Tokyo Yankees

Tokyo Yankees (東京YANKEES) is a Japanese metal band that formed in Tokyo in 1988. After peaking in popularity in the early 90's and going on hiatus in 1995, the band reformed in 2000. Vocalist Soichiro "Ume" Umemura died in 2007 after nearly twenty years fronting the band. Tokyo Yankees however continue to perform with the other members sharing the vocals.

History

Beginning and success

Tokyo Yankees formed in 1988 and began playing shows in the local club scene the following year. Umemura and Nori were previously in the heavy metal band Guerilla, while U.D.A. and Ami were in the speed/thrash metal band Rommel. Rockin 'f, a Japanese heavy metal publication, issued their first single, "Joker", with an issue of their magazine in 1990. That same year their song "Rat Race" was issued on a heavy metal omnibus album titled, The End of the Century Rockers Emergency Express!. The band eventually signed with Extasy Records, who released their debut album, Do The Dirty, in 1991. That year they participated in Extasy Records' "Extasy Summit '91 at Nippon Budokan" to a crowd of 14,000.

The band released another record, Overdoing, on Extasy in 1992, before the label closed its doors. The bands popularity declined without Extasy's support, and following releases were issued on TriadZ Records (1993's Ghost Rider) and Nippon Columbia Records (1994's Vacate Your Useless Brain), after which the band went on hiatus.

Reunited

After Tokyo Yankees,...
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