the likes of The Pearly Gatecrashers, The Rileys, The Acid House Kings and more.
Dida Dida Doo had already worked with this label previously in 1992. On a mini 3″CD compilation called “Television Personalities from Japan” (TT001), that it is not a tribute to the TVPs, the band also had the last song on the comp. It was the fourth track and was called “L’Arrace Coeur”. I have never heard this song, but I would assume the title comes from the Boris Vian novel.
In 1992 the band would also contribute a song to another A Trumpet Trumpet Records compilation. This time around a tape called “The Birth of the Untruth” (TT003). I would think this is a play on the well known compilation “The Birth of the True” from another Japanese label, Sugarfrost Records. On this cassette the band has the opening track on the A side and is titled “Here’s Where You Belong”. This one I’m pretty sure is a cover of the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band.
I cant seem to track down who were behind this band. But then I found a paper, one called “Dynamics of New Market Category Emergence: The case of Shibuya-Kei Music“. It is in Japanese and it is a PDF, so it is a bit hard to navigate. But I find a mention of Dida Dida Doo. There it mentions that behind the band was Kenji Takeda.
And yes, that’s where I hit a wall.
It is interesting to see that the band is mentioned on some online record stores saying that they covered the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band. But if they are so little known! How could that comparison help? I wonder.
But perhaps during their time they were well known? Even though they didnt release any records?
Would be good to find out!
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
