Ulfuls

Ulfuls (ウルフルズ, Urufuruzu) is a Japanese rock band from Osaka. The band name Ulfuls is derived from a misreading of the word "soulful," found on the cover of one of the band members' favorite records. They were signed by Toshiba-EMI in 1992, but after 15 years they transferred to Warner Music Group.

Ulfuls
OriginOsaka, Japan
GenresAlternative rock, pop rock, rock 'n' roll, funk rock, funk
Years active1988 (1988)–2009 (2009), 2014-present
LabelsEMI Music Japan(1992-2007)
Warner Music Japan (2007-2009), (2014-present)
Associated actsIto Ginji
Websiteulfuls.com
Members
  • Tortoise Matsumoto (Vocals)
  • Ulful Keisuke (Guitar)
  • John B. Chopper (Bass)
  • Sankon Jr. (Drums)

History

Having debuted in 1992 with the single, "Yabure Kabure," they initially had very limited success. However, by 1996, the group experienced huge superstar fame, fueled by the singles "Guts Da Ze!!," and "Boogie Woogie '96". Their lead singer is Tortoise Matsumoto. The other members are Ulful Keisuke on guitar, John B. Chopper on bass and Sankon Jr. on drums. In 1996 they wrote the song "Sky" for the film Gamera 2: Attack of Legion. In 1999 John B. Chopper left the group, which nevertheless continued on as a three-member group. However, in 2002 Chopper returned to the group again, making it a four-member group once more. The band's song "Ryoho for you" (両方 For You) was chosen as the official theme song for the 2007 Summer Koshien baseball tournament . Their song "Baka Survivor" was used as the 2nd opening theme for the anime Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo (ボボボーボ・ボーボボ).

After being active for 21 years, Ulfuls announced they would stop touring following their "Yassa!" (ヤッサ!) outdoor concert event, held in Osaka on August 29 and 30, 2009. Although, in early 2014, the group announced that they were ending its hiatus, and released its 32nd single, "Doudemo yo Sugi" (どうでもよすぎ), in February 2014. The single was their first release in several years. Ulfuls went on to release its twelfth studio album, "One Mind", that May, to impressive sales. After the release of their 13th album, "Born To Be Wai Wai," the band released their 14th, "人生 (Life)" to commemorate their 25th anniversary.

On 19 February 2018, it was announced on their official website that Ulful Keisuke would be taking a break from the band to work on his solo career. It was also mentioned that Ulfuls would continue to produce music as a three-man band.

Members

  • Tortoise Matsumoto (トータス松本, Tōtasu Matsumoto, (1966-12-28) December 28, 1966): Lead vocals; real name Atsushi Matsumoto (松本 敦, Matsumoto Atsushi) (1988-present)
  • Ulful Keisuke (ウルフル ケイスケ, Urufuru Keisuke, (1965-05-23) May 23, 1965): Guitar; real name Keisuke Iwamoto (岩本 圭介, Iwamoto Keisuke) (1988-2018)
  • John B. Chopper (ジョン・B・チョッパー, Jon Bī Choppā, (1967-11-04) November 4, 1967): Bass; real name Toshihiro Kuroda (黒田 利博, Kuroda Toshihiro) (1988-1999, 2002-present)
  • Sankon Jr. (サンコンJr., Sankon Junia, (1970-10-13) October 13, 1970): Drums; real name Hiroyuki Sako (佐子 博幸, Sako Hiroyuki) (1988-present)

Discography

Singles

Title Release date Peak chart position
Oricon[1]
Desperate (やぶれかぶれ) May 13, 1992
MacaMaca BUNBUN (マカマカBUNBUN) May 19, 1993
Wonderful World (世の中ワンダフル) October 27, 1993
King of Debt (借金大王) August 31, 1994
Suttobasu (すっとばす) November 16, 1994
Go With All Your Might! (トコトンで行こう!) March 15, 1995
Osaka Strut Part II (大阪ストラット・パートII) May 21, 1995
SUN SUN SUN'95 July 19, 1995 96
Guts Daze(ガッツだぜ) December 6, 1995 6
Banzai ~I'm Glad I Like You~ (バンザイ 〜好きでよかった〜) February 7, 1996 13
Boogie Woogie '96 (ブギウギ'96) July 3, 1996 2
Sky (そら) July 3, 1996 9
Komason No. 1 (コマソンNo.1) December 11, 1996 5
That's Right! (それが答えだ!) February 26, 1997 15
Cutie (かわいいひと) October 8, 1997 5
Are You Happy? (しあわせですか) December 10, 1997 18
Leave It To Me (まかせなさい) May 13, 1998 20
Let's Play (あそぼう) October 28, 1998 21
Young Soul Dynamite (ヤング ソウル ダイナマイト) October 14, 1999 29
Dream (夢) November 26, 1999 60
There's Always Tomorrow (明日があるさ) February 16, 2001 4
Naniwa Genome ~Ulfuls Mega Mix Medley~ (ナニワゲノム 〜ウルフルズ・メガミックス・メドレー〜) April 28, 2001 41
Daredevil ~Get Hot~/Incident! (がむしゃら 〜熱くなれ〜/事件だッ!) October 17, 2001 15
If You Laugh (笑えれば) February 20, 2002 10
Eenen (ええねん) November 11, 2003 20
Idiot Survivor (バカサバイバー) November 3, 2004 13
Go Crazy/It's OK (暴れだす/大丈夫) January 13, 2005 10
Samurai Soul (サムライソウル) January 2, 2006 18
Passion A Go-Go (情熱 A GO-GO) April 18, 2007 22
Both For You/Come Cry (両方 For You/泣けてくる) July 25, 2007 15
For Sure (たしかなこと) October 31, 2007 28
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region.

Special release singles

Release date Title Ranking
Feb 25, 2014 Anyway, It Doesn't Matter (どうでもよすぎ) -

Albums

Release date Title Peak position
[2]
1st June 17, 1992 (Out of Print)
December 14, 1994(Re-release)
January 25, 2012(Re-release)
Bakuhatsu on Parade 74
2nd August 31, 1994 Suttobasu 61
3rd January 24, 1996 Banzai 1
4th March 26, 1997 Let's Go 5
5th June 17, 1998 Thank You for the Music 4
6th December 8, 1999 Trophy 12
7th March 27, 2002 Ulfuls 18
8th December 10, 2003 Eenen 14
9th February 23, 2005 9 6
10th March 8, 2006 YOU 12
11th December 12, 2007 KEEP ON, MOVE ON 9
12th May 21, 2014 ONE MIND 8
13th September 9, 2015 Born to be Wai Wai
14th May 24, 2017 Life
15th June 26, 2019 U!!! 16

Virtual albums

  • iTunes Originals - Ulfuls (Japanese exclusive)

VHS/DVD

  • Ulful V (Ulfuls DVD)
  • Ulful V Jū
  • Live In Japan
  • Ai Yue Ni Aa, Au Yue Ni Bakuhatsu!!
  • Ulfuls Ga Yatte Kureru Yassa! Yassa! Yassa!
  • Ashita Ga Aru Sa "Kaze Fukeba Shoshikantetsu" (DVD Single)
  • Ulfuls Ga Yatte Kureru Yassa! Yassa! Yassassa!
  • Tsū Tsū Ura Ura
  • Eenen Osakan Graffiti
  • Ulfuls at Budōkan

References

  1. "オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」". Oricon. Retrieved January 31, 2014. (subscription only)
  2. "ウルフルズ" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
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