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1/2 Japanese

1/2 Japanese

1/2 Japanese has been played over 10 times on NTS, first on 17 January 2015. 1/2 Japanese's music has been featured on 12 episodes.

Half Japanese is a punk rock band formed by brothers Jad Fair and David Fair in their Uniontown, Maryland bedroom around 1975.

Their quirky song lyrics often deal with monsters and the supernatural (especially as influenced by campy "creature feature" and scifi movies), in addition to more conventional themes, such as the visceral thrills of crushes and infatuations. They have stated that all their songs are either "love songs or monster songs."

Fans of Half Japanese include Penn Jillette, who helped the band release some of their albums on his ad hoc 50 Skidillion Watts label, and the late Kurt Cobain, who had them open for Nirvana's 1993 tour. Over time David Fair became less involved, ultimately quitting the band in favor of married life, and Jad brought in more outside musicians who have contributed to an increasingly coherent and organized sound.

They have worked with the Orthotonics, Moe Tucker, Teenage Fanclub, Daniel Johnston and John Zorn, among others.

The band's history and influence was chronicled in the 1993 fan documentary Half Japanese: The Band That Would Be King by Jeff Feuerzeig.

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1/2 Japanese

1/2 Japanese has been played over 10 times on NTS, first on 17 January 2015. 1/2 Japanese's music has been featured on 12 episodes.

Half Japanese is a punk rock band formed by brothers Jad Fair and David Fair in their Uniontown, Maryland bedroom around 1975.

Their quirky song lyrics often deal with monsters and the supernatural (especially as influenced by campy "creature feature" and scifi movies), in addition to more conventional themes, such as the visceral thrills of crushes and infatuations. They have stated that all their songs are either "love songs or monster songs."

Fans of Half Japanese include Penn Jillette, who helped the band release some of their albums on his ad hoc 50 Skidillion Watts label, and the late Kurt Cobain, who had them open for Nirvana's 1993 tour. Over time David Fair became less involved, ultimately quitting the band in favor of married life, and Jad brought in more outside musicians who have contributed to an increasingly coherent and organized sound.

They have worked with the Orthotonics, Moe Tucker, Teenage Fanclub, Daniel Johnston and John Zorn, among others.

The band's history and influence was chronicled in the 1993 fan documentary Half Japanese: The Band That Would Be King by Jeff Feuerzeig.

Original source: Last.fm

Tracks featured on

Most played tracks

Put Some Sugar On It
Half Japanese
50,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Watts Records1989
Miracles Happen Everyday
Half Japanese
Fire Records2015
Ann Arbor, MI
Half Japanese
50,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Watts Records1977
Deadly Alien Spawn
Half Japanese
50,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Watts Records1989
Daytona Beach
Half Japanese
50,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Watts Records1989
We Are Sure
Half Japanese
Joyful Noise Recordings2014
Overjoyed And Thankful
Half Japanese
Joyful Noise Recordings2014
Real Cool Time
Half Japanese
50,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Watts Records1988
Every Hour
Half Japanese
Psycho Acoustic Sounds1990
Spy
Half Japanese
Drag City2004