Flipper's Guitar (フリッパーズ・ギター) were a Tokyo-based rock band led by (and later a duo of) Keigo Oyamada and Kenji Ozawa.
The group were an important part of the Tokyo Shibuya-kei scene in the late 1980s to early 1990s, and Oyamada went on to produce work for Pizzicato Five and his close friend Kahimi Karie.
It was as Cornelius that Oyamada gained a minor cult following outside Japan, as well as remix work for the likes of Blur, Beck, and the Manic Street Preachers.
The second cassette, Akko-Chan's Anorak Party!,[6] was a split-compilation that also included songs by the obscure Japanese groups; Penny Arcade and Debonaire.
[7] At the behest of their label the group renamed themselves Flipper's Guitar,[7] a reference to the dolphins on the cover of the Orange Juice album You Can't Hide Your Love Forever.
Music was written by Oyamada and Ozawa with arrangements by the band, Zin N. Summer and Hitomi T. The resulting album Three Cheers for Our Side (海へ行くつもりじゃなかった), the title a homage to an Orange Juice song, was released in August 1989.
While a fairly straightforward guitar-pop album,[1] it showcased a wide array of sounds including elements of bossa nova, beach rock, and jazz.
The artwork, aside from lyric and song-title translations, were also displayed in English, and featured a comic strip by cartoonist Jonathan Lemon.
The first small coup for the duo came when their first single of the year "Friends Again" was featured in the film Octopus Army ~ Shibuya de aitai!
In Japan, a major breakthrough came when their second single of 1990, the jazz-influenced[9] "Young, Alive, In Love" was featured as the main theme song to the popular drama Youbikou Bugi (Cram-school Boogie).
Due to the sudden uplift in popularity the group's second album Camera Talk (カメラ・トーク) was released in June 1990 to much greater anticipation and sales.
The album shows the group widening its guitar-orientated sound to take-in bossa nova/Latin, vocal jazz, house music, and spy thriller instrumentals.
is an alternate 'guitar pop' recording of the Camera Talk album track with John "Segs" Jennings and David Ruffy.
"Groove Tube", their first single of 1991 and a primer for their third album had a new sound that combined pop accessibility with shoegaze and Madchester/Baggy styles.
Lost Pictures, Original Clips & CMS + Testament, a video collection was released in 1993 on VHS and on DVD in 2004.
It was as Cornelius that Oyamada gained a minor cult following outside Japan, as well as remix work for the likes of Blur, Beck, and the Manic Street Preachers.