Glay

J-Rock ) band. It is comprised of four main members--Takuro, Hisashi, Teru, and Jiro--and a changing cast of support musicians. During the 10 years since their professional debut, GLAY has created many hit songs and gained huge popularity in Japan and the rest of Asia.

GLAY's name (a deliberate misspelling of GRAY/GREY, pronounced 'gurei' in Japan) was chosen to mean 'that which is neither white nor black', to illustrate the type of music they wished to play. Rather than limiting themselves to pop or hard rock, GLAY covers a middle ground and experiments with different sounds and styles. They are often considered to be a visual band, but sport a cleaner image and enjoy more mainstream popularity than many.

Members

Main members

• Takuro : real name Takuro Kubo : guitar (leader and primary songwriter)
• Teru : real name Teruhiko Kobashi : vocals
• Jiro : real name Yoshihito Wayama : bass
• Hisashi : real name Hisashi Tonomura : lead guitar

Past and current support members

• Toshi : real name Toshimitsu Nagai : drums (joined in 1995)
• D.I.E. : real name Daijiro Nozawa : keyboards (joined in 1995, left in 1998, played with GLAY once more for their millennium countdown live in December 1999)
• Shige : real name Shigeo "sk55" Komori : keyboards (joined in 1998, recently left)
• Sakuma : real name Masahide Sakuma : guitar, keyboards (producer of GLAY since mid-1994)
• Yoshiki : real name Yoshiki Hayashi : (producer of GLAY's debut in 1994)
• Tsuchiya : real name Masami Tsuchiya : (producer of GLAY's 2nd single in 1994)
• Akira : drums (left after the album hai to daiyamondo was recorded but before GLAY's 1994 debut with RAIN)
• Nobumasa : drums (joined and left in 1994)
• Shingo : drums (left before GLAY's 1994 debut)

Discography

Indies

Demo Tapes

1. GLAY;1 - 1991
2. DANCE VISION
3. LOVE SLAVE - Sexual Records 1993
4. SPEED POP - EXPLOSION WORKS
5. GREATEST SHADOW - EXPLOSION WORKS
6. kikei no ningyou
7. Inside of Emotionalism
8. KUCK SHOCK
9. Angelus Bell - EXPLOSION WORKS
10. ROSE-COLOR
11. GLAY SPECIALS! - Sexual Records 1993
12. SCANDAL 5TH IMAGES
13. Mayogari Night VI (Mayogari Night 6)

Albums

1. hai to daiyamondo - EXTASY RECORDS May 25 1994
2. Omnibus album Cry-Max Pleasure
3. Omnibus album an Optic
4. Omnibus album SEDUCTION

Videos

1. VIDEO GLAY PART 1
2. Area A I~Find Up Dark Star~

Albums

1. SPEED POP - Platinum Records March 3 1995
2. BEAT out! - Platinum Records February 7 1996
3. BELOVED - Platinum Records November 18 1996
4. REVIEW~BEST OF GLAY - Platinum Records October 1 1997
5. GLAY SONG BOOK - Platinum Records February 25 1998
6. pure soul - Unlimited Records/mustard July 29 1998
7. HEAVY GAUGE - Unlimited Records/mustard October 20 1999
8. GLAY DRIVE~BEST OF GLAY - Unlimited Records/mustard November 11 2000
9. ONE LOVE - Unlimited Records/mustard November 28 2001
10. UNITY ROOTS & FAMILY, AWAY - Unlimited Records/mustard September 19 2002
11. rare collectives vol. 1 - Unlimited Records/mustard February 5 2003
12. rare collectives vol. 2 - Unlimited Records/mustard February 5 2003
13. THE FRUSTRATED - Unlimited Records/mustard March 24 2004

Singles

1. RAIN - Platinum Records May 25 1994
2. manatsu no tobira - Platinum Records June 15 1994
3. kanojo no "Modern..." - Platinum Records November 16 1994
4. Freeze My Love - Platinum Records January 25 1995
5. zutto futari de... - Platinum Records May 17 1995
6. Yes, Summerdays - Platinum Records August 9 1995
7. ikiteku tsuyosa - Platinum Records November 8 1995
8. Glorious - Platinum Records January 17 1996
9. BELOVED - Platinum Records August 7 1996
10. a Boy~zutto wasurenai~ - Platinum Records November 11 1996
11. kuchibiru - Platinum Records May 14 1997
12. HOWEVER - Platinum Records August 6 1997
13. yuuwaku - Platinum Records April 29 1998
14. SOUL LOVE - Platinum Records April 29 1998
15. BE WITH YOU - Unlimited Records/mustard November 25 1998
16. Winter, again - Unlimited Records/mustard February 3 1999
17. Survival - (video single) Unlimited Records/mustard May 19 1999
18. kokodewa nai, dokoka e - Unlimited Records/mustard August 25 1999
19. HAPPINESS WINTER MIX - Unlimited Records/mustard August 25 1999
20. MERMAID - Unlimited Records/mustard July 19 2000
21. tomadoi/SPECIAL THANKS - Unlimited Records/mustard August 23 2000
22. Missing You - Unlimited Records/mustard November 14 2000
23. GLOBAL COMMUNICATION - Unlimited Records/mustard April 25 2001
24. STAY TUNED - Unlimited Records/mustard July 4 2001
25. hitohira no jiyuu - Unlimited Records/mustard September 19 2001
26. Way of Difference - Unlimited Records/mustard February 27th 2002
27. mata koko de aimashou - Unlimited Records/mustard July 24 2002
28. aitai kimochi - Unlimited Records/mustard July 31 2002
29. itsuka - (video single) Unlimited Records/mustard March 5 2003
30. BEAUTIFUL DREAMER/STREET LIFE - Unlimited Records/mustard October 16 2003
31. toki no shizuku - Unlimited Records/mustard January 28 2004
32. tenshi no wakemae/PEAK hateshinaku SOUL kagirinaku - Unlimited Records/mustard May 25 2004
33. BLUE JEAN - Unlimited Records/mustard August 4 2004

