Biography

CHAGE&ASKA

24/04/2011 2011-04-24 21:25:40 JaME Author: Scottie Wolfe & Sarah

CHAGE&ASKA

CHAGE&ASKA


© CHAGE&ASKA
Chage and Aska met sometime during the late 70's, when Aska (an up and coming Kendo champ, as well as a talented guitarist) attended a concert at a nearby school. He was taken aback by a certain vocalist's abilities, and approached him after the show. The vocalist was none other than Chage. After discussing ideas for awhile, both men agreed to form a partnership in order to win the YAMAHA CONTEST, a contest which used to be held in order to discover new talent. As fate would have it, they did win. It was at that moment that the duo became inseparable friends.

It was late in 1979 that the boys released their first single, Hitori zaki. It sold very well and introduced the world to their unique style of pop. Their first album was soon released and countless tours followed. They toured the entire country from top to bottom for years, releasing countless albums and singles along the way. However, it took exactly six years until Chage and Aska had perfected their sound and won over countless fans across the Asian continent.

It was in 1988 that Aska released his first solo album, entitled Scene. It met with some success, but showed that fans still weren't ready to imagine one man without the other. A year later, in 1989 (their 10th anniversary), the duo released Pride. It was and still is considered by many to be the best Chage and Aska album, as well as one of Japan's all-time best.

Aska tried his hand at a solo album once again in 1991 with Hajimariwa itsumo ame. It sold approximately 1 million units, and its hit single Say Yes sold 3 million units.

Aska had finally made a mark as a solo artist, but soon made history with his partner Chage. Their releases Tree and Super Best 2 sold millions of units, and the single Yah yah yah surpassed 3 million units. They had officially become the biggest and most successful Japanese pop act.

After touring Asia many times over (while continuously releasing more material), the duo visited Europe for a few concerts in 1995, gaining them worldwide attention. Soon afterwards, Aska wrote a song for Charly Midnight, entitled Something There. It was also used in the movie Street Fighter, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Raul Julia. He also wrote the song Time, featured in Judge Dredd, a film starring Sylvester Stalone. After so much international attention, Chage and Aska won a Monaco World Music Award, a first in Japanese music history.

It was in 1996 that the guys appeared on MTV Unplugged and had a tribute album released in their honor. It featured their songs sung in English by famous artists such as Chaka Khan, Shaggy, Cathis Dennis (who's cover of Love's a Cradle hit #2 on the world charts) and more. Afterwards, the boys went their own ways with respective solo careers.

They returned in 1999 with a greatest hits album, as well as a new studio effort. A four hour New Year's celebration concert, dubbed the MILLENIUM COUNTDOWN: LIVE IN FUKUOKA, was organized to ring in the new millennium. It was broadcast all around the world via-satellite, something unseen previously in the history of Japanese pop.

Soon afterwards, Chage and Aska performed in Korea as official Japanese ambassadors for the 2002 World Cup, an unprecedented event which created headlines across Asia and spawned an official Korean website.

2004 came around and with it came sad news. After 25 years of countless albums, singles and home videos, the famous duo announced an indefinite break to embark on solo projects.

Though many fans feared this would be the last heard from Chage and Aska, the duo has in fact returned; their December, 2006, show had the Prime Minister in attendance and January 2007 brought two the singles Here & There and Man and Woman. All of Japan waits to see what these two men will do next.
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