TALK ABOUT.....ETSUKO
Jul 15, 2016 4:16:03 GMT -5
Post by tangerinesun on Jul 15, 2016 4:16:03 GMT -5
Sempai and kouhai on Twitter
When Ritsuko and Etsuko first played together in Shonen Knife, Ritsuko
was a supporting player, one of no fewer than four rotating bassists.
That's not even counting the departing Atsuko.
The other three overlapping live support players: Tomoko, Kaori, Hatsue.
Hatsue got called the most often. Presumably she was very available, but
also she could sing more or less as well as Atsuko, which was important
for continuity. She was Etsuko's old buddy and bandmate as well.
Etsuko was a drummer for hire at the time herself. But there was really
no one else to share her slot, and with Mana Nishiura's sad end still
fresh and painful, and Atsuko leaving for America, it was only a short
while before Etchan would get the permanent seat. Locking down the
necessary scarce resource.
〜〜〜
So later, when Ritsuko was brought aboard, Etsuko was her senior bandmate.
Etsuko had something to do with Shonen Knife's ability to comfortably afford
another permanent member. Etsuko had cast a vote on whether Ritsuko even
got hired at all.
They made great teammates with different strengths. Etsuko isn't a natural
rock star, but she knows how to make stars out of people she plays with.
She's a drummer's drummer, and the chance to work with one of those is
something a developing bass player is going to cherish fondly.
From Ritsuko
Free Time Tour Osaka City Tour Finale!!
2010/03/24 (Wednesday)
shonenknife.net/blog/archives/2480
20 March, Thirteen Fandango.
This day's live I will never forget as long as I live.
Naturally when it's live you give your best every time. We put out all the power we've got,
which makes any live show fun, which I never thought was anything extraordinary.
But this one day was extraordinary, I think.
Ritsuko goes on for a thousand words in Japanese about how drumming took the show
to such heights that everybody and everything dissolved into one. This feeling is a miracle,
she says. The miracle has a cause, and the cause is Etsuko.
"It's true, isn't it — everybody was in love with Etchan."
〜〜〜
There's a little something Ritsuko owes to Etsuko, something besides mere
friendship. She grew up with Etsuko fighting at her side, then she watched
Etsuko go down hard. She had nothing to say about it. Etsuko was not really
a mentionable topic.
But after 6 years in limbo, there was something to mention. Etsuko got called
on to show her face again. How could she refuse, and how could Ritsuko ignore
the occasion? No way and no way.
With only around 24 hours to go, Ritsuko started retweeting stuff. It's a
cinch she got management's approval first. There's only so stupid one can be.
Obviously Shonen Knife couldn't say no either.
The point of it was not to sell tickets — those sold out three weeks earlier.
And it wasn't about improving the fortunes of a dead band with no songs in
print. Pink Pander didn't really need anything Ritsuko could do for them,
but possibly Etsuko did.
The point was to help rehabilitate the purged drummer.
〜〜〜
Ritchan set about it as much as she was able. Knife Day messaging was
interrupted for a special announcement, in a flurry of 6 tweets.
• The Ustream access info, because the hall was sold out
• The member video message that makes Etsuko look the best
• Ustream start time reminder
• Approving show acknowledgement when it was over
• Personal star power on-site for the event and venue
• Finally coaxing Etchan's smile into a camera and onto the internet, with warm praise
That is a one-woman, one-day mini-marketing campaign. Pretty cool, isn't it?
Hiroshi Madoka-san, he always seems like, "Ready, set, go" lol
Everybody gets something. Ritsuko gets an original tweet that is not about
babies or role-play computer gaming.
Etsuko's shining face is the big coup. Fifty likes so far, more all the time.
It cost Ritsuko a little public humiliation from her dear friend Millie,
@me0812, also formerly of Keihan Girl.
Yes, you bet she still has it. Never was without it.
Next comes...
Pink Pander! Etsuko is a beauty just the way she is. Marilyn's a fattie! (lol)
If you don't want to be outdone, you need to get skinny for a Keihan
limited revival (lol).
Now... in Japan, you can get away with amazingly blunt comments about
somebody's weight, things that would get you slapped where I come from.
But those remarks can still sting… oh wait, here's Ritsuko's rely:
That's what comes of drinking beer, I guess!
Glowing review — I'm abstaining from alcohol as of right now.
They say a lot of good things about yoga and interval training, too.
〜〜〜〜〜
Shonen Knife Official, better known as… who curates this account, anyway?
Atsushi? …didn't go out of its way to promote the lost family member.
Even though the account follows Hatsue and likely has been aware of her reunion
plans, because Hatsue is extended Knife Family herself.
But, making no exceptions, @shonenknife_Mgr retweeted as usual all the
Etsuko announcements of mother-member in good standing, Ritsuko.