Videos

1. VIDEO GLAY - Platinum Records May 17 1995
2. VIDEO GLAY 2 - Platinum Records May 2 1996
3. mugen no DEJA VU - Platinum Records January 29 1997
4. mugen no DEJA VU (limited edition) - Platinum Records March 19 1997
5. HIT THE WORLD - Platinum Records December 3 1997
6. VIDEO GLAY 3 - Platinum Records February 4 1998
7. "pure soul" TOUR '98 - Unlimited Records/mustard August 5 1998
8. "SUMMER of '98" pure soul in STADIUM - Unlimited Records/mustard December 9 1998
9. DOME TOUR "pure soul" 1999 - Unlimited Records/mustard July 7 1999
10. VIDEO GLAY 4 - Unlimited Records/mustard April 5 2000
11. EXPO '99 SURVIVAL LIVE IN MAKUHARI - Unlimited Records/mustard July 31 2000
12. Best Video Clips 1994-1998 - Unlimited Records/mustard September 5 2001
13. GLAY EXPO 2001 GLOBAL COMMUNICATION LIVE IN HOKKAIDO - Unlimited Records/mustard January 1 2002
14. GLAY EXPO 2001 GLOBAL COMMUNICATION LIVE IN HOKKAIDO SPECIAL EDITION - Unlimited Records/mustard January 1 2002
15. GLAY DOME TOUR 2001-2002 ONE LOVE - Unlimited Records/mustard August 28 2002
16. GLAY ONE LOVE in Beijing (live only release) - Unlimited Records/mustard October 13 2002
17. VIDEO GLAY 5 - Unlimited Records/mustard November 20 2002
18. GLAY ONE LOVE in Beijing Live & Document - Unlimited Records/mustard December 18 2002
19. GLAY HIGHCOMMUNICATIONS TOUR 2003 - Unlimited Records/mustard September 26 2003
20. The Complete of THE FRUSTRATED－RECORDING DOCUMENTARY＆LIVE - Unlimited Records/mustard June 16 2004

History

• 1988
  • Takuro splits his old band, guest-apo, and forms GLAY with the bassist of guest-apo
  • Teru joins GLAY as a drummer, but switches to vocals when Takuro hears his singing
  • GLAY's first live performance at AUN-DO
• 1989
  • Hisashi joins GLAY after his band, ari, splits up
• 1990
  • Teru, Takuro, and Hisashi graduate high school and leave Hakodate for Tokyo
• 1991
  • GLAY makes 3 original demo tapes
  • Jiro leaves Hakodate for Tokyo
• 1992
  • Takuro asks Jiro to play bass for one of GLAY's performances, and Jiro winds up staying despite reservations
• 1993
  • Yoshiki attends a GLAY live at Ichikawa Club GIO and offers them a contract that day
• 1994
  • Yoshiki produces GLAY's first single, RAIN, in L.A. and their popularity jumps
  • GLAY's 1st nationwide tour begins
• 1995
  • 1st major label album (SPEED POP) is released and ranks number 8 in the Oricon Charts
• 1996
  • 2nd album (BEAT out!) debuts at number 1 in the Oricon Charts
  • GLAY's video shoot for BELOVED takes them to Iceland and London
  • GLAY is awarded the 29th Gold Request Prize by Zen Nihon Yuusenhoso for BELOVED
• 1997
  • 27,000 people attend GLAY's Street Video Concert
• 1998
  • GLAY's 10 year anniversary since official formation of the band
  • Review~Best of GLAY breaks the sales record in the Oricon Charts
  • GLAY and 3000 fanclub members go to Hawaii for a special performance
  • Hisashi breaks his leg during a concert
  • GLAY's 4th album, pure soul, breaks their own sales record
• 1999
  • GLAY Jumbo Jet is designed and used from July to September
  • Over 200,000 people attend GLAY's performance at MAKUHARI MESSE 10TH ANNIVERSARY, EXPO '99 SURVIVAL
  • GLAY wins the Grand Prix award at the Japan Record Awards
• 2000
  • GLAY releases 4 new singles, a 'best of' album, a PV (promotional video) collection, and their 1999 concert on video
  • HEAVY GAUGE tour
• 2001
  • Teru and Takuro travel to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Bangkok, and Seoul to promote GLAY EXPO '01
  • GLAY EXPO 2001 GLOBAL COMMUNICATION brings 100,000 people in two days to Tokyo Stadium, 100,000 people in two days to Ishikari, and 80,000 in one day to the Kitakyushu Marina
  • DOME TOUR 2001-2002 begins
• 2002
  • GLAY performs in Beijing in celebration of 30 years of diplomatic relations between China and Japan
• 2003
  • HIGHCOMMUNICATIONS TOUR
  • Teru's radio show TERU ME NIGHT GLAY airs on Bay FM
  • Takuro's show GLAY RADIO COMMUNICATION DX becomes regularly syndicated
  • Hisashi's show CYBER NET CITY FULL METAL MIX starts on FujiFM
  • Jiro's show BUGGY CRASH NIGHT returns to the air
• 2004
  • GLAY's 10 year anniversary since their 1994 debut
  • GLAY X RATED 2004 tour begins
  • EXPO 04 is performed at Universal Studios Japan

External Links

• - official site (japanese)
• - unofficial, excellent information, but no longer updated since 2000 (english)
• - unofficial, great navigation and information, current updates (english)
• - unofficial, good information, updates are sporadic (english)

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Glay is also a commune of the Doubs département in France.