Happy End [JP]

Aliases: はっぴいえんど
Years active: 1969 - 2021
Country: Japan
Comments: Folk rock group. While they weren't the first band to perform rock songs with Japanese lyrics, they literally invented a new way of doing it, thanks in no small part to their drummer and main lyricist Takashi Matsumoto: common, slang, and mundane words were "bent", adapted or even mis-pronounced to fit the melody.
Their approach caused a real debate about "Rock in Japanese", that involved not only musicians and music critics, but also scholars and poets. Perhaps ironically, their fiercest detractors were the "rock purists", who mantained that the lingua franca of rock was English and that their lyrics were unintelligible when sung and far too trivial when read, whereas fans of the band believed that they gave a "poetic added value" to familiar words.
Their concept album 風街ろまん {Kazemachi Roman} is considered one of the greatest albums in Japanese rock music history.
Active: 1969-1972, 1973, 1985, 2021
Members: Haruomi Hosono Vocal, bass, guitar, keyboard
Takashi Matsumoto Drums, percussion
Eiichi Ohtaki Vocal, guitar (1969-1972, 1973, 1985)
Shigeru Suzuki Guitar, vocals