King Master George

Primary 1992 CD artwork
Artist	Fishmans
Type	Studio album
Released	October 21, 1992
Genre	Dub • Neo-Psychedelia • Experimental Rock
Length	51:25
Label	Media Remoras
Producer	Haruo Kubota

King Master George is the second studio album by Fishmans. It was first released on October 21, 1992 by newly-founded label Media Remoras. This would be the band's first album with the label and, in fact, King Master George was the first release ever printed by Media Remoras, which was formed from the remaining assets of Fishmans' previous label Virgin Japan. It would also be the only Fishmans album produced by Haruo Kubota, who was apparently difficult yet enjoyable to record with. Details are uncertain about this. A blurb on Fishmans' official website describes the album:

For middle school students with delusions of grandeur, summer camp is not over... Who is George? A mysterious gag definitive of this classic Fishmans album.

The album experiments with a multitude of genres, from sunshine pop to jazz rock to ska punk. A different recording of the album's only single, 100ミリちょっとの was released the prior February without this album in mind. This single was recorded as an opener for Japanese slice-of-life comedy 90日間トテナムパブ (romanized: 90 Day Tottenham Pub, English: The 90 Days). After the show was cancelled after just one season, the song was re-recorded with alternative lyrics for this album. As such, the record marks a significant time of change and growing pains for the band as they tried to find their footing in a definitive musical style.

Not only is King Master George the band's only album without any English track titles, but further, its English title seems to refer to no one in particular. It's likely that the band simply found the name "George" to be inherently funny, similar to the attitude taken by experimental rock group Butthole Surfers in naming their 1996 album "Electriclarryland" after an imprecise "Larry".

The album cover of King Master George was taken in a "quiet Shimokitazawa neighborhood" in Block 16 of District 5, Daizawa, Setagaya, Japan as explained in Pool Volume 9, which you can visit on Google Maps.

Track listing

1. "いい言葉ちょうだい" (4:41)
2. "誰かを捜そう" (4:30)
3. "シーフードレストラン" (2:07)
4. "影ドロボウ" (4:53)
5. "ダイビング" (1:10)
6. "ミネラルウォーター" (3:38)
7. "なんてったの" (4:39)
8. "ハンバーグ" (0:31)
9. "100ミリちょっとの" (4:46)
10. "頼りない天使" (4:36)
11. "トナカイ" (5:52)
12. "君だけがダイヤモンド" (0:07)
13. "雨男憎まれる" (1:46)
14. "土曜日の夜" (4:05)
15. "曲目紹介" (3:55) - Track is なんてったの with narration instead of vocals.
16. "教育" (0:09)

Artwork/Packaging

Scans are from 1998 reissue PCCA-01183.

Back.

Inside of front cover.

Booklet inside.

Inlay.

Booklet pages 1 and 2.

Booklet pages 3 and 4.

Booklet pages 5 and 6.

Booklet pages 7 and 8.

Booklet pages 9-16, spliced together from 3 scans.

Insert front.

Insert back.

CD.

Obi strip.

Personnel

Band members

• Shinji Sato (vocals, cornet, guitars)
• Yuzuru Kashiwabara (bass)
• Kin-Ichi Motegi (drums, vocals)
• Kensuke Ojima (guitars)
• Hakase (keyboards)

Other personnel

• Haruo Kubota (producer, arrangements)
• Hideaki Okuhara (recording engineer)
• Hirokazu Akashi (recording engineer)
• Akira Fueki (assistant engineer)
• Osamu Imamoto (assistant engineer)
• Masashi Yabuhara (mixing engineer)
• Isamu Hanashima (assistant engineer)
• Emiko Saito (editing engineer)
• Hiroyuki Hosaka (mastering engineer)
• Akihiko Yamamoto (A&R)
• Akira Watanabe (A&R)
• Tsukasa Fukuoka (artist manager)
• Akira Sasajima (executive producer)
• Yoshiyuki Okuda (executive producer)
• Ichiro Asatsuma (executive producer)
• Yutaka Kimura (art direction, design)
• Mayumi Nashida (photography)
• Jun-ichi Miyajima (visual coordination)

Special Thanks

• Shiro Kitamura
• Kazuo Sakama
• Youichiro Yamazaki
• Daisuke Kawasaki
• Taro Yokota
• Hiroshi Matsuo
• Mari Mari
• Patô á cHue
• Chie Noji

Issues

• 1992 - MRCA-10001 (CD, Media Remoras, Japan)
• 1998 - PCJA-00032 (12" Vinyl, Pony Canyon, Japan) - Part of reissue series Fishmans Reissue-Series.
• 1998 - PCCA-01183 (CD, Pony Canyon, Japan) - Part of reissue series Fishmans Reissue-Series.
• 2009 - PCCA-50125 (CD, Pony Canyon, Japan)
• 2016 - PCCA-50246 (25th Anniversary CD, Pony Canyon, Japan) - Part of reissue series Fishmans 25 - Silver Anniversary! 2016.
• 2021 - PCJA-00087 (30th Anniversary Limited 12", Pony Canyon, Japan) - Part of reissue series 30th Anniv. Fishmans.