| Every Little Thing | |
|---|---|
Kaori Mochida and Ichiro Ito of Every Little Thing pose in an Aoyama cafe, Tokyo, 2008. |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Tokyo, Japan |
| Genres | Pop, soft rock |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Labels | Avex Trax |
| Website | www.avexnet.or.jp/elt/ |
| Members | |
| Kaori Mochida Born March 24, 1978 Ichiro Ito Born November 10, 1967 |
|
| Past members | |
| Mitsuru Igarashi Born May 17, 1969 |
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Every Little Thing (also known as ELT) is a pop and soft rock duo from Japan who debuted in August 1996 with the release of their first single called "Feel My Heart". Their name is usually written in English, and only rarely in katakana or rōmaji.
Also known as ELT by their fans, Every Little Thing was originally a trio but became a duo in 2000 with Kaori Mochida as the singer and Ichiro Ito as the guitarist.[1] Mitsuru Igarashi left ELT following the release of their 3rd original album Eternity.
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Ito began playing guitar in local bands around the US Yokota Air Base in Fussa, Tokyo, performing cover versions of songs by rock acts like Van Halen to local sailors. He initially intended to play drums.[1]
Mochida made her debut as a baby in an advertisement for diapers as her mom hoped she would enter the entertainment business. In 1991, at the age of 13, she joined the eight-member girl group The Kuro Buta All-Stars. Though not successful, the experience convinced her to record a two track demo, featuring the two songs, "Mouichido" (The Kuro Buta All-Stars) and a cover song from 1970s/80s singer-songwriter Mariya Takeuchi.[1]
She sent the demo to Avex Trax, where Mitsuru Igarashi was a producer looking for a girl for a new duo with him as the keyboardist. Impressed by her strong yet sweet voice, Igarashi asked her to join as a duo, and then asked his guitarist friend Ichiro Ito, then working as a studio receptionist,[1] to help on the first single "Feel My Heart", created by Igarashi. Ito, over ten years Mochida's senior, has said that when first meeting the young Mochida wearing gyaru style thick platform boots, he didn't even know how to strike up conversation.[1]
The band released their debut single August 7, 1996. The single peaked at #24 on the Oricon charts and with the group gaining popularity, Ito decided to stay permanently in the group, which turned ELT into a trio.
Their first studio album, called Everlasting was a big success, selling nearly two million copies in Japan, and marking ELT as a popular group with a bright future. The band reached #1 at the Oricon charts for the first time with their fourth single, "For the Moment".
The second studio album entitled Time to Destination, released in 1998, was one of the best-selling albums of that year, and the best-selling album of the band, with over 3,500,000 copies sold. Additionally, the album became the 10th best selling album of all time in Japan. This album also included their best-selling single, "Time Goes By", a ballad tune that reached sales of nearly 1,150,000.
Upon the release of the third studio album, Eternity, released in March 2000, Mitsuru Igarashi suddenly decided to leave the band to produce another pop act, Day After Tomorrow. Ito later said that the decision was dropped on them without warning, right before a tour, and it forced them to change their sound. The remaining duo decided to tour acoustically for the next two years in order to find their feet, but also enjoyed more creative freedom over the songs.[1]
The single "Sure" was the last that Igarashi participated in and with the release of their 16th single, "Ai no Kakera" in October 2000, ELT transitioned their style from Igarashi's signature synthesized pop-rock sound to a more acoustic soft-rock sound. Their single "Fragile" released on New Year's Day 2001 became ELT's second biggest hit ever, vindicating their new direction, selling approximately 829,580 copies; its c/w song "Jirenma" was one of the ending songs for the anime movie Initial D Third Stage.
ELT's popularity has declined over the years since then, but although many similar bands like Day After Tomorrow have disbanded, ELT remains one of the few mid-1990s bands still together, along with globe and Dreams Come True. In November 2004 the duo released their single "Koibumi/Good Night" that was a surprise for many, because it performed comparatively well on the charts, selling more than many of their previous singles.
Every Little Thing released two singles in 2004, and just one single in 2005, the soft rock "Kimi no Te", and the acoustic compilation album Acoustic : Latte.
During Every Little Thing's 2004-2005 Commonplace Tour, Mochida suffered from bronchitis which further effected her singing style during the tour as well as on their 7th album, Crispy Park, released on August 9, 2006 (their 10th anniversary day). Mochida’s singing style has changed slightly on every album, going from a clear, soothing voice to a high and cuter voice. A 2006-2007 concert tour followed their tenth anniversary album release. Their 31st single, "Swimmy", theme song for the drama series Kekkon Dekinai Otoko, was released in October 2006.
For celebrating their tenth anniversary, Every Little Thing held a two-day special live at the Nippon Budokan on March 6
Their 2008 album Door released on March 5, 2008 peaked at #2 on the Oricon charts. Mochida has said of the album, that "I used to sing without thinking. But now I convey thoughts that are hard to explain when I communicate with people in my daily life. It's harder than before; but we reap much more joy."[1]
On November 20, 2008, it was announced that lead vocalist Kaori Mochida will begin her solo career in January 2009 but both she and Itoh will continue as Every Little Thing. In this period both members released solo material. Kaori released her first solo album, Moka on August 12, 2009, and also participated briefly in the special unit Caocao, along with Takao Tajima, member of Original Love. On August 5, 2009, Ito released a mini-album on his own titled Diversity, which featured vocals of Idoling!!!, Ayuse Kozue, and others.
In 2009, after nine years of departed ways, Every Little Thing began working again with former band member Mitsuru Igarashi. Igarashi composed and produced several songs on the band's ninth album Change, released in March 2010, including its three promotional singles: "Dream Goes On", "Tsumetai Ame" and the album title song.
