New School Cartoon Bands

Cartoon bands are nothing new.  Apparently, they've been around since the 1960s and 1970s.  Do you recall Alvin and The Chipmunks, The Archies or Josie and The Pussycats?  

Yep, all three were consider cartoon bands.  Personally, I've never thought of Alvin and The Chipmunks as a music band, but when you think about it, they kind of are.  I mean, Alvin and The Chipmunks have released music albums and created music videos.  So, yeah, why not call them a band or at least a cartoon band.

Recently, cartoon bands have taken it to a whole new level and they're no longer your ma and pop cartoon bands.  There is a new string of cartoon bands ready to take on and conquer the pop culture world.  

Japanese anime is where its all at and their the next level for cartoon bands.  Japanese anime is a type of animation originating in Japan and it has created cartoon characters for kids and adults alike that are "slick and sophisticated".   

Take for example, Hatsune Miku, who is an anime girl that has released hit pop songs and sold out live concerts.  Well, not exactly "live" concerts.  "Twelve different projectors are used to project Hatsune Miku in 34D spcae. She stands about 20-feet tall in concerts.  Supposedly, Hatsune Miku is to perform in Los Angeles for the first time this weekend...and the show is sold out."

Hatsune Miku's name comes from a fusion of Japanese characters for first (初, hatsu), sound (音, ne) and future (Miku (ミク) sounds like a nanori reading of future, 未来, normally read as "mirai").  And if these cartoon bands keep selling out live concerts, then these cartoon bands and singers will be the new sound of the future.

Look at cartoon bands in this positive light, as stated in the article that inspired this blog post I wrote..."cartoon bands also make a certain harsh economic sense in a crumbling music industry.  Producers can swap out voices or even use machines— and how convenient to have pop stars who never get fat, never throw tantrums, and never get old."

Cartoon bands are nothing new, but are totally amping it up from the old school cartoon bands, eh??? 

Alvin and The Chipmunks covering "Apple Bottom Jeans"

The Archies performing "Sugar, Sugar"

Hitsune Miku

The article that inspired this blogpost:  http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2011/06/30/137529117/the-new-wave-of-cartoon-bands?ps=mh_frhdl1