YATTA!

Man, you remember this video? I had forgotten all about it until I wrote "Yatta" into an e-mail to my friend Shadi. However, watching it again I understand a lot more about why it came to fame in the US due to our lack of understanding about what the video actually is.

One of the core awesomenesses of this video is "look at this crazy Japanese band!" However, these boys (Green Leaves) are not a real band. Nope, they are a group of comedians who got together to make this performance/song. You see, comedians in Japan are very different then America. We think comedians = stand up, movies, maybe sketch comedy on TV, but Japanese comedians serve as the primary pop stars for Japanese media. Yes, there are the idols for music, but it's the comedians that really get the screen time on Japanese TV. One main reason is they keep coming up with totally rad things like this Yatta song and other stunts to keep them in the limelight. That, and in such an orderly society, prancing around in your underwear is a good way to gain attention.

So, sadly, you are probably not going to find this bands album, because they are not a band. However, we can remember them fondly as they sing: "We are the world(o). We did it with you you you you us us us us... YATTA!"

-Idaho Bob-