Puffy Amiyumi - Definition

Puffy (パフィー) or Puffy Amiyumi (パフィー・アミユミ) as they are known in the United States (due to legal naming conflicts with Puff Daddy), is a Japanese pop duo.

the Puffy logo used in the United States.

Ami Onuki and Yumi Yoshimura were scouted by two different talent agencies and put together in 1995, and soon Puffy-Mania would begin. Their first release "Asia no junshin" sold a million records and their success continued with several more full-length releases (totalling 14 million sales in Japan).

the Puffy logo used in Japan.

They hosted their own weekly TV show, "Pa-Pa-Pa-Pa-Puffy", with guests such as Lenny Kravitz, Sylvester Stallone, Harrison Ford, and rock band Garbage. Their music has been largely a collaboration between producer Tamio Okuda, American singer-songwriter Andy Sturmer of the band Jellyfish, regular session musicians, and lastly Ami and Yumi themselves.

A picture of Puffy taken in the late 90's.

Ami and Yumi's vocals are likened to US vocal sister group The Roches. They often sing whole songs together with harmonies. The songs borrow heavily from the Beatles and other artists such as Abba, The Who and Carpenters. Their genre is usually defined as J-Pop, more specifically it can be described as Shibuya-kei.

After 2000 they have been less in the limelight in native Japan with their TV show winding up in 2002. Instead they have set the compass for the USA with promotional tours, releasing previous Japanese releases and now a song from the latest album (2003) features on the animated TV program "Teen Titans". (See also,Teen Titans.) This might be the reason for the increase in English language songs in their repertoire.

The duo has their own animated show in the U.S. on Cartoon Network called Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi. The show premiered November 19, 2004.

Contents

1 Discography

1.1 Albums
1.2 DVDs
1.3 Singles
1.4 Compilation

3.1 Official Links

Discography

Albums

AmiYumi (1996)
Jet-CD (1998)
The Hit Parade - covers of Japanese pop songs from the 1970s and 80s.
Fever Fever (1999)
Spike (2001)
Nice. (2003)
59 (2004)

DVDs

Jet Tour '98 (2000)
Jet (2000) - Music videos, including Chinese version of "Kore ga Watashi no Ikiru Michi"
Fever Fever (2000) - Concert footage from Fever Fever tour
PUFFY SPIKE Daisakusen (2001) - Music video collection
Rolling Debut Revue - Canada USA Tour 2002 (2002)

Singles

Compilation

solo-solo (1997) a 2-CD set, each containing songs performed by one member, and released under their individual names.
Puffy Re-Mix Project (PRMX) (1999)
The Very Best of Puffy/AmiYumi Jet Fever (2000)
An Illustrated History (2002)
PRMX Turbo (2003)
Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi (2004)

External Links to the World of Puffy-Mania

Official Links

Puffy's current home at Epic Records (http://www.puffyamiyumi.com)
Puffy's Previous Site (Early 2004) (http://www.puffyamiyumi.com/officialsite.html)
Another of Puffy's Previous Sites (2003). (http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/eng/PuffyAmiYumi2003/flash.html)
Official Photo Album (http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/eng/PuffyAmiYumi/photoalbum.html)
Cartoon Network - the Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi Show (http://www.hihipuffy.com)
the Very Best of Puffy / AmiYumi Jet Fever Official Album Site (http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/Music/PickUp/0007/Puffy/index_e.html)

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