Ignoring the banished drummer, but loyally supporting the loyal support of
her old sidekick. Politics, friends — politics.
When Ritsuko and Etsuko first played together in Shonen Knife, Ritsuko
was a supporting player, one of no fewer than four rotating bassists.
That's not even counting the departing Atsuko.
The other three overlapping live support players: Tomoko, Kaori, Hatsue.
Hatsue got called the most often. Presumably she was very available, but
also she could sing more or less as well as Atsuko, which was important
for continuity. She was Etsuko's old buddy and bandmate as well.
Etsuko was a drummer for hire at the time herself. But there was really
no one else to share her slot, and with Mana Nishiura's sad end still
fresh and painful, and Atsuko leaving for America, it was only a short
while before Etchan would get the permanent seat. Locking down the
necessary scarce resource.
〜〜〜
So later, when Ritsuko was brought aboard, Etsuko was her senior bandmate.
Etsuko had something to do with Shonen Knife's ability to comfortably afford
another permanent member. Etsuko had cast a vote on whether Ritsuko even
got hired at all.
They made great teammates with different strengths. Etsuko isn't a natural
rock star, but she knows how to make stars out of people she plays with.
She's a drummer's drummer, and the chance to work with one of those is
something a developing bass player is going to cherish fondly.
From Ritsuko
Free Time Tour Osaka City Tour Finale!!
2010/03/24 (Wednesday)
shonenknife.net/blog/archives/2480
20 March, Thirteen Fandango.
This day's live I will never forget as long as I live.
Naturally when it's live you give your best every time. We put out all the power we've got,
which makes any live show fun, which I never thought was anything extraordinary.
But this one day was extraordinary, I think.
Ritsuko goes on for a thousand words in Japanese about how drumming took the show
to such heights that everybody and everything dissolved into one. This feeling is a miracle,
she says. The miracle has a cause, and the cause is Etsuko.
"It's true, isn't it — everybody was in love with Etchan."
〜〜〜
There's a little something Ritsuko owes to Etsuko, something besides mere
friendship. She grew up with Etsuko fighting at her side, then she watched
Etsuko go down hard. She had nothing to say about it. Etsuko was not really
a mentionable topic.
But after 6 years in limbo, there was something to mention. Etsuko got called
on to show her face again. How could she refuse, and how could Ritsuko ignore
the occasion? No way and no way.
With only around 24 hours to go, Ritsuko started retweeting stuff. It's a
cinch she got management's approval first. There's only so stupid one can be.
Obviously Shonen Knife couldn't say no either.
The point of it was not to sell tickets — those sold out three weeks earlier.
And it wasn't about improving the fortunes of a dead band with no songs in
print. Pink Pander didn't really need anything Ritsuko could do for them,
but possibly Etsuko did.
The point was to help rehabilitate the purged drummer.
〜〜〜
Ritchan set about it as much as she was able. Knife Day messaging was
interrupted for a special announcement, in a flurry of 6 tweets.
• The Ustream access info, because the hall was sold out
• The member video message that makes Etsuko look the best
• Ustream start time reminder
• Approving show acknowledgement when it was over
• Personal star power on-site for the event and venue
• Finally coaxing Etchan's smile into a camera and onto the internet, with warm praise
That is a one-woman, one-day mini-marketing campaign. Pretty cool, isn't it?
Hiroshi Madoka-san, he always seems like, "Ready, set, go" lol
Everybody gets something. Ritsuko gets an original tweet that is not about
babies or role-play computer gaming.
Etsuko's shining face is the big coup. Fifty likes so far, more all the time.
It cost Ritsuko a little public humiliation from her dear friend Millie,
@me0812, also formerly of Keihan Girl.
Yes, you bet she still has it. Never was without it.
Next comes...
Pink Pander! Etsuko is a beauty just the way she is. Marilyn's a fattie! (lol)
If you don't want to be outdone, you need to get skinny for a Keihan
limited revival (lol).
Now... in Japan, you can get away with amazingly blunt comments about
somebody's weight, things that would get you slapped where I come from.
But those remarks can still sting… oh wait, here's Ritsuko's rely:
That's what comes of drinking beer, I guess!
Glowing review — I'm abstaining from alcohol as of right now.
They say a lot of good things about yoga and interval training, too.
〜〜〜〜〜
Shonen Knife Official, better known as… who curates this account, anyway?
Atsushi? …didn't go out of its way to promote the lost family member.
Even though the account follows Hatsue and likely has been aware of her reunion
plans, because Hatsue is extended Knife Family herself.
But, making no exceptions, @shonenknife_Mgr retweeted as usual all the
Etsuko announcements of mother-member in good standing, Ritsuko.
Ignoring the banished drummer, but loyally supporting the loyal support of
her old sidekick. Politics, friends — politics.