The Breakup

On July 1, 1999, Naoko Yamano announced 
on the Pa Pa Pa Pa Puffy TV show that 
Michie Nakatani retired from Shonen Knife. 
I was quite devastated at the time. Now 
I know how Beatles fans felt when that 
great band broke up.

Though Naoko still uses the name, her
band isn't really Shonen Knife, any more 
than Wings was the Beatles. The new "Sho-
nen Knife" (which has some good songs) 
doesn't match the excellence of the gen-
uine Shonen Knife, which produced nothing 
but amazing albums full of classic songs.

The plus side is that Michie now has more
freedom to express her unique vision. We
have yet to hear from her since she left
the group. Hopefully, she will use her 
freedom to begin a solo career, and, at 
that point, we will see if Shonen Knife 
(again, like the Beatles) was greater 
than the sum of its parts. It is unfortu-
nate that the creative minds of Shonen 
Knife had to separate. Two talents of 
such originality and superiority in the 
same band made for a rare and powerful 
force in rock music.

I feel a profound sadness at the passing 
of the greatest rock band ever.

Shonen Knife
Rest in Peace
1981-1999



Flaming in the Hazy Sunlight