The Checkers

Biography

There are multiple artists with this name, one based in Los Angeles, CA from 2002 to 2007, and one in Japan from 1981 to 1992 and a 1950s New York R&B band 1) The Japanese band (チェッカーズ) was a Japanese pop/rock band famous in the 80s. The band was formed by Toru Takeuchi, the leader and the guitarist, who asked Fumiya Fujii to start a band with him. They made a debut on 21 September 1983 and split up on 31 December 1992. All of their single releases entered top 10 in Japanese charts, man...

There are multiple artists with this name, one based in Los Angeles, CA from 2002 to 2007, and one in Japan from 1981 to 1992 and a 1950s New York R&B band


1) The Japanese band (チェッカーズ) was a Japanese pop/rock band famous in the 80s. The band was formed by Toru Takeuchi, the leader and the guitarist, who asked Fumiya Fujii to start a band with him. They made a debut on 21 September 1983 and split up on 31 December 1992. All of their single releases entered top 10 in Japanese charts, many of them making it to No 1. Fumiya Fujii, who was the lead singer and the main lyricist, went on to pursue a successful solo career.

Origin Kurume, Japan
Years active 1981 – 1992
Label Pony Canyon Records

Members :
Fumiya Fujii
Masaharu Tsuruku
Yoshihiko Takamoku
Tohru Takeuchi
Yuji Ohdoi
Yoshiya Tokunaga
Naoyuki Fujii


2) The Checkers were an offshoot of the Dominoes, one of the most popular R&B groups around, and formed by Bill Brown, John Carnegie and Charlie White. They were joined by a baritone only remembered as “Joe” or “Buddy.” and Irwin “Teddy” Williams. King records kept releasing songs by other groups under the “Checkers” name.


3) The Checkers (US), were propelled by the vocals of the Julie Vox (aka renowned rock photographer Julie Pavlowski), guitarist G.G. King, drummer Mark Reback, and three different bassists starting with Chris , then Shawn Munoz and lastly Lee LeBaigue (Madcap). WIth songs like “Seeing Spots,” "The Nerve", “User,” and the irresistible “You Dont Wanna Know”, The Checkers exploded with plenty of bubbly bad girl spunk, frenetic energetic beats, overdriven blasts of trebly guitar, and hooks galore. They pulled off some surprising covers in the form of “Observer” (a gem-of-an-obscurity originally done by a pre-luftballon Nena’s band The Stripes), Felony’s lost early ’80s classic “The Fanatic", and "Blue Eyes" by Gary Numan's old band Tubeway Army over two full-length releases on Teenacide Records: "Make A Move" (2003), and "Running With Scissors" (2006).
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