In July, 2011, the band released their 41th single "Sora/Koe", double A-side single whose two songs were used as theme songs of the 2011 Pokémon movie Victini and the Black Hero: Zekrom and Victini and the White Hero: Reshiram.[2][3]. On September 21, 2011, the band released their tenth album, Ordinary, which debuted at nº 2 on the Oricon charts.
Mochida’s unique hairstyles have undergone extreme changes throughout each album; it went from long, straight and dyed during the Everlasting – Time to Destination era to short and blonde during the Eternity era. Mochida’s hair then changed to medium-length black during the 4 Force era and further progressed to an extremely long and permed style during the Many Pieces – Commonplace era. When Acoustic : Latte was released, Mochida’s hair has changed to a bowlcut-like style and became even shorter during the era of Crispy Park. She has been letting it grow back ever since.
| # | Information | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Everlasting
|
1,922,160 copies sold |
| 1st Remix Album |
The Remixes
|
647,020 copies sold |
| 2nd | Time to Destination
|
3,520,330 copies sold |
| 2nd Remix Album |
The Remixes II
|
299,380 copies sold |
| 1st Best Of Album |
Every Best Single +3
|
2,256,314 copies sold |
| 3rd | Eternity
|
966,710 copies sold |
| 4th | 4 Force
|
847,330 copies sold |
| 2nd Best Of Album |
Every Ballad Songs
|
498,795 copies sold |
| 3rd Remix Album |
Super Eurobeat Presents Euro Every Little Thing
|
202,650 copies sold |
| 4th Remix Album |
The Remixes III: Mix Rice Plantation
|
35,070 copies sold |
| 5th Remix Album |
Cyber Trance Presents ELT Trance
|
61,870 copies sold |
| 5th | Many Pieces
|
526,542 copies sold |
| 3rd Best Of Album |
Every Best Single 2
|
712,460 copies sold |
| 6th | Commonplace
|
313,647 copies sold |
| 1st Acoustic Album |
Acoustic : Latte
|
136,553 copies sold |
| 7th | Crispy Park
|
209,316 copies sold |
| 4th Best Of Album |
14 Message: Every Ballad Songs 2
|
112,745 copies sold |
| 8th | Door
|
89,894 copies sold |
| 5th Best Of Album |
Every Best Singles: Complete
|
173,351 copies sold |
| 9th | Change
|
31,406 copies sold |
| # | Information | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | "Feel My Heart"
|
129,120 copies sold |
| 2nd | "Future World"
|
110,050 copies sold |
| 3rd | "Dear My Friend"
|
488,890 copies sold |
| 4th | "For the Moment"
|
688,270 copies sold |
| 5th | "Deatta Koro no Yō ni" 出逢った頃のように
|
602,830 copies sold |
| 6th | "Shapes of Love/Never Stop!"
|
526,130 copies sold |
| 7th | "Face the Change"
|
633,970 copies sold |
| 8th | "Time Goes By"
|
1,149,600 copies sold |
| 9th | "Forever Yours"
|
475,470 copies sold |
| 10th | "Necessary"
|
233,910 copies sold |
| 11th | "Over and Over"
|
314,600 copies sold |
| 12th | "Someday,Someplace"
|
183,840 copies sold |
| 13th | "Over and Over / ELT Songs from L.A."
|
|
| 14th | "Pray / Get into a Groove"
|
407,030 copies sold |
| 15th | "Sure"
|
250,660 copies sold |
| 16th | "Rescue Me/Smile Again"
|
99,280 copies sold |
| 17th | "Ai no Kakera" 愛のカケラ
|
206,360 copies sold |
| 18th | "Fragile/Jirenma"
|
834,020 copies sold |
| 19th | "Graceful World"
|
194,400 copies sold |
| 20th | "Jump"
|
107,240 copies sold |
| 21st | "Kioku" キヲク
|
136,970 copies sold |
| 22nd | "Sasayaka na Inori" ささやかな祈り
|
77,130 copies sold |
| 23rd | "Untitled 4 Ballads"
|
369,674 copies sold |
| 24th | "Grip!"
|
65,037 copies sold |
| 25th | "Fundamental Love" ファンダメンタル・ラブ
|
55,914 copies sold |
| 26th | "Mata Ashita" また あした
|
181,426 copies sold |
| 27th | "Soraai" ソラアイ
|
48,019 copies sold |
| 28th | "Koibumi/Good Night" 恋文 / Good Night
|
156,512 copies sold |
| 29th | "Kimi no te" きみの て
|
74,857 copies sold |
| 30th | "Azure Moon"
|
24,574 copies sold |
| 31st | "Hi-Fi Message" ハイファイ メッセージ
|
23,541 copies sold |
| 32nd | "Swimmy" スイミー
|
21,119 copies sold |
| 33rd | "Kirameki Hour" キラメキアワー
|
20,204 copies sold |
| 34th | "Koi wo shiteiru/fuyu ga hajimaru yo feat. Makihara Noriyuki" 恋をしている / 冬がはじまるよ feat. 槇原敬之
|
39,402 copies sold |
| 35th | "Sakurabito" サクラビト
|
24,623 copies sold |
| 36th | "Atarashi Hibi/Ogon no Tsuki" あたらしい日々 / 黄金の月
|
31,215 copies sold |
| 37th | "Dream Goes On"
|
14,162 copies sold |
| 38th | "Tsumetai Ame" 冷たい雨
|
7,304 copies sold |
| 39th | "Change"
|
7,595 copies sold |
| 40th | "Star"
|
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| 41st | "Moon"
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| 42nd | "Sora/Koe" 宙 -そら-/響 -こえ-
|
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| 43rd | "Ai ga Aru" アイガアル